The Craft of Singing

Drawing from his many years of private lessons and choral work, Garyth Nair, an experienced faculty member and Music Director and Conductor Emeritus of the Summit Chorale, has two goals in this book:

• To provide a foundation of anatomical, physiological, acoustical and medical knowledge for students in the belief that one must know how something works before one can alter or repair it.
• To carefully structure the learning of the foundational vocal skills necessary for real future development of each student's technique past the end of the course.

Borrowing from voice science but staying firmly centered in the studio or classroom, the text helps the reader with a raw vocal ability understand the function and care of their vocal instrument. In the second part, the book begins a carefully graduated approach to cement into place good singing habits. Three songs, comprising works in Italian, English and German, are used to produce exemplary vowels and consonants and wonderful songs. The student receives the author's special advice and suggestions.

Reviews

"...A textbook that can be used by students throughout their entire undergraduate career.... Applied teachers (especially those who direct voice majors or minor in a class setting) and voice pedagogy instructors are recommended to investigate this text for their students."
—Debra Greschner, Journal of Singing (2008)

• Foreword.
• Preface.
• Teacher's Guide.
• Acknowledgements.
• Dedication.
• On Studying Voice - I.
• On Studying Voice - II.
• Sound.
• Singer's Posture.
• Respiration-Instinctive Breathing.
• Singer's Respiration and Support.
• Resonance.
• Singing the Songs -- vital information and reference.
• Vowels - Italian.
• Consovowels - Italian.
• Consonants without Pitch - Italian.
• Vowels - English.
• Consovowels and Consonants - English.
• Vowels - German.
• Consovowels and Consonants - German.
• Registration Beyond the Middle Voice - Basics.
• Registers II - The Science of Blending.
• Registers III - Register-by-Register Guide
• Classifying Voices
• Learning Vocal Music.
• Programming and Citing Vocal Music.
• The Printed Program.
• OnStage I: Stage Dress.
• OnStage II: Stage Etiquette and Tradition
• Glossary.
• References.
• Appendix A - Joins @ 5.
• Appendix B - Mandible Elevation Targets.
• Appendix C - Familiar IPA.
• Appendix D - Italian Elisions Rules.
• Appendix E - German prefixes and suffixes.
• Appendix F - Calculating Performance Times of Works.
• Index.