Practice makes perfect!

Each term during my teaching at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, I have my voice students prepare and present several recitals. Performing in public needs to be a part of the education of any young musician, whether or not they plan on a professional career as a concert artist. If you are learning how to sing, or to play an instrument, at some point in your life you will want somebody to listen you, either in a formal or an informal circumstance. It's best to know what it feels like to be 'on the spot' in moments like this.

At the mid-point of each term I have my singers prepare at least one song or aria by memory to sing for their fellow voice students who study with me. They may invite one or two friends if they wish, but this is basically what I call 'A Working Recital'. They sing whatever they have prepared for the rest of the students and then we work on it.

At the end of each term we present our public recital to which they may invite anyone they like. Many friends and family members often attend these programs and we may have forty-five people in the audience. At this point the singer is feeling what it's like to stand up on a stage in the real world and produce.

In the class we just held we started by talking about stage etiquette. How one walks on stage. That she should be looking at the audience with a pleasant smile on her face. That she should then settle at the piano, taking some deep nose breaths to relax, and finally begin to sing. Each student practiced doing this. Then, after singing. how the artist should gracefully acknowledge the pianist.

The first student to sing (they drew numbers) sang the Aires Chantés of Poulenc. These are difficult pieces, even for a professional, but my student had prepared them well with the help of our staff accompanist, and sang them very well. After having attended the Marilyn Horne Master Class a few days earlier, and seeing four of the six singers singing poorly because of a high breath, I spent a lot of time with each student harping on 'LOW BREATH, LOW BREATH, LOW BREATH'. I told my students to get used to hearing these words. The inhalation is the most important thing you will ever do when singing! (No pot, please!) Anyway, the places where the student was not getting a good breath is where we concentrated our work and she improved immediately. This is so important in fast songs, where you may feel that you don't really have time to breath. Figure exactly where your breaths will come and then stick to it!

The next student. a coloratura, sang 'O luce di quest' anima' from Linda di Chamounix. This aria starts with a long recitative-arioso section and then becomes a coloratura's dream. The student had prepared it well and sang it well. She has a tendency to hold back her sound in the mid-range. This often happens with sopranos, but beautiful high notes are not enough. One has to balance the entire range of the voice. Sing out in the middle. The middle of many voices can sound weak. As Anna Russell said, 'Singers arrive at the point where they have one or two very loud notes at either end of the voice and nothing much in between!' She was absolutely correct; as she was in so many of her comic statements, which were more accurate than a lot of other things people have said about singing. This was what we worked on with this singer. Sing out throughout your range. Don't mumble in the middle.

The next singer chose Vissi d'arte from Tosca to perform. With her, we had already worked on developing a seamless line throughout the aria. She has a tendency to chew her words, which just doesn't work. When the jaw is pushing up and down, each push interferes with the action of the larynx. The jaw is also apt to wobble while you are singing in this manner. The jaw should 'hang', like the wired-on jaw of a lab skeleton. It should feel very free and loose. When singing in the mid-range, if you were to look into a mirror, your face should look about the same as when you merely say the words. Once she was able to allow this to happen, the aria was just fine.

The next singer has had a problem with a persistent wobble. She sang a Fauré song. With her, the wobble happens especially on long last notes. I have tried to have her envision the sound as it leaves the body and continues on out the window, down the road, where ever; but OUT! An old habit like this is very apt to reappear when one is a little nervous. We have worked on this for a while and I thought we had it conquered. Muscle Memory is hard to change, especially when it's bad memory and has been in your body for a while. But you must change it! For more information on this subject, read the Chapter entitled 'I Wonder as I Wobble' in Sing On! Sing On!

The last singer sang 'Auf dem Wasser zu singen' of Schubert. This student has had a very busy term doing other things and this was the first time I have heard her 'perform'. She sang the song very well, but what struck me, was that I now think that the voice may be a lyric Mezzo instead of a Soprano. Young voices tend to all be fairly light and soprano-ish. As one learns the technique of singing and the voice begins to find its proper tessitura, it begins to tell us what it wants to be when it grows up.

The voice of the young woman who sang 'Vissi d'arte' already has indicated that hers will be a large, dramatic sound. That of a Spinto or Dramatic Soprano. That won't happen for a while, but that is undoubtedly the direction she is headed. Similarly, the Coloratura will probably continue in this fach for a good while. Some Coloratura's voices darken and deepen as the singer matures. They then may take roles that are suited for a lyric soprano. But this is a very individual event. Many continue to sing coloratura roles throughout their career.

I felt the class was a success, since everyone sang well and , I hope, everyone learned something that had not been brought up in a lesson. They certainly heard a lot about taking only deep 'aw' singing breaths!

At the end of the term, we will present our public recital, where each singer will present several songs. Two of my students, a Senior and a Sophomore, will present solo recitals in April. I am also having them perform at my home on May 2nd. The Senior will also sing four German songs in a recital that is a recreation of Judith Raskin's senior recital at Smith in 1948. I am pleased that one of my students is involved in this program because Judy and I worked together in the fifties. She died much too young.

I can not over estimate the importance of this kind of performance. A practice for the real thing. That's what we should aim for: the real thing!