An essential guide to how the voice works; and how to realize its potential. Concise, accurate, and accessible, The Performer's Voice explains how the voice works and how to use it efficiently. Emphasizing the infinite potential of the human voice, this practical book enables vocal professionals to use their voices effectively to create dynamic performances. Written for people who use their voices every day; from singers, actors, and teachers to trial lawyers, ministers, and radio announcers; The Performer's Voice brings together the basic anatomy, physiology, technique, and performance skills required for effective use of the voice. Simple exercises and observations, designed for busy people to do in a short time, provide practical application. Anatomically correct drawings support concise, direct explanations. Taking a balanced, common sense approach, this book provides simple guidelines for using the voice healthily and imaginatively. For anyone who relies on the voice for a living,The Performer's Voice provides the essential tools for confident, imaginative and compelling performances.

To reach the highest standards of instrumental performance, several years of sustained and focused learning are required. This requires perseverance, commitment and opportunities to learn and practise, often in a collective musical environment. This book brings together a wide range of enlightening current psychological and educational research to offer deeper insights into the mosaic of factors and related experiences that combine to nurture (and sometimes hinder) advanced musical performance. Each of the book's four sections focus on one aspect of music performance and learning: musics in higher education and beyond; musical journeys and educational reflections; performance learning; and developing expertise and professionalism. Although each chapter within its home section offers a particular focus, there is an underlying conception across all the book’s contents of the achievability of advanced musical performance and of the important nurturing role that higher education can play, particularly if policy and practice are evidence-based and draw on the latest international research findings. The narrative offers an insight into the world of advanced musicians, detailing their learning journeys and the processes involved in their quest for the development of expertise and professionalism. It is the first book of its kind to consider performance learning in higher education across a variety of musical genres, including classical, jazz, popular and folk musics. The editors have invited an international community of leading scholars and performance practitioners to contribute to this publication, which draws on meticulous research and critical practice. This collection is an essential resource for all musicians, educators, researchers and policy makers who share our interest in promoting the development of advanced performance skills and professionalism.

Trying to understand the complex interplay between effective learning and personal experience is one of the main challenges for instrumental music education. Much of the research that focuses on effective learning outcomes often adopts experimental methodologies that do not allow for a thorough examination of the subjective and social processes that accompany each student's musical journey; on the contrary, contributions dedicated to the detailed analysis of the learners' lived experience often do not offer generalizable outcomes to different types of learning and teaching.

The Performing Life: A Singer’s Guide to Survival is the first-hand account of the 35-year career of singer, music professor, and recording artist Sharon Mabry, who draws on personal experience to explore how professional singers survive in the face of personal and professional pressures, exorbitant expectations, illness, and the demands of their public. She details the factors that can change the course of a particular performance or an entire career. Mabry offers sage advice for how singers can bolster themselves mentally, physically, and emotionally in order to maintain their powers of performance. Divided into two parts The Performing Life focuses first on such basics as the need for extensive preparation, discovering your performance niche, acquiring mentors, determining your “maintenance level,” finding a strong support system, learning how and what to organize, and discovering how to groom body and mind. In the second half, Mabry draws on her wealth of personal stories to dig more deeply into such seemingly mundane but absolutely critical matters as personal health (illness, food allergies, insomnia), logistical challenges presented by venue location and performance dynamics, and the difficulties off-stage organized by the recording studio. In all instances, Mabry illustrates how perseverance, organization, attention to detail, excellent training, strong planning, a resilient support system, and a good sense of humor can lead to a successful and satisfying career during even the most difficult times.

Yoga, Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Method, Pilates, Body Mapping… These techniques all promote optimum vocal performance through mind-body awareness, but where should a singer begin? So You Want to Sing with Awareness welcomes singers into all of these methods, allowing them to explore each option’s history and application to singing and determine which methods may best meet their needs as performers. With this unique volume in the So You Want to Sing series, editor Matthew Hoch brings together renowned expert practitioners to explore mind-body awareness systems and introduce cutting-edge research in cognitive neuroscience and motor learning. Carefully curated for singers’ unique needs, the book also includes essential discussions of anatomy and physiology and vocal health. The So You Want to Sing series is produced in partnership with the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Like all books in the series, So You Want to Sing with Awareness features online supplemental material on the NATS website. Please visit www.nats.org to access style-specific exercises, audio and video files, and additional resources.

Tish Oney merges the worlds of jazz and classical singing in a comprehensive guide for those teaching and singing jazz. Legendary jazz singers’ performance strategies are discussed providing unique insights. Jazz Singing combines jazz stylization and improvisational techniques with classic voice pedagogy to outline a method that builds the jazz voice upon a strong foundation of proper alignment, efficient breathing, healthy phonation, a clear understanding of vocal anatomy, and the physics of singing. Various strategies to enhance improvisation and artistry are presented, and mindful coordination of all aspects is emphasized to create authentic, healthy jazz singing in this groundbreaking book.

In Voice Secrets: 100 Performance Strategies for the Advanced Singer, Matthew Hoch and Linda Lister create order out of the chaotic world of singing. They examine all aspects of singing, including nontechnical matters, such as auditioning, performance anxiety, score preparation, practice performance tips, business etiquette, and many other important topics for the advanced singer. Voice Secrets provides singers with a quick and efficient path to significant improvement, both technically and musically. It is the perfect resource for advanced students of singing, professional performers, music educators, and avid amateur musicians. The Music Secrets for the Advanced Musician series is designed for instrumentalists, singers, conductors, composers, and other instructors and professionals seeking a quick set of pointers to improve their work as performers and producers of music. Easy to use and intended for the advanced musician, contributions to Music Secrets fill a niche for those who have moved beyond what beginners and intermediate practitioners need.

The Essentials of CoreSinging: A Joyful Approach to Singing and Voice Pedagogy presents an innovative outlook by one of the most important voice pedagogues in modern times. CoreSinging, developed by Meribeth Dayme, offers a universal approach applicable and complementary to any style, system, or level of singing—the ultimate result transforms fear into joy and ease. For the first time, Cynthia Vaughn and Matthew Hoch have compiled and edited this culminating work of Meribeth Dayme. CoreSinging is formed on five elements present in all stages of singing from beginner to professional: energy, awareness, imagination, practice, and performance. Concepts of energy—physical, metaphysical, mental, emotional, psychological, psychic, and spiritual—help singers transform themselves, their sound, and performance into an experience of healing. Contributors offer case studies and targeted strategies for further implementation and select writings of Dayme are also included.

Titles in the Dictionaries for the Modern Musician series offer both the novice and the advanced artist key information designed to convey the field of study and performance for a major instrument or instrument class, as well as the workings of musicians in areas from conducting to composing. Each dictionary covers topics from instrument parts to technique, major works to key figures—a must-have for any musician’s personal library! A Dictionary for the Modern Singer is an indispensable guide for students of singing, voice pedagogues, and lovers of the art of singing. In addition to classical singing, genres, and styles, musical theatre and popular and global styles are addressed. With an emphasis on contemporary practice, this work includes terms and figures that influenced modern singing styles. Topics include voice pedagogy, voice science, vocal health, styles, genres, performers, diction, and other relevant topics. The dictionary will help students to more fully understand the concepts articulated by their teachers. Matthew Hoch’s book fills a gap in the singer’s library as the only one-volume general reference geared toward today’s student of singing. An extensive bibliography is invaluable for students seeking to explore a particular subject in greater depth. Illustrations and charts further illuminate particular concepts, while appendixes address stage fright, tips on practicing, repertoire selection, audio technology, and contemporary commercial music styles. A Dictionary for the Modern Singer will appeal to students of singing at all levels. For professionals, it will serve as a quick and handy reference guide, useful in the high school or college library and the home teaching studio alike; students and amateurs will find it accessible and full of fascinating information about the world of the singing.

Performers of all ages and abilities will gain valuable insight into the mechanics, psychology and physiology of singing. The accompanying CD - in Jennifer's own voice - captures a conversation about her ideas and journey, as well as exercises that will help you discover and release your true and best instrument.