On Mon, 25 Mar 2002 14:04:04 +1000 Robert Edgar <redgar@b...> wrote:
<<I've been asked by another singing teacher in another town to hold a Vocal Pedagogy discussion -like a forum - as a result of a letter sent to the local secondary school college choir conductor from a mother of one of the students.
<<It reads:- On the recent ***College choir camp you conductor) forced her (15year old daughter/student classified by her singing teacher as a lyric soprano) to sing as a second soprano which made her have to sing from her chest and not her larynx.>>
Man, oh man. That young woman must be SO embarrassed about what her mother did!
First, singing second soprano vs. first soprano has nothing to do with using chest voice more. Sheesh. It sounds like this mother knows a few vocal terms and not much else. Usually, 2nds and 1sts are singing exactly the same music and only sing different notes when the soprano part goes divisi. So it's a different between and E and a G. Personally, I choose to sing second soprano, because though I have better vocal technique and high notes than 90% of my soprano section, we have several excellent 1st sopranos, so I feel more needed in the 2nd soprano section, where a good sound and solid musicianship is helpful to the section.
<<Becuase of forcing her to sing in this lower register, I have today incurred a medical bill of $** and a chemist bill of $**. I request that your re-instastate her as a first soprano and pay attention to the medical problems that certain children face and pay attention to their lvoe of singing, not the needs of the choir. >>
What baloney! If I were the director, I'd write back that I am denying her request. Period. Like they held a gun to the girl's head and forced her to sing with bad vocal technique, and with a cold.
If the director is so inclined, next rehearsal, the director can make a point of asking who has a cold, then not allowing those afflicted to participate. (Not only because it's not good for the voice, but also because other singers could catch the cold.) That should generate enough angry letters on the other side to more than balance out the first one!
Peggy
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA.
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