Let's let Molly decide what she wants to do in resolving her issue. After all, she posted the original thread & we don't know precisely what her situation is in terms of time &/or money (two items scarce to an undergrad's arsenal...as I recall).
Everyone has posted valid points, but by now I think the train has just about totally left the tracks.
E.V.
----Original Message----- >From: Margaret Harrison <peggyh@i...> >Subject: Re: [vocalist-temporary] learning a role pointers >Date: Thursday, September 21, 2000 12:40 PM > > >RALUCOB@a... wrote: > >> peggy, >> >> i think her choice may be; learn it off a recording or, don't learn it. >> speaking the words in rhythm first and then picking up the pitches off >> several recordings (one would be risky) is probably the only practical way >> for her to learn it. people with poor music skills tend to learn better by >> rote imitation. and singers with little experience have a tendency to have >> little ability in imagining themselves singing something they have never >> heard others do. (well, in that light, it may be a really good idea to >> learn from several recordings. i'm glad i thought of it.) >
Peggy posted: >Mike, I can't disagree with what you're saying more, and we may just have to agree to >disagree, if you feel as strongly about your view as I do about mine. > >I worked on a couple of iterations of this very opera (and others even trickier >musically), and most of the singers had limited musical skills too, and did not learn the >music from a recording. They learned their music with the help of people like me (good >musician, fair pianist), the "real" accompanist (excellent musician, excellent pianist), >the music director, and no doubt the individual voice teachers. Tapes were made. >Woodshedding was done. There are no shortcuts on music this complex. The worst >experiences my director and I have had is with singers who learned their music (especially >rhythms) wrong by copying a recording. It is SO much harder to unlearn something drilled >in wrong, and so much wiser to learn the music accurately. It's slower at first, but it >actually saves time and grief in the long run. > >Back when I did this, there wasn't the internet, there were no opera "practice perfect" or >"music minus one" accompaniment CDs to help learn opera parts. But the singers managed, >and managed well, within the time period of an academic semester. > >Also, I think singers should not short-shrift their musical skills by relying on the >recordings to learn music (though I do like the ideas of using recordings for musical >ideas once the notes and rhythms are learned). I'd bet lots of money most singers have >much better music skills than they think they do (Not long ago a singer new to my chorus >swore up one side and down the other that she could barely sightread, then we started on >some brand new music and she sightread very well). And the skills can't be developed and >improved unless the singers makes the attempt. Believe me, if a singer works hard to >learn the music without a recording, by the time the music is learned, the musical skills >will be at least 100% improved and available to ease the learning of the next opera role! > >Sheesh - I don't know a single instrumental musician who would even consider for a >fleeting moment the idea of learning new music from a recording! No wonder singers have >such a bad rep as musicians (unwarranted in most circumstances, I know, but it only takes >one to create a bad impression of us all among non-singer musicians). > >Peggy >
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