Hello comrades! Let’s talk about “growing pains”. Sometimes there is a season for something really cool in your professional life, and then a few years later, it’s not so sizzling anymore. I think this can be due to growth, and not to a fault of the thing that we were originally excited about. Examples from […]
Tag: pedagogy
See you at the NATS Conference!
I was pleased to hear that my proposal was accepted for a poster session at the biennial conference of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, which takes place June 22-26 of this year in Las Vegas. Several people have asked me “What is a poster session?” At a poster session, each presenter has a […]
Continuing education for singing teachers – broad or deep?
When pondering training possibilities, the question for me is “Go deep, or go broad?” I tend to go deep (into one approach) when I find something especially resonant. When I was younger I wanted to know everything from everyone yesterday (going broad rather than deep), but now that there is less pressure on myself to […]
Excerpt from Sane Singing – Is the Voice an Instrument?
[This is an excerpt from Chapter 3 “The Confusions”.] Long ago I thought of the human voice as an instrument, just in a different family than brasses and woodwinds and strings and electronics, but I now think of flutes and violins and synthesizers as surrogate voices. There can be no doubt that music that used […]
Methods versus principles
As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble. —Ralph Waldo Emerson
Concepts have consequences
I have written about the dangers of an imagery-based mode of instruction for voice. Images are generally conveyed with words, sometimes also with gestures. Examples of imagery in voice teaching would be directives like: Direct the sound against the hard palate. Fill with air down to your lower abdomen. Split the resonance between your throat […]
Witherspoon’s Phonetics and Practical Exercises
I have recently read Herbert Witherspoon’s fascinating and well-written Singing: A Treatise for Singers and Students (1925). His Chapter 13 is titled “Phonetics”, which begins as follows: The phonetics, or sounds used for the persuasion of certain local actions with the purpose of inducing perfect coordination, are the following:
How, not what
In the online forums I’m seeing many discussions about voice science – Explanations of “open throat”. Descriptions of sound profiles of ideal (so they claim) vocal attributes. Assumptions about desirable vocal timbre. Incessant chatter about formants. Research papers and books and websites and buzz, buzz, buzz about all the visuals and measurables. The author of […]
Brian’s Interview on Opera Insides
Don Adriano Sterling interviewed me about my teaching and my forthcoming book Sane Singing: A Guide to Vocal Progress on his podcast series “Opera Insides”. I enjoyed the opportunity.
Vocal Exercises With a Purpose
What is the purpose of vocal exercises in general? What is the purpose of a specific exercise, given at a specific time? Why this particular one, right now? If you are giving the same set of exercises for most lessons for all of your students, then it would seem you are not answering these questions. […]
The desired, the possible, and the experienced
When teacher works with student, he needs to keep in mind that he is trying to help the student to do something that she has never done before. Each party is bringing these three potentials to the lesson: the desired behavior (in the future) the possible manifestations and scope of achievement (in the future) the […]
“Laryngeal tilt” – a fetish phrase
This term drives me nuts. It’s a great example of describing what happens, but not what to do. If you sing a rising octave sliding between the pitches, and keep it gentle and sweet rather than loud or powerful, you can get in touch with the fact that yes, the cricothyroid muscles pull the thyroid […]