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Performers of all ages and abilities will gain valuable insight into the mechanics, psychology and physiology of singing. The accompanying CD - in Jennifer's own voice - captures a conversation about her ideas and journey, as well as exercises that will help you discover and release your true and best instrument.
This manual deals with all aspects of singing and includes vocal technique, style and interpretation, professional preparation, and vocal pedagogy.
Two of opera's greatest names offer encouragement and useful, nontechnical advice in this classic guide. Topics include care and training of the voice, breath control, tone, diction, other aspects of training.
The Italian singing technique Bel Canto instructs, "He who knows how to breathe and how to pronounce, knows how to sing." Singing: The First Art incorporates the techniques of Bel Canto along with those of masters like Berton Coffin and Manuel Garcia to promote and facilitate vocal excellence. Many concepts are described, from correct posture and alignment to improving and maintaining proper breathing, from good pronunciation and diction to producing an even, pure tone, and from vocal ranges to singing within and smoothly shifting between vocal registers. Mannes Vocal Faculty member Dan H. Marek effectively breaks down these complicated concepts with clear exercises, helping the vocal student to achieve freedom and complete control over his or her instrument. A primary section on the history of singing stresses the importance of understanding vocal history while inspiring and motivating the student through the experiences of opera stars such as Enrico Caruso, Maria Callas, and Jussi Björling. The second section explains vocal techniques, including the use and proper pronunciation of the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), and provides 64 specific exercises with clearly defined goals designed to overcome faults and to develop vocal virtuosity. Complete instructions for transposing the exercises for both male and female voices are included, as well as drawings of the exercises, musical examples from vocal literature, excellent anatomical illustrations by Frank Netter, MD, and copious photographs of opera stars. Singing: The First Art is an invaluable text for students, professionals, singers, conductors, composers, and vocal medical professionals, or anyone interested in understanding and appreciating the vocal art.
Guide by faculty member of the Juilliard School of Music explains what students can and cannot expect from singing lessons, plus musical notation and theory, ear training, languages, and related subjects.
Excerpt from The Art of Singing The art of singing, like other arts, has had its periods of development, culmination, and decay. The only period which concerns us here is that in which singing has been associated with the growth of modern music, and which may be said to date from the rise of the modern harmonic style in Italy in the 17th century. The art was then cultivated with great assiduity and success, and reached its highest point towards the middle and end of the 18th century, since which time the development of music in other directions, especially in relation to the orchestra, has led composers to a comparative neglect of the voice as an instrument to be studied on its own account. With the disappearance of that school of composition in which composers wrote specially for the voice, has likewise vanished, to a great extent, the successful cultivation of the art of singing. The human voice will never cease to be the most beautiful of instruments when properly used; it will never cease to strike the chords of the heart with a directness and an intensity Unapproached by any other instrument. During the time of the greatest professors and artists of this branch of music in the last century, little, unhappily, was put into writing concerning their methods of teaching and practising the art; and in attempting to gather up the threads of their work, reliance is necessarily placed on the traditions which have come down to us, and on a few recorded maxims and sayings which are attached to the names of the great men of old time. In this book the endeavour has been to gather together these traditions and hints and weld them into a consistent whole. The aim has not been to write anything new, but simply to make an intelligible and useful record of the old truths concerning our art. Should the publication of this work result in bringing his fellow-professors of singing more generally to the discussion of vocal questions in a natural way - to the study of that which is absolutely known concerning the human voice, in place of debating those difficult physiological problems in relation to which there are few settled facts to go upon the author will feel that he has not laboured in vain. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Taking a "Sing First, Talk Later" approach, The Singing Book gets students singing from the very first day. Combining a simple introduction to basic vocal technique with confidence-building exercises and imaginative repertoire--with 30 new songs--The Singing Book teaches beginners the vocal skills they need to get started, gives them exciting music to sing, and provides the tools they need to develop the voice and keep it healthy. A new recordings disc included free with every new book provides the melodies and accompaniments for all 78 songs for practice and performance.
