Carrying your dirty pants in a bag for a living... (Singer)

Member Name: EdibleDormouse

Product:	Singer
Date:	21/10/08 (101 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: See the world and get paid to do it

Disadvantages: Where is home?

Singer...

Well, doesn't that cover a multitude of sins?

Early on, I had a teacher who said "good singing is good singing, it doesn't matter what the genre is", and also "there's only one right way to sing - there's just many ways of getting there".

I've based my career on both those ideals, and tried over the years to pass them on to my own pupils.

My own particular area of expertise covers classical singing, specifically opera, so rather than make generalisations about areas I'm not familiar with, I'll concentrate on what I know, and hopefully someone from "the other side" will write another review on another aspect of professional singing soon.

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Starting out -

Find a good teacher. This is easier said than done, but in the first instance, a "good" teacher will be one where you don't leave the lesson hoarse and unable to speak. In fact, to start with, a "good" teacher will be one who enables you to sing for much longer in one go than you have been able to in the past. They will also concentrate on extending your range, and giving you a variety of exercises aimed at helping you to even out your voice throughout your range, help you sing in tune, and help you with breathing and support (which is a whole fresh can of worms that I'm not even prepared to go into in writing...anyone who has ever had singing lessons will know what I'm talking about).

Next steps -

If you're singing well, and it has been suggested that you might consider going to college at some point, now is the time to make sure that concentrate on musicianship. Don't neglect theory - you WILL regret it later, as you'll be less able to work on and prepare music by yourself, and it will cost you a small fortune in extra repetiteur (a specialised job for a pianist, whereby they teach you your music) fees. Take at least the Associated Board Grade 5 qualification (and preferably Grade 8), and if you're still at school and in a position to decide, GCSE, and then A Level Music. It would benefit you hugely to be able to play an instrument as well, just to boost your general level of musicianship.

A further word on exams - there doesn't seem to be the same emphasis on "grade" exams for singers as there does for instrumentalists. There is still an incorrect perception (in my view), that singers sing because they can't play an instrument, rather than having elected to sing as their instrument. If pieces of paper are important to you, then take singing exams, but otherwise, those certificates really are just pieces of paper. It's a slightly different matter for the 120 or so flute players fighting for the one place in the County Youth Orchestra, where a Grade 8 might be necessary to even get an audition.

College applications - if you've got this far, you probably even have a fair idea of who you might want to study with. The main music colleges in the UK are the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Trinity College of Music (all in London), then the Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester), the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (Glasgow), and the Royal Welsh College of Music (Cardiff). Other good institutions to consider are the Birmingham Conservatoire, Colchester Institute, Bath HE College, and Huddersfield, Durham and Bristol Universities. You will probably have to go through at least two rounds, and perhaps a scholarship round of auditions to gain a place.

So, glossing over the next four, five, or even six years...

And you're out in the big wide world. 629 words in, and we're just about to talk about your "career as a singer".

By now, you're probably something between 23 and 28 years old. Still a "young" singer. You're probably not ready to take on large operatic roles just yet, so what do you do with yourself?

Firstly, buy yourself a copy of the British Music Yearbook. This worthy tome is filled with every email address, telephone number, and website you are ever likely to need.

My other bit of controversial (possibly) advice would be, while you're still young enough, enter every single competition you possibly can (you are still working with a teacher, and a regular repertoire coach, aren't you? Good). The cut off ages for most are around 33 for men, and 30 for women, so you really don't have much time. I actually have little truck with competitions apart from them putting you in the sightline of people that might give you work, and getting your name known.

A good place to start for work would be to join a professional chamber choir or opera chorus. It's even worth trying to get into the lucrative session market, but you do need VERY good sightreading (and often quick memorising) skills, and your voice has to be very flexible in style, incorporating anything from "oooo" on an advert, to a full-blown opera chorus. My recommendation early on would be to not stay in one place for more than about two years. Not only do you not want to get bogged down, you need to keep "on the circuit", in touch with what's going on, and auditioning. Which brings me to...

Auditions -

Invention of the devil.

Nobody likes doing them, but they're a necessary evil. Make sure that your repertoire is appropriate to you (for example, if you're a light soprano, don't go and audition for Brunnhilde...), and be very, very honest and self-critical about your appearance - opera is unfortunately a very visual business these days, and the era of 25 stone sopranos dying of consumption on stage is long over. Learn how to dress yourself well, and make the best of yourself, both in terms of how you look, and your general fitness. Big is certainly beautiful, but only if you're physically fit and healthy to go with it. One doesn't have to rule out the other.

Other golden audition rules -

1) Proper preparation prevents piss poor performance - if you're not on top of what you're doing, CANCEL.

2) The audition panel aren't interested in knowing if you've got a cold. They want someone that can do the job. Having said that, if you CAN sing well on a cold (and some people can), go to the audition. It may stand you in very good stead if the panel think you won't cancel, even if you're slightly under the weather.

3) Be nice, friendly, and open. You will have to work with these people. You might even be on tour with them for weeks on end. If they don't think they'll get on with you, they won't hire you.

4) Without being arrogant, walk into that audition room like you own it. I once got a job simply by walking in confidently, smiling, and cracking a joke. Apparently, the conductor turned to the director and said "if she can sing, she's got the job".

Lordy this is a long review...sorry.

In summary -

The best bits of the job - never getting bored with your colleagues (they change on a regular basis), never getting bored with your office (there isn't one), the "buzz" of performing, the excitement of seeing new cities and countries, and the wonderful music you get to work on.

The worst bits - your colleagues change frequently, holding down a stable home life is very hard (divorce rates are very, very high), carrying 7 days' worth of dirty knickers in your overnight bag when on whistlestop tours...

You need to be tough to be a singer. My final word of advice would be...

Only do it if you really, really cannot be happy doing anything else at all.

Summary: Only for the driven...