I almost hesitate in posting this on a singers' forum but do you think that this is supposed to be serious? If so could you really learn anything from this lady apart from how to produce a huge wobble and to wave your arms about?
My lessons were nothing like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1mcKkVd710...feature=related

I take 3 things from that clip

1 the teacher is from the "old school"
2 I wanted to grab hold of her pupil to stop her moving around so much
3 it's got me in the mood for my week in France coming up on Saturday

thanks for posting it - quite entertaining!

Henry, dear! You've got far too much time on your hands if you're trawling through youtube to find clips like that.

How dreadful.

Sadly this out of tune, badly produced singing (I'm talking about the teacher) and the mistaken belief that solfège exercises (such as singing in sixths) will help build the vocal technique are horribly prevalent in France.

Clearly no attention has been paid to core stability, jaw tension, tongue placement, using less air etc.

The best that poor student can hope for is to end up with the same screeching mess of a voice that the teacher has.

Still, we're good at wine, cheese and chocolate!

Mmm! Wine, cheese and chocolates!

I use the Vaccaj vocal exercises myself and they are good. What was that clip all about though? What a wonderful example of how to wreck your voice. I have heard some older singers who have the most fabulous tone and control because they learnt how to sing. That was just terrible.

i also use the vaccaj for my classical people, but more as a tool for musicianship. certainly not like that, that's plain awful ...
i would always be wary of singing teachers who spend more time on singing themselves than actually listening to the student - this is clearly a case of "listen to the amazing (???) sounds i can produce and then copy". no word about HOW.
if she just looked at the student once, she would have corrected really bad postural habits that create an awful lot of tension. she would have also stopped her from getting on her toes constantly or locking her jaw completely.
this lady is clearly too busy listening to herself however ...

So true mezzo! Yet another example of teaching what to sing, rather than how to sing.

Vaccaj are great if they're used as exercises in intervals and classical ornamentation. I have a copy too.

It's a shame some people think they will actually teach 'how' to sing, though.

Henry - I have several older singers in my studio who sing beautifully - because they understand how their voice works and can apply it to any style they choose in a healthy manner. I totally agree - there's no need for severe vocal deterioration with age.

Its rather compulsive viewing, although quite how the teacher is meant to hear what the pupil is singing when she is drowning her out all the time I don't know.

I'm also rather surprised by the comments from people who have found all those videos encouraging or useful.

Edit: In some it looks like the pupil's going to keel over and land flat on her face

Yes, I thought so, and there are several of her video "lessons" on Youtube to delight all. It wasn't posted on April 1st was it?