Linor Oren is a singer and vocal coach with years of experience, taking her students’ singing abilities to the next level!
Vocal tones, warm-ups, characters, and lots of practice! Singing is actually a lot like voice acting.
Voice actors can even book more gigs if they know how to sing. There are so many singing characters in video games and TV shows, and don’t forget jingles for adverts!
Join us as we sit down with Linor to discuss the advantages voice actors have when learning to sing, where to start, and how ‘Si Parla, Si Canta’ is your golden ticket to a golden voice.
Q. Before teaching students how to sing, what was your singing experience?
Linor: I’ve been a professional singer for 20 years; I started as a professional choir singer at the Jerusalem Chamber Choir and, after that, also as a soloist in the choir and in different opera projects in Israel and Europe.
Two years later, I started singing professionally and teaching. Once I understand something, I can explain it to others. Therefore, I did not wait long to teach voice.
Also, it gives me such great pleasure, and it’s a huge passion!
Q. What is ‘Si Parla, Si Canta’, and how does it benefit voice actors learning to sing?
Linor: My favourite saying about opera singing (but I believe it applies across styles) is Si Parla, Si Canta. In Italian, this means you sing the way you speak. The opera singers of the golden Bel-Canto era (early 20th century) said that to emphasise the importance of clarity in our pronunciation of the text while singing.
Nowadays, some will refer to the same idea as “speech-level singing,” which is my teaching approach. You use the vocal mechanism of your speaking voice to aid your singing. Instead of making a “pretty voice” or a “special voice”, you use your speaking voice. Therefore, your own natural voice, which is easier to produce!
Voice actors are already halfway there. You are working on your voice for speech, hopefully getting the voice production healthy, versatile, and effective. With speech-level singing, you would continue doing just that and then allow for a melody to happen, or “speak on the notes,” if you will.
Q. Can you tell us a bit more about the singing lessons you offer?
Linor: I’ve been enjoying teaching voice lessons for almost two decades now, teaching online and also in studios in Utrecht and Amsterdam. I am very systematic, giving all my students a roadmap to practice at home and make the most of every lesson. This way, my students usually don’t come for weekly lessons but every 2-4 weeks.
My singing lessons can be booked online through my website.
Q. Are there any differences between teaching students to sing in Dutch vs English?
Linor: What an interesting question! A funny anecdote: my teacher in NYC (who was not a very nice person) made fun of some of her students. She claimed that Hebrew speakers have the 2nd worst speech habits in the world (mainly because of the consonant “ch”, which they tend to make by pushing the tongue down on the larynx).
Who had the very worst speech habits? The Dutch🙂
So, I am a Hebrew Speaker, living in the Netherlands and working with all the bad habits in the world.
But seriously, the language itself, in my opinion, should not make it harder or easier to sing or make the singing different. Rather, it’s the cultural tendencies of the people and how they use the language, which changes from person to person but also over time. For example, the “ch” sound in Hebrew and Dutch is produced at the back of the throat and is said with extra tongue tension. In German, they also have a “ch,” which is usually said in a higher place in the throat and only with a gentle friction of the soft palate against the roof of the mouth. No extra muscle tension. Not fair. That’s simply the way they speak in Germany.
In all, language is made mostly of vowels and consonants, so by definition, they affect our singing: vowels shape the resonating space in our head, and consonants interrupt the airflow on which singing is based. Differences in the variety of both consonants and vowels, and their nature, plus their way of production, might make one language sound differently in speaking and singing. However, it is my experience that the language should not limit your voice if there is something specific you would like to achieve with it.
Q. Besides your lessons, you also host a podcast called ‘SingWell Karaoke Show’. Why did you start the podcast, and what can students learn from it?
Linor: The SingWell Karaoke Show is a fun project I started toying with and continued for about a year. What made me start was being hooked on many podcasts myself. I couldn’t help but imagine what a singing podcast would be like. How fascinating it would be to talk to experts and students, take questions and also do some singing (because it’s a singing show!). I had the idea of singing duets with my guests, which I often did, and it was a blast!
In my opinion, students can mainly take from the show the inspiration of “can’t to can.” So many of us get stuck believing we are no good at singing or less capable than necessary to succeed. Every episode in my show gives an example of overcoming hurdles and difficulties and shows just how possible singing really is.
Q. Your website says, ‘Singing well is about understanding your instrument – your body’; voice acting is like this, too. Do you think voice actors have an advantage when learning to sing?
Linor: Absolutely, voice actors do have an advantage, and for more than one reason. First of all, as you said, if the voice actor is working with their body – that’s what we need for singing, so check that!
Second, voice acting, I’m sure, explores the potential of the voice, seeing where there can be more resonance, more power/softness/expression with the voice. You need that for singing, too.
Third, it’s the speech-level singing principle we talked about before. If you know how to use your voice – and you’re not tone deaf – you can already sing! And I can put some good money on it that you are quite good already. In my experience, a good speaking voice always makes for good singing.
Moreover, because you are acting, you are more flexible and open-minded than the average person. You are able to take risks of sounding silly/bad, which is crucial for learning to sing. No learning process in signing grants you 100% good notes. Being afraid of the bad ones or trying to limit your results in the hope of “sounding good” instead of going nuts and seeing what happens – will hold you back. As an actor, the open (maybe, hopefully) eccentric spirit in you will get you to higher and higher levels in your singing.
Q. Vocal warm-ups are essential to singing and voiceover. Do you have a favourite warm-up for your students?
Linor: I have two warm-ups on YouTube, but I like this one the best because it includes a bodywork session at the beginning.
Freeing up the body is essential for singing, and you shouldn’t start without it!
Q. If a voice actor wants to improve their singing voice, what should their first step be?
Linor: Getting started is always the hardest step.
My advice is to combine personal feedback and/or any vocal knowledge you gain with a practice method. I outline my method in my article on learning to sing on a budget.
Whatever vocal technique you learned, whether from a teacher or a YT tutorial, will not make you a good singer. No matter how good the information is. So, you need to take one voice tip and then take your time integrating it into your muscle memory. I call that “drill it into your system”. Every time you learn something new, there is a moment of cognitive learning; then, there has to be a longer process of physiological learning.
Summary
With years of experience, Linor Oren has taken students on a singing journey. From the students who believed they would never be able to sing to those born with natural and obvious talent, Linor’s lessons will help improve your technique.
While singing might not be essential to voiceover, the ability can help voice actors book more gigs.
There are plenty of VO roles with singing included, not to mention lucrative jingles for businesses in commercial projects.
Thanks, Linor! And you can keep up with Linor on her website.
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