Okay, I'm brushing up my musicianship skills, and wanted to solicit advice about what an opera singer should be able to do.
Is it enough to be able to pick up a new score and sing through the role? This is simple sight singing, but it doesn't help you learn what the role sounds and feels like (unless you can also glance at the score and instantly hear the harmonies, which I cannot).
Should you be a good enough pianist to be able to pick up a new score, sit at the piano, and play through the role to learn it? Not elegantly, perhaps, but enough to bash out the piano parts while sight singing your own part?
Is it enough (I already know it's not) to be able to learn a role by listening to a dozen recordings, then singing through the part on your own at the piano, playing only your own part when you have trouble remembering it? This is otherwise known as the hunt-and-peck method.
Is it enough to win the lottery, thus spending a few hours a week having a coach (or, more cheaply, a piano student with good sight-reading and/or bashing-through skills) teach you the notes? I get the opinion that your status with general directors and such goes down the tubes if you aren't known in the industry as a Very Good Musician.
Is it enough (this is where I am right now) to be able to pick up a new score and sight-read through MOST of the role, going to the piano when there's a tricky accidentalled line or a complicated run? That still means I have to turn to recordings to get a feel for how the opera sounds (since learning a role a cappella isn't very helpful).
How long does it take for an adult to get to a point, pianistically speaking, where you can sit down and bash through a new role at first glance?
The piano instruction offered to voice majors at universities and conservatories doesn't seem to get singers to that skill level. I learned, in four years of piano class, how to take home a cute etude, practice both hands seperately until I could put them together, practice the piece up to speed, and play it reasonably well. This is a worthless skill in terms of what I need as an opera singer (I need to be able to teach myself new roles, not laboriously dissect and practice playing a score for six months).
Am I too late? Is there hope for me yet? Is it even necessary? I'm trying to figure out how much of my time to allocate to piano lessons, to sight singing classes, or just give that time to language lessons instead.
How do professional singers learn their roles?
Isabelle B.
===== Isabelle Bracamonte San Francisco, CA ibracamonte@y...
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