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Teaching how to sing is a combination of science and gut instinct. When I first hear a singer, I quickly can assess a student's abilities and ways to improve. However, each vocal topic has different solutions; furthermore, HOW the teacher says something is as important as the technique or solution itself. A teacher has to be extremely careful on what they say.
For instance, take a student who has a tongue that retreats back into mouth, which often produces an over-darkened tone. The easy, direct solution is to simply ask the student to sing with the tongue more forward. But there is a problem with this: some students will actually create more tongue tension with this solution! So a more circuitous route must be taken; asking the student to sing 'more forward' or 'brighten' the sound, or asking the student to use more breath support. Each one of these alternative solutions addresses the tongue, but often result in a far more satisfying sound than the more direct route. DWS My life is really easy and fun when I just have to listen to my wonderful high school students sing their solos for the UIL competition this Saturday. Everyone is so well-prepared, sounds great, and I know will get very nice comments from the judges.
Break a leg everyone and see you next week to celebrate! DWS Right now, here in our own state of Texas, the biggest music convention is occurring in San Antonio: the Texas Music Educations Association convention.
When I say the biggest, I am not joking. Even though the convention is supposedly just for Texans, this convention attracts many people from neighboring states. Why? Simply put, Texas is so well known for its high quality music programs in schools that many of the music vendors, publishers etc... all congregate at this convention to sell their wares. It also helps that San Antonio is a wonderful city to visit in February (not so much in July, when the heat is horrible - whoever said a dry heat is better is SO wrong!) I am not there currently, but my wife is having a great time attending wonderful seminars on how to make her middle school choir even better. The best day is today, Saturday, when the Texas All-State choirs perform. For the students selected, it is an amazing experience. For the audience, it is perhaps the best choir you could ever hear, FREE OF CHARGE, anywhere in the country! DWS The package for an opera production is a little easier to plan than for a musical. Basically it boils down two categories: language and time period.
For language, each singer needs to have the following in their package: 1) English, 2) Italian, 3) German, 4) French, 5) Another language their voice type specializes in; for instance, a low basso profundo would want a Russian aria. For time periods, you need to have a composer from the following eras. 1) Baroque era (1600-1780s): Handel, Gluck, Scarlatti, Purcell, Lully etc... 2) Classical era (1770s - 1820s): Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, and their contemporaries 3) Romantic era (1820s-1910): Verdi, Rossini, Berlioz, Gounod, Wagner, Thomas etc... 4) Modern (1910-present day): Strauss, Korngold, Poulenc, Britten, new English works etc... Now, you could probably create an audition package with these requirements in just 5-6 arias. However, you really want to have more contrast that - several different tempos and a variety of acting scenarios for each language. In reality, just like the musical package, you will end up with 9-10 different selections.* *Please note that this package is advice for young professionals starting out in the profession. Once you are established and have a certain type of music that people hire you for, you can specialize your repertoire accordingly. DWS Auditioning for a musical is very similar to opera in that both require an audition "package" that shows off your ability as a performer. For musicals, I find the variety required for auditions is tremendous. Here are just some the time-period categories to fill:
1) A "Golden Age" musical: This song should be from the 1950s-1960s, and is from the era of musicals by Rogers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, later Cole Porter etc... 2) A Sondheim musical: This is a bit iffy, as many pianists have a hard time sight-reading Sondheim. I find that this should just be in your package in case they really want to hear Sondheim. 3) A Early Musical selection: Think pre-1940s, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Gershwin, operetta composers etc... 4) A contemporary musical (1980s to present day). 5) A pop song. Here's where it gets even MORE difficult: with these 4 time periods, you need to also have pieces that show off the following singing abilities: 1) A ballad - think slow love song 2) An uptempo song - fast tempo 3) A narrative song - a song that tells a story and has considerable drama 4) A comic song - Show off your funny side 5) Several 'special abilities' song - A song that has shows off something unique - a dialect (Cockney for My Fair Lady!), or perhaps incredible high notes etc... In all likelihood, you will probably end up with 7-8 songs that you know cold: memorized and could be sung in a moment's notice. In my next post, I will show why auditioning for operas and classical music is SO much easier! DWS I just finished judging solos for the Baytown region, and this year's crop of singers really did a fine job. Most of the singers were well-prepared, and it made grading (and listening) much easier. Here are some of my observations to help out my younger students.
1) While it is important to sing loud, don't forget the soft sections! So many singers just seemed to forget whenever the music required the singer to be quiet. Singing tenderly is as impressive, if not more, then singing as loud as you can. 2) Be sure you can pronounce the title of your song correctly, and be able to summarize the message of your song in less than 10 seconds. If you know what your foreign language song means, it gives you Brownie points AND allows you to sing with more expression. 3) Please dress somewhat formally...unless they are REALLY nice jeans, this is not the time to go casual. Dressing casually immediately creates an expectation of under-performance. 4) Stay positive! Just because you think you messed doesn't mean the judge noticed it! The judge has so much to listen to that if you fake confidence, the mistake will likely not matter in the end. 5) It is okay to perform a song that is 'easy.' I would much, MUCH rather hear a beautifully sung Class 3 piece than a mediocre Class 1 piece (1 being the hardest, 3 the 'easiest'.) 6) Come in with a smile. If you are happy (or faking confidence), it immediately cheers me up after a long day and gives you a few extra points. If you can get the judge in a good mood, you will get a better grade. DWS For any singing competition, it is very tempting to pick the hardest song for your voice in order to impress the judges with your vocal pipes. In reality, this almost never works. Due to nerves, you might miss a few technical points, and singers look too 'dead' in their acting/interpretation of the song. The end result is a boring performance, which is NEVER a good thing!
When you pick a song, it is OK to pick a piece that is not extremely challenging. In the end, judges are audience members; they want to laugh, cry, and be captivated by your performance. So your first goal in selecting music is picking music you LOVE. Find something that speaks to you because it will make your performance much more engaging. Then look for the challenging technical aspects that 'seal the deal,' so to speak. DWS The winter break is over, and school resumes, which means I'm back to voice lessons and blogging!
In a few weeks, I am going to begin lessons through Skype, so students can have lessons online at the comfort of their own home. It will take a few weeks for me to work the kinks out so there are "hopefully" no technical difficulties, but I'm excited to start teaching online! In more teaching-related news, I have 3 students competing this weekend to make the All-State choir. Break a leg Mark, Jacob, and Jackson! And in-performing related news, I will be posting about my performances this coming Spring in a few weeks. So check back soon! DWS I will be taking off the next few weeks to celebrate Christmas and New Year's with my family. I hope everyone has a safe holidays and will see everyone in a few weeks. Take care, drink lots of eggnog, and sing!
DWS I am planning on a solo cabaret performance in the future. While I am getting my songs in order, I would love to hear from you. What music or songs would you like to hear? Just let me know by sending an email to [email protected]. The concert will be more than songs from musicals; I plan on singing some Sinatra classics, famous movie songs (Moulin Rouge and a few others), as well as standard Rogers and Hammerstein, Bernstein, and other musical theater selections.
P.S. If the suggestions are rap or country music, I will unfortunately have to decline...there is some music that I just cannot sing well! DWS |
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