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From:  John Link <johnlink@n...>
Date:  Tue Apr 9, 2002  5:35 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] Do they sound like opera singers? [WAS: trading low notes for ...

mike,

> i don't think it's a matter of 'can' they do it but, a matter of
>'will' they do it. any singer can sing anything as if they were singing in
>the car on a long road trip or, singing goofy songs as if they were singing
>to little kids.

Yes, that's all I want! (And then we're going to apply that sort of
singing to tremendously challenging repertoire.) I'm afraid that many
singers have forgotten how to just sing, probably as the result of
training that encourages a compulsive way of singing. I say this
based on my experience auditioning singers for my quintet. Last week
in an audtion I asked a soprano to sing Happy Birthday. She asked "In
what key?". I said "I don't know. Somebody brings in the cake and we
all start singing." She started to sing and she sounded like an opera
singer. When I pointed this out she agreed, but it took her a while
to stop doing that, and she couldn't give it up completely. She has
obviously forgotten how to just sing. I'm certain that it is
something that she can again recall, but it will take a fair amount
of work and a lot of willingness to abandon the compulsions for which
she has spent a lot of money and to which she has devoted a lot of
time.

> 'plain vanilla' is what you're looking for.

Probably. It tastes so good.

John Link

P.S. I'm still looking for singers for my quintet. Anybody interested
in getting into a fabulous group?

http:/www.cdBaby.com/JohnLink
Check out my CDs:
http://www.cdBaby.com/JohnLink2 (John Link Sextet)
http://www.cdBaby.com/JohnLink (John Link Vocal Quintet)



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