NOVEMBER 2010
BOY SOPRANO TO YOUNG
MAN’S VOICE
As I have previously
noted on these pages, I
was one of the fortunate
few who was a “natural
singer/” Whatever the
vocal challenges
presented by the music
before me ... I just
sang and there it was.
The fact that it all
started with me standing
by the piano
daily/nightly, while my
sister–four and a half
years older than
I–played the piano and
sang with me ... was
obviously a substantial
“leg-up!” The talent was
there ... and, with her
support ... everything
necessary to bring it
forth, as well. We sang
everything from Sigmund
Romberg, Rudolf Friml,
Victor Herbert, Jerome
Kern, George Gershwin,
Rodgers and
Hart/Hammerstein, Johann
Strauss, Jr., Gilbert
and Sullivan ... as well
as every pop song that
was currently on the
ten-song weekly,
Saturday Night countdown
of Your Hit Parade! Add
to that the songs from
the American Song book
in every desk in every
grammar school in Los
Angeles and ...well
you’ve got the picture.
“Shine on, Shine on
Harvest Moon,” “Bicycle
Built for Two,” “Columbia
the Gem of the Ocean,”
“America the
Beautiful,”
etcetera.
So ... it should come as
no surprise that I never
experience the dreaded
“voice change” boys
quite often experience
as the chords lengthen
with advancing puberty.
I out started at about
six, with high notes a
fifth higher than my
sister and then, with my
joining the Boy’s Glee
Club in Junior High
School, my voice just
adjusted downward with
time passing, the
changing repertoire and
moving down in time,
from tenor to baritone.
It was not to be so, for
a young fella singing
Miles in Britten’s
Turn of the Screw,
at the New York City
Opera, back in the
sixties. His first year
with it was successful
and he was in great
demand--also at the
Met--for his lovely
voice. A few years
later, however, he lost
it trying to keep
singing the high voice
in performance ... and
his career as a singer
came to a crashing,
abrupt end. I tried
talking to him several
times about just
allowing the voice to
sing lower ... but he
was a young fella,
distraught and obsessed
with remaining a
boy-soprano and ... he
just faded from the
vocal scene.
Andrew Arboleta was sent
to me several years ago,
experiencing difficulty
with the boy-soprano
role as Amahl, in
Amahl and the Night
Visitors. His
problem--as is most
always the case--was an
issue of support,
quickly remedied and his
performances went well.
His last major
boy-soprano role was
with James Conlan
conducting, at the Los
Angeles Cathedral, about
eighteen months ago,
where he was one of
three soloists in a
Christmas Cantata, with
full orchestra.
I hadn’t seen him for
several months, when he
came in suffering from
the “I am having trouble
singing those high notes
...” syndrome. I began
the process of showing
him how to access his
“never before used lower
voice,” lengthening his
jaw, while opening his
throat longer–palate
always raised--and more
open than he had ever
done previously. While
it took a good half hour
for him to get used to
the new, much fuller
sound ... he left
singing Younger than
Springtime,
from the Broadway Show,
South Pacific. His
mother called me several
weeks later to let me
know he had sung it for
a prestigious L. A.
youth choir and was
accepted. Last week we
gave the song a whole
new sound and began
dealing with a whole new
aspect of his training.
As a boy soprano, most
music directors are
apparently satisfied if
he can just sing the
notes prettily. As a
young man, singing such
a song as Younger than
Springtime ... he must
assume a whole new vocal
and aesthetic value
system, when singing the
great prose of Oscar
Hammerstein ll. (I was
the first baritone to
sing the role in a major
production, 70
performances at the
Jones Beach Summer
Theater, picked by
Rodgers himself with the
request. “Will you sing
the high G’s every
night?” “Of course.” and
he replied, “You’re my
Cable!”)
Andrew really got into
the idea that he was
actually
speaking/singing the
words, “for the first
time,” as dialogue, each
time he sang it, rather
than having a particular
assigned emotion for
each phrase as he had
always be previously
been given. At almost
sixteen, he has the full
and easy sound of a
nineteen year old.
Flexible breath-pressure
support, on demand ...
is a wonderful and
comforting concept!
If your
knees are knocking each
time you walk out on
stage, not quite sure
what will come out, how
you will sound, or
whether the high notes
will be there when you
need them ... you ought
to give this technique a
try, sometime soon ...
If you are not living in
Los Angeles … I’ll work
with you on SKYPE. I am
currently working with
Munich, Germany, Toronto
and Edmunton, Maine,
Miami, Mexico City, Yuma
and Branson, MO … with
Andy Williams! ;-)
AUGUST 09
- LATENT HERNIAS AND OTHER SUPPORT
PROBLEMS
JULY 09 - PRINCE
IMRAN RAZA STATESMAN/ROCK STAR
JUNE 09 - ANOTHER
NATURAL SINGER - DAVID BURKE
MAY 09
-DISCOVERY OF VOICE
APRIL
09
- I'M SICK, BUT I HAVE TO
PERFORM TONIGHT Part 2
MARCH
09
- I'M SICK, BUT I HAVE TO
PERFORM TONIGHT
FEBRUARY
09
- SINGING IN ENGLISH
JANUARY
09
- GETTING AN AGENT AND/OR MANAGER (Part
4)
DECEMBER 08
- GETTING AN AGENT AND/OR MANAGER (Part
3)
NOVEMBER 08
-
GETTING AN AGENT AND/OR MANAGER (Part 2)
OCTOBER 08
- GETTING AN AGENT AND/OR MANAGER (Part
1)
SEPTEMBER 08
- HEAVY BREATHING ADVISED FOR JOCKS
AUGUST 08
-
THE VAGARIES OF
AUDITIONS AND AUDITIONING (Part 3)
JULY 08
-
THE VAGARIES OF AUDITIONS AND
AUDITIONING (Part 2)
JUNE 08
-
THE VAGARIES OF AUDITIONS AND AUDITIONING
(Part 1)
MAY 08
- ABSENCE OF TENSION
APRIL 08
-
THE FLAT TONGUE TECHNIQUE AND HOW DO YOU
MAKE A VOWEL
MARCH 08
-
THE VOICE COACHING THAT MADE MY
CAREER
FEBRUARY 08
- WHAT ARE YOU SINGING?
JANUARY 08
-
VIBRATO/WOBBLE
DECEMBER
07
-
BREATHING
REVISITED
NOVEMBER 07
-
HOW TO
KILL A COLD IN FIVE DAYS
OCTOBER 07
- A BIT MORE
SUPPORT
SEPTEMBER
07
- MORE SUPPORT
AUGUST 07
-
INTRO &
BREATHING/SUPPORT