In the online discussion groups I frequently see statements like “Young singers should sing lots of Mozart”. That may be true if you’re a soprano or a bass. However, he…
Tag: repertoire
The world of music for the stage is all about categories. Are you male or female? What is your voice type? How old are you? What color are you? What…
My favorite repertoire to sing is classical art song, chamber music, and experimental performance pieces. Occasionally there have been formal stage shows such as opera, musical theatre, or revues. Having…
When training teen singers, I don’t encourage a specialization in repertoire. If they are going to audition for music degrees, they often have to prepare repertoire from classical, musical theatre,…
I try to teach a style-agnostic approach to vocal function in general. Some of my students come for technical instruction only, and others come for that in combination with help…
I often tell a student “If you don’t like this song, tell me. There are a few hundred other songs that would be perfectly fine to sing instead.” In singing,…
If a singer has a lot of technical issues to improve upon, a majority of the lesson, or often entire lessons, will be filled with exercises. Getting the voice untangled,…
The prof Kurt met with at Throatwreck University wants him to get rid of the Quilter and do Every Valley from the Handel Requiem. Do you have that music for…
There is no “perfect song”. However, there are many, many excellent choices. The purpose of an audition is to show the listeners the best of what you can do vocally,…
I was asked about this recently in an online forum where I was expressing my opinion that most voice teachers, especially at university level, are not familiar enough with easy…
For those of you teaching “classical” voice, I would like to encourage you to look at the wealth of Spanish language art songs and arias. Spanish is a completely phonetic…
In his book “Music and the Flute” Thomas Nyfenger quoted another master flutist, Julius Baker, who said this about slow, deliberate practice: “If you never make a mistake, you’ll never…
