Appropriate choice of material

The appropriateness of material for younger singers is something that's bothered me for many years.

The first time I really encountered this was when I did the school edition of Les Miserables about 7 years ago.   The show has a few cuts in the running time, but very few other changes.   Both the director and I were surprised to find the Prostitutes' scene retained in full in a production aimed at Schools.  We both felt this was inappropriate for our younger performers, and chose to only use girls aged 16 and over in this scene.  

A side-line in the Les Mis Schools edition - why keep the Prostitutes' scene intact, but cut half of Castle on a cloud, the one song written for a young performer?   When I did the show I didn't tell our young Cosette the song had been trimmed; I just let her sing the full version she already knew!

Recently I've come across this again in 2 situations, less about the appropriateness of the material, but more to do with the vocal requirements of a song, and feeling sure that a young performer is able to match the composer’s intentions for a song. 

A few weeks ago I was MDing a concert for a local AmDram Group.   We have lots of youngsters in the group, several of whom were doing duets and solos in the concert, all chosen and accepted by myself and the producers.  At the eleventh hour someone had to drop out of the concert and we were left with a slot to fill in the running order.  I suggested we offer it to one of the teenagers who had been an ever present at rehearsals, had worked really hard for us, and was at the moment only singing 4 lines solo in the concert.    There wasn't time to teach her something new, so we asked her what she felt comfortable doing; the answer - Don't rain on my parade.   We wanted her to sing, and this is what she knew best, so we let her do it, but it was far from comfortable.  This singer has not yet developed a natural belt, and is too young, in my opinion, to be being taught it at 15. There was another singing teacher in the company and we both agreed we would never give a student of her age that song. 

Could she sing the notes of the song?  Yes, absolutely she could.  

Did she understand the story of the song?  Yes, just about, but with a complex song like this that is only going to get better with age and life experience.  

Was she able to match the audience's expectation of this song?  Not really.   This is a song that will forever be associated with one singer, and that casts a long shadow.   This song was written for a mature voice with the ability for a strong belt.  That was always the composer's intention.   This young singer did have difficulty blending the sound at the top of her range, and thus the song sounded weak in places.

She gave it a good committed performance.  But I feel we should always be preparing our students for performances and exams with material that matches their current ability.

The other situation I discovered was a 13 year old student doing LCM Grade 2, and including Gimme Gimme from Thoroughly Modern Millie in their programme.   I love this song; I've done the show twice and also used it in concert.   It's a great big belty torch song, a real traditional 11 O’clock number.   And it needs a big voice.  It requires massive reserves of breath, and a level of muscular support that I would not expect to find in such a young singer. 

(It must be pointed out at this stage that the student in question passed her LCM Grade 2 with Distinction, which is great news! But I will talk about the exam boards and their role in the choices of material at the bottom of this blog entry.)

Would I have a problem with a student singing these songs at home?  Of course not. How else are they going to uncover repertoire for themselves.

Would I have a problem doing these songs with a student in a lesson if I felt it was not appropriate?  No, but I would be very honest with them on my thoughts.  It would be something I would do for 2 or 3 sessions and show the student where the voice would need to develop too in order to be able to tackle the song with the voice quality the composer intended.  Then I'd tell the student that, in lessons, we would put the song away for 6 months, and come back to it and see how the voice had developed. 

There is a big problem, I feel, in asking young voices, and young bodies, to sing something that is too big at too young an age.  The physical muscular support needs to be allowed to develop over many years.

Yes, there is the argument to let them sing the song, and use the tilt voice with the start of the twang sound to get close to the sound.  But I would argue against that.  The song is written with a certain sound in mind; a certain intention for how to perform it.   Young singers are, quite rightly, going to listen to recordings and here this sound.  And they, quite rightly, doing to try and recreate the sounds they here.    

But they need to also have clear boundaries, at a young age.  

I have one young singer who has some professional experience.  I started teaching her last year, aged 11, and the first thing she sang for me was I dreamed a dream.  It was astonishing, for good and bad reasons.  She possesses the most amazing natural young belt I've ever come across, and the top end of the song was undoubtedly impressive.   What was also very clear, however, was that she knew nothing of breath control, nothing of abdominal wall and lower back support, and her singing at any dynamic lower than mf was uncontrolled.   She was aware of this - this is a totally natural, raw voice.   So this year we've not touched that big belty sound in lessons at all.   It has all been about building up the muscle support and breath control to create the control needed to build the voice up.  There have been theatre songs like In my own little corner and Maybe; English songs like Christopher Robin is saying his prayers; jazz songs like Summertime and Paper Moon.   A whole range of repertoire that this student has enjoyed, and worked very well at.  She has also sung  I dreamed a dream at a couple of charity events outside school.  I was not involved in those, but I am pleased she is performing and singing what she enjoys.   

However in my lessons the progress is very controlled and structured.  Until the last lesson of term when I think we belted out Good Morning Baltimore!

I am always encouraging my singers to listen to as many different performances of songs as possible, and take from each something they like and also something they don't like, and try and rationalize this.  We all have our own personal favourite performers and performances.  I try and encourage my student's to do "the YouTube trail" and just click on different songs and singers.   I hope they will like my favourites, especially Audra MacDonald, Sutton Foster and Ruthie Henshall (although I hope they don't mirror Ruthie's closed teeth style, but it works for her), but I also hope the learn from listening to Idina, Kristen, Summer, Scarlett, stars from Glee, and anyone that sings with a good level of technical control in their voice.

And I hope, when they sing whatever they chose to sing, they will know instantly which songs feel right for their voice at their stage of development. 

Sutton Foster singing Gimme Gimme 

on the Rosie O'Donnell show.

_________________________________________________________________________

LCM does not publish song lists for their MT exams.  I have done these exams many times myself and have used some songs at different grades, especially Over the rainbow.  I've used this successfully at both grades 2 and  5 as the notes are relatively easy for a young singer, but also with more control of the link into the upper register it is very good for showing that development.

LCM does offer some suggestions for repertoire and the grade they feel it would be suitable for. 
Neither Gimme Gimme or Don't rain on my parade are on their suggested list.  However You're daddy's son, a song with very similar vocal requirements, is. The suggested grade for this song is 6-8, which is where I would place the other two.

However as teachers we are free to choose whatever repertoire we wish for any grade.  

These lists are far from comprehensive, and also, when you look across the exam boards, contradictory.   As long as he needs me, another song with a very deep characterization, and need for very strong belt in the final bars, is suggested for 5-6 in the LCM list, and yet is on the Trinity Singing Syllabus for grade 3.   I now do mainly Trinity, but I would not choose to use that song for grade 3, unless with a much older student looking to gain performance and exam experience.

__________________________________________________________________________

BGT - the best result for Jonathan and Charlotte

Let me make one thing clear from the start:  I am not a fan of Simon Cowell or his programmes, and the message they sometimes appear to put out.     I chose not to watch either BGT or XFactor and just catch up on the bits that appear interesting to me later on, and avoid Mr C's comments on the whole.

However I think I finally get BGT.  As the excellent young magician, Paul Dabek (who I had the pleasure to teach briefly a few years ago) tweeted "Dog act wins BGT maybe variety is really back!" (sic)

BGT this year came down, largely, to a choice between a great modern version of the old end of the pier act, the Dancing Dog, and someone who many years ago may have found themselves as part of an old freak show.   I use the word freak in its proper sense here of someone who is outside the normal biological expectations.   A lad of Jonathan's age should not naturally have that huge tenor voice, but what an instrument, and what potential he has. And I am not going to ignore his partner Charlotte here, who I feel has been overlooked in a lot of the comments I've heard recently.

And yet the dog won.  And I myself am delighted for a variety of reasons.   Firstly Pudsey is ridiculously cute, and the bond with his teenage owner and dance partner Ashleigh is clearly immense.   I have only just watched them this morning, and sat here, I don't mind admitting, with tears of joy streaming down my face.   If BGT has to exist, then this is exactly the sort of act that it is able to highlight - along with the wonderful Aquabatics.  And a big hands up to the BGT producers for undertaking to stage what is clearly not an easy act to put on.

But I digress - as ever.  This is The Very Vocal Blog, so why am I so happy that the singers did not win.  Simply because they are so young.   Their voices have got a lot of maturing to do; their bodies are not yet physiologically mature.   I was worried over the previous week that, were they to win BGT, the Cowell bandwagon would start to suck up the young singers, over publicise them and - more importantly - over-sing them.   

Clearly there are two very talented voices here.   Is Charlotte Jaconelli an extraordinary talent - that remains to be seen, but she has a clear, well produced soprano that is so much better than the "pop voice" moniker she has been given.   She doesn't sound truly operatic as she is singing next to the magical monstrosity of a voice that is being produced by her very close friend, Jonathan Antoine.  But she has a voice that is clearly at home singing light classical and theatre music, and, with the correct training, may develop a richer fuller tone should she chose to go down that path.   And the good news is she should now have time to make those decisions and get that advice and training.

As has Jonathan.   Let's be clear about this - this is an astonishing voice.  He has clearly (they both have) been taught very well, and any occasional sense of stress and push in the voice must, I'm sure, be down to nerves and adrenalin.  The vocal performances I've watched were not technically perfect, but they were thrilling and I never felt that the voice sounded over produced.  And yet it clearly is over produced for a 17 year old to have that voice.     This is a natural voice, and it needs to have the time to develop naturally.   

Hopefully without the full BGT / Cowell bandwagon pushing them out for appearances left right and centre both these singers can get on with doing what all talented young singers need to do - learn.   Learn technique, learn repertoire.   Yes, I've no doubt there will be an opportunity for a number for appearances and these should be good experiences.  Although, let's hope they're no asked to do too much outdoor singing, as the tendency always is to overproduce and force the voice, especially as the PA and foldback are not adequate.   But first and foremost these young singers now need to be embraced by one of our great singing institutions - not the arms of the press - and guided and moulded to help shape their new career. 

There are clearly issues to be faced.  According to an interview in the Telegraph (http://ow.ly/aWuWF ) he has left 6th form after "sort of a nervous breakdown".  The fact that, in the same article, the school in question released a statement saying that they have strong anti-bullying policy gives a clear idea what's going on.   He has issues with his weight, and I sit here as a man in my 40th year who, according to all statistics, needs to lose about 6 stone to be at my "ideal" weight.  I'll take 3, and that's what I'm now dealing with.   I really hope Jonathan finds the support he needs as, successfully dealing with those issues will only help to strengthen him vocally.   He now, thanks to Ashleigh and Pudsey, has the time to do that.

So I can't believe I am going to be finishing a blog entry in this way, but Well Done BGT - and therefore well done to the viewing public.  You got the right result.  A great old fashioned variety act, delivered with charm wit and panache, takes the spoils.   And a pair of very talented singers - one "freakishly" talented - get a measure of the fame that they might get at a later date, but also the time, I hope, to get on with the business of being young singers, and nurturing their talent so that it is around for the next 30-40 years, not just 3-4.

A new challenge

As singing teachers we are always challenging our students to do better - work harder in lessons, get more confidence in performance, gain higher grades in exams.   Therefore I've always felt it good practise to show my students that I am prepared to challenge myself.

A few years ago when I started teaching regularly, and thinking about entering students for exams I thought it would be a good idea to take a new exam myself.  As a musical theatre specialist, and with students interested in that area, I had chosen London College of Music (LCM) Musical Theatre exams and duly entered myself for my Grade 8.

I passed - thankfully - but it showed me an important point in gaining a good grade for LCM Musical Theatre - be seen to be moving!   My examiner remained head down for almost the whole duration of my 5 songs, which included Noel Coward's "That is the end of the news" and "It's hard to speak my heart" from Parade - not songs that warrant a huge amount of movement around the stage, but rather a more subtle facial performance, which I felt I gave.  However my examiner, while awarding me enough points to pass from my vocals, criticised a performance he did not actually watch.   I made sure when my students entered their exams they were all prepared to move a bit!     Fortunately all the other examiners I've had for my students have kept their heads up to watch, and we've always got good grades for performance.

So, the new challenge;   I have suddenly shifted in the last year from - as I saw it - being a MD who did some singing teaching to now being a singing teacher now does a bit of MDing.   As a result of this shift I have decided to cast my net wider into the realm of examinations - as I documented in my previous blog entry a month ago http://theveryvocalblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/which-exam-syllabus.html ). 

So now I am preparing some students for LCM MT exams - which I know a lot about - and some students for Trinity Guildhall (TG) singing exams.  Last Tuesday, just as I was filling in my entry form for my students - grade 1-4 - I decided to have a look at the Grade 8 list.   Although I have not sung classical songs for many years,  I can still remember much of what I was taught by my old singing teacher, Janet Briggs, at Durham University.   I learnt "Non Piu Andrai" (from Figaro) and "The Vagabond" (Vaughan Williams) and have never forgotten them.  Both are on the Grade 8 list.  An idea formed in my head.     

I looked at the criteria - I can do 2 songs from List A - Opera and Musical Theatre.   Well I can remember "Non Piu Andrai" well, and as an MT specialist I should be able to do most of those selected.  Sure enough the list includes "If I were a rich man" (Fiddler) and "The Road you didn't take" (Follies), both of which I know well.

List C includes many English songs, one of which is "The Vagabond".  Excellent.

That only leaves a 4th choice, which will have to be new.  I always enjoyed singing both Schumann and Schubert - indeed a quick trip to the loft recovered my copies of Lieder by both composers - and while I don't speak German I believe I can remember enough.   That, and a little bit of help, should make learning one of the Lieder choices on the list possible in 6 weeks. 

Decision taken.   I am looking to push students forward in an  exam board that will really challenge them musically and in performance.   I can only do that if I'm prepared to take on the same challenge.    So suddenly here I am, travelling 250 miles in the car this weekend, singing along to Mozart, Vaughan Williams, Schubert and Sondheim, and loving it.

I do need some help.   I am a very confident teacher and singer of musical theatre, but am going to seek advice/help from one of our experienced local classical coaches.   There's only so much you can achieve yourself.

But I feel this is really going to empower my teaching, as well as maybe opening up a new avenue for my performing, which in recent years has limited itself mainly to delivering Tom Lehrer songs from the piano in concerts to cover some time needed for costume changes.   Not that I will ever have a word said against Tom Lehrer - I will continue to perform his great songs with relish, but maybe follow it up with a bit of Mozart, or Schubert.   Or venture into pastures new and learn some Verdi or Tchaikovsky.

Am I leaving the world of musical theatre behind - absolutely not.  As the proud possessor of a collection of over 300 theatre soundtracks that is never going to happen.   But maybe the Ipod will now shuffle Rossini and Fauré in amongst the Jerry Herman and the Rodgers and Hammerstein.

What ever the future holds, I'm going to face the challenges headlong.  It can only make me a better all round teacher.

A Titanic night of amateur theatre

I have to express an interest first.   To neutral reviewers of my blog - and you are all most welcome! - I am about to review a show performed by a company I have had the pleasure of MDing and performing with in the past, and featuring some performers I know very well indeed.   But I just wanted to share some thoughts on an excellent production, and also some musings on amateur theatre in general  

West Bromwich Operatic Society is an excellent amateur musical theatre company, and, ever the shrewd programmers, are this week staging Maury Yeston and Peter Stone's multi Tony winning show "Titanic" to coincide with the centenary of the tragedy.

"Titanic" presents many challenges to any company, amateur or professional, not least if the requirement for a huge cast with at least 10 major roles, and huge chorus numbers.   I had the privileged of conducting Ragtime the musical with WBOS nearly 10 years ago, so I know they are capable of tackling a show on this scale.

I am not going to single performers out from this excellent production - that would take 3 or 4 blog entries.  The main thing I was struck by this evening was the commitment of the performers on stage.  To tell a story of this emotional depth requires exceptional commitment from the performers and this group of performers delivered this commitment in spades. The cast ranged from bellboys aged 10 and up to senior company members well into their professional retirement. Every member put their heart and soul into this production, and it showed throughout the performances.

Several company members were required to play 2 or 3 different parts, and these were always differentiated with great clarity, not just with costume.

The chorus singing, such an integral part of this score, was excellent.  So much so I was confused by the MD (Jonathan Hill) wearing headphones into assuming some choral work had been clicked to support the live singing.  I was told after the show this was not the case - all vocals were live.  The sound was thrilling  (although the altos sometimes sounded a little thin - sorry - vocal nerd blogging here!) and really gave a sense of the excitement of the greatest ship ever build setting sale.

There were some delightful moments of characterization and direction  (Mike Capri and Steve Bracey), none more so than in "Doing the latest Rag" when the professional dance couple, having performed their own routine, proceed to teach the 1st and 2nd class passengers to Charleston and Cakewalk.   This was staged with great subtlety - the company didn't suddenly know how to do the dance but could be seen to be learning it, being a beat or 2 behind for some sections.  Add to this Mr Guggenheim not getting the steps and getting clearly frustrated and you have a lovingly staged scene with great elements of realism. This purveyed the story telling right up to the curtain call.

Quite uniquely the curtain call did not place any hierarchy on the performers or their characters.  All significant performers got their bow, but  the groupings were based purely on stage positions and not character significance. And the final group to receive their applause only had one principal performer in it.   Such a small but significant step to signify that, in a tragedy such as this, as Captain Smith himself says, it's every man for himself.

Also, possibly strangely, I would like to  give a big thumbs up to the programme - probably the best programme for any show - amateur or professional - I've seen in a long time.   Given that the show was being presented to coincide with the anniversary, the programme focussed on the real characters rather than the performers.  Where the performers bios would normally be we got the character name, performer name, and then a short bio of the real character.   No bios of the performers or production team was included - just names for credits.   Such a significant selfless gesture, given the anniversary, has to be applauded and celebrated.  Besides which much of the information was just plain fascinating!

Now it's time for the boring vocal nerd to offer a couple of criticisms.   Please bear in mind that nothing I am about to say actually spoilt my enjoyment of the performance, and given the same options in casting I would probably have made the same decisions as the current production team did.

However I thought I'd talk for a moment about vocal styles.  A couple of the male principals were, for me, vocally miscast.  These are performers I have seen in other more contemporary shows and know to be outstanding musical theatre performers, and indeed to a non vocal nerd, their performances this evening would have been in the good-to-excellent category.    My quibble is  simply that the voices, technically, were far to contemporary for the roles they were playing. Titanic does not use contemporary music to tell a period story, as Spring Awakening does.  Rather it uses traditional musical techniques from the period the show is set, and therefore the vocals should reflect that. I would love to work with the performers concerned to see if, if directed accordingly, they could adapt their natural contemporary vocal styles to a much more traditional technique more appropriate to the music.   My instinct is that they could, as they are undoubtedly terrific performers.   

Another principal performer, who possesses a wonderful lyric baritone voice, with a beautiful even tone from low A to high G, does not engage the body in his speaking voice, and therefore the speech, while always projected and full of character, lacks the same depth of tone of the singing voice.

Also why did the stoker have coal dust on his face, but pristine clean white trousers and shirt?!!

I shall expound upon the perils of casting in amateur theatre in a future blog entry.

It just remains for me to say  thank you to all at WBOS for another memorable night at the theatre, and a fitting and respectful tribute to those 1500 souls lost to the Atlantic 100 years ago.

Standard of singing teaching in professional colleges

Is the standard of singing teaching in our professional drama and dance colleges where it should be?

I have no doubt that there is a lot of good teaching going on, and witnessed this first hand during the time I spent teaching at GSA a few years ago. 

However, I have reason to doubt the teaching in 2 top London colleges, if personal reports are to be believed.

I shall not name the students or the colleges in question, but these are true case studies reported to me in the last month.

Student 1 has been a student of mine on and off for about 5 years.  She also had access to excellent West End standard training at Thomas Telford School.   She obtained a place on a dance oriented West End training course and is now completing her 2nd year.   One of her audition pieces for the college was Mr Snow (Carousel), and the student is a natural soprano.

When I saw her a month ago her confidence was completely shot to pieces, and she had lost all the natural spark and bright quality she always had in her voice.   It transpires that in the 2 years she has been there she has not been encouraged to sing any repertoire in her natural range.   The college does group singing lessons, and this student's teacher seems to have a very rigid idea about technique.  If you do not do things their way you are not singing correctly, apparently.  Also the repertoire has been almost exclusively ultra contemporary.  The upshot has been that the student has been asked to sing entirely repertoire she is unfamiliar with, often in a voice range she feels does not suit her voice best, and has never been able to demonstrate her natural ability.   She is very happy to learn new and modern rep, but wants to be able to balance that with traditional styles and techniques.

We had an hour and a half together a month ago, and got the vocal folds reconnecting, got the focus back onto the physical support networks, and got her smiling again and enjoying singing - that simple prerequisite for good singing - enjoyment.


Student 2 is a new student I met for the first time this week.  She has just returned from her first major contract on a big show in Germany and is looking to push herself forward into more singing roles over here.   In warm up she easily reached a high A, which really surprised her.  It transpires that in her training, again at a top London college, she was quickly labelled as a dancer who could sing and lumped into the chorus / dancers and never given the opportunity to push herself vocals.

Consequently a voice that has a very natural top range has gone completely unnoticed.  It is an excellent voice up to D/E, with a great natural and very safe belt.  But there is a whole register of very natural notes that previous teachers have never uncovered / developed.

Surely these circumstances should not be allowed to go unchallenged.   I advised student 1 to speak to her director of study and request a change of tutor.  This should be her prerogative.  In my time at GSA I had one student request to leave me as he didn't feel he was benefiting from my teaching; at the same time I was given another 3rd year student who had an exceptional technique and wanted more rep coaching that her current teacher, a non-pianist, could not offer.

But it does worry me that students are paying huge fees to attend these prestigious colleges, and then they discover the teaching is not what they expected.

What can be done?  Please feel free to leave any thoughts.

Off topic! Great night at the theatre!

One of the reasons I called this The Very Vocal Blog was that, on occasion I could go off topic and discuss something not totally to do with vocal work.  Just generally shoot my mouth off and be "vocal" (get it!) on any topic that came to mind.

So here's the first off topic discussion - Did Shakespeare really write his plays?     Answers in an essay of not more than 5000 words, delivered to the Descendants of Kit Marlow....   


No, not really. I'm not going to open that can of worms here, although our very amusing and irreverent guide on the boat trip down the Avon this morning did discuss it in some detail. 

I just wanted to say what a great time I had taking Mrs Show Widow to Twelfth Night at the RSC last night.   I actually don't care who wrote it, I love the play.   Nearly 20 years ago I played Malvolio in a very basic but enjoyable school production - I've never forgotten the review in the Essex Country Standard - "he strutted about, preening himself like a stroppy peacock", which I always felt was a decent review for playing Malvolio.

But nothing quite prepared us for the performance of Jonathan Slinger last night.   The whole production was excellent; the comic performances of Nicholas Day (Sir Toby) and Bruce McKinnon (Sir Andrew) were a sheer delight.  But Slinger's performance was a revelation.  He is an RSC regular from the last few seasons, but this was the first time I'd seen him.   His Malvolio was instantly dislikeable in it's pomposity, but ultimately sympathetic at the end.   The reading of the Letter Scene was comic gold dust, and yet his appearance in his yellow stockings was even more extraordinary, helped in no small way by his costume, but you'll get no spoilers on that here.  If you want to find out more you'll have to go and see it.   Suffice to say the humiliation was complete and yet you couldn't help feeling sorry for character (and actor!).  The audience in the excellent new auditorium was in stitches by this time and remained so for a long time.


There's nothing quite like a good Shakespeare play, directed and performed with complete confidence by a first class ensemble.  The only sadness I have is that there is very little chance of getting back to see the same ensemble in either The Tempest or The Comedy of Errors this season.  

http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/twelfth-night/

Excellent article on managing technique in performance.

 

No new blog entry from me today. I thought I'd share this excellent article I've found from Dr Liz Garnett

I would thoroughly recommend this for anyone interested in managing their technique in performance.


You can find Dr Garnett's article HERE