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What Are Your 🎶Music Endeavors Right Now?
Including this here because I feel it does constitute as part of my musical endeavors. Last night, my mom and I watched a video of a stage production of Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS Pinafore, which is the show that has the aria I've been working on. My voice teacher has been having me work on the acting for that song, and I wanted to get a better context for the story. What I learned is that G&S's comic operas are hilarious stuff, but the actors need to make sure to convey that. It's a sort of humor that could be easily lost on modern audiences if the actors don't milk it enough. For example, there's an intentional hilarity in this grand sounding operatic chorus singing things like "And we're his sisters and his cousins and his aunts!" Or,


Like, watch this. This has got to be SILLY! If the actor doesn't play up the ridiculousness of it enough, the audience won't understand this is supposed to be a goofy comic opera.


My mom and I started off watching a 2020 British production of the play, but it was practically putting us to sleep. The actors were very dry and dull, and the singing was awful. Then we gave up on that version and found a much better 1970s or 1980s production, where the actors were doing plenty of silly body acting, and overall it was so much funnier.

So, I'm very glad I watched the play and understood the type of humor it's going for, because that encourages me to make my portrayal of Josephine as hilariously ridiculous as possible. She is a rather ridiculous character, moping about how she fell in love with a lowly sailor when she's engaged to someone else, and yet she's too prideful to tell the sailor she loves him. When he professes his love to her, she scoffs at him and tells him she can't love someone as lowly as him. Then, two seconds later, he puts a gun to his head since his love is unrequited, and she dramatically bursts out that she DID love him after all. It's so stupid, and intentionally so.

Now I'm really bummed there's no local theater near me that does G&S, because when I was in theater in high school, I usually got cast as comedic characters because I was good at being over-the-top and ridiculous. With that, and my light lyric soprano sound being basically perfect for most G&S lead roles, and my apparent eternal youth, being in a G&S play would be a great fit for me.
 
One of my favorite songs to sing! (alone! 😄). G&S are indeed silly, but on the other hand, there's something to be said for a "straight" delivery by the Admiral, as if he's unaware of the irony of what he's saying, rather than sharing it with the audience. Here's a quote from Northrop Frye on the difference:
Coleridge, noting an ironic comment in Defoe, points out how Defoe's subtlety could be made crude and obvious simply by over-punctuating the same words with italics, exclamation points, and other signs of being oneself aware of irony.
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Of course, there's always a danger of people not getting the joke, and taking this sort of thing literally, as happened with "A Modest Proposal"; whether G&S intended the actor to be winking at the audience is something I don't know.
 
I am currently making a song called "here with me." I wrote it about my healing process after my little brother passed away. I am also writing another song called "Jericho"
 
Tyelkormo the Fair said:
Perhaps I will, but not today. Maybe an older, more financially stable me can think of it.
Music is an expensive field to get in already, and it doesn't quite pay of as much as you work for it.
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Ah... one doesn't get into music for the money. It's for the sheer love of it. For a few money does eventually come, but for most of us it is and was and will forever remain an avid hobby or pastime. The question of WHY the pursuit of music is so compelling is a huge one, and I have never heard any sort of complete explanation. My thought is that music is the language of Iluvatar, as spoken by the Ainu. We mere mortals can perhaps manage some babytalk in that language, but like children listening at the door, we always enjoy hearing the elders speak, even if we don't understand what they say.
 
SelahFalk said:
I am currently making a song called "here with me." I wrote it about my healing process after my little brother passed away. I am also writing another song called "Jericho"
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I'm so sorry for your loss. Thanks for sharing this with us.

This is true, but I think what Tyelko is saying is that it can be hard to get into music if you're lacking in money, because instruments and lessons are expensive. Which they are. Singing, for example, is free, but you risk damaging your voice if you sing frequently and don't know safety techniques, and a good voice teacher costs money.
 
Hmmm... I'm going to need you to help me understand this point of view which seems utterly alien to me. I understand that good instruments can be costly, but singing? One does not need a voice teacher to sing! Singing comes from the heart and is as natural as walking or breathing. I do not acknowledge any supposed risks of "damaging your voice"! Just use common sense... if it hurts, back off, simple as that! You should NEVER discourage anyone from singing! Re-watch the SOUND OF MUSIC if you need to. If there is music in your soul LET IT OUT! Share it. Find a local open-mic or song-circle. Sing alone in the shower, or around a campfire. Never EVER let ANYone tell you to be silent or that you're no good! They areshowing themselves to be literal minions of the Dark Lord and are just jealous of your spirit. For the world itself was MADE by the song and the music of the Ainur, crystallized into material reality by the will of Illuvatar. Sing it! Love it! Be it!
 
My own current music endeavor is hosting a weekly open mic session every Tuesday evening at the Library Hall in West Fork Arkansas, USA. We have had performers as young as four, and as old as 90. Music ranges from blues to rock, country to pop, motown to metal, folk to indigenous, and jazz to classical. We alternate weekly between Classic Open Mic format (on a stage facing the audience) to Song Circle format (we sit in a circle and choose a song in turn, all playing along as we may). We have been doing this every week for almost a year now, and hope to continue indefinitely as long as the sun shines and grass grows. I have learned a lot of new songs, and we are helping some younger players find their voice in a safe and accepting space. My own favorites tend to be of the classic-rock genre... Led Zeppelin, Traffic, Jethro Tull, Rolling Stones etc. And I have a book of chord/lyric charts with over two hundred songs that I choose from when it's my turn. And I try to add a new song every week or two, occasionally even originals. There is no ambition to "go on the road" or make money with this. It is all about the pure joy of sharing music with others. If you're ever in Northwest Arkansas on a tuesday night, please stop in and join us!
 
And if you want to learn to swim, try the ocean?
 
Will Whitfoot said:
I do not acknowledge any supposed risks of "damaging your voice"!
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They exist whether you acknowledge them or not. The voice is a fragile muscle, and prolonged use of unsafe techniques can cause irreparable damage to the vocal chords. Anything from insufficient breath support to improper placement to straining to reach high notes can harm the voice. Belting is especially dangerous and should never be attempted without good technique.

Nowhere in my post did I say you can't sing at all without a voice teacher, but if you are serious about singing, learning about vocal safety is important for your long-term vocal health. Your post exaggerated my point into something I never said or meant, and I don't appreciate that.
 
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Will Whitfoot said:
One does not need a voice teacher to sing! Singing comes from the heart and is as natural as walking or breathing. I do not acknowledge any supposed risks of "damaging your voice"! Just use common sense... if it hurts, back off, simple as that!
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Hhmmmmm..... I think I would leave this to those qualified as professional instructors, myself.
Yes, there are many who can sing and don't use professionals. But to 'grow your voice' in the right way, and without damage, is indeed best done under guidance, if one wants to achieve maximum ability and use of their instrument.
I was a Clarinetist. (and Saxophonist). Toured Europe (6 countries) playing 1st and solo clarinet. But if I wanted to extend myself, I would have needed professional guidance., There were certain things I could not do, and had no idea how to develop them properly. Thus, there were certain pieces I would love to have played, but could not deliver.

And playing such instruments carries much less risk than with the vocal instrument, the greatest risk with instruments being development of the lung and diaphram components.

Professional singing, especially in the arena of Opera, where one must learn to deliver powerfully in all ranges, withoiut microphone or other assistance, be heard above and beyond the Orchestra to the back of the concert hall etc., is far and away best learned from professionally trained teachers in the art. A far cry from just 'singing from the heart.' Such singing has its place. But it will not be found in many singing circles.
 
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My current musical endeavor is my first ever opera song: "Voi Che Sapete" from Mozart's Marriage of Figaro! I'm really excited to be doing real opera music because my voice teacher doesn't give it to her students until they're ready. She also hasn't had a lot of students progress to the level of being able to handle opera music, apparently. I was practicing it a little just now, though I was too tired to give it much effort, and I was mostly just trying to get a feel for the intonation.

The song is sung by the pageboy in Marriage of Figaro. (If you're wondering why a boy song is written for a high voice, well, the reason isn't entirely appropriate to discuss here. Just know that nowadays, pageboy sort of roles like these are sung by women, usually mezzo sopranos.)

Here's the song.

Now at first, I was a teeny bit bummed my teacher gave me this song, because when she said she wanted to give me a Mozart opera song, I thought I would get to sing something from one of the soprano lead characters like Susanna. But my teacher was wanting me to do this song because it's sort of an easy introduction into opera music, which is typically more difficult than the other classical music I've been singing. She didn't want me to have to deal with crazy high notes in my first opera song, and the song is cute and funny and I'm good at cute/funny acting, and it never hurts to work more on my middle range anyway. With my voice type, I can sing either soprano or mezzo soprano, but my voice is weak in the middle range, which is the strong area for mezzos. But my teacher says lots of sopranos do this song, not just mezzos.

Practicing the song this week, I'm glad I didn't demand something harder because even though the song sounded easy to me, it's much harder than you'd think! Mainly, the intonation is hard because there's a lot of chromatic scales, and weird modes that don't feel intuitive to sing. Especially that middle section is pretty tricky. Also, the Italian itself is pretty tricky, with words slurred together over quick little notes. So I'm more excited now to work through this song with my teacher.
 
Server Room Gremlin said:
That's the song I really liked as a kid. 😲 I'm not sure if I even knew it was from an opera at the time.

I listened to this one:
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Ah yes, Cecilia Bartoli is amazing! I like listening to her. Her voice is quite different from mine (much bigger overall and richer in the middle range).
 
I hit a nice, clean F6 at my voice lesson last night! That is higher than Christine's high E in Phantom of the Opera! This is the third time or so I've hit F6 recently. I'm shocked I was able to do it because I didn't have a voice lesson for 3 weeks, and I was sick last week. So my voice was a bit rusty yet I still hit an F6!!
 
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