This post launched the second incarnation of my blog when the old Typepad interface became obsolete. It’s time to transplant and reboot my blog. My reasons for the refresh are logistical as well as philosophical. I dubbed my practice The Liberated Voice when I first launched my blog in
I am a voice teacher, and I believe that classical singing is a skill set that can be taught and mastered. Our educational institutions, by and large, do not. On the face of it, this assertion would seem to be not only outrageous but also senseless. After all, our opera
singers are musicians
To sing accurately, your body has to know where the pitch you want to sing is and find it for you. The more mysterious and organic it feels, the more likely the resulting sound will be beautiful and free.
As I have related, I was accepted into a performance MM program with a substantial scholarship on the basis of demonstrated potential, having previously had little formal instruction. Throughout my time in graduate school, the opera department cast me in leading roles and I earned excellent grades. Then, prior to
In my post Towards a Gold Standard in Singing, I stated that in addition to evaluating a singer’s sound, we must also evaluate the quality of their instrument, the quality of their coordination, and the quality of mind/body integration that enables them to simultaneously be artist and instrument.
master singer inspiration from instrumentalists
Professional instrumentalist must be able to do pretty much everything that it is possible to do on theirinstrument, and very well. For a professional singer, comprehensive mastery is also essential.
stand·ard /ˈstændərd/ 1. a level of quality or attainment 2. an idea or thing used as a measure, norm, or model in comparative evaluations I’ve lost track of the number of times a member of my studio has expressed a fear that they’re on their way to
When I was growing up, I would not have described my dad as athletic. He preferred to avoid fitness activities of any kind, with the exception of the occasional ski vacation. Like me, he’d had little interest in sports as a child. When he was 42, his doctor admonished
Hi Claudia, I read your article on the hyoglossus, and, since muscles can only contract, not push, I don’t see how it can depress the larynx. Other muscles would have to contribute to the downward movement. As Miller says, “the tongue/hyoid bone/larynx complex is actually a functional
Today, I lend the keys to my blog to bass David Salsbery Fry. In an earlier post, I tackled the question of what opera is and what it does. What follows is David’s stab at answering the question, “Who is opera for?” He posits that, while opera isn’t
Mastering vocal technique involves accessing and training the individual parts of your anatomy that govern breathing, phonation, articulation and resonance, as well as coordinating them so that they respond collectively to your communicative and musical impulses. A big part of this involves uncovering areas of resistance and learning to resolve
Through practice, we can develop what may be one of the two or three most fundamental skills that any human being can acquire, which I call Skill at Feeling. It’s a skill that they not only did not teach you in school, they never talked about it. But once