THE AUDITION Every artist knows that an audition can be an enjoyable, uplifting experience – or a complete trainwreck! What should you wear? What impression should you give? Friendly? Too friendly? Confident? Too confident? Which song to sing or play? Who are these people anyway? Will they like me? Will they enjoy the genre […]
Stage Fright (Performance Anxiety)
Stage fright What is stage fright? A straightforward definition of stage fright can be found in the other term widely used for this condition: performance anxiety. Simply put, it is fear leading to nervousness before – or during – appearing and performing in public, whether it is as a singer, instrumentalist, or public speaker. Stage fright has numerous presentations […]
Recovering my voice… my journey with Opera Queensland and Project Puccini #OperaQ
Photograph: Opening night, The Barber of Seville, Brisbane. Latest news! Opening Night at The Barber of Seville with OperaQ. A little background first… Finding my voice again, note by note, month by month. In 2014, after losing my voice for two years as a result of surgery for thyroid cancer, I successfully auditioned for […]
“In Flanders Fields” – Original classical contemporary ballad to poem by John McCrae
This year will mark the centenary of The Battle of The Somme, World War I. “In Flanders Fields” is a poem by Canadian, John McCrae, written on the battlefields of World War I. He penned the poem after noticing how quickly Poppies grew around the graves of soldiers killed at Ypres, Passchendaele, Pozieres, The Somme – […]
HELEN COLEMAN (VOCE BELLA) MUSIC – Taking Enrolments for 2017!
Voce Bella Music – New Location! In 2016, for the sixth consecutive year, music students of Helen Coleman claimed First Place in the Age Championship entered at Ipswich Junior Eisteddfod. (May, 2016) Congratulations, young ladies! Looking forward to 2017! In 2017, Helen Coleman Voce Bella Music will be located in Newtown, a very short walk from Ipswich Girls Grammar […]
Muscle Tension Dysphonia.
What is Muscle Tension Dysphonia in Singers? Muscle tension dysphonia (MTD) is a common cause of vocal problems for singers, and occurs, to put it very plainly, when muscles that should not be used are being used for sound production. During normal, healthy singing, only the vocal chords should move, and there should be no tension in surrounding musculature. Instead, we […]
Notes for Students – Intervals Descending
Recognising and Pitching Intervals: Notes for Singers Sometimes, it is easier to pitch intervals using remembered melodies of well known tunes. Please see the following chart to learn descending intervals. These are very well known tunes, but if you do not know them, I suggest you search them out either in sheet music form, or on Youtube. […]
Notes for Students: Intervals Ascending – Sight Singing.
Recognising and Pitching Intervals: Notes for Singers Sometimes, it is easier to pitch intervals using remembered melodies of well known tunes. Please see the following chart to learn ascending intervals. These are very well known tunes, but if you do not know them, I suggest you search them out either in sheet music form, […]
SINGING – Notes about posture.
Singing – Posture for optimum performance. The stage is a platform projecting the artist’s sense of “Self”. When a singer, or any other performer, instrumentalist or public speaker, walks on to a stage, the audience will immediately sub-consciously pick up messages from their appearance – and from their posture and body language. These messages, albeit subtle […]
Tongue Tension
After a conversation with a student today, I have decided to write a short entry about that villain in the art of singing, the depressed tongue. (I almost feel I should insert a sad emoticon here!) The dangers of singing with a depressed/flattened tongue/ tension. The tongue can be a real problem for singers. I was […]
