- Functional Versus Classical Training January 30, 2007
A lot of the argument about what constitutes “good” vocal training would be eliminated if singing teachers could distinguish between functional training and classical training (remember, that has been the only vocal music training for the last 200 years). Good classical training is functional training, if it is geared towards training the voice to ...
- Bel Can’t! OH!! January 30, 2007
Just came back from the Met (Opera), where my friend, Robert, and I attended “Jenufa” starring Karita Mattila. The opera’s music was lovely, the orchestra played nicely, the singing ranged from not-to-hot to wonderful but the set was frighteningly awful. Ugly, very steeply raked, bare, and bizaare. It was not only useless, ...
- Half Knowledge January 29, 2007
It’s very sad to give someone half a gift. It’s like giving half a birthday cake, or half a vacation, or half a train ticket (go, but don’t come back?). Giving half a gift is almost worst than receiving half a gift. I have had occasion to work with students who are making great ...
- Perfect Vocalism January 21, 2007
One can only sing as well as one’s control over the voice allows. If there is a weak place, or places that are tight, the singer will either be limited or sing badly. Period. The reason to work on perfecting technique is because it allows the singer to sing, and sing freely, ...
- You Were Confused? January 19, 2007
A few days ago I wrote a piece from the “opposition” point of view. I thought it was telling that some readers didn’t know if I was serious or not. I wasn’t. I couldn’t possibly have the beliefs I espoused in that piece. I was trying, obviously with limited success, to ...
- Vibrato January 18, 2007
This week I have worked on two sides of the same issue. One singer came in with a lifetime of singing with a natural vibrato. She wanted to learn how to eliminate it and had done so by the end of the session. Another singer, who told me not so long ago ...
- The Other Side of the Tract January 17, 2007
I’ve been thinking that it would be good to take on the position of those whose attitudes I dislike. SO… I believe that singing opera can be helpful to anyone who wants to learn to sing. In order to sing opera, one must learn to breath efficiently and deeply, using the diaphragm and the ...
- The Invisible War January 16, 2007
I continue to receive personal reports, one at a time, from various teachers of singing who are at university, that there is a “war” between the departments of music and drama, and that within the departments of music, there are many problems between those that are “strictly classical” teachers of singing and those who teach ...
- Respect Only Matters When You Are Being Disrepected January 12, 2007
What does it mean to respect a piece of music? Does respect mean treating it the way one treats a person? Do the same kinds of values matter when one is in relationship to an artistic creation as to a human being? A good deal of what would constitute respect is connected to knowledge. ...
- Lost (and Found) Voice January 10, 2007
Over the holidays I got sick with a head cold (not unusual). I sang at the holiday concert I mentioned a while ago, with 90% voice, the Handel piece, “Let The Bright Seraphim” with trumpet and organ, as well as two other songs (one a capella). Although it was not one of my best ...
- Making A Sound That Doesn’t Exist December 18, 2006
As I see it, my job is to get someone to make a sound that he or she has never made, and therefore has no concept of. It’s my job to trick the person’s throat into some new behavior that has never occurred so she can say, “Gosh, I never made that sound before”. ...
- Service December 14, 2006
I was teaching for a long time — years — before it occurred to me that I was in a service profession. I knew I was a singing teacher but that was as far as I thought. When it finally dawned upon me that I was providing a service, I was somewhat surprised. ...
- The Profession of No Standards December 12, 2006
In order to have standards, you have to have some kind of structure. You have to make up some guidelines and stick to them. Some people won’t like it, as they will balk at what they perceive to be restriction, others may find that the guidelines are too weak, and do not set ...
- Brightness versus Nasality December 6, 2006
I can usually tell when I am listening to someone singing CCM who has had only classical training, as there are “telltale signs” in the singing. One of the most blatant is nasality. So many teachers think that making a nasal sound is an end in itself, a destination, and a stepping stone ...
- Writing? Writing!! December 6, 2006
Over the past several years I have encountered so many teachers who have had wonderful experiences learning to work with CCM and with Somatic Voicework. Each has a personal point of view and has incorporated my work into his or her own work in their own special manner. Since the point of my ...