Phil Moufarrege: A Conversation With My Vocal Coach

Also check out our duet that we recorded and filmed together: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5d4Aiwh5uQ

In February this year I travelled to Japan by myself for the first time in my life. Before I left for this trip, Phil and I had nearly completed a song together as we knew we were meeting shortly. Our plan was to record the vocals while we were together, only after giving me a full days worth of vocal instruction in order to get the absolute best out of my voice. This was an absolutely fantastic experience as I have been doing lessons with Phil since somewhere around early-mid 2014 online and now I had the opportunity to train with him in person and smooth out some of the final kinks in my voice. 

Hearing Phil sing and speak in person shocked me at first as I didn’t realise how deep, booming and resonant every line he sings (and speaks) can be. Besides recording this song, filming a music video and doing several hours of vocal training with Phil I knew I had to question him on his vocal philosophies for a Youtube video. Unfortunately the day I had planned to film a professional interview with Phil ran a bit longer than a planned with other activities but I still managed to get it done in the car with my phone. Here is a summary of our conversation: 

Phil Moufarrege Believes Singing Should feel EASY 

Since 2017 I have heard Phil begin to explain that he believes singing should always be easy. He states in our video that “the only way to get a CD-quality sound- live in one take is to make it feel easy”. We both concluded that singing with ease not only feels better but it SOUNDS better. Phil told me that some people have casually questioned him on what he means by ‘ease’- as if he must be mistaken that singing could be easy! In the video we go deeper explaining that singing high notes & singing in general definitely takes effort, however this effort and bodily pressure should still feel easy. 

Something I instantly noticed about Phil when I met him face to face was that he completely embodies everything he talks about on Youtube and during our lessons. His speaking voice was more resonant and deeper than I imagined, with his bodies posture positioned tall and confident. Phil goes to great lengths to preserve his voice, explaining to me how he sleeps in certain positions in order to be free from jaw tension. He also constantly monitors himself (and me) for how the speaking voice could be impacting overall vocal health. His life simply revolves around singing.

Since I have been training with Phil since 2014 I have seen many evolutions of his teaching style. As he said in our chat, he has always been a tutor focused on correcting the students sound as soon as he hears weaknesses in the voice. Since 2014 Phil’s ability to hear inconsistencies in each vocal sound has sharpened A LOT. If I do a lesson with Phil now it only takes him a couple of minutes to know exactly what we will be working on in our time together during that lesson. 

Over the years Phil has always understood that even if you are training the voice to sound great in a certain way, you may not be able to perform live with that sound if there is strain. A lot of singers nowadays just punch in the vocal recording line by line, which without the technical ability will leave the singer unable to perform the song they’ve recovered in a live setting. In 2017 Phil set out to begin revolving his vocal teachings around being able to perform songs in their entirety, in order to combat the challenges vocalist have set for themselves in the modern day. Even myself on my first EP that I recorded just last year- I punched in each line, got it to sound great and then found it incredibly difficult to replicate in a live setting. The vocal lessons I have done with Phil over the past year specifically have all been focused directly on reducing my strain and tension in order to build my vocal endurance and increase my range much further than ever before. 

Ever since I met Phil in person I have a newfound energy and fire re-lit to keep practicing my voice daily. I also have a stronger focus and more clear vision for myself as a vocal coach. I want to help my students get the absolute best out of their voices & I am now even more dedicated to making that come true.

Make sure to not miss out on the video interview we did in order to hear our full conversation (which includes more questions!).