Musicalness - Vocalists

[Scorpy-Sue]

Are there any singers, professional or otherwise, out there that are interested in discussing singing techniques, styles, favorite music, etc.?

I used to be in a show choir; we did pieces ranging from Fats Waller's "Handful 'o Keys" to "Love Heals" from RENT. Right now I'm not doing anything musically with a group or classes or anything, but maybe once college starts up I'll get into it again. A musical or something.

On another note, any actors/actresses? I am big in the performing arts, if you hadn't guessed already.

Currently, I am opera-obsessed, mostly with Lucia di Lammermoor. heart  

[Sentama Lin]

I'm a classically-trained tenor, not really amateur but not really professional. Somewhere in the middle. I enjoy singing Baroque arias and Romantic lieder, and wet my pants with joy when I try to figure out how to sing Twentieth-Century Concert repertoire. I've had a few recitals in my school career, but for now I've temporarily stopped to help out with familial needs.

I'm also a pre-professional voice teacher who understands the main concepts of how to build up voices in a strong and healthy fashion. For me, the basic premise of a good healthy voice in any genre of singing is a strong, aerodynamic mechanism combined with a posture that feels natural to the singer.

Right now I'm totally obsessed with Schumann's Dichterliebe song cycle.  

[Scorpy-Sue]

My music teacher used to always tell us "Diaphragm support! Use your diaphragm!" That became a mantra we would poke fun at, but he was right.

What kind of pieces do you generally go over with your students?  

[Sentama Lin]

Ehh... I don't find the statement diaphragm support to be totally true; I tell my students that it's your entire body that works with singing, not just the diaphragm. As such, I do my best to show students how the entire body works to make singing effective.

As for repertoire it really depends on what they are interested in. I'm more comfortable teaching the style choices and singing protocols of musics in the common practice era, and I'm very comfortable in teaching pre-adolescent children the techniques and methods of singing that will be most important once their voice matures. As a teacher I don't feel its my job to constrain the student into one specific genre and tout that specific genre as the correct genre. However, I do emphasize with my students that, depending on what you're singing, your everything will need to change to accommodate it correctly.  

[l Gear l]

I'm in my high school show choir. I love singing, but I don't plan to do anything professional with it. sweatdrop

I also love doing musicals.

 

[Scorpy-Sue]

What musicals have you been in?  

[Kalstolyn]

Kals is questing again!

Classically trained mezzo-soprano here. I do a lot of concert and church choir work as an alto, have been known to sing at weddings, was in a performance of Stephen Sondheim's "A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To the Forum" (Sondheim wrote the music for Sweeny Todd) and generally enjoy both singing and acting.

I fully agree with Lin on the necessity of engaging the entire body when singing.

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