Tag: criticism
I have a suggestion for judges at every level, from middle school festivals to the Met auditions: You are on the best ground if you report on what you hear,…
I’ve been at this blog since 2009. Hundreds of posts, many ideas explored and revisited, both successes and flops. You can’t predict people’s reactions. When I post about general principles,…
The online forums are perfect cages for the exhibition of mental imbalance. There is so much meanness, pettiness, insult, and defensiveness. How did so many teachers and singers become so…
In the forums, people are blaming Adele for ignoring healthy technique and ruining her voice. Folks, this is so not cool. People are acting as if she has a vocal…
Voice teachers, please get over yourselves. The people who get certified in Method A say that Method B is bad while those devoted to Method C laugh at both of…
Is it emotion? If so, what about a singer’s performance evokes emotion? Can it be feats of strength? Sensitivity? Fascinating ebb and flow of the lyric? Are exciting singers “loud”?…
I realized a while back that trying to convince you to discuss vocal pedagogy using my terms is unnecessarily selfish. There are not enough days left in my life to…
A detour from voice topics to something “meta” When someone questions something I state, I may at first usually feel annoyance, anxiety, or confusion. I want to engage people but…
Recently a voice teacher posted a controversial statement on his Facebook page. When others responded to it, he allowed comments that agreed with him and removed those that did not.…
Some instrumentalists claim that singers have lousy rhythm. Some say that singers are sloppy musicians and don’t pay attention to details. Why do they say that? Are singers really deficient…
The voice is always in a state of becoming. It changes as our bodies change, as our emotions change, and as our environment changes. How can there be a perfect…