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.

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.