Vocal Training & Technique

 Repertoire & Interpretation

       Estill Voice System

Email:- karouchka@zonnet.nl

    Telephone:- 020-6243759

My current teaching technique is based on the EVTS-system (EVTS stands for Estill Voice Training System, also

known as EVI=Estill Vocal Innovations, Estill being the ‘founder’s’ name). It goes without saying that I take the

student’s personal wishes and vocal material into consideration. The 'first credo' of the EVTS-system is that

vocal health is of the utmost importance, which means that you make absolutely sure you don’t unwittingly

damage your voice. After years of research Ms. Jo Estill has shown that confusing the false vocal folds

(everybody has two pairs of vocal folds, 2 true ones and 2 false ones) with the true ones is the most important

reason why a voice gets damaged (vocal trauma). I can teach you to prevent the false folds from interfering

with the true ones (a technique more simply known as ‘retraction’), thereby enabling you to eventually do with

your voice whatever you want 24/7; and that means singing but also talking, screaming (if you must/want) etc.

With beginners I first start teaching them to relax their breathing. Then we start working on 'retraction of the

false vocal cords’ (see above), followed by articulation/diction: how to pronounce words/sentences with the right

kind and amount of tension and the resulting clarity of articulation and clarity of tone. This entails, among other

things, learning about the muscles in your tongue, your velum and your jaw, to name but a few. 'What to use',

'when and how' and how much to use specific muscles and muscle groups in order to enable you to achieve the

desired result.

To that end we work on practising specific muscles or muscle groups in isolation. It goes without

saying that we will also work on repertoire. You can bring your own songs to the studio or I can

With the more advanced student I can work more on the technical aspects of voice control combined with

dynamics, frasing and the building of a given song. But we also work on the interpretation of the song, what the

song is about in reference to the composer or poet's original intentions. It will sometimes be a song I recommend

but just as often people bring their own repertoire - perhaps because they’re working in a choir and have to

prepare specific songs for a concert. I also work with actors who have to sing during a theatrical performance, or

how to recite certain pieces of text with the help of ‘retraction’: ‘How can I say, or cry or scream this text without

The musical repertoire varies from classical to modern (cabaret, musical, pop etc.) & I accompany almost all of my

students on my baby grand piano (except the ones who bring their own accompanists). I have personally had about

10 years of private piano training topped off with a few years conservatorium-level training. So I am able to

accompany my students well and I also sight read well. When you practice at home: if you are able to play the

piano yourself and you have such an instrument at your home, then that's great. Otherwise I can record the songs

into my computer through my piano and transfer them to CD. I also have a digital piano with midi connected to the

PC for transposing songs that are otherwise too high or too low for your voice. Those can also be easily transferred

to CD. If you want the transposed sheet music itself (because you work with a pianist for instance) then I have the

appropriate software to do that (I use Music Publisher 6).

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