As I recall, you're the one who is only getting 30
minutes of vocal instruction a week? In my opinion,
it's not a good idea to get a bunch of repertoire down
(sung mostly incorrectly) until the technique is at a
certain level.
Voice maturation and the rate of technical progress is
such an individual thing -- for lighter voices with
good teachers, steady instruction, and good practice
habits, it's probably not too much to expect that a
few voice-appropriate full roles will have been
studied, as well as having put together a grad-school
audition package (if grad school is the next step) or
a collection of arias that are technically
instructive. In addition, any songs for required
recitals, or other repertoire that furthers vocal (and
artistic, if the technique is ready) progress.
But, heavier voices often mature later -- in the real
world, you don't always get to take 2 hours of lessons
a week from the age of 18 on -- many students bounce
around before finding the right teacher -- so it's not
very helpful to compare "behind" to anything but your
own potential. Comparing yourself to the typical
"under good circumstances" college student about to
graduate will only help you in terms of deciding if
your current rate of progress is right for you.
You probably are a little limited and behind in your
repertoire compared to where you might be, under
better circumstances -- but since your teacher
situation is so dismal, I don't think pushing yourself
to get a bunch of repertoire learned is the solution.
Once the technique starts lining up, fuller repertoire
study just becomes an extention of that. What I mean
to say is that, at some point, learning several opera
roles or working on a fuller aria packet should come
as part of technical study, to enhance it and propell
your voice forward -- trying to put the cart in front
of the horse, by learning the rep before your
technique is ready for it, won't do you a lot of good.
If you are behind, I'd say it's in the instruction
area (30 minutes a week with a teacher you're not
thrilled with isn't an ideal situation), and your
repertoire list is a reflection of that, not the
problem in and of itself.
Isabelle B.
> I feel I am very limited and rather behind. What do
> you think?
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