Singing For Dummies
by Pamelia S. Phillips

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Book Reviews of Singing For Dummies

Book Review: Interesting
Summary: 5 Stars

Most singers sing with a too wide of an "east-west" facial position and not a large enough "North-South" position. Though she slightly mentions this, in order for a person to hear themselves, they are required to use more of the "east-west" facial position thus actually making their tone louder in their ears, but quieter and less ringing to the audience. She talks about "feeling how you sing and not relying on your hearing, or on listening" but she doesn't explain how to do that. If you don't have a teacher, the only way to do it is through a very good quality tape recorder (poor quality ones give you no real image of what you sing like as they cannot record either the volume of the voice or the natural resonance of the sound; and even with an excellent recorder, you are only getting maybe 20% of your sound reflected back to you). Then you MUST figure out what is a good sound quality, when you hear it on the tape, then concentrate beyond belief on what you felt like, what sensations you had while producing that sound, and learn to reproduce those sensations all the time. Gently cupping your hands IN FRONT of you ears can reflect what the audience actually hears, but it will be softer than the sound they hear. Although testing the voice that way is fine, one must never come to rely on those things. One must rely on the feel and then when you find the correct feel to maintain it all the time, even while singing when ill.

I rated it a five star because it is well written, and it covers many aspects of singing, not just technical, and well, is very approachable. It is a good introduction to singing, but as a warning: anyone really interested in serious singing, and perhaps in a serious career, get a real teacher who can watch what you are doing, and show you when you are doing something wrong. It is very easy to immitate the correct sound, but to do it in a very incorrect way. When you are very young, you may get away with that, but your voice will not last for very long. And she doesn't make it very clear that for popular singing, even the broadway belt (belting is not loud singing, or shouting out the song, or "belting it out" like a lot of people think; it is using the voice with much more forward resonance than in classical singing, less inner dome, and with the sound very concentrated on the upper lip area; one can sing very loud, or very soft and should not be confused with the "norm" amongst young "would be stars" of just yelling and screaming their way through a song at top volume), one still needs all the same foundation they use in classical singing, but that the use of the raised soft palate is less pronounced. However, there is a correct way of working the voice that won't hurt it and brings the extreme forward focus used for Broadway into the voice; she doesn't cover this (and I think most people will use this book not to become opera singers, but so they can study a week or two and sing popular music and musical comedy). When incorrectly done, belting can ruin the voice in no time flat; a classic singer can often sing for decades with incorrect technique before real problems get out of hand; not so with a poorly produced belting tone used in popular singing or broadway; the voice dies quickly because the voice is being abused to produce that sound.

Again, a great introduction, but only an introduction to singing. One needs a second pair of ears, and a second pair of eyes, to make sure they entire body is coordinated to produce the best sound quality possible.

Summary of Singing For Dummies

Whether you?re a beginning vocalist or a seasoned songster, Singing for Dummies makes it easy for you to achieve your songbird dreams. Singing for Dummies gives you step-by-step instructions and lots of helpful tips, hints, vocal exercises, reminders, and warnings for both men and women, including advice on:

• The mechanics of singing
• Discovering your singing voice
• Developing technique
• Singing in performance
• Maintaining vocal health
• Performing like a pro

Singing for Dummies is written by Dr. Pamelia Phillips, Chair of Voice and Music at New York University?s Undergraduate Drama Department. Dr. Phillips shares all of her professional expertise to help you sing your way to the top. She gives you all the information you need to know about:

• Proper posture and breathing
• Perfecting your articulation
• Finding the right voice teacher for you
• How to train for singing
• Selecting your music materials
• Acting the song
• Overcoming stage fright
• Auditioning for musical theater

In addition to Dr. Phillips? wisdom, Singing for Dummies comes with a CD packed full of useful instruction and songs, including:

• Demonstrations of proper technique
• Exercises to develop technique and strength
• Scales and pitch drills
• Practice songs for beginning, intermediate, and advanced singers

Singing for Dummies contains all the information, practices, techniques, and expert advice you need to hone your vocal skills with ease.

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