VOICE TEACHER SETH RIGGS : HE’S MAKING A PITCH FOR SIMPLER VOICE TEACHING

As befits a vocal coach who has worked with such pop notables as Bette Midler, Stevie Wonder and Madonna over the last 20-plus years, Seth Riggs doesn’t worry too much about where his next student might be coming from.

His appointment book, carefully blocked off in red and black boxes, is jammed until what seems like the year 2087. In addition to the big-name stars, some of his former students have gone on to become sought-after teachers in their own rights.

So just why is Riggs, 57, teaching a lecture class--starting today--at UCLA Extension?

Riggs believes that the high art of vocal pedagogy needs to be taken down a notch or two; he sees it as needlessly esoteric and even frightening.

“Being a singing teacher’s a great racket,” Riggs said, sitting at the piano in his Hancock Park studio. “I mean, the students come to your house, they pay you money, they hang on your every word--and in return you can ruin their lives, dreams and hopes, and their voices, and not even hear from a lawyer about it.

“It’s this kind of psychological terrorism that really needs to stop,” Riggs continued. “Anybody can learn to sing, and sing well; it doesn’t need to be some pagan sacrifice ritual.”

The fundament underlying all of Riggs’ hearty pep-talking is his belief that many singers burn out by trying to bring their powerful chest-generated voices up into the higher musical ranges. This puts undue pressure on the vocal cords.

Riggs’ method is to instill the head voice--a lighter, less stressful means of vocal production--with some of the chest’s power.

It’s simple, but hard to work out in practice, as present Riggs student (and UCLA Extension registrant) Kristen Benton attests.

“Most vocal teachers were telling me to put less strain on the top notes, but they never told me how ,” said Benton, an actress-singer who--at 18--has just turned professional. “Once I started going to Seth, about 2 1/2 years ago, he showed me how, by example and exercise.”

But why would a Riggs student who already gets personal attention from the teacher take a filled-to-capacity class where the one-on-one teaching will be limited?

“I want a little bit of philosophy,” Benton said, “a sense of the whole structure of his technique that I can’t really get at the lessons. That way I can have some kind of context to put the lessons in. All I know is that if I win an Oscar some day, I’m going to shake it out at the audience and say, ‘Seth, this is for you.’ ”

Riggs himself was still thinking about what shape his plans for the big class--by far the largest assemblage he’s tried to deal with--might take.

“The numbers are going to be a little bit boggling,” he admitted, frowning slightly, “because the one-on-one will be limited. But if I can just get them to experience a little of what people who can afford anything are learning, then they’ll have picked up something pretty valuable.

“I’m convinced I should be able to get at least that much across the footlights. One thing’s for sure: I’m not going to bamboozle anybody, or hold anybody’s hand. This is going to be a class .”