Once upon a time
A person would have a vocal quality that would cause others to suggest "voice lessons" to develop the gift. OR they may have had a burning desire to SING, and sought instruction for themselves. The vocal teacher then had a somewhat simpler task than now. Find the correct vocalise, develop the voice, start repertoire development and, given time and talent, watch and guide the development of the student. Role models, or vocal examples , were very consistent, and if the person did not develop into a performing artist, they may still have had a very pleasant vocal quality that was perfect in an intimate family musicale setting. If the student was not a good vocal candidate, the reputible teacher would usually tell them early on, and save both time and money. Repertoire development was done along the lines of Art Song, Lieder, Opera and Oratorio, all of which had a rich tradition of performance history, and true vocal talent was trained to sing this music in an accomplished style that also led to stage and performing opportunities. If an aspiring singer did not have a marketable talent, the engagements either did not come, or were not renewed, and that performer generally had no future on the performing stage. Almost always, the presence of vocal talent was gauged by the sound of the traind voices of the day who were successful singers, and that sound was the "classical sound". Even the folk music in much of the world used that sound as the basic underpinning in folk singing. I know some will quibble about my use of "much of the world". I am not talking about regional things like Balkan music, Throat singing, and tribal chant but rather the Western World Standard. As Vocal Music developed, influences from other sound experiences were assimilated into the "singing experience", and the approach to developing voices startes to change. Now- People, voice teachers, agents, promoters, impresarios(are there any like Sol Hurok today?), seem to have lost integrity and will promote anything for a buck. Technology, a curse in many respects, makes it easy to skip vocal development, and even to circumvent that requirement that most would have, that the singing be beautiful to an "accepted"standard. THERE IS NO ACCEPTED STANDARD anymore.!! Entertainers can make an obscene amout of money because the public has been dumbed down to the point of accepting bad for good, ugly for beautiful, trash for Art, and garbage for music!!! I am NOT PC! Never will be. Even Vocalist is being dumbed down but this "C--" thread, and the feeble "me too" one-liners. If you want to try to make it as a comedy writer for stand up routines, Go ahead. Find another forum! No wonder many of the intelligent posters on relevant matters have gone silent. I ask again, HAS IT ALL BEEN SAID? As Peggy Lee asked,"Is that ALL there IS? I will continue to peruse the posts, and save very few. When trolls and feel-good PC dominate Vocalist, I will sally forth again.
Ron Zinkel San Jose. CA
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