Maestro David Kyle - Seattle Voice Teacher

30 years of training and the legacy continues

Vocal teacher for all styles for over 50 years, David Kyle, The “Maestro” became a local Seattle icon and was considered by the industry to be one of the best vocal instructors for contemporary singers in the world. Unique to the “Maestro’s” approach was his method for expanding vocal range into multiple “registers”, or what we would refer to today at TVS as, “Bridging & Connecting”. Maestro was also keen on eliminating psychological barriers that hinder singers’ freedom of expression, by use of creative visualization techniques and development of healthy auditory imagery for singing. Use of amplification and embracing technology was also an important part of the “David Kyle” training experience that carries over to TVS training with Robert Lunte as well. In addition to these details, Robert Lunte’s vocal training program, The Four Pillars of Singing, found at this web site, offers 10 of Maestro Kyle’s vocal workouts. Another 22 original vocal workouts developed by Robert Lunte are added to The Four Pillars of Singing training program with slow and fast versions of every workout to accommodate different student’s levels of experience. All together, The Four Pillars of Singing offers a total of 32 vocal workouts with 64 different options to explore and train your voice.

One day, Nate Burch, one of Robert Lunte’s students from Seattle, came to the lesson with an old coffee stained piece of paper that had a hand written, transcribed lecture from Maestro Kyle on it. An excerpt from that lecture is shared below as well as popular quotes that Maestro Kyle used to use with all his students.

The complete lecture is provided inside The Four Pillars of Singing Hard Copy Book and training system as part of the tribute to Maestro Kyle that Robert Lunte added to The Four Pillars of Singing.

Maestro David Kyle & Robert Lunte – The Vocalist Studio

MAESTRO DAVID P. KYLE LECTURE:

Those sounds which seem to ring the most are usually the best. Those which seem the roundest are usually the best. Those which seem to resonate are usually the best. Those which seem to echo are usually the best. So listen out into the theater and see if they are echoing, and if they are round, and they are resonant. Connect your notes and don’t be afraid.

There are two kinds of stars. There are “stars” and there are “superstars.” The star no matter how he tries he just can’t seem to become a superstar. He’s great, great, great, great, but along comes a Caruso, or a Lanza, or a Gigli, and he can’t quite get over the hurdle. It’s because of one simple thing. The star sings, and when he’s singing he listens to himself; and while he’s listening he shapes it; and he opinionates it; and he shapes it around. If it isn’t round enough he rounds it more. And that sounds logical doesn’t it? It’s wrong! The superstar pictures the sound and knows what he wants to hear before he makes it!

Singing is more the concept than anything. If we’ve got the right idea, then the muscles as they train more and more they become like a reflex and the reflexes respond to the image. Even if you’re trained beautifully and your image is a fear that you haven’t got high notes and it’ll never get there the reflexes won’t respond no matter how well trained you are. The epitome of it is you can say singing is absolutely mental. In the process of getting to realize that you have to take a lot of physical steps before you begin to see it, but it is true!

The singer has to be in the consciousness and the mood. How does one establish a consciousness and a mood? You tend to become as you act. So if you pretend and try to get your feelings to act as you think they would act if you were doing it, then you’re getting in the consciousness. But if our consciousness is only on body and physical things then our mind is…

The rest of the lecture offers another 5 pages of incredible insights about how the mind controls the singing voice. Read the entire lecture in The Four Pillars of Singing hard copy book, eBook & course work at this web site.

Maestro David Kyle – The Vocalist Studio

Illustrations from The Four Pillars of Singing Book & Course.

Purchase The Four Pillars of Singing

Maestro David Kyle Quotes

“Good singers sing and listen, Great singers listen, then sing”
“Good speech is half sung, but good singing is not half spoken.”
“Wear the world like a loose garment. Don’t let it tighten in on you.”
“Suppose you were learning to drive a car. Would it be better to learn on a road with no obstructions?”
“Every negation is a blessing in disguise.”
“The art of the art is the art that conceals the art.”
“He who would know aught of art must first learn and then take his ease.”
“When you open up you should be able to see light from both ends.”
“Feel like you are singing with your whole body.”
“Your reflexes respond to your image.”
“The reflexes respond to the imagination.”
“Listen away from yourself.”
“Sing on the balls of your feet, like the American Indian.”
“Burn Bridges and don’t look back.”
“Listen away from yourself, right out into the auditorium.”
“Singing is both a science and an art. All art is all imagination and you cannot fix that.”
“You have to believe you will receive before you receive and then you will get it.”
“Visualize you are already what you want to be. Act as if you are that, and you will become it.”
“If you always notice what you are while trying to get there, you’ll never get there.”
“Start as if the sound begins before the breath.”
“The end is in the beginning, and the beginning is in the end.”
“It’s not a game I’m playing! If you think that you’re short changing yourself.”
“People don’t get tired of their work; they get tired of the resistance to their work.”
“Forever diet the voice. Diet the voice; diet the mind; diet the spirit; diet everything but your income!”
“Feel like your whole self is all a part of the sound, like the full violin is just vibrating.”
“Imagine the sound you want, picture the sound you want.”
“Open up the entire body and see the light through both ends!”
“Breath, pause, release the jaw, visualize the sound you want, and sing to the back of (Carnegie Hall).”
“We don’t let attitudes control us, we control them!”
“Only babies are victims of moods!”
“Let the sound flow right over the roof of the mouth into the masque.”
“Bowels up, vowels forward.”
“Some day you’re going to stand up and say, ‘This is me’ and go!”
“We tend to become as we act.”
“Attitude is everything in everything.”
“Every time you find your thinking going to the strain or the resistance, immediately create mentally the sound that you want, hear what you want.”
“And remember you have a beautiful voice. At your worst you sound better than many of them at their best!”
“Just don’t sound like everyone else!”
“And tell it your singing marvelous, you’re singing wonderfully!”
“Sing Away from yourself, to something.”
“Listen, then sing!”
“Way to go Baby!”

Maestro David Kyle passed on Saturday, November 27th of 2004

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