JULY 2010
Hey
there ... I'm sorry, I
kinda let July slip a
bit. I have been
wrestling with a medical
problem for the last
eight weeks which more
than likely will be
resolved with dispatch,
this Monday, the 26th,
sometime around noon
time, PDT. That will be,
when the great Thoracic
Surgeon, Robert McKenna,
at Cedars-Sinai will
remove my upper left
lobe (lung) and discard
it … and the contents
therein contained … “Out
damn lung!”. That’s the
good news. The really
good news is … that the
lower lobe, at the
natural urging of
mother-nature, will
begin to expand to fill
the void, thus returning
my breath capacity to
normal. Now … ain’t that
neat? Say a “YEA” for
the good Scot!
JOIN A
CHORUS
Join a chorus, a singing
group that meets weekly,
a church choir … while
taking voice lessons
while and dreaming of
the day you will have a
career as a soloist. I
started Boy’s Glee Club
in Jr. High—two and a
half years, three in
High School and three in
college. Among it riches
of experience and
musicality, chorus
teaches you how to read
music—presuming you are
thusly challenged and,
in many instances it
affords you access to
other languages which
will be infinitely
valuable later in your
career. Perhaps, more
importantly … it allows
you to be submerged
(hiding) in a group
singing approximately
the same notes, in the
same voicing as yourself
… while your voice gains
in body, strength and
range.
Once I had attained
professional status as a
soloist, in my own
estimation—one season
with the Sacramento
Music Circus, a two
weeks as the Band Stand
soloist at the
California State Fair—I
wasn’t that much
interested in singing
anymore in the chorus.
However, I had gone back
to the University of
Denver to study music
instead of
engineering—which I had
been doing for the
previous two years—and
agreed to sing in the A
Cappella Choir … because
they halved the tuition,
in addition to my vocal
scholarship. It turned
out to be one of the
best things I ever did.
Our “director” was
Composer/Director,
Daniel Moe … who made it
all worth-while! Besides
which … I got to sing
the big solo on the
Spring Tour.
I have a student, Naomi
Slotkin, who is has just
finished her second year
at Univ OF Calif,
Irvine, who has done
just that. She was a
soloist when she came to
me at fourteen, playing
the local circuit in
Redlands, San
Bernardino, etc.,
pianist in tow … and at
eighteen, won the first
of several Talent
Competitions in the Miss
America regional
competitions. But, it
has been the competition
generated by others,
singing in the chorus …
that has filled out her
voice, and given her the
confidence to become a
section leader. She is
no longer inside her
head, listening and
judging herself, which
arrests the support, to
the detriment of the
final product. In
chorus, she simply had
to hook up more support,
open her throat, long,
narrow and vertical—AW
vowel position—while
increasing the intensity
of her better focused,
farther forward placed
vowels. Just by this
experience … she has
raised herself another
level, which finds the
previously difficult
high notes and an ample,
full sound … easy! Oh
yes … and beautiful as
well!
For those
of you, who have been
waiting for your Rough
Video … the first
twenty-five will be
going out next week.
Thanks for your patience
… RF
