Is Superior Singing Method a Scam? An Honest Inside look
Superior Singing Method is an online singing course developed by Singer and Vocal Coach Aaron Anastasi. Most reviews you find on the Internet are very positive and highly-rated, which caught my attention and prompted me to try it myself.
Is the course really that good? Or, is Superior Singing Method a scam? I will offer you an inside look into the program and my most honest review as a professional singer and vocal coach myself.
Superior Singing Method Review Summary
Product: Superior Singing Method
Description: Superior Singing Method is an online singing course developed by Singer/Vocal Coach Aaron Anastasia that designed to help beginning to advanced singers to become proficient in the art of singing. Course includes video lessons, audio exercises, and a full-length e-manual(e-book) for the student to use everyday over the course of 8 weeks
Price: Very affordable monthly fees
Best for: Beginners
Product Rating:
Recommended: No
What is offered inside Superior Singing Method?
The singing course has 8 modules – each with six videos lessons for you to work on every day of each week. Each lesson comes with audio exercise for you to work on every day.
Module 1 is for week 1, module 2 for week 2, and it goes on for 8 weeks until you complete the entire singing course.
Module 1 – Warm-ups
This starts out the course by teaching you very basic exercises, such as the lip trills. Every single day you get one or two new vocal exercises to do on top of the previous days of week one, and this is the same for all the later modules.
Module 2 – Breath management
Aaron introduces the Italian singing technique of Appoggio, which is basically another word for breath support.
New exercises are given for you to practice that may or may not help you “breath better” for singing as Appoggio is a rather controversial concept that means different things to different people.
Module 3 – Vocal tone
Aaron identifies the ideal vocal tone by first pointing out how to avoid nasality and gradually work towards developing a fuller tone.
Module 4 – Matching Pitch
For me personally, this is way too early in the course to be training singers to match pitch, since most singers don’t really have this problem.
In reality, a singer’s ability to match pitch improves when the technique become more advanced as they have more control over their voice.
Module 5 – Power and Resonance
After going through the six video lessons of the 5th week, I found that the exercises being taught really has nothing to do with building power in the voice, maybe just resonance.
For instance, the lip roll slides aren’t normally used as a strength-building exercise by most vocal coaches.
It is a warm-up exercise that trains muscle coordination and balance of vocal registers.
Module 6 – High notes and Mix voice
Aaron finally gets into training the Mix voice, which is something I think is of utmost importance for vocal training.
I wish the Mix voice is taught right at the beginning of the course.
Module 7 – Vocal Agility
trains vocal agility with some very interesting scales that contains notes that jump around. It is very effective for training balance, coordination, and matching pitches.
Module 8 – “Advanced Strengthening and Technique”
This module has a very vague concept for vocal training. In this module, Aaron teaches the “uh” two-octave-scale exercise.
In my opinion, “uh” is the best exercise for training the voice for balance, coordination, and power in the voice because of the fullness of frequencies and roundness of tone that it brings out.
Bonus modules – addresses on performing on stage, music marketing, and how to sing harmony.
The Pros and Cons of Superior Singing Method
So far, I don’t know if you have noticed that this review is probably not going to be a positive one. I will explain later why. But, let me start with what I do like about Superior Singing Method.
The Pros:
1. Very affordable price of $97 for 8 weeks of training. This is a one-time purchase, no recurring monthly fee. Not bad for a full vocal training program.
2. Very easy to follow curriculum. The 8 modules each with 6 videos and audio exercises are simple and easy to follow for each day.
3. Very complete vocal training that covers every important area of vocal training. Ideal for beginners to start vocal training.
4. It comes with a written 121-page PDF manual in the bonus module that explains extensively Aaron’s teaching method and theory including what he meant by Appoggio and Mix voice. This is a huge plus to this singing course, because his explanations in the video can be too concise and not well-structured.
The Cons:
1. Poor Camera Presence.
Aaron, to me, was not very good in front of the camera. It almost sounds like he’s mumbling at times while giving instructions for the students.
It is quite a turn-off to watch him teach because his ability to deliver was still developing. As a result, it’s really hard to stay focused while watching the videos.
2. Poor teaching instructions.
There are a lot of vocal coaches on the internet that give clear instructions in their videos – very educational and entertaining.
Aaron was definitely not one of them when he was putting this together.
He mumbles in his videos with “unfocused” instructions that suggests little tips here and there, which sounds quite confusing for students.
3. Lack of visual aid.
The entire singing course centers around Aaron’s video lessons. Since Aaron was not very good with his speech deliveries, it would certainly help if visual aids are included while he teaches. It could be just simple keywords on the screen.
But no. Most of the videos are just Aaron talking through his lessons.
I was a little disappointed after I bought Superior Singing Method, because looking at it from a professional point of view, the quality of this online singing course is debatable.
If you are looking for a complete singing program to build a strong and solid singing voice for power, range extension, and vocal agility, I would recommend Robert Lunte’s The Four Pillars of Singing.
You will really get detail video training and lectures on how the voice really works and the most extensive and intense training routines to build a powerful singing voice to sing whatever style you want.
I have personally gone through this very unique vocal training program. I would recommend it to any one who wants to build a great singing voice.
And yes, great voices need to be built, believe or not!
In simple terms, you need to build the vocal muscles, much like going to the gym.
I’m afraid with Aaron’s training program, you most likely will end up trying to optimize the voice you already have, not really building anything on the voice.
Is Superior Singing Method a scam? Truth revealed…
With all that’s said, it’s time to make my conclusion after examining this singing program.
I would NOT say it’s a scam. I trust that Aaron has put in a lot of work to create this singing course together back then. So, there’s much value in his hard work.
I would advise Aaron to update and upgrade the quality of Superior Singing Method to match the standard of today.
Reality check…
However, I’m probably the first one to say that Superior Singing Method is a mediocre online singing course in today’s standard. The exercises given for practice wouldn’t necessarily help you accomplish what he wants you to work on.
Superior Singing Method is good for beginners looking to have a kick start into singing, because of the simplicity and easy to execute exercises.
The best thing about this singing program is that they offer a 60-day money back guarantee.
If you’re advanced like me, or intermediate looking to progress to advanced, this is definitely not the program for you.
I would recommend Robert Lunte’s online singing program The Four Pillars of Singing as it is the most well-rounded and comprehensive singing product on the internet right now.
If you have any questions or things you want to discuss, please comment below. I’ll be more than happy to discuss with you.
Rex