ENGL 288

 1. Breath and support. Yoga is a great way to work on your breath and support. It helps you with finding the alignment because singing is best done and best produced when your body is aligned as free and correct as possible. The base, the center, and the top should work together to produce a good sound. The breath should begin with a place of a foundation. It is also important you take a breath for every single phrase you sing. High or low it doesn't matter. What you need to do is to keep the lifting and supported position as long as possible as you are exhaling. Don't collapse even when you are out of the air. Let the belly come out especially when singing high notes. The good strength of the torso, the center of the breath. The stronger that is, the longer your voice will last on.  2. Coloratura. Don't aspirate. Don't sing "Ha" when singing fast-moving pitches. It eventually causes a waste of breath. Singing the coloratura in legato. Practice the scale slow...

 Opera singers are known as the true "vocal athletes" in the music world. They rely entirely on their body to be heard, no microphones are allowed to be used. In order to become a good opera singer, it is essential that you master the techniques in singing a great quality voice and have a good body. Here, I have some keys to succeed in Opera learning.  1. Find the Right Teacher An opera voice teacher must have a strong knowledge of the "bel canto" technique. (Beautiful singing in Italian) It is not hard to find someone with experience who specializes in bel canto. However, not all the teachers will be a good match for you. Different teachers have different ways of teaching and sometimes not all the methods are going to work for you. Try different teachers before you settle down on one. 2. Practice Opera Singing At Least Five Days a Week It is important that you spend time perfecting your arias. However, you have to keep in mind that there is such a thing as practici...

Role preparation is a process and an essential part of life as an opera singer.  I don't have yet a lot of experiences with performing opera but I am working on the process of being a good actor. Here are some of my suggestions to learn a new role in Opera. 1. Buy the right score First thing before you practice the pieces, it is important you buy the right score. There are many editions of opera scores. Different musicologists and editors might have different editions. For you, you have to choose the accurate source for your music. Classical Vocal Reprints is a good source I would recommend. Also, make sure you you buy the right part. The one with voice and piano reduction. Sometimes, people can make a mistake of buying a full opera score including the orchestra part which is quite expensive.  2. Listen to the recording and highlights I would suggest highilght your part of text and any musical indication that is tricky. You can use different highlighter to make different part ...

Today, as a vocal performance major student at UW, I want to talk a little bit more about the field of Opera. What are its differences from singing musicals? Why is it hard to learn? How the sound is made? Hope this blog would interest you. 1. This thing called Resonance Comparing with other genres of singing, opera relies more on getting resonance with our bodies. Saying by that is you have to involve your whole body when singing. We don't use microphones when performing. Our bodies become the amplifiers through our voices. There are three body resonators: nasal, pharyngeal, and oral cavities. With lots of training, you would find your voice recipe for resonance and you would have to memorize the sensation, remind yourself constantly to get those involved. Resonance is the key factor for an opera singer. Also, it is not right to sing big volumes with no resonance. The sound without resonance won't spread out. If you sing in a big hall. People who sit in the back rolls won'...

Hi, if you are struggling with developing more control of your sound when playing the piano, this will be a good article for you to read. Voicing in playing the piano is extremely important. It means you have to have the ability to play one note or notes louder than others (Sometimes it is your thumb, but sometimes it can be your little finger). For example, if you are playing a melody and an accompaniment. It would be very clear that you want to make the melody louder than the accompaniment. Good voicing and sound control at the piano is also one of the clearest signs of an accomplished pianist but the most difficult task to master and to practice. Here are two tips I would give you to practice voicing: 1. Be able to visualize sound in your head   First, be a good listener. Be able to distinguish which is the line that you want to play above other voices. Then, play the part you think is louder using the right hand, and the part you think is softer using the left hand. This w...

Last blog I have already give three tips. Here are the following tips I will give.  4. Play with others One of the most interesting and exciting things to do for kids is recitals. Music is meant to be heard. If no one is going to listen to your music. There is no point in practicing and playing. Ask your friends if they want to hear what you have been working on lately. Get together and have fun or sit down at a public piano and play. You might feel nervous and that is normal but as you do it more and more, you will enjoy and feel more relaxed. It is an incredible practice. When you make a mistake, you can not just stop there. You must move on. Otherwise, you will make another mistake very shortly. That's what my teacher told me. Celebrate your new skills and improvements by playing for others. 5. Learn with a Piano teacher Many beginners - especially adult beginners (including me) - want to start playing the instrument on their own. I have tried learning by myself but I found I im...