Re: [linux-audio-user] Beginner singing, music theory (guitar) and ear training, solfege?

From: Michal Seta <mis@email-addr-hidden>
Date: Fri Aug 25 2006 - 16:55:42 EEST

Hi,

Sorry for the late reply.

In addition to what others said....

"Loki Davison" <loki.davison@email-addr-hidden> writes:

> G'day all,
> I'm keen on learning to sing in my now extensive spare time. Anyone
> now of any good books or sites aimed at beginner singers?

I can't recall the actual titles (and I am definitely not a
singer) but the best books for singers that I have seen where about
technique, anatomy, the vocal cords etc. The best thing is to pick
up some lessons. But it matters with who! Not all teachers were
created equal. The most iportant thing to learn is how to breath and
how to use your body as a resonator. These things you could probably
learn from various "voice technique" and speech classes (often destined
for public speakers, news anchors, actors etc.) and will probably
cost less than singing lessons (here, in Canada, provate singing
lessons can go up to $150/hr). See if your local university offers
anything for the general public which would be cheaper than picking up
private lessons.

> I'm also wondering if doing some ear training stuff would be good.

Absolutely.

>I'm
> mostly interested in improving my guitar playing but i'm guessing this
> would really help over all.

Indeed. Being a guitarist myself (and I used to teach the guitar for a
number of years) I find that most guitarists don't "breath". Being
able to sing what you play (and even "hear" it ahead of time) is a
big plus. It helps phrasing, expression, articulation.

> Should i use GNU solfege for ear training?
> Is there a good intro for beginners somewhere? guitarnoise.com is the
> most useful stuff i've found so far. Anyone know a good book on any of
> these topics? If possible focused towards guitar, music theory, ear
> training, etc and not one of those horrible school music style method
> books. I have no interest in sing mary has a little lamb. ;)

Robert Starer - Rhythmic Training is a great book filled with
different rhythmic exercises for 1 and 2 hands progressing from easy
to very hard.

Paul Hindemith - Elementary Training for Musicians is a good overall
rhythm and solfège instruction book.

As per theory, probably anything concerning harmony and voice-leading
will do, plus maybe a little counterpoint. Actually, some species
counterpoint first and then harmony. I don't have any
references handy because most of the matierials I used were written by
the professors at the university for that specific university. I've
looked at other books but can't recall titles.

After that a little
bit on form and, afterwards, it helps to look at other people's scores
and trying to figure out what they do (analysis). It does not hurt to
read up on jazz theory and explore some of the 20th century approaches
(serial composition, chance, process music, etc).

I found that the best way to solfège/ear training is to transcribe
your favourite music (famous solos, for instance) and learn to sing
and play them. For this, you will probably not need too many
instruction books. If you know music notation, learn to sing, play
and write them as accurately as you can. Later, yo can just write
without having to sing them or even touching the instrument :)

It all sounds like a lot but if you actually have a bit of spare time,
in a matter of few months practice you will make huge progress (more
than you think).

Have fun.

./MiS
Received on Fri Aug 25 20:15:01 2006

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