- Gratitude and Responsibility December 5, 2006
I know that I never really thanked enough the people who taught me, past saying “thank you” at the end of a lesson. (That’s something certain students do but many do not). I wish now that I could go back and say to each person who was an influence on me as a ...
- Picking Nits November 29, 2006
There are 35 muscles in the tongue. The larynx is suspended from some of them. That means that the tongue and the larynx are intimately connected. The jaw, also, has a relationship to the tongue and the larynx. You might think of them as a sandwich. Jaw on top, ...
- Some Can and Some Can’t November 28, 2006
A woman used to advertise in Back Stage with an ad that read: “If you can’t sing, no one can teach you. If you can sing, you don’t need lessons. If you are somewhere in between, I can make you a singer.” This ad always made me laugh, then sigh. She wasn’t ...
- The Price Of Speaking Out November 23, 2006
ARROGANT — I have been called arrogant. I don’t like that accusation, but I suppose it could be true. Certainly I do my best NOT to be arrogant, but I am pretty definite about my opinions and not very willing to change my mind about most of them, at least in terms of ...
- The Universe As We Want It To Be November 22, 2006
Human beings are capable of believing some amazing things. I couldn’t begin to list the ideas that have been taken up by millions of people that are, at best, silly, and at worst, dangerous. Singing teachers, then, are no worse off than a lot of other groups of folks. They are no ...
- What Goes Around Comes Around November 12, 2006
Tonight I had the great pleasure of attending a rehearsal for a show I am in called “Broadway Soul”, which will be done on Monday evening, November 13th, as a benefit for the Amas Theater and its related functions. The creator of the evening is the same man I did shows with between 1975 ...
- Occupational Training versus Cultural Sophistication November 10, 2006
Is college vocal training supposed to be development of Cultural Sophistication or is it Occupational Training? Is it both? I think most schools are confused about the direction of their vocal instruction courses. If I were spending $250,000 for a four year college education, (that’s what it costs here), I would want to be ...
- Why Sing? November 9, 2006
No one needs to sing to stay alive. In fact, no one needs to speak. You could take a vow of silence (people do) and get along just fine. You certainly do not need to express music to communicate with others. So, why sing? Why bother? Ask anyone who does….you will ...
- Vocal Training November 8, 2006
What, exactly, is training for the voice anyway? We all learn to speak by listening to our parents or caregivers by the time we are about two. Our genes determine our anatomy — how long the vocal tract is and how wide it can be, the length and thickness of the vocal folds, ...
- FEAR November 7, 2006
Do you think that babies are afraid to cry really loud, lest they lose their voices? Perhaps infants do get laryngitis, but I have read also that vigorous crying is necessary for lung development and for strengthening of the muscles of the throat and mouth. Do you think that children on ...
- Kid Belters November 7, 2006
Tonight I watched a few kid belters on YouTube. Some of them were 9, 10 and 11 years old. The singing was impressive, but pretty pressured, and to me, anyway, troublesome. I would love to know what happens to these kids over time……I mean years. I was also troubled by the ...
- FEAR – Or Doing Versus Talking About Doing November 5, 2006
Physical skills, which singing is, must be learned by doing. Most skills, like dance, but sports, too, are taught by those who have become experts at doing the process themselves. They impart their wisdom, in one-to-one sessions, and in classes. They teach what they know from life experience. I can’t ...
- My Mistakes November 4, 2006
We all learn, I hope, from mistakes. Doing what we do, however, means learning by working with a student, who gets to be the recipient of those mistakes. Not so nice. We all mean well and do the best we can, and we all have to experiment, to “tinker”. As long ...
- Experience Is The Best Teacher November 3, 2006
In my work as a teacher, I have always done better with experienced students. Not that I don’t work with beginners or singers of average ability, it is just that people who have been around quite a bit seem to respond best to what I have to offer. My list of such students ...
- More Useless Terminology November 1, 2006
Everyone who has taken even one singing lesson has encountered some form of useless terminology. There is an endless list of terms that don’t mean anything, and new ones are coined every day. While this may be a show of creativity, it certainly isn’t helpful to anyone wanting to learn how to sing, ...