In Memoriam: Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

Thriller (1982). Michael Jackson. #1 Album of all time. Image courtesy La Columna Flácida.

The man is gone. The legend begins.

Five of Jackson's solo albums, Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad, Dangerous and HIStory, all with Epic Records, a Sony Music label – are among the top-sellers of all time. During his extraordinary career, he sold an estimated 750 million records worldwide, released 13 No.1 singles and became one of a handful of artists to be inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Guinness Book of World Records recognized Jackson as the Most Successful Entertainer of All Time and Thriller as the Biggest Selling Album of All Time. Jackson won 13 Grammy Awards and received the American Music Award's Artist of the Century Award.

SOURCE: Michael Jackson: The Official Site. Retrieved 25 June 2009.

Conducting Cats

Kurt Molnar recently sent me a couple of pictures he had taken during a performance of Cats at Lake Tahoe Community College where I teach.

The author conducting a performance of Cats at Lake Tahoe Community College. Image © 2009 Kurt Molnar/Altitude Media. Used with permission.


The author conducting a performance of Cats at Lake Tahoe Community College. Image © 2009 Kurt Molnar/Altitude Media. Used with permission.

Vocal Warmups - Vowels and Vowel Combinations

The next three warmups in my sequence are all vowels or vowel combinations. I usually begin on low A and do the arpeggio pattern, 1-5-3-8-5-3-1, or do-sol-mi-do-sol-mi-do, up to about high A. You should drop out, switch to falsetto or head voice, or drop down an octave if the exercise begins to feel tight or if you feel discomfort. Make sure to sing legato.

3. The vowel EE or [i] in IPA.
4. The vowel combination EE-AY or [i]-[ɛI] in IPA. (Feel free to drop the diphthong.)
5. The vowel combination AY-AH or [ɛI]-[ɑ] in IPA.

Here is a link to an mp3 I made to use as a background in order to practice.

Vocal Warmups - Tongue Rolls

The second warmup in my sequence is a tongue roll or trill, which is similar to the Italian or Spanish "r." I usually begin on low A and do the arpeggio pattern, 1-5-3-8-5-3-1, or do-sol-mi-do-sol-mi-do, up to at least high F. You should drop out, switch to falsetto or head voice, or drop down an octave if the exercise begins to feel tight or if you feel discomfort. Many singers find this exercise a little more difficult than the lip roll.

Here is a link to an mp3 I made to use as a background in order to practice.

Download an article, "Lip and Tongue Trills--What Do They Do For Us?" by voice scientist Dr. Ingo Titze. [NOTE: Archived here.]

Vocal Warmups - Lip Rolls

The first warmup in my sequence is a lip roll or trill. I usually begin on low A and do the arpeggio pattern, 1-5-3-8-5-3-1, or do-sol-mi-do-sol-mi-do, up to about high G. You should drop out, switch to falsetto or head voice, or drop down an octave if the exercise begins to feel tight. Some people find that if you lift the skin lightly on the cheeks, it is helpful in sustaining the roll.

Here is a link to an mp3 I made to use as a background in order to practice.

Download an article, "Lip and Tongue Trills--What Do They Do For Us?" by voice scientist Dr. Ingo Titze. [NOTE: Archived here.]

Video of Cass Nauman demonstrating the lip roll on a five tone scale.


How to Do Lip Roll Vocal Exercises -- powered by eHow.com

Santa Lucia

"Santa Lucia" is a traditional Neapolitan (from Naples) song transcribed by Teodoro Cottrau and published in 1849. It was made in famous in the U.S. from a recording by Enrico Caruso. The video below features tenor Mario Lanza.



Elvis recorded "Santa Lucia" and can be heard in the Youtube video below. His Italian is fairly good.



Free sheet music of "Santa Lucia" (Key of C) is available online at Art Song Central.

Nel cor più non mi sento

"Nel cor più non mi sento" is another standard from the beginning singer's 24 Italian Songs and Arias. It was composed by Giovanni Paisiello (1740-1816) for his opera La Molinara (1788). Paisiello is also known for his opera, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, which later was eclipsed by Rossini's version.

Below is tenor Luciano Pavarotti singing "Nel cor più non mi sento" in October of 1989 with Leone Magiera on piano. The song begins approximately 5 minutes into the video.



This version is sung by Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky in a performance in Moscow in 1991.



For sheet music (key of F) see also Art Song Central.

Caro mio ben

"Caro mio ben" is a standard from the beginning singer's 24 Italian Songs and Arias. It is attributed to Giuseppe Giordani (1744-1798). Here is mezzo Cecilia Bartoli singing her rendition in June 1998 with Jean Yves Thibaudet on piano.



This version is by tenor Luciano Pavarotti from a 1978 recital with John Wustman accompanying.



Mutopia Project.org has a link to a .pdf file of the sheet music for "Caro mio ben" in the key of D as well as a midi file.

See also Art Song Central.

Structure of Singing

Richard Miller's The Structure of Singing: System and Art in Vocal Technique (Wadsworth, 2001) is quite simply the best book about the process of singing on the market today.

In it he stresses the importance of knowing the details of a number of techniques of singing and compares vocal pedagogy to "a smorgasbord, from which one can sample foods both rich and simple; [but] not everything that can be ingested is equally nutritious."

Miller acknowledges that studying with many famous teachers, attending numerous of their master classes or symposiums, and reading the latest "complete" vocal method may be beneficial. But he adds that "there comes a time when the singer or teacher of singing must stop shopping around and make a choice." The right choice can only be made if "one is aware of what produces free vocal function."

Certain sounds may be exciting to the listener but harmful to the singer. Miller continues the food analogy by saying if vocal sounds "are not based on reliable functional principles, they will make the voice sick, just as a continual diet of desserts will adversely affect the constitution."

The following books by Miller are also excellent: On the Art of Singing, Training Tenor Voices, Training Soprano Voices, and Solutions for Singers.

Adam Lopez sets a world record

The following is an amazing video I came across on YouTube a while ago. It shows Adam Lopez singing a high note that is a half step higher than the highest note on a piano.



SOURCE: "Adam Lopez - Highest Vocal Note," YouTube.com (Retrieved 19 January 2009).

Studying Singing

Sergius Kagen (1909-1964) was a member of the faculty of the Juilliard School of Music and had this to say regarding the studying of singing:

In my experience, I have become aware of the fact that too many young people who hope to become professional singers believe too much in and expect too much from the processes of study. . . . [Study] cannot be expected to endow the student with faculties he may not possess by nature.

SOURCE: Sergius Kagen, On Studying Singing (NY: Dover Publications, 1960), p. 4.

Bernadette Peters on Singing

Bernadette Peters has long been one of my favorite Broadway singers. In 1985 during the Broadway run of Song and Dance, she had the following to say about the singing voice:

''It's like a muscle,'' says Miss Peters, suddenly sounding like an athlete. ''You have to keep it in shape. Singing lessons are like body building for your larynx.''

How true.

SOURCE: Dena Kleiman, "Bernadette Peters Trains Voice Like a Muscle," New York Times (20 September 1985) C3.

A Gem from Lamperti

"The feeling that your tone is free, borne on its own wings of energy, is one of the greatest delights of life--because you are its creator."

SOURCE: William Earl Brown, Vocal Wisdom: Maxims of Giovanni Battista Lamperti (1931). Enlarged ed. by Lillian Strongin. (New York: Taplinger, 1957), p. 33.

Words of Wisdom 1

If you can talk, you can sing.

How well you sing is someone's opinion.

Someone's opinion is no reason to not sing.

Welcome

Happy New Year and welcome to the Singing Voice Blog.

I'll be posting some tips on technique and other vocal musings. Check back for more.