In the course of my study in Austria, I will participate in:

• Private Lessons
• Lied Repertoire and Coaching
• Accompanying Class
• Conversational German
• German, French, and Italian Diction
• Poetry of German Lied
• Audition Training Seminar

Additionally, AIMS offers masterclasses with world-famous performers Christa Ludwig, Linda Watson, Gabriele Lechner, Michéle Crider, Kathleen Kelly, Ulrich Eisenlohr, Barbara Bonney, and Bo Skovhus.

This is a very special opportunity for me to learn valuable musical skills which will serve me well in my career as a collaborative pianist.  The knowledge that I will acquire will be of immense value for the singers and other musicians with whom I will work in the coming years.

If you believe that classical music and the arts are important, I invite you to use this opportunity to support a developing artist.  Please read the fundraising letter that the AIMS administration has written on my behalf.

Benefit Recital

I will be performing a benefit recital of solo and collaborative works on a tentative date of Saturday, June 16 (more information will follow). The program will consist of:

• Trois Novelletes by Francis Poulenc
• Regenlied by Johannes Brahms
• “Trockne Blumen” from Die schöne Müllerin by Franz Schubert
• Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano in G Major by Johannes Brahms
• Introduction and Variations on the song “Trockne Blumen” for Flute and Piano by Franz Schubert
• Toccata by Cecile Chaminade

Featuring Mary Matthews (flute), Rebekah Butler (violin), and Allison Holst-Grubbe (soprano).

Donate

AIMS is a 501(3)(c) non-profit educational organization chartered in the State of Texas in 1969. Contributions to AIMS are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.

To donate online with PayPal, visit the AIMS PayPal page, click on “Make Tuition Payment or Donation”, and be sure to enter my name, “Michael Korman”, in the field provided.

To donate by check, Please make your check payable to “AIMS Scholarship Fund”. In the memo field, write “FBO Michael Korman”.  Send your donation along with your name and address to:

AIMS Administration Office
Sarah Halley, Administrative Director
28 East 69th Street
Kansas City MO 64113

Performed by soprano Allison Holst-Grubbe and pianist Michael Korman

Exploring themes of love as found in nature through German and American art songs of the 19th and 20th centuries.

• Date: July 30, 2011 at 7:00 PM.
• Location: Sharon Congregational Church, Sharon, CT.
• Admission: $10. Children under 12 admitted free.

Reprising a program most recently performed at the New Britain Museum of American Art, soprano Allison Holst-Grubbe and pianist Michael Korman will present a recital of 19th-century German and 20th-century American art songs.

A reception with the musicians will follow the performance.

As with all posts in this series, my advice is gleaned from my personal experience, and may not apply to everyone. Nonetheless, I’m sure there are other students out there who have the same issues I do.

That said, let’s look at several habits we must reconsider if we wish to make progress.

The mouth needs to be opened wide

Looking in a mirror while singing, I am often amazed at how little my mouth opens unless I consciously will it otherwise. While speaking, I barely open my mouth at all. This is perfectly acceptable in speaking (try it: you can speak basically just fine with your teeth clenched shut), but does not work in singing.

The energy sufficient for speaking is not enough for singing

If we are constantly being told that singing should feel effortless, and should feel like speaking, should it surprise anyone if we open our mouths and barely any sound comes out? Truly “effortless” phonation is little more than speaking under one’s breath. The energy required for singing is closer to that of yelling that to that of speaking (although it’s easy to get carried away with this). Speaking can be a good source of instruction for singing, but I prefer to imagine I’m speaking to someone in the next room, rather than someone standing right in front of me.

The vowels used in speaking cannot produce the proper tone for singing

The primary danger for beginners in vowel formation is the tendency to involve the intrinsic muscles of the larynx when we form vowels with the extrinsic articulation muscles. In The Naked Voice: A Wholistic Approach to Singing, W. Stephen Smith refers to this as “entanglement”, and American speech patterns virtually guarantee this to a rather severe extent. The vowels must therefore be produced purely and deliberately, with a minimum of nonessential engagement. Beginning American singers also have many other problems with vowels, such as trouble with diphthongs and a failure to understand that it is in the vowels themselves that singing happens.

The vibrato needs to be encouraged

When I was a novice, the vibrato phenomenon totally mystified me. All trained singers exhibited it, yet I did not. Every source I read and everyone I spoke with all said the same thing: “vibrato happens automatically and you don’t do anything to create it”. People even accused me of deliberately withholding it in my own singing, to my immense frustration. Nonetheless, it has always been obvious to me that the majority of trained singers have it, and the majority of untrained singers don’t, so I knew the trained singer is in fact doing something. My own vibrato finally emerged when I discarded this harmful idea that vibrato happens automatically.

Exhalation must be controlled properly

In speaking, we are used to letting our air out quickly, collapsing our ribcages, or holding the airflow back with throat tension. None of this will work in singing. The exhalation must happen automatically, with the singer neither forcing the air out, nor holding it in. This is perhaps the most fundamentally important element of singing, and yet it is one that speaking does not prepare us for.

One final point

Finally, to progress in singing, as in most endeavors, one must overcome the fear of making mistakes. This fear is so ingrained by our society, we equate mistakes with failure, and with personal deficiency. Singing seems to take this to an extreme, as we are the instrument, and listeners seem to judge us when they judge our playing.

Performed by soprano Allison Holst-Grubbe and pianist Michael Korman

Exploring themes of love as found in nature through German and American art songs of the 19th and 20th centuries.

• Date: July 10, 2011 at 3:00 PM.
• Location: New Britain Museum of American Art
• Free with museum admission.

This will be an exciting program featuring songs by Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, Franz Liszt, Ned Rorem, Charles Ives, Samuel Barber, and William Bolcom, as well as piano works by Frédéric Chopin and Claude Debussy.

Photograph by Katherine Griswold

One source of this struggle has been trying to decipher the various expressions and adages that voice teachers commonly use.  In this post, I will list some of these expressions, and explain how I as student either misinterpreted them, or found them confusing.  My goal here is not to disrespect any element of commonly accepted vocal pedagogy, but rather to attempt an exposition of what I have personally wrestled with, in case there are other students out there who have the same problems.

“Singing should feel natural”

What the teacher means: The human voice is designed to operate functionally in a specific way, and fighting against that will always lead to inefficiency in singing.

Why it’s a problem: Sure, but that’s quite different from “feeling natural”.  Often, things feel natural because that’s the way we are accustomed to doing them, even if they are inefficient.  If singing felt natural, we would all be born opera singers.  Learning a skill that does not come intuitively to us requires practicing habits that may be uncomfortable, even if they are functionally efficient.

“Sing in the mask” or “sing forward”

What the teacher means: The singer should feel sympathetic vibration in the sinus area, indicative of squillo and proper brightness in the tone.

Why it’s a problem: This is one of those expressions that may be useful after you already understand what it means, but it really did not help me to discover it in the first place.  For a long time, I assumed that “forward” meant I should feel it somewhere in my face, or in my teeth, perhaps.  However, I did not make progress in this area until I thought of making the sound more nasal than I originally expected.

“The vibrato should not be consciously created”

What the teacher means: The student should not be manipulating the vibrato with either the airflow or the larynx.  Given the right conditions, it should just happen.

Why it’s a problem: While technically true, this advice is potentially devastating, and held me back for a long time.  The danger here is that the student will shy away from creating a vibrant tone, as any hint of unsteadiness in the tone will be viewed as a conscious manipulation.  For me, the vibrato did not appear until I gave myself permission to intentionally make silly sounds.  It can be quite difficult to dis-associate the feeling of straight-tone with added muscular control.

“Sing as you speak”

What the teacher means: I think this expression comes from the Italians (si canta come si parla), and is probably good advice for them.

Why it’s a problem: I really don’t think this works for Americans.  Our speaking is so under-energized, our vowels so impure, and our breathing so unnatural, that all of these habits have to be unlearned before progress can be made in singing.  Furthermore, our musical culture is really not conducive to good singing.

“Feel like you’re yawning”

What the teacher means: The yawning sensation is useful because it encourages a stable larynx, and achieves proper resonance balancing. 

Why it’s a problem: Teachers neglect to mention that they are referring only to the very very beginning of the yawn.  Trying to sing while actually yawning can lead to comical results, but for some reason these results are never blamed on the yawn itself.  For me, it seems that having a clear image of the vowel I’m trying to sing, as well as opening my mouth a little wider than I’m expecting, does a better job than trying to yawn.

“Support the sound”

What the teacher means: It seems there are two meanings of the word “support”.  One definition could be as in the appoggio, where the singer “supports” the exhalation process by engaging the inhalation muscles.  The other definition, and the one I think was originally meant by the term, is in reference to the airflow itself, as in a fountain of water supporting a ping-pong ball (where the water is the air, and the ping-pong ball is the tone).  If we take the second definition, “more support” could mean not enough air pressure is being used, or it could mean that the ping-pong ball is being supported by more than just the fountain, i.e., there is too much throat tension.

Why it’s a problem: When a teacher says “more support”, it’s not clear what is meant.  Either of the above two definitions could be intended, but my concern is that the student may not be thinking along either of those lines.  Rather, the student may introduce counter-productive abdominal tension which seems to serve no purpose other than to make the student feel as if some attention is being paid to that region.

“<insert potentially meaningless expression here>”

Here are some examples:

• “Spin the sound”
• “Lift the soft palate”
• “Feel the breath going all the way to your feet”
• “Think lower as you sing higher”
• “Narrow the vowel as you go higher”

I say “potentially” meaningless, because it is probable that these expressions have a great deal of meaning to those who use them.  They just don’t work for me.  Sensations are always quite subjective things, and if a student does not seem to be responding to one of these vague expressions, it is perhaps the responsibility of the teacher to think of something else that the student does connect with.

• Beethoven: Sonata in D major, Op 12 No 1
• Debussy: Sonata in G minor, L 140
• Brahms: Sonata in A major, Op 100

These are amazing pieces of music, and everyone is encouraged to attend.

See the flyer.