Yes, I’m an Opera Singer. No, Not Like Charlotte Church…

 

Charlotte_ChurchA recent conversation with a friend reminded me of something I dealt with frequently in my singer days. For years, after someone found out I was a classical singer, they would say excitedly, “Oh! You sing like Charlotte Church?! She has the voice of an angel.” At this point in the conversation I had three options: 1) Tackle them to the ground and slap them silly, 2) Explain in depth why Charlotte Church and Jackie Evancho are the products of amazing PR, but have been paraded and pushed beyond their vocal limits, ruining their voices in the process, or, 3) Smile and say, “Well, not really…”

I usually opted for number 3, unless I felt the person had the interest and ability to understand my exegesis on the horrors of tween “opera singers.” For the longest time, my mother would always say, “You’re just jealous that she’s so successful.” Of course, every singer wants to be successful, but not like that. So I would like to shed some light on the education and development of young singers in hopes that y’all will never buy a Charlotte Church or Jackie Evancho album every again.

I once heard a violinist say, “Similar to the dolphin, who is not a part of the family of fish, the singer is not a part of the family of musicians.” While it was meant to be a jab at singers, there is some truth to it. Singers are unique among musicians. We don’t start training rigorously at age five the way instrumentalists do. Here’s how the timeline for a singer’s career should look, though some things will vary depending on the voice type:

16 years old: Well after puberty, start taking lessons. This point in a singer’s development is crucial. This is the age when the voice is limber and pliable, best for learning the building blocks of technique. It’s also the age when young singers start listening to greats of the opera world, and start begging their teachers to let them sing things like Puccini, Verdi, and heavy Mozart. What young soprano doesn’t want to sing the “Queen of the Night” or “Madama Butterfly”? Don’t do it!
    
A good teacher will put the kibosh on that, and if the teacher doesn’t, you probably need a new teacher. Allowing singers at this stage in their development to sing large, beefy repertoire is like allowing a scrawny teenager to try to bench press the same weight as someone that competes in the Crossfit Games.
The voice is a muscle, and needs frequent, healthy conditioning. If that singer starts singing heavy rep, it will literally ruin his or her voice within a few years. Why do you think that Charlotte Church stopped recording after age 17 or 18? Because she got a wobble in her voice you could drive a Mack truck through, and her career as a classical singer was over. Young singers at this age should be singing art song, light Mozart, Handel, and Monteverdi.

18 years old: Get a bachelor’s of music in vocal performance. Finding a good teacher is imperative, so it’s definitely worth the time and expense to visit different schools and take lessons with prospective teachers. Often times, teachers will offer a free 30-minute lesson for potential undergrad students.
Also, don’t let their resume fool you. Often times, the singers with the most performances under their belts are the least well equipped to teach. A lot of these singers are natural-born opera superstars. They can’t explain how they do what they do, and they sure as heck can’t teach it to a young singer.
Most singers are not born with an innately perfect technique. Most of us have to spend hours and hours in the studio and the practice room learning how to breathe, support, and project the sound in a healthy way that will last us throughout our hopefully long careers.
Singers are athletes, training their muscles to produce amazing sounds. Young singers at this point (with the exception of the coloratura soprano) should still be singing light, easy repertoire. Coloraturas are a little different — our voice type is high and agile, and blooms earlier than any other Fach. Because of this early bloom, if a coloratura hasn’t established her career by the time she’s 27, it’s not going to happen. This being said, an 18-year-old coloratura still shouldn’t be singing “Lucia di Lammermoor” or “Queen of the Night”.

2223 years old: Decide whether to stay in academia or move to New York to try a performance career. Either way, finding a good teacher is of the utmost importance. At this age, singers might start expanding into some weightier rep, but should do so very cautiously.

2830 years old: At this stage, the muscles of the vocal cords are stronger and less susceptible to being damaged. A solid technique should already be established by this time. As the voice ages, different colors will start to emerge. A soprano that was once a light lyric might find that her voice is now too warm and large for that rep, and she will start exploring some light Puccini and Verdi, as well as Gounod and heavier Mozart.

30s40s: This is when the voice is in its peak. While singers still have to be protective of their instrument and not push, they can sing bigger, richer repertoire. If a career hasn’t been established by this point, it will never happen. The one caveat to that is the Heldentenor and the dramatic soprano- these are the voices that sing Wagner and Strauss.

50s–60s: Retire and teach.

So the next time you’re tempted to pick up that Jackie Evancho CD, instead might I suggest the selections below.

What a 16-year-old should be singing:

What the college-age performer should be singing:

What I was singing in my mid-late 20s:

For the coloratura in her 30s:

For the lyric soprano in her 30s:

What a dramatic soprano in her mid-late 30s sings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ4sAJi4304

Published in General
Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 156 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    Is there a bottom threshold for required talent to train to be an effective singer? Is there a ceiling for talent where training becomes less beneficial?

    Can a person (like me) who can’t sing a lick learn to sing well enough to not be a distraction in church?

    • #1
  2. Vicryl Contessa Thatcher
    Vicryl Contessa
    @VicrylContessa

    I get asked this all the time. A common misconception about singers is that we wake up in the morning and sound like this, and that we’ve always been amazing singers. Most professional singers were born with a moderate amount of talent, but work very hard to train their voice. Very few singers have innate, perfect technique. Most of us have to build our technique from the ground up, and it’s a laborious process that takes years of discipline and tears. And most of us never stop taking lessons. Even the singers on stage at the Met still take lessons. It’s really important to have another set of ears to hear when you’re doing something wrong.
    Most people can improve their singing with training, so if you, KP, were to take lessons from a good teacher, you would improve.

    • #2
  3. Concretevol Thatcher
    Concretevol
    @Concretevol

    Who is Charlotte Church?

    • #3
  4. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    Concretevol:Who is Charlotte Church?

    You clearly don’t watch enough PBS.

    • #4
  5. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    Vicryl Contessa: Most people can improve their singing with training, so if you, KP, were to take lessons from a good teacher, you would improve.

    Most? Are there people who are categorically hopeless?

    • #5
  6. Vicryl Contessa Thatcher
    Vicryl Contessa
    @VicrylContessa

    It will pain me to search for a YouTube video of her, but for you, CV, I’ll do it.

    • #6
  7. Concretevol Thatcher
    Concretevol
    @Concretevol

    The King Prawn:

    Concretevol:Who is Charlotte Church?

    You clearly don’t watch enough PBS.

    I try to catch Austin City Limits…that’s about it.  Seems like the perfect amount of PBS to me actually.  :)

    • #7
  8. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    Concretevol:

    The King Prawn:

    Concretevol:Who is Charlotte Church?

    You clearly don’t watch enough PBS.

    I try to catch Austin City Limits…that’s about it. Seems like the perfect amount of PBS to me actually. :)

    Especially when they have folks like Los Lonely Boys on.

    • #8
  9. Vicryl Contessa Thatcher
    Vicryl Contessa
    @VicrylContessa

    http://youtu.be/aPAzTGPkde8

    • #9
  10. Vicryl Contessa Thatcher
    Vicryl Contessa
    @VicrylContessa

    So when you watch her sing, notice how her jaw and lips shake. They shouldn’t do that! That’s tons of tension because she’s artificially darkening her voice to sound more mature.

    • #10
  11. Vicryl Contessa Thatcher
    Vicryl Contessa
    @VicrylContessa

    KP- yes, there will always be some people that can’t be helped by training, but most improve.

    • #11
  12. Concretevol Thatcher
    Concretevol
    @Concretevol

    Vicryl Contessa:So when you watch her sing, notice how her jaw and lips shake. They shouldn’t do that! That’s tons of tension because she’s artificially darkening her voice to sound more mature.

    From what Wiki says she has done pretty well cashing in on her pop career even if she isn’t “all that”.  Perception is reality I reckon.

    • #12
  13. Concretevol Thatcher
    Concretevol
    @Concretevol

    Vicryl Contessa:So when you watch her sing, notice how her jaw and lips shake. They shouldn’t do that! That’s tons of tension because she’s artificially darkening her voice to sound more mature.

    Yes even I can see she has lots of of jaw movement that seems unnatural in the closeup shots!

    • #13
  14. Concretevol Thatcher
    Concretevol
    @Concretevol

    More my speed KP.  This girl is an amazing local talent.  :)

    • #14
  15. Songwriter Inactive
    Songwriter
    @user_19450

    VC – Your timeline focuses on the female voice.  It’s my understanding the male voice matures on a different timeline.  Is that correct?  I was told once the male voice doesn’t reach its peak until middle age, generally speaking.

    Vocal pedagogy differs from all the instrumental pedagogues because the instrument itself is the human body. Fascinating stuff.

    • #15
  16. Merina Smith Inactive
    Merina Smith
    @MerinaSmith

    VC, I’m willing to believe that singers should stop singing professionally in their 50s and 60s, though it seems like the biggest stars, like Pavarotti, don’t.  But I’m in that range and take lessons and still sing in and direct a choir.  I’ve never been a professional singer nor wanted to be, but my voice really is improving from the lessons. Choirs mask the vagaries of age in the voice, though if a very wide vibrato develops or, of course, deafness, it is time to quit. There are lots of people older than I in the choir, I can tell you!  And I’m happy to have good singers and musicians in my church choir, regardless of age.

    Funny story–once when singing in the choir with the local symphony the union rep informed all the singers that the tables backstage were reserved for “the musicians” stuff.  I thought it was funny, but the next night we got an apology, along the lines of–you guys are the real musicians because your body is your instrument. There’s something in that!

    • #16
  17. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    Concretevol:More my speed KP. This girl is an amazing local talent. :)

    Good stuff. I prefer good singing backed by guitar heavy instrumentation and a melodic bass line.

    • #17
  18. Frank Soto Member
    Frank Soto
    @FrankSoto

    The King Prawn:

    Concretevol:Who is Charlotte Church?

    You clearly don’t watch enough PBS.

    No, he’s watching the correct amount.

    • #18
  19. Vicryl Contessa Thatcher
    Vicryl Contessa
    @VicrylContessa

    Songwriter- men will usually follow the general timeline of women. Lighter voices bloom earlier, dramatic voice don’t mature until they’re much older, etc…but there is truth to the fact that men can sing much longer than women, purely because of the hormonal realities of menopause. Some sopranos can bring themselves to change their rep and start singing mezzo roles. A lot of sopranos can’t bare to have their identity altered in that way. Unlike the trans community, there’s very little fluidity in how one identifies. ;-)

    • #19
  20. skipsul Inactive
    skipsul
    @skipsul

    Thanks for putting this up.  I’m going to give this to my eldest when I get home.

    • #20
  21. KiminWI Member
    KiminWI
    @KiminWI

    VC, how does your vocal development timeline for a classical singer relate to the development of singers in other genres? Jazz divas, like Dianne Reeves?  Or Bluegrass divas like Allison Krauss or Emmylou Harris?

    • #21
  22. Vicryl Contessa Thatcher
    Vicryl Contessa
    @VicrylContessa

    When it comes to pop, jazz, and folk singers…I have no clue. Their training is different and less rigorous than a classical singer, because they get to use amplification, and classical singers don’t. You put a mic in the hand of a classical singer and they’re more likely to try to use it to mix cake batter than actually sing into it. Because of amplification, singers in other genres can do whatever the market dictates.

    • #22
  23. Vicryl Contessa Thatcher
    Vicryl Contessa
    @VicrylContessa

    Skip- it’s probably not what she wants to hear, but what she needs to hear. I remember being that age and wanting to sing whatever the hell I wanted to. My teacher was good about directing me towards healthy rep that pushed me, but kept me where I needed to be. But your daughter absolutely should not be singing any of the things you told me she was singing. In my mid to late 20’s I wasn’t even singing Queen of the Night- it was too heavy for me. But I suppose it depends on what her end game is. If she just wants to singing casually, then if she develops bad technique, who cares? If she actually wants a chance at a career, she needs to get with someone that will nurture her technique and keep her voice healthy and age appropriate.

    • #23
  24. PsychLynne Inactive
    PsychLynne
    @PsychLynne

    VC
    This was fascinating! I had heard before bits of it before from vocalists but it was so interesting to see it paired with the examples
    Thanks for posting

    • #24
  25. John Penfold Member
    John Penfold
    @IWalton

    Thanks this should be very helpful for young singers in too much of a rush or parents who want to push them.    There is nothing more beautiful or moving but it takes so much.  It’s like wanting to be an olympic athlete, you have to be born with the talent and the rest is relentless work and sacrifice under the guidance of great coaches over many years.

    • #25
  26. RightAngles Member
    RightAngles
    @RightAngles

    Vicryl, I’d love to hear you sing if there’s a link. I’m no soloist, but in high school I made girls’ glee club because it was hard to find altos at such a young age (we wanted in because you got to leave school to go sing at various places). Our teacher taught us to sing from the diaphragm etc, and would halt everything if he detected anyone using their “head voice” instead of their “diaphragm voice.” Because of him, I can’t tolerate Michael Bolton or Katy Perry. I totally get what you’re saying about Church and Evancho.

    • #26
  27. skipsul Inactive
    skipsul
    @skipsul

    Vicryl Contessa:Skip- it’s probably not what she wants to hear, but what she needs to hear. I remember being that age and wanting to sing whatever the hell I wanted to. My teacher was good about directing me towards healthy rep that pushed me, but kept me where I needed to be. But your daughter absolutely should not be singing any of the things you told me she was singing. In my mid to late 20′s I wasn’t even singing Queen of the Night- it was too heavy for me. But I suppose it depends on what her end game is. If she just wants to singing casually, then if she develops bad technique, who cares? If she actually wants a chance at a career, she needs to get with someone that will nurture her technique and keep her voice healthy and age appropriate.

    Well, the good news for her is that her teacher has reconsidered pushing her, and instead has laid out (to us, her parents) exactly what the next 4 years of training will entail.  She hit puberty a bit early, so she’s a tad further along than the age 16 schedule you have, but not by much.  Her teacher’s proposed long game has a gradual buildup to get her ready to transition gracefully to a college program.

    • #27
  28. Midget Faded Rattlesnake Member
    Midget Faded Rattlesnake
    @Midge

    Vicryl Contessa: 16 years old- well after puberty- start taking lessons.

    I can see starting before this age, if only to develop confidence and counteract the misinformation that young singers with voluminous or unusual voices might otherwise receive.

    By age 16, I had been yelled at, abused, and blamed enough for involuntarily having a large, non-low-pitched voice (which I did all my ignorant self knew how to make smaller, not bigger), than I never, ever wanted to sing again outside of church. I became deeply ashamed of having a voice, and confused because I was ashamed: were those who told me I had talent lying to me? How could they not be, when those in charge of me at school did nothing but complain about how I sounded?

    Even a coach to tell my 14-year-old self, “You think you’re making your voice smaller by clamming up like that. You’re not. You’re just making it more pinched. Stop entrenching those unhealthy habits!” might have helped.

    Busy music teachers at a large school rarely have time for one-on-one correction, and many would give bad advice (as mine did the one time I begged) even if they tried. I learned the hard way that not taking private lessons doesn’t keep you from learning lessons – including the wrong lessons.

    On the other hand, gals with a nice alto belt at my school were adored by all the teachers. Them’s the breaks, I guess :-)

    • #28
  29. Vicryl Contessa Thatcher
    Vicryl Contessa
    @VicrylContessa

    Midge- yes, you are right about this. I started taking lessons when I was 13, and my teacher was very reluctant to teach me. But I had already started forming bad habits from listening to and imitating crap singers- namely Sarah Brightman- so he felt it was necessary to put me on a short leash in order to stop the downward spiral of terrible technique.

    • #29
  30. Frank Soto Member
    Frank Soto
    @FrankSoto

    This is the extent of my knowledge of opera.

    • #30
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.