Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Voice


As part of my ongoing effort to get better at those things I like to do, I've begun taking a class for singers. My wife and I both signed up–she doesn't think she can sing, although she can–a bad experience with a choir teacher long ago put her off it.

The class was designed for folks who consider themselves vocally-challenged, and started out with very basic stuff, how the sounds get made physically, vocal chords, diaphragm, voice warm-ups, where things resonate, like that.

Do, re, mi, fah, sol, la, ti, do ...

Ten minutes into it I had already learned all kinds of stuff I didn't know, and by the end of the first session, the nine of us who were there were singing a song acapella in three-part harmony and sounding pretty good.

The teacher is a pro who does gigs, favors folk music, gospel, and blues, and has a four-octave range, which is twice what I can manage, even slipping into head-voice. Her manner as a teacher is delightful. Start with, "You're paying me, I work for you, and I am not a mean person. I won't make anybody who doesn't want to stand up and sing solo do it."

Lot of people relaxed when they heard that ...

Stay tuned. Can my opera debut be far away ... ?

3 comments:

steve-vh said...

interesting. Been thinking of this myself since I started singing more leads. Sight singing in College Theory class told me I simply could not sing so I never tried till now.
How'd you find her?

There is a pedal made by TC Helicon that will add reverb and approximate pitch correction from your mike, $150. I am getting one soon.

Steve Perry said...

Local music store that struggled along for years barely keeping the doors open decided to go for non-profit status, and concentrate on the classes it was offering rather than instrument sales.

This particular teacher, Anne Weiss, has, among her CDs, a how-to:

Singing For The Vocally Challenged, Curious, Confident or Cacophonous! Vocal Warm-Ups, Excercises, and Ear Training for People Who Love to Sing

You can get the CD or download the MP3 here:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/AnneWeiss1

Or listen to part of her most recent album. That first cut would have made me swear it was Joni Mitchell ...

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/anneweiss5

If you have a local U, there are bound to be voice teachers looking to pick up a few bucks ...

steve-vh said...

Thanks Steve, good leads!