Beginning Singer

Vocalise of the Week: Handel

A student of mine is working on “Tornami a vagheggiar” from Handel’s Alcina. So I designed this vocalise to work on the some of the challenges outside of the aria itself.

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Leadership Styles…of Conductors

This TED video couldn’t have come at a better time for me, personally. Having just had my conducting debut (I conducted NMSU’s opera scenes, and I really enjoyed it…and enjoy saying “conducting debut”), I really appreciated this talk given by Itay Talgam about how various conductors lead. It’s complete with videos of great performances and lots of good humor.

Enjoy!

Jack of all Trades, Master of None?

Can we do everything related to our career and still manage to sing?

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Made it a Month with No Caffeine

I made it a month with no caffeine! Did anything useful come from it?

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“How to Become a Singer” – Anna Russell

This video has been making the rounds on Facebook. For those of you who don’t know, Anna Russell was a singing comedienne who made jokes about singers, art song, and opera. It’s very classy and wickedly funny.

Check it out.

Vocalise of the Week: Jaw Moving Warm Up

While you do this exercise, really try to let your jaw swing on the [ja] or “ya”. This isn’t a time for dainty jaw movements.

Vocalise of the Week: Belmonte Leap Plus Seconds

This vocalise is based off of a phrase in the aria “O wie ängstlich” from Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail.

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Nasal Irrigation for Allergy and Cold Relief

Nasal irrigation is a safe and effective way to reduce allergies and cold symptoms. Learn about it here.

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Fast singing

To say the least. This is Vivica Genaux singing.

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‘Tosca’ a Fiasco

The best account I’ve read of the events at the Metropolitan Opera’s season premier of Tosca last week is by the New Yorker’s Alex Ross.

…[Continue reading ‘Tosca’ a Fiasco]

Beginning Singer is about the challenges of becoming a professional singer.

My name is Ian Sidden, and I have been performing since I was a very little boy. I have always sung, and whether it was in musicals, rock bands, choirs or operas; I just couldn't shut up. I just completed graduate studies in Vocal Performance, and now it is do or die time to attempt a professional career.

Within this blog there will be writings on my own singing experiences as I live them, writings on singing technique and pedagogical observations, interviews, book reviews, and all sorts of singing related material.