Matt Corcoran’s Teaching Philosophy
1. All singing starts from the breath. I don’t care what kind of music a student wants to sing, ALL singing starts with learning how to take a good breath, learning how to manage that breath consistently, and how to use that breath energy to make the best sound possible. A good breath will keep the larynx low, expand the rib cage and cause the body to support the sound without thinking. Timbre, style and articulation are all secondary pharyngeal space manipulation. I’d rather them line up their breath than sound like a “perfect” classical singer because I know that the spin in the voice will start to happen because of the breath rather than just pressing.
2. More often than not, a young singer is working too hard. We all have our own technical pitfalls, but the biggest issue I always hear when starting with a new student is that they are trying to be too loud, too quiet, too articulate and too caught up in their own thoughts. I try my best to let go of the baggage of being a singer. That having good breath control is not just for singing but to clear the mind.
3. I believe in less is always more and that if it feels boring, you’re probably doing something right. Really good professional quality singing is mixing that performance energy but making it sound easy. That easy production and phonation is how we combat that extra pressure of performance by leaning on our technique to calm us down and be more consistent. At a professional level, everyone is good, but those who are consistent get hired.
4. Training your students about how to navigate their passagi, for all voice types, is paramount. As a tenor, I am at constant war with my passagio because of the way tenor repertoire is written and everything for me became so much easier, when I took the time to get my passagio right. Tenors are paid for their high notes, but the thing that made them better for me was focusing on F, F#, G and Ab. I always want to not only teach my students what to do to navigate those areas but have them understand why we do this and how much it changes how good you can become after learning how to sing through this area of the voice and combine this with good breath control.
Other than that, I just expect my students to do their best, learn their assigned music, know that there are good days and bad days and that they always feel like they are progressing. Lastly, that every student is different and sometimes things might not work the exact way that you plan, so you adapt what you know in a way that works for them.
