Michael Cook wrote:I really respect you for doing something so "from the ground up" as an adult! It can be hard to be a beginner!
I might be old, but definitely not an adult! :D Learning is fun; learning something cool from a great teacher is even more fun.
Agent Starling wrote:Opera and classical music training is not easy, but very rewarding...having been trained in and having played classical music for most of my life (piano and violin) I can appreciate what you're going thru...but it's worth it!
My guess is if it were easy, it'd be more prevalent. My brother tried learning the violin and we both tried learning the piano. Those are difficult to play well and you had the added onus of having to sight read. That's discipline.
My illiteracy will only haunt me when it's important to be literate.
Zwaplat wrote:Well, best of luck to you. I recently found out I can actually sing pretty decently, while I've been thinking the opposite for many years.
I had a very good soprano voice as a kid (or what's it called at that point?), but that went away by the age of thirteen ofcourse. Haven't been able to hold a tone since then.
During summer though, I did some musical singing on vacation (a bit Westside Story, Sound of Music, Disney classics, etc. :rolleyes: ) and with practice I managed to sing quite OK. My classical music training (clarinet) helped of course.
I checked with a piano, and I've got quite a good range: tenor and baritone, possibly bass too, and falset voice. I have some difficulties going from tenor to falset, though.
That is excellent, Zwaplat! Did you notice that singing legato lines is harder than playing them on the clarinet?
Your voice-type is actually slightly different than your range in that your timbre is also included. Some basses can hit high C or higher, but their notes sound different than when a baritone, tenor, or soprano sings the same note.
Sounds like the breath control from your bassclarinet playing certainly aided you.
Zwaplat wrote:I'd love to take some lessons, but I'm already too busy with bassclarinet and two orchestras that I'm putting those plans in the fridge. Also, not sure my neighbours would like it very much if I were to sing at the top of my voice every evening.
There are only so many hours in a day. However, my teacher just taught me a method for practicing singing which trains the full voice without using full volume. According to him, it's training method Caruso learned from European Cantors and brought back to the USA. I'll probably learn it more next lesson and be able to share more.
Zwaplat wrote:Just one thing I'd like to tell you: breathing is everything. Use that midriff, and keep your shoulders in check. It helps so much with the volume. But your teacher prolly told you that first thing.
Yep. He taught me to breathe "laterally" and keep that posture while singing.
Last night, he also taught me about that practice method as well as had me work on making smooth transitions from midrange notes to high-range notes. Without the "covering" he taught, it feels like gears are slipping in my throat and the tone wasn't as good as when covered. It's lots of fun and I can't wait to get better at this stuff.
Getting back to the mention of cantors, when I was younger, I sang some songs for Chanukkah and one of the listeners remarked that I sang just like a rabbi. Beemed with pride over that statement until later learning that, of Jewish clergy, cantors are people whom sing. :o
Had my first opera lesson last night
) made my throat feel raw, so professional assistance was needed. From last night's introductory lesson, I believe I found my teacher. Learned to adjust my throat to make some vowels sound clearer and that my voice-type was different than what I thought it was (which explained why singing Verdi's Iago pwn'd my voice worse than death metal singing). The teacher has been at this for nearly 58 years and is an absolute research-hound, so that was very reassuring.
