Davids Chapter 15 & Williams Chapter 7

3 A-HA moments:

   1)   Davids writes on page 234 “Eating before singing is important because of the energy required in what is truly an athletic endeavor. Nonetheless, eating too close to a performance is problematic because unfinished digestion can result in burping and other hindrances to singing. A full stomach also interferes with breathing because the diaphragm must descent to fill the lungs.” This is something I never really considered. These are things I have never had to be concerned with when playing the trumpet, so it is great to know these things now for future reference when a choir performance is coming up.

   2)    Davids explains on page 238 that certain medications can potentially “lead to vocal fold hemorrhage” such as aspirin and ibuprofen. This is an interesting fact…

   3)   I really enjoyed Williams segment on “strategies for anxiety management.” When I attended school, I would get VERY nervous before a performance, but I was never taught how to deal with that. I believe it is very important to help our students with performance anxiety at an early age, so when they become more independent in their performances, they have a way to cope with that. On page 169, Williams has a “stress-buster exercise.” It explains how to help handle with stress through breathing methods. I love this and it is something I will definitely use with my students in the future.  

2 Questions:

  

   1)   After reading Davids explanation on hydrating the body before performances, it brought me back to music school days. A lot of singers, I noticed, used to drink tea, with lemon and honey. What does this do for the voice? Is it better than drinking lots of water? Or does it have the same affect?

   2)   Willaims states on page 149 that 20% of school-aged children are affected by voice disorders. I recently attended a choir practice at an elementary school and the choir practice consisted of a number of games where screaming (voice projection) was involved… This has to be damaging to their voices. Can “voice disorders” be caused by games such as these?

Works Cited

Davids, Julia, and Stephen A. LaTour. Vocal Technique: A Guide for Conductors, Teachers, and Singers. Long Grove: Waveland, 2012. Print.

Williams, Jenevora. Teaching Singing to Children and Young Adults. Oxford: Compton Pub., 2013. Print.