OK, guys, I don't want to get off on a rant here, but it frightens me for the future of classical music that so many of us are so "dumbed down" that we don't even have a distant vision of the benefits of having basic skills. How can having the best skills you can develop NOT make you a better performer? Why do you think instrumentalists laugh at singers? Being a *musician* on any instrument, especially voice, is hard. That's the way it is. Get your skills together as far as your ability will take you, and stop denigrating their importance just because you don't see it. Or learn to see where they can take you and get to work. Once you start to develop the skills, you'll see their importance more and more clearly because using those skills will make you perform at new levels of expression and intelligence. It's not just about being able to sing a piece at sight. That's only the beginning.
Susan Schneider
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