Estelle Liebling was a vocal coach who taught singing using the three-register method. She stressed the "unmusicalness" of the seventh octave

Seventh octave

The seventh octave is the highest octave of a piano.Using middle C as a guide, the next higher C is C5 or tenor C. The next C is C6 or soprano high C. The next C, C7 or double high C, is again one octave higher. C7 is eight steps away from the last note on the 88-key piano: C8. C7 is also the...

, as well as the avoidance of the head register in men. One of Liebling's most famous pupils was Beverly Sills

Beverly Sills

Beverly Sills was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. In her prime she was the only real rival to Joan Sutherland as the leading bel canto stylist...

, a coloratura

Coloratura

Coloratura has several meanings. The word is originally from Italian, literally meaning "coloring", and derives from the Latin word colorare . When used in English, the term specifically refers to elaborate melody, particularly in vocal music and especially in operatic singing of the 18th and...

 soprano. Also instructed Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep

Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...

 as a young girl as a singer.

Estelle Liebling had been a pupil of Mathilde Marchesi

Mathilde Marchesi

Mathilde Marchesi was a German mezzo-soprano, a renowned teacher of singing, and a proponent of the bel canto vocal method.-Biography:...

 and carried forth the Manuel Garcia Jr. (Manuel Patricio Rodríguez García

Manuel Patricio Rodríguez García

Manuel Patricio Rodríguez García , was a Spanish singer, music educator, and vocal pedagogue.-Biography:García was born on 17 March 1805 in the town of Zafra in Badajoz Province, Spain. His father was singer and teacher Manuel del Pópulo Vicente Rodriguez García...

) tradition.

Liebling had been a favored soprano of John Philip Sousa

John Philip Sousa

John Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J....

earlier in her career.