David McCarthy Voice

“When I started with David, I had completely separate belt and soprano voices, with huge issues connecting them (horrible for any contemporary music). I was not accessing my full lung capacity, so I had a thin sound, and I held a lot of tension in my abdomen, jaw, and tongue that I wasn’t even really aware of. David helped me pull apart my breathing and put it back together to work efficiently and properly. I now have one voice, that has fullness to it, with no break or different “sounds” moving from a “belt” range to a “soprano” range. David looks at the whole picture. You won’t only do wacky exercises to physically train your instrument (ever gently pulled on your tongue with a paper towel while you sing?), but you will apply them directly to songs you want to sing while you learn them. His techniques were different then anything I had ever done before, and they work. I always feel like I am making excellent use of the time I spend in class with David.”

“I booked six shows that I was going to be performing in repertory. It was a lot of material to learn in a short period of time and the material required me to sing in a variety of styles: from legit musical theatre, pop-rock and also a soprano role. He helped me fine-tune my technique and develop some best practices for the range of roles I had to tackle. Quite simply, I would not have been able to do it without David as my coach. ”

“David is patient, thoughtful and brings a wealth of knowledge and genuine passion to every lesson. I came to David with my voice tangled in a knot. He helped me use images to get untangled and begin to understand my voice as a flow of energy that involves my whole body, my whole self. David is a gifted teacher. He’s interested in me and how my voice is a representation of who I am as a person and artist. Not only has my voice strengthened, but my acting is richer and deeper, too. Can’t recommend David enough.”

“I had not been taking voice lessons in about 4 or 5 years. I was out of practice and putting more focus on my acting stuff. When I finally decided I needed to get back into training, David came highly recommended to me by another student. In the first few months, I got more insights into my voice, habits and strengths than I did from years of studying with other teachers. David helped me discover that I’m a powerhouse of air and helped me figure out how to be more efficient and even more of a powerhouse. ”

“Working with David is always the bright spot in my week. Not only is he a skilled and careful teacher, but a kind and thoughtful human as well. He is able to identify concrete goals to work on, which makes lessons feel productive and helps me to clearly track progress. In addition to technique, he is an invaluable resource for building repertoire and preparing for auditions. He is a gem of a teacher.”

“I was originally trained as a baritone by a legit opera teacher. I hated it because I felt like I was actively doing unnatural things to phonate. It felt like “this isn’t my voice.” I would tire every time I sang. My voice topped out at an F sharp, a G on a good day. When I started training with David I told him that my voice felt unnatural. I told him when I was a kid I would imitate all the Disney princesses and Julie Andrews. Singing in that style and range rang truer to me. He asked me to show him. Imagine a 25 year-old man singing like Julie Andrews at his voice lesson. Embarrassing. But David goes, “Oh wow, you ARE a tenor!” We started unlocking my head voice and my mix. I went from an F sharp top to an E above high C. And I could sing there for days and never tire! In musical theatre I was known for being the guy with the freaky high voice.”

“What makes David so unique and special is that he encourages and welcomes all genres of singing and will combine many different methods and techniques for each student’s individual needs. What is right for one student isn’t always right for another and he understands this. ”

“David has brought me from being an ‘actor who sings’ to being a singer. The first few months of working with him were a goldmine. I loved going and I loved doing the work. I’d be walking there and doing the exercises he taught me to do. It was hard, it was work. It was a struggle but we broke through all that stuff. Now it’s a little different. There’s still frustration but we’re doing songs that are much harder - songs that I would never have been able to tackle before. ”

“There is no fear of failure in David’s studio. It is the place I feel most at ease. When I leave a lesson, everything is better in the world. Seriously.”

“Working with David on my voice has been similar to working on my acting - to be in the moment, to be honest, and to be patient. David has taught me to really examine what is happening physically, and to be in touch with my core. Most importantly, it is a process. You have to go through all the struggles and trouble areas to improve.”

“I’ve been studying with David for 12 years. If you want to work with someone who loves what he does and will teach you to sing like yourself in a sustainable way while accessing your true voice, David is your guy. Most recently, David helped me prepare for concert of my songwriting work at the Kennedy Center. He coached me to find nuance between songs, get my stamina to where it needed to be to sustain a whole show and help me see the bigger picture of how my voice weaves through the music to tell stories. He’s an invaluable part of my process.”

“My favorite thing about working with David is that he is SO aware of how he’s speaking to me. He really cares that what he says is understandable and relatable to how I listen and perceive, that the way he words his comments is thoughtful and he’ll actually stop himself and be sure of his wording before relaying it to me. I also love that he makes sure I have interpreted and can describe everything I’m feeling in my own words. ”

“David’s kind. But he doesn’t let me off the hook. He’s a blast to be around and one of the clearest teachers I’ve ever met. I was working on a cabaret and I needed some singing help. I went to David and it was amazing. When I first started, I felt disoriented in a way that let me know I was learning something really important. I’ve expanded my range and I’ve found a lot more flexibility in my speaking voice, too.”

“When I first came to David I was a mess. I truly believe that I never would have accomplished my goal of performing on Broadway had it not been for lessons with David. He taught me to breathe, reminded me weekly of how important the story is in my singing, and allowed me to relax and have fun and LAUGH through it all.”