Q. Do you think that classical voice training is detremental to being able to sing pop, or do you think it helps with dynamics and stuff? I've had people tell me both ways.

A. No.(see here) If you know how you want to sound and you have the ability to conrtol how you want a vowel or consonant to sound, classical technique can only help your voice. Take for example the word 'can't.' If you listen to the song "It's Your Thing," sung by The Jackson 5, you will distincly hear Michael Jackson sing the word with what those of us in New York call a "country" accent- i.e., Michael sings "cain't." In opera, you will hear "cahn't" and on Broadway, you will hear variations on the same theme.

The reason for this is that the singer control the sound which is coming out his mouth, and different shapes create different sounds, or different variations on the same sound. You can find many example of singers who can sing more than one style: Pat Benetar (former rock star) was classically trained, Aretha Franklin received a standing ovation when she substituted for Luciano Pavoratti in the Grammy Awards. She sings classical as well. Andrea Bocelli, myself: the list goes on.

Floating from style to style is nothing more than being able to produce the sounds and style that the people who normally listen to that style are accustommed to hearing. How you produce sound has nothing to do with your style.

Q. How many octaves can the average person sing?

A. 1 and a half. A professional (classical) must have at least 2. (A to A to A constitutes 2 octaves). Any time your hear that someone can sing 5 octaves, the person reporting the story is mistaken. It is humanly impossible to have a range of 5 octaves. (Test this theory on a keyboard if you don't believe me.)

Q. With training, can I improve my belt range?

A. The answer is the same as it would be if you were singing classical: You will not improve your range, you will simply become more adept at using whatever range you already have. It may seem like you are increasing your range, but you are not.

Q. My voice is very weak. When I sing at a microphone I am not heard. What can I do to make my voice stronger?

A. The first thing I would recommend when dealing with microphones is to find out how the sound system works in the places you are performing. In some cases, you may not be able to hear yourself, while others hear you just fine. Or, the sound man may not know what he's doing. Or, the club, or any part of the system could not be working properly. I've even heard of some cases where the person working in the sound booth was believed to have purposely brought the levels on the microphones down. Definitely check that out.

As far as strengthening your voice, or more specifically, "projecting" your voice (as it is called here) is concerned, I would first have to hear what the problem is. There could a number of things your might be doing wrong, from blocking the passageway for the sound to come through to using your vocal chords improperly in some fashion. If you have the time, money, etc. see if you can find a speech therapist, or an acting coach, or vocal coach, and explain to any one of these people that you would like to learn how to project your voice. If you can find someone that would be willing to help you out with that exclusively, then you shouldn't have a problem with learning it in a little while.
The suggestions I can offer are:

1. Make sure the passageway from the lungs to the mouth is clear and open. This can be done by pronouncing the englis letter "Y" and holding the position of it.
2. Use your hard palate (the hard part of the roof of your mouth) as a sound board.
3. Learn how to use your falsetto (again, if necessary). Your falsetto is the part of the voice which carries the farthest. Incorporating it into your normal singing voice will help it to carry a little farther.
4. Work, work, work. With and without a microphone.
5. Try to do the work in a room without a lot of items that soak up sound. It isn't useful if you can't really tell how much louder you are.