The Sarkissian Method
The FAQ
What is the Sarkissian Method?
The Sarkissian Method® (also called "the Triangle Method", in reference to its basic concept of the "Balance Triangle") is a professional vocal technique teaching method for singers and actors, created by lyric singer and teacher Mariam Sarkissian.
The method is designed to train and optimise vocal, artistic and verbal expression for singers and actors (children, amateurs and professionals of all styles, levels and ages).
It allows you to acquire mastery of the vocal instrument through the installation of a professional vocal technical base: by imposing the practice of precise mental algorithms in order to create high-performance technical automatisms, necessary for free and satisfying vocal expression and the activation of the body's optimal natural resonance (and for opera singers and actors working in large spaces — also optimal natural amplification).
The method was described in Mariam Sarkissian's book I think, therefore I sing or The Praise of Cognitive Belcanto, published in 2018 and republished in 2023.
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What is the Balance Triangle?
The Balance Triangle is an original concept created by lyrical singer and teacher Mariam Sarkissian. This essential pedagogical tool of the Sarkissian Method brings together and links the main elements in the spoken and sung vocal technique teaching in a coherent and interdependent way.
The concept of the Balance Triangle® gives the Sarkissian® Method the particularity of being able to be transmitted in its original state and to be taught by every singing and sung and spoken vocal technique teacher.
The concept of the Balance Triangle was described in Mariam Sarkissian's book I think, therefore I sing or The Praise of Cognitive Belcanto. The first chapter, the summary and the bibliography of the book, as well as its full downloading in pdf format in English and French, are available here.
The Balance Triangle® concept and the Sarkissian Method® have no known equivalent in the field of spoken vocal technique teaching, spoken or sung vocal technique, instrumental technique and music in general.
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Where does the knowledge on which the Sarkissian Method is based come from?
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From the empirical experience of the great musicians, singers and singing teachers of the past (from the 17th century to the present day), including Giovanni Battista Lamperti (1839-1910), Camille Everardi (1824-1899) and Manuel Garcia Jr. (1805-1906), whose main works and testimonials of their pupils are quoted in the book I think, therefore I sing or The Praise of Cognitive Belcanto;
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the pedagogical and artistic experience of Mariam Sarkissian's main teachers, their teachers and professional entourage; numerous works, some of which are quoted and appear in the bibliography of the book I think, therefore I sing or The Praise of cognitive belcanto;
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Mariam Sarkissian's own experience as a student, professional singer and pedagogue;
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from the unique experience of her post-traumatic self-rehabilitation, after a serious car accident.
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What is professional vocal technique?
An acquired professional vocal technique is nothing more than complete mastery of our vocal instrument (which is unique to each of us), enabling us to express our creative ideas in the best possible way: literally, to produce all the sounds we want to produce.
Acquiring a professional technique depends on regular training, the rules and procedures of which must be clearly defined by the teacher, as well as regular practice, both mental and physical, of the sound creation algorithms, the result of which is the creation of automatisms that serve artistic vocal expression, both sung and spoken, in the best possible way.
Mariam Sarkissian is convinced that everyone deserves a good technique in vocal practice: with her Method, anyone who masters natural verbal expression can acquire a professional vocal technique for his chosen genre, regardless of the objective quality of the individual's creative thinking.
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How does it work ?
In her method, Mariam Sarkissian identifies separately the technical, executive aspect of vocal expression and the initial creative idea, musical or verbal.
She proposes a common technical communication base for teachers and students to ensure better mutual understanding during technical training, with the aim of creating healthy executive automatisms (based on the already installed mechanisms of natural verbal expression) to optimally serve the realisation of creative thought.
Thanks to this identification and in-depth understanding of the technical training process, the Sarkissian Method can be taught by all teachers who wish to integrate it into their pedagogy in order to pass on effective technical bases to singers and actors.
Several teachers have already been trained in teaching the Sarkissian Method by Mariam Sarkissian via the Opéra Off training organisation: the particularity of the Method is that it can be transmitted in its original state and added to the teaching of each teacher without denaturing his pedagogy, which is unique for each one.
Once the "coordinate system" of the Sarkissian Method has been assimilated, the student, whether singer or actor, can continue to install, alone or accompanied, the technical thought of the Balance Triangle® which, through its application in daily exercises and passages from the chosen repertoire, will enable the creation of beneficial automatisms for optimal artistic, musical and verbal expression.
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Can anyone learn to sing?
Anyone who masters natural verbal expression can learn to sing in a chosen style or genre. The quality of their singing will depend on the quality of their creative, musical thought, and its combination with the executive, technical thought.
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Can everyone learn to speak and sing in a high position and develop an "opera voice" ?
Anyone who has mastered natural verbal expression can learn to speak and sing in a high position and develop a lyric voice (an 'operatic voice'), requiring the element of natural sound amplification to be mastered.
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Are there different techniques for various types of singers' and speakers' voices ?
No. And the installation tools for a healthy technical basis are the same for everyone.
No. In the Sarkissian Method, the tools for installing a healthy technical base are the same for all voices, children and adults.Depending on the specific needs of certain voice types and tessituras (and, in the case of singers, depending on the particularities of the repertoire being worked on), additional exercises may be added to help work on technical balance.
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What is the technical thought ?
The term of the technical thought is introduced by Mariam Sarkissian in her book I think, therefore I sing or The Praise of Cognitive Belcanto to separate the initial creative idea (artistic or verbal) from the mechanisms serving its realisation.
The musical thought (which is the artistic thought of the lyrical singer, his initial creative idea and his main vector which "animates" and stimulates the technical thought) answers here to the question "what" and the technical thought, executive – to the question "how".
The Sarkissian Method proposes, for the first time, this awareness and identification of the two mechanisms, creative and executive thought, together with a well-structured process for the optimal combination of both.
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Who is the Sarkissian Method designed for?
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Anyone who knows what they want to express (declaim, sing), but doesn't know how;
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those who are dissatisfied with their vocal technique, speaking or singing, and are unable to produce the sounds they would like to;
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those looking for clear, effective answers to their technical questions;
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those who want to learn to sing with a healthy technical base from the very beginning;
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those who want to pass on a healthy technical base, whether sung or spoken;
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those who want to improve an already existing vocal technical base;
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those who want to understand how the spoken and sung voice works, know their tessitura and develop their inner vocal instrument.
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Is it essential to have good vocal technique to sing well ?
To make our voice and our singing in general pleasant to others – no. But to be able to produce the sounds we want to produce and be satisfied with the result, to develop a maximum of sound with a minimum of effort (one of the great aims of a lyrical singer), to make singing as free and natural as our verbal expression and to be able to sing "until our last breath" and keep our vocal cords healthy – yes.
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Can the Sarkissian Method be applied to all esthetics
(jazz, pop, musicals, etc.) or to all repertoires
(baroque, classical, contemporary, etc.) ?
Yes, the technical basis is the same for all singers of all styles. The way in which it is produced differs according to the demands of the creative thought, which is specific to each style.
The most complete professional vocal technique is that of the lyrical singer (1st category), followed by the non-lyrical singer (2nd category) and the speaker (3rd category). All these three categories have the same technical basis.
The requirements of the repertoire develop the skills of the non-lyric singer allowing him to 'declaim' the sung text at frequencies that are unusual for the spoken voice placed in the High Position.
In the case of the lyric singer, who (unlike the non-lyric singer) does not use electrical amplification, there is the additional element of Openness, the natural amplification of the voice, the "biological microphone".
For the opera singer, the element of the Openness (which is automatically part of the opera style, since it does not require electrical amplification) is introduced into the Sequence of Sound Creation.
Actors working in large halls will also need to be aware of this element of natural amplification.
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I am a lyric singer. Will my tessitura change with the
Sarkissian Method?
This is possible if your current technique was not effective and professional enough to identify and awaken the one true vocal instrument within you.
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How long does it take to install the Triangle's technical thought and to get the first results ?
According to Mariam Sarkissian's pedagogical experience, the creation of the Balance Triangle's technical thought habit among students in lyrical singing (a category that needs more time than others, as it has to master more technical elements,) aged between fourteen and seventy-six years old who practise regularly, takes between four and seven weeks. Then it takes three to four months for the first technical automatisms to appear. This doesn't mean that there won't be positive results sooner: we can start getting them after the very first work sessions, but they won't be automated and we will need to follow the same technical thought in order to be able to reproduce them each time while singing.
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Can I learn to sing (more) in tune with the Sarkissian Method?
Yes, if, as in most cases, the intonation problems you are experiencing are related to the fact that you are not imposing your musical thought as the main vector of your singing and that your technical thought and its automatisms are not able to follow it correctly.
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I already have a singing teacher but I am not satisfied with my technique: could I improve my technique with the
Sarkissian Method without disturbing the work in progress?
It is possible if you are not a beginner and if you can ignore the technical indications of your teacher (if they are incompatible with what the Sarkissian Method proposes).
The method's Virtual Course, already available in French and soon in English, is a "self-help" which is perfectly suitable in this kind of situation, where we have to continue, for some reason to work with a singing teacher who doesn't offer us enough valid technical solutions and we don't want or can't consult another teacher to solve technical problems (personal sympathy, prepared diploma in an institution, etc.)
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What is the Virtual Course offered on this site?
The Virtual Course ('Le Cursus' and 'Le Cursus lyrique' courses, different for lyric and non-lyric singers) is an introduction to the Sarkissian Method accessible to everyone, where each person can progress at his own rhythm, trying out and choosing the educational tools that suit him and finding individual answers and technical solutions.
The Virtual Course is made up of educational tools in text, audio and video format. It is designed to help install a healthy technical vocal base and clean up a defective one through the technical thought of the Balance Triangle and good habits in daily practice, by assimilating the content through text, sound and image.
The Virtual Course is designed to suit singers of all styles, genres, levels and tessituras (beginners, advanced singers, those in training or in rehabilitation), as well as vocal directors, choirmasters, singing teachers, vocal coaches, etc.
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Where do the classes take place?
Classes with Mariam Sarkissian take place at the Atelier Sarkissian, Paris, at the Atelier Sarkissian, Montargis and in workshops and masterclasses elsewhere (announced at the home page).
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Who are the strange creatures that live on this website and play with triangles?
They are creations of the artist Saré, the mother of Mariam Sarkissian.
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