Grading Singers for Final Performance

So, as well as a singer, I am an accomplished pianist/accompanist. I have been playing for about 10 years now and have worked aside several levels of singers and instrumentalists. With that said, I have the privilege of playing for a friend of mine during her final exam. She sang 'My New Philosophy' from 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown'. The song is originally a duet, but she chose to perform it as a solo. Last minute, someone else in the class decides that he wants to perform it with her. All parties were in agreement, including myself! So we set up a rehearsal time to go over the music, in which I was present, 'Sally Brown' was present, but nooooo 'Schroeder'. This made me a bit uneasy. He didn't only miss our rehearsal, but then went on to use this song as HIS final and not as a supplement. So it's our time to perform, and we head up on stage. So this is my FIRST time running this song with him, and it's the actual performance. How fun and unprofessional is that?!?!?! So we get up there, and everything is going smooth, then all of a sudden, 'Schroeder' jumps about 3 pages ahead and cuts out more than half the song, so 'Sally Brown' does an amazing job following him, but at the same time, I am kind of lost. I eventually find out where we were, and before you know it, the song is over. And do you know that 'Schroeder' got an 'A' on his performance?? Not only did he NOT song, but he only spoke about 15 words. Talk about favoritism!!!

Critiquing Other Singers!

So I have been involved in a class entitled 'Performance Lab.' It is a mixture of Classical and Musical Theater singers in which they perform and get critiqued by his/her fellow classmates. I've noticed a lot of unprofessional things about this class, so let's start with the accompanist. First off, anyone can provide his/her own accompanist. Secondly, the school has provided an accompanist free of charge. "You have the right to remain singing. Anything you say will be used against you in the Court of 'Juries'. If you do not have an accompanist, the worst possible one will be provided to you." With that said, this accompanist is nothing to write home about. Well, let me take that back, he is. These students' parents need to know what they are getting for their money; UNPROFESSIONALISM! I have seen this accompanist, on several occasions, sing with the performer while the performer is performing. Also, knowledge of repertoire lacks IMMENSELY. But enough with that, let's get to the actual students. Unlike being in a production and performing for an audience, this performance class is to help the students become more of a performer, no matter what his/her level of singing is. So after the student performs, he/she is then critiqued by other amateur performers. This is where all hell breaks loose!!! First off, many terms are thrown around completely out of context. Some of them try and talk intellectually and don't know the meaning of most of the terms being used. Then, half these students perform worse than the student who has just performed. Then it's like the current performer gets bashed for doing a better job. The instructor of this class is a stickler for professionalism yada yada yada. This person allows a lot of non-professionalism which is something I don't understand. I have heard students comment on others people's physical ailments which is something that they can't control. Then, they have the nerve to NOT heed their own criticism. I would start with myself before telling someone what they should or should not be doing. So yeah, this is so not cool.

Ciao

PROFESSIONAL Voice Lessons

So a couple of months ago, I decided that I wanted to take voice lessons. I have been singing for quite some while, so my technique is already developed but it needs work. I don't consider myself, by any means, an amazing or perfect singer. I DO need work with my voice. So, I get this voice teacher, someone who has never heard me sing, and on our first day of lessons, we take our entire lesson time to determine repertoire that I would be working on. Not the best choice, but I didn't mind. Then the 2nd lesson, we jumped straight into repertoire. And again for the 3rd lesson, and 4th, and so forth and so on. I am paying to be taught in these voice lessons, NOT learn repertoire. I can learn repertoire very easily myself. Someone who solely goes over repertoire with a student is a vocal COACH, not a vocal TEACHER!! So why have the label if you are going to do something completely different?? I have no clue. I never warmed up once, worked on breathing, or went over any technical aspects of singing whatsoever. I feel like I paid for a vocal coach rather than a vocal teacher. And if I were hiring a vocal coach, it wouldn't be the 'coach' that I ended it up. Nothing that I have done in a lesson (if that's what you call it) with this teacher consisted of learning. It was all vocal coaching. To me, this is very UNPROFESSIONAL!

Let's Start w/Unprofessionalism

As a member of the performing arts world, I have been involved in lots of musical productions, both vocal and instrumental, and staged and non-staged. I would like to point out some things about these areas which I find unprofessional. These are points that I will touch briefly on but will expand on in the near...VERY near future.

1. Never let a person who is singing impaired perform a singing role just because he/she is good at other things such as dancing, wardrobe, and acting.

2. Under no circumstance should a rehearsal accompanist not have practiced music just because he/she is not playing in the actual performance.

3. A director should always take notes and have prepared the choreography in advance so that it won't keep changing during every rehearsal period.

4. All performers need to be treated equal despite experience and level of musicianship!!

5. Over-rehearsal can be bad!!!

6. Never over-work a performer!

7. Basic music skills, such as reading music, singing in tune, etc., are needed.

As I mentioned before, these are only a few things that I am discussing at this time. More to come in the future.

Ciao