Overview

• Award-winning author of world renown
• Uniquely examines the holistic nature of singing and its implications for singers and their teachers
• Eminently practical with numerous case examples and two-colour illustrations

Singing and Teaching Singing: A Holistic Approach to Classical Voice is a highly personal and accessible approach to the world of the singer and the teacher, written by an internationally renowned singing teacher, researcher, lecturer, and educator.

Drawing on her experiences as a singer with some of the world’s leading opera companies, the author has developed a teaching technique specifically focusing on voice in the areas of classical and opera singing. Interspersed with the concepts and components of Chapman’s methods are vignettes from her life and career. The author’s style is conversational and vibrant and her teaching unfolds logically and in a step-by-step fashion.

Her philosophy of teaching combines three main facets: Holistic, Physiological, and Incremental. The Holistic segment emphasizes that the act of singing involves the whole person (that is, body, mind, spirit, emotion, and voice). The Physiological segment stresses teaching based on the anatomy, muscular function, and the effects of muscular interactions. Students and teachers alike can understand and visualize the functional workings of the torso, larynx, and the vocal tract and their impact on good singing practices. Finally, the Incremental section shows that singing can be broken down into manageable components and that these components have a natural hierarchy which eventually interact and interlock. Chapman’s teaching model provides a framework to master one element at a time, with the resulting effect of a complete and integrated mastery of technique.

Chapman recommends this framework for rehabilitative work with the dysfunctional singer, for working with the developing singer, and for the ongoing development and maintenance of the technically able professional singer. Throughout, she stresses the importance of flexibility, partnership, and ongoing learning. Case studies, examples, and exercises further highlight her writing.

Highly readable, Singing and Teaching Singing: A Holistic Approach to Classical Voice is an ideal resource for successful development and management of the classical voice.

Audience

Primary Subject: Singing & The Performing Arts / Voice and Vocal Health
Audience Level: Professional/Textbook - Desk Copy

• Foreword.
  Robert Thayer Sataloff
• Contributing Authors
• Introduction.
• Pedagogical Philosophy.
• Primal Sound.
• Postural Alignment.
• Breathing and Support.
  Janice Chapman and Ron Morris
• Phonation and the Speaking Voice.
  Janice Chapman and Ron Morris
• Resonance.
  Janice Chapman and Ron Morris
• Articulation.
  Ron Morris and Janice Chapman
• Artistry and Performance
• The Teaching and Learning Partnership Part, I - The Singer's Journey:
  A Case Study. Marilyn McCarthy
• The Teaching and Learning Partnership Part, II - The H. Factor: Working Holistically Within the Teaching and Learning Partnership.
  Marilyn McCarthy
• Vocal and Respiratory Anatomy and Physiology.
  John Rubin

About The Author

Janice Chapman, A.U.A., O.A.M.

Janice L. Chapman, A.U.A., O.A.M. was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for "service to music as an operatic singer and teacher of voice and as a contributor to research into human sound production and vocal health." Ms. Chapman has a background as an opera and concert singer, and is a member of the vocal faculties at the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She also maintains a busy private practice serving many international clients, and has been a pioneer in the multidisciplinary approach to voice in the U.K.

She is internationally recognized as one of the leading teachers of singing. Her own career as a singer spanned over 35 years, with engagements as a principal soprano in all the major UK opera companies, including The Royal Opera Covent Garden, English National Opera, and in many European countries. In 1975 she combined her singing career with teaching when she was invited to join the faculty at the London College of Music where she worked for 8 years before leaving to concentrate on her private practice. She became a member of the founding committee of the Voice Research Society (now the British Voice Association) and has served as its Chair and as a committee member for many years.

Many of her singing clients are internationally recognized opera and concert artists and she also works in close collaboration with Laryngologists and ENT Surgeons in the rehabilitation of damaged voices. She visits Australia regularly, collaborating on research at the National Voice Centre, University of Sydney. Her consultancy and workshop client include The London Symphony Chorus, The Royal Shakespeare Company, The B.B.C. Symphony Chorus, The British Federation of Young Choirs, The Friends of Covent Garden, The British Voice Association, The Association of British Choral Directors, and Opera Australia.

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