If you can speak, you can sing! Throga is a vocal technique that uses a scientific approach to improve the skills needed to achieve a healthy, strong and well-balanced instrument. More importantly, it allows a singer to celebrate their unique vocal qualities in any style they love to sing. Throga features the only vocal technique in history to be awarded a US patent and has been used by singers, speakers, actors and educators in 126 countries around the world.
What is the Vocal Gym?
The Vocal Gym isn’t like any other online learning platform. It will teach you how to understand your voice and provide a series of exercises specifically for you. Just like professional athletes focus on isolating groups of muscles when working out, singers can focus on specific areas of their voice while doing customized vocal exercises. After completing your free Vocal Profile Assessment, you will have instant access to the Vocal Gym to explore for yourself, along with optional courses for more in-depth training and access to live lessons, the pattern vault, and step by step assistance to pair your voice with the right exercises!
What are the 7 Dimensions of Singing?
The 7 Dimensions of Singing is a simple way to divide different aspects of the voice, based on their physical location within the instrument and muscle functionality. Singers and teachers use this unique perspective to better identify vocal skills, accurately measure progress, and associate the right exercises to target when training. The dimensions are: Flexibility, Breathing, Intonation, Range, Tone, Articulation and Strength. To learn more and see which dimensions you excel at, be sure to take your free Vocal Profile Assessment.
How does science help me sing better?
Singing is a musical artform that requires both emotional expression (singing ‘from the heart’) and physical coordination (mental programming). There’s no denying that singing is absolutely possible without ever learning the science behind it. However, all emotion, physical coordination and desire comes from the mind. From the time we started to speak and hum along with our very first song, mental programs were being cultivated. The more we did it, the better we got. That’s right! Our ability to sing today, regardless of what skill level we are at, is a result of PRACTICE. Repeating a word, a sound, or even the thought of a sound, played a small role in the shaping of our voices. THIS is where the science of singing comes into play. The more efficiently we practiced something, the quicker we improved. Unfortunately, bad habits are sometimes formed through imbalanced muscle tensions and misguided beliefs, causing a singer to limit what they’re actually capable of. Quality vocal practice, through understanding WHICH exercises to practice and HOW to do them, will create new positive behaviors and speed up the learning process. Science may not be able to teach a singer how to “sing from the heart”, but it can be used to reduce inhibitions (mental blocks and anxieties) and improve the instrument’s overall ability for their heart to be heard!
Will Throga Technique change my singing style?
No, it won’t. In fact, it will help you cultivate whatever style you are passionate about singing. This includes every genre imaginable, like Pop, Country, Musical Theatre, R&B, Jazz, Folk, Grunge, Rock and the hundreds of sub-genres related to each of them. How is this possible? This approach is designed to develop a singer’s instrument through isometric exercises and coordination to reach your full potential. The greater the vocal skills become, the easier it will be to express yourself.
What about classical singers? Will Throga help?
Yes! Like any other style of singing, classical singing has specific expectations to be met, along with a relative repertoire. These items can be explored directly with private singing lessons in addition to developing the overall strength and coordination of the instrument from training in the Vocal Gym.
What about hard rock and metal singers?
Yes, metal singers too! Learning how the instrument works and minimizing overall tensions while creating intentionally distorted sounds are key to a lifetime of reliable singing. A private coach can assist in developing this style even further to keep your voice healthy and strong.
Is Throga only for professional singers?
No! Throga focuses on the health and overall balance (coordination) of the vocal instrument, which benefits ALL levels of singers at any age. Whether you are a touring professional or simply curious about your voice, Throga is a safe and incredibly effective means to learn and develop your skills further with no prior singing experience necessary.
Is it true that you have to have natural talent in order to sing well?
What if we were to tell you that “talent” isn’t a requirement to become a great singer? Even if you’ve never taken a voice lesson or joined a choir in school, you have spent thousands and thousands of hours since the time you were born, learning to coordinate your instrument by mimicking others speak and sing to form your words (articulation), move your voice up and down (pitch and range), hold out sounds (breathing), and explore different volumes and textures to get your point across (strength and tone). You see, you may not have been aware, but you have been training yourself to sing your entire life! Of course, some individuals may pick things up quicker based on some genetic factors and other influences, but they too had to put in the time to achieve the skills they have today. No matter what your skill level is at this moment, the more efficient your training is, the more you will improve. This includes discovering and improving potentially bad habits and poor muscle coordination as well.
Is there any proof that the Throga Technique actually works?
Mechanically speaking, any modern physiology book that explores human anatomy and/or neurology, will support the claims presented in the Vocal Gym course and 7 Dimensions of Singing books. This is, in part, what earned Throga the only full-utility patent for a vocal technique in US history. Additionally, anyone who has re-taken their free Vocal Profile Assessment after spending quality time in the Vocal Gym, will actually see a measurement of success in their vocal skills. Artistically speaking, success can be measured in self-confidence, emotionally connecting with listeners, testimonials, ticket and merchandise sales, audition successes, increased fanbase, and most importantly, actually ENJOYING to sing more! However, if you’d like to see an extreme example of Throga’s Techniques in action, check out Throga’s founder (Richard Fink IV) set the Guinness World Record for the Longest Continuous Vocal Note ever held.