What makes you classical singer? Do you have stickability?
As a professional classical singer, I write about vocal technique a lot. Of course, I would, as I am also a voice teacher. I've come to where I am now through a very natural journey of my own - study, performance, more study, woven doggedly around my other life happenings.
Always a personal quest (no one was pushing me) - I have felt drawn along, pulled happily by my simple love of communicating through the physicality and marriage of words and music - and the need to do it better. It's an infectious love, that I have for many years sought to share with other like-minded souls, who have their own quest and who are curious too.
Where do you start?
As a professional musician with a lifetime of technical vocal learning behind me and a trusty ongoing pursuit of future perfection in front of me, I regularly invest in telling my students to be at ease with where they are on their vocal journey. At ease, but not too comfy. To forgive their vocal imperfections BUT also be...
Sunday Musings (in pursuit of classical singing)
From the Little Soprano archive.
Originally written one Sunday morning, almost ten years ago, the comment it makes is still as pertinent as ever, especially for new or beginner singers, or those who have a penchant to return to classical singing.
August 2014
I read the quote below earlier this morning and paused to think on it a while.
I love to sing - everyone knows that - but I also love to write, and that love goes way, way back to before I ever sang a note. It was, I think my love of words that lit that first little singing flame. A beautiful marriage between verse and music. I was clearly thinking about singing at quite an early age ...
I’m not fearful of my singing path; I’ve pursued my craft tenaciously, very conscious of the journey and the absolute need to improve, spurred on by the excitement of improving ability and the lure of achieving my goal. But writing is something else - ultimately far more private. I’m more fearful of failure when I write.
How do you learn classical singing?
Where do you start, learning how to sing classically?
You've got to want to do it - be excited and curious enough to get on board.
The vocal journey has a very human beginning and it is good to remember that. At the heart of all we do as singers, is the joy of making music and the release of self-expression. Sharing with others is vital to the learning experience, because it provides a solid base for exchange, observation and mutual support.
Also, there is no quick fix - no singing teacher worth their salt has a magic wand. You - the singer in you - has to be bitten by the I-want-to-sing-classical-song bug for the duration and be lit up by it over and over again.
I remember years ago, watching a television advert, where an old lady taps a police officer on the shoulder in the street and asks,
“How do I get to Carnegie Hall?”
The officer answers with a wry smile, “Lady, you gotta practice!”
And he was right. Like anything else, you...
Singers: How should we practice?
In other words: practice certainly, but focus. So, just how should you practice singing?
Let me first tell you about this. It's worth thinking about, especially when it comes to muscle memory. Some years ago, I came across an excellent post in a roundabout way as you do, pulled in by its title:
You can see why can’t you? Learning rewires our brains. I was thinking of singing/performance. So I clicked the link to have a good read. (Tip - It's still a good read, even now.)
Funny how these things can pull together fragments of your life, personal and professional. I started thinking about my little daughter, Alice and the problems she had had with Leukodystrophy. But that's another story.
Soon I was deeply engrossed in fully understanding the important role myelination plays in our gradual acquisition of skills, thanks to Jason Shen’s clear explanations and diagrams.
But then, another pathway of understanding opened.
As a vocal...
Singing Tips for Beginners: about your meddlesome tongue.
The audio file attached to this post may also be useful to you if you're starting to piece together the need for a better understanding of how the voice actually works - and how things can go wrong. There's more to explore HERE in my 30-Day Vocal Jumpstart for Singers.
In any language, the tongue is a mighty muscle - and I’m sure if a cat (big or small) could talk, he or she would be truly proficient in its use.
Photo by Isabella Jusková on Unsplash
Singers too need to know their way around the ins and outs of nifty tongue use. Not only for clarity of diction and language but also to have a firm understanding of likely causes of vocal fatigue and related problems to do with limited vocal range and more.
This week’s Technique Truth Tip suggests that a little simple scientific knowledge about the workings/relationship of the genioglossus - the bulk of the tongue body - is a great asset in...
Study Weekends for Singers: what's in it for you?
“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."T.S Elliot
Fabulous words aren't they? And so on point; their message so intimately familiar, easy to recognise as a singer. But if you're keen to improve your vocal skills, the actual trigger to do so could be one of many things.
And person-to-person the deciding criteria may be quite diverse. But, wherever you are on your vocal journey, if you seek improvement or have a quest in mind you'll need to make room for some serious - but rewarding - learning experiences.
As singers, we're still picking up the pieces of what's possible in this post-pandemic scenario and for many vocalists, it isn't always clear. Voice-work Study Weekends embrace this difficulty in their aim to deliver workshop content both virtually and actually to participating singers. It's a question of choice ... Meaning, those...
Recording Vocals at Home: the basics
Last month, we introduced a NEW virtual workshop event into The Learning Curve for singers. Two sessions hosted jointly by myself and Ryan Walker, audio/tech coach here at The Voice School. Intentions of the workshop were to provide hands-on, informative guidance in terms of what constitutes a good basic recording set-up, grasping best practices when doing so at home on a realistic budget.
The idea developed from the need and desire for continued music-making and connection during these restrictive and isolating COVID-19 times. Singers need to continue using their voice, to keep the instrument in fine fettle - and in seeking to do that, technology repeatedly came to our rescue to make blending voices for ensemble singing a possibility.
As such, fun vocal work/projects we’ve been pursuing within The Voice School Hub since April 2020 using and sharing recorded vocal MP3 and WAV files have given rise to many FAQs along the way and a natural curiosity in understanding more...
Vocal goals: motivation and planning
The New Year is just getting underway.
As I write so my ears are drawn to the rush of traffic outside - even amongst the restrictions that the pandemic imposes, life goes on. And so it must.
Singers who study within The Voice School will be aware that the wheels that drive all lessons, classes, events, and mentoring groups are about to start rolling. I'm advising that each should take the broader view and imagine not just the beginning of their year's journey, but to envisage where they might wish to arrive at the end of it.
Everyone agrees that 2020 was the strangest of years. Life - interrupted. Yet, within The Voice School, once we had regrouped and restructured - put a virtual plan in place for community and connection with plenty of singing to boot - it was one of the busiest of my 35+ years teaching career.
A steep learning curve as to how to overcome problems, implementing, and using technology to the advantage of all the singers. What an endeavour ... But, 2020...
Technique Tuesday: Did you know ... about vocal support?
One of the trickiest concepts of vocal technique (spoken or sung) to grasp is the delicate question of ‘support’.
What is it? I’m not fond of using that word when teaching actually, because of the picture or feeling that it can evoke.
Usually, that word physically translates to actions like ‘grip’, ‘tense’, and ‘block’ rather than ‘release’, ‘allow’ and ‘enable’.
When you’ve got it, you’ve GOT it, and that word becomes part of the skillset, a component that is so hard to explain. Unlocking the puzzle initially, finding new ways to nudge students along the path of learning is a challenge because different ideas both mean and feel differently to each person.
The infographic below focusses on ‘Expiration’ or the ‘outbreath’.
All singers worry about how long their breath will last, often running out...
Red Shoes, Red Hat
We gave our summer study weekend this affectionate name on account of all the talk in the group about putting on your singing shoes when you stand up to perform. Being brave, learning to fly, to sing from the heart, give it all you have got.
Put on those singing shoes... or maybe a rather wonderful red hat. That would do, for sure.
This week, Virtually Vocalise singers have been excitedly putting last minute preparations together for a wonderful long weekend - singing - by the sea.
We’ve booked a lovely house on the Dorset coast, with a beautiful sea view, via Airbnb. We’re cooking too. We’ve planned a wonderful wellbeing menu, and the grocery delivery is booked. There will be wine, prosecco, and a good time is to be had by all. VV member, soprano Sue Lewey excitedly updated the group (note the avatar) with her travel preparations ... good to see she has her packing priorities straight!
There will be study too, of course. Songs, songs and...
Singing Basics Guide
Getting to grips with or making improvements to your singing and the methods to achieve progress are all far easier and more accessible than you think.
