In a message dated 11/15/02 1:03:53 PM Central Standard Time, buzzcen@a...
writes:
> Refresh my memory, if classical singers have such low instances of vocal
> problems, why did you need vocal rehab?
>
>
Because I was your basic 1970s folk type singer who then went to college and
got into the "show choir" where I was a soprano and the concert choir where I
sang alto. I had no formal voice training and made a choice at a young age
to only sing low notes because my MOTHER, who loves me but knows nothing
about music, told me that singing high notes would ruin my voice. She lost
her voice in her 30s but the fact that she smoked and screamed a lot never
seemed to her to be a factor......
Anyway, when I was 38 year old we started going to a church where the
director is classically trained, she took me under her wing, told me that the
reason my voice gave out so easily was because I was actually not an alto,
but a soprano. She convinced me of this, and about this time I discovered
this list. There are no voice teachers in my town, and this choir director,
while very good, I discovered is actually a choir director and not a voice
teacher. She had me singing all kinds of classical literature, which I sang
as I alway had--as big as I could. And I quickly got into trouble. Went to
a teacher in another town, who gave me Puccini to sing, with no real
technical instruction. The results were disastrous. The problem is that I
could make it sound good, at least to most people, but I was the definition
of hyper-function. I guess I sang my high notes in the same way I sang the
low. And of course, as I was really a soprano, I had to really push the low
notes to get them out. People used to always comment on how huge my voice
was compared to my body--I am very small.
After being diagnosed with a polyp I found my way to The V.V.C. which is only
1.5 hrs. from my home.
Actually, Nashville has quite a fine opera company. And a good deal of
musical theatre also, but I would imagine that you are correct that there are
many more country singers there. However, patients come from all over the
country--I have met people from California, Pennsylvania, Florida, etc... who
have come to the doctors there. Dr. Ossoff is pretty well known, I believe.
I still struggle with the very top notes---I have a solid mid-range, and some
of my problem with the top is that I am afraid to take what I have in the
middle up because I am afraid of doing damage. My teacher keeps telling me
this won't happen because my lower notes are more properly produced now. I
can make all kinds of stratospheric sounds in Minnie Mouse voice, but I am
now 45 and would rather sound like a woman and not a mouse....
this is probably another thread.
One point--I can believe that amateur classical singers would have problems
because I have done exactly that--but this does indicate to me that singing
classical music takes more knowledge and possibly more talent than singing
your basic pop or country song. Maybe the amplification is good in that less
talented (or whatever) people have the opportunity to sing-I guess I could
look at it like that. But there is no question to me that classical singing
takes a lot more training, knowledge, talent, whatever you want to call it.
The example I use is the NFL as opposed to Pop Warner football (we seem to
understand sports analogies around here). I am not saying this is good or
bad, but it pains me that really beautiful, gifted voices seem to be left out
in favor of a less beautiful voice that to my ears, is painful and unhealthy.
And I don't want to listen to opera all day, either. I just think that
there is a place for pretty timbres in pop music. Like I said, you should
hear my daughter. She uses her classical training and sings contemporary
songs and it is beautiful. She doesn't sing them like an opera singer, just
uses a beautiful tone.
Leslie
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