Vocalist.org archive


From:  "Margaret L. Harrison"<peggyh@i...>
Date:  Mon Apr 22, 2002  6:31 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] Another thought on music for young singers.



On Sun, 21 Apr 2002 21:54:37 -0700 Tina Harris <harrisstudio@a...> wrote:

>>We see girls/children's chorus's singing a wide variety of music from opera
choruses, Bach cantatas, and 20th century music all which requires vocal
technique, extreme ranges and maturity of voice. How is this different
from young singers studying the same music as a soloist instead of in a group?
I, for one, would rather have my daughter study one-on-one with
someone I trust rather than in a chorus doing who-knows-what with her voice.

I think the main difference is the choral music is less demanding vocally than
the solo music.

But I agree that bad vocal habits can be inadvertently learned in a choral
setting.

My recommendation for someone like yourself in deciding whether your child
should sing in a chorus is to sit in on a chorus rehearsal and assess the skills
of the director as far as coaching for vocal quality. Some directors may just
choose to let the kids sound like they sound, and that may not be a bad thing.
Others may actively try to get the kids to sound a way you don't care for.
That's a bad thing. The best is the director who is successful in getting the
kids to sing with a healthy vocal production. That can start to install good
singing habits, while not having the pressure (and time) of private voice study.


A problem I can see with private voice study with certain young people might be
they have an idea in their head of how they should sound - like an adult, e.g.,
a favorite performer, whether it's Madonna or an opera singer - versus the way
the teacher wants the young person to sound for healthy vocal production. And
the teacher may or may not be successful in dealing with that issue. Some kids
are more stubborn than others! That's not going to be as much of an issue in
the choral setting, I don't think.



Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA.



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