About
Personally selected and endorsed by Maestro Seth Riggs to be his Associate in 1991, Greg Enriquez is regarded by several Entertainment Professionals to be the most effective and commercial Vocal Technique Instructor in Las Vegas. He has successfully coached hundreds of singers, dancers, and actors in every aspect of musical performance.
Though Enriquez maintains an active teaching schedule at his private studio in Las Vegas and at Maestro Riggs’ studio in Los Angeles, he travels throughout the world as a Guest Lecturer and Teacher in Vocal Therapy and Singing Technique.
He has conducted clinics and private instruction for L.I.P.A. (Paul McCartney), A.C.M. (London, England), the Queensland Conservatorium/Griffith University (Brisbane, Australia), Green Institute of Voice (Munich, Germany), National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (National Grammy in the Schools Career Day) featuring Clint Black, Jimmy Jam, Monica, Phil Ramone, Robi Rosa, Jose Behar, Desmond Child, and Deborah Cox, the Kennedy Center Alliance of Arts Education Network, and Ann Reinking’s Broadway Theatre Project with Gregory Hines, Tommy Tune, Joel Grey, Pat Birch, Marilu Henner, and Julian Stein.
Greg has also extended his expertise to the SLS Summer Program alongside Ken Komisar (A & R, MJJ Records), Steve Baker (Disneyland Casting), Marylata Jacobs (Dreamworks Casting), James Ingram, Peter Gallagher, and Nancy Dussault, and the Donna Reed Foundation (Eddie Foy III, Shelley Fabares, Robert Hays, Howard Keel).
In the field of Opera, his pupils have won scholarships to several institutions including The Boston Conservatory.
His Musical Theatre students include the youngest singer to play Sandy in Grease on Broadway (Lindsay Korman of NBC’s Passions).
He was a special contracted Vocal Consultant for Solange Knowles (Columbia Records), the Tommy Hilfiger Britney Spears…Baby One More Time Tour, HardRock presents Hole…Celebrity Skin Tour (Courtney Love), BLAQUE (Columbia), Creations du Dragon (Celine Dion), as well as for the multi-million dollar productions Mystère (Cirque du Soleil) at the Treasure Island, Starlite Express at the Las Vegas Hilton, Legends in Concert at the Imperial Palace, Zumanity (Cirque du Soleil) at the New York-New York Hotel, Splash at the Riviera Hotel, Notre Dame de Paris at the Paris Resort, the Penn & Teller Show for FOX, the Havana Night Club, We Will Rock You at the Paris Resort, and LE RÊVE at the Wynn Resort.
In the area of Popular Music, many of Greg’s students are currently working Production Deals with industry giants such as David Foster, Quincy Jones, Mike Post, Humberto Gatica, Mercury Records, EMI-Latin, and Sony-Japan.
He also has assisted numerous physicians who specialize in organic and functional disorders of the voice in Vocal Therapy. Greg holds the highest level of certification (5) and is a founding member of the Instruction Management Team for Speech Level Singing International overseeing teacher certification.
Greg far exceeds the required standard through continuous weekly one-to-one study with Maestro Riggs acquiring more than 600 hours of individual instruction and well over 7,000 hours of Master Class participations.
Approach
Technique
From Signor Mufti of the original Schola Cantorum, to his pupil Riccardo Daviesi and Antonio Cotogni, to their pupil E. Herbert-Caesare; on to Mattia Battistini, to Beniamino Gigli, to Tito Schipa, to John Charles Thomas, to Helge Rosvaenge, to Robert Weede, to Keith Davis, and to my teacher and inspiration Seth Riggs my eternal gratitude for vocal direction; this individual application of seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth century Italian Bel Canto Techniques (including an intimate understanding of Castrati Techniques of vocal registration balance) is the particular vocal pedagogy and tradition that I have tried to follow, explore, and emulate for over 30 years. Additional support from Richard Miller and Dr. Ingo Titze are forever appreciated.
These techniques were forged and tempered by the fierce demands placed on the world’s top performers throughout vocal history. It is exceptionally adaptable to a broad range of styles, because it does not force rigid technique. Applied in Opera to Rock; Jazz to Pop; Musical Theatre to R&B; it has also been practiced by actors to perfect their vocal presence and empower them in speech.
Since you are not learning WHAT to sing but rather HOW to sing and maintain an even balance through your passages, this Vocal Approach can be applied to any genre of music, language or style.
It develops a voice free of clutter, manufactured sounds, and over-culture. This Vocal Approach responds to both the immediate and structural problem of the individual singer including constriction caused by high larynx and the resultant inability of the vocal cord structure to allow easy pitch control and natural vowel formation in the throat. Techniques are successful for improving the voices of singers ages 8 to 85 and are particularly effective at rejuvenating senior and damaged voices.
Pedagogy
Whatever the content or subject, it has been my experience that a “Cause and Effect” approach to teaching is the most effective method. Because my method is application, each exercise I prescribe (whether in individual instruction or group clinics) is done in such a manner that the exact desired outcome is achieved directly as a result.
It is quicker and more accurate. Effective and efficient!
Although a picture can tell a thousand stories, the experience of one story is ALWAYS BETTER. When “descriptions” and “observations” become more important than or a substitute for the “ABILITY to DO,” YOUR learning will become the casualty!
Obviously to understand the basic principles underlying any endeavor is important, but just telling you “WHAT to do” does nothing to “HELP YOU do.” You have to know “HOW TO DO.” That can only be realized BECAUSE OF experience – YOUR experience.
Ability involves the coordination of many actions and thoughts. It requires not only the capacity to multi-task, but most importantly the proficiency to multi-focus. That is why each exercise will act first as a mechanical assist and, in doing so, become a psychological assist.
Additionally, I prefer to communicate using language that has a definite functional and mechanical relationship specific to you and the individual needs of your demands. Purposely guiding YOUR descriptions to ONLY follow YOUR experiences – not before – ensures your deepest and fullest understanding of the process of learning.
Frequently Asked Questions
Well, artistically speaking, singing is using your voice in a musical manner to communicate ideas and emotions to an audience. Technically, however, singing is nothing more than sustained speech over a greater pitch and dynamic range.
The ability to always maintain a speech-level production of tone – one that stays “connected” from one part of your range to another. You don’t sing like you speak, but you need to keep the same comfortable, easily produced vocal posture you have when you speak, so you don’t “reach up” for high notes or “press down” for low ones.
Yes. There’s no great mystery involved. But although it’s easy to understand, it takes time and patience to coordinate everything so that you can do it well.
It’s wrong to prematurely classify a voice before you really get to know what it can do. Too often, existing range is the sole determining factor in placing a singer into a certain category. The most important factor to consider is the basic quality of the voice. Assuming that your speaking voice is clear and unforced, your singing voice should be based on the quality of that speaking voice.
Everyone has a different vocal ability, but, on the average:
· Basses should be able to sing low E to G above middle C.
· Baritones should be able to sing low G to B natural just below the Tenor high C.
· Tenors should be able to sing C (below middle C) to E above high C.
· Altos should be able to sing low C (below middle C) to high C.
· Mezzo-Sopranos should be able to sing G (below middle C) to Eb above high C.
· Sopranos should be able to sing G (below middle C) to F above high C.
All voices should be able to maintain a connected, speech-level production of tone throughout their entire range.
Of course. But the importance of breathing in singing has been overemphasized by voice teachers for too long a time. Correct breathing is a by-product of good technique – just like one’s resonance quality is a by-product. You should never work directly at developing your breath unless you have a sloppy posture and a depressed rib cage (which collapses uncontrollably when you expel air). You indirectly develop the proper breath support for your tone as you condition your larynx not to move and your outer muscles to relax. When you use a speech-level approach to singing, everything, including how much air you use to move your cords, happens automatically.
First of all, you must be able to discern whether or not a teacher is primarily a voice technique teacher (one who shows you how to sing), or whether he/she is primarily a voice coach (one who shows you what to sing). Of the two types, the voice technique teacher is the most important, because without the technical ability to sing flexibly and clearly in all parts of your range, you are very limited to the material you can do. For the initiated, a good voice technique teacher is hard to find. Many so-called voice teachers are just vocal “cheerleaders,” who bang away at a piano while you follow along. That is not teaching you how to sing, however. You just get a lot of practice following a piano, and memorizing the notes of a song. Furthermore, when the teacher’s methodology consists mainly of using terms such as “give it more support,” “sing from your diaphragm” and “open your mouth,” you know you are in the wrong company. If you don’t feel your voice improving in the areas of tone production and easily attainable range extension within a few weeks, you’d better find another teacher – fast! Many teachers give their students the same vocal problems which killed their own careers and made them teachers. Before studying with a teacher, ask for a simple demonstration of the teacher’s own ability – especially his/her ability to negotiate their own passage areas. Audition the teacher!
*What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing.*Over 30 years of teaching and my lifetime as a student have taught me
that students are most successful when they become their own “teachers.” When given the tools to be expressive and the encouragement to be risk-takers, they become resourceful and creative thinkers whose “tools” and “techniques” become a means to an end, not an end in themselves.
I recognize there are many avenues to artistic perception and creativity. Each student learns in a very individual way. A “tennis match” between student and teacher ultimately brings about our best rewards. In this spirit, I have discovered that the inner joy of “doing” is the best motivator and that “fun” helps abolish the inner critical voice that inhibits ideas.
It is important to me that my students be confident and prepared. This, along with the ability to be flexible and expressive, has allowed my students to become successful and marketable.