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The Head Voice and Other Problems Practical Talks on Singing
This reprint of D. A. Clippinger's excellent manual on singing possesses over thirty illustrations of musical staves from his original guide.
An exceptional primer on singing and voice training, The Head Voice and Other Problems assumes only the most basic musical knowledge on the part of the reader. As such, it is an excellent introduction to musical theory and the voice as an instrument, providing easy, clear instructions on the best singing practices. The book is divided into nine chapters, each of which offers a lesson concerning relevant and specific topics.
This guide was written to aid both students and teachers of the voice, and includes explanations of singing's purpose and function as an art form together with practical guidance on calibration of the voice, and the study of specific songs. Guidance is given on notation and the musical scale, so that aspiring singers may understand and follow written music. Finally, the text concludes with an interesting essay on the scientific elements of singing.
The methods of voice training Clippinger describes remain as practical, thought provoking and useful today as when this book was first published in 1917. Together with the original, essential illustrations, this edition also includes a useful bibliography which contains plentiful supplemental reading.
An exceptional primer on singing and voice training, The Head Voice and Other Problems assumes only the most basic musical knowledge on the part of the reader. As such, it is an excellent introduction to musical theory and the voice as an instrument, providing easy, clear instructions on the best singing practices. The book is divided into nine chapters, each of which offers a lesson concerning relevant and specific topics.
This guide was written to aid both students and teachers of the voice, and includes explanations of singing's purpose and function as an art form together with practical guidance on calibration of the voice, and the study of specific songs. Guidance is given on notation and the musical scale, so that aspiring singers may understand and follow written music. Finally, the text concludes with an interesting essay on the scientific elements of singing.
The methods of voice training Clippinger describes remain as practical, thought provoking and useful today as when this book was first published in 1917. Together with the original, essential illustrations, this edition also includes a useful bibliography which contains plentiful supplemental reading.
- GenresMusic
132 pages, Paperback
First published March 28, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 25, 2018
The gist of this book is kind of "forget science and just think your way to a good tone", which is an interesting contrast to the last voice book I read, How to Sing by Lilli Lehmann. This is a very appealing idea and one I think there IS a lot of truth to, but you also still have to know HOW to coordinate things to make the sounds you want to produce. Yes, it's mostly a mental process and the main goal is learning how to remove tension so the sound can be released freely... but there's still a huge gap between hearing the sound in your head and then replicating it.
There's also a bit of philosophizing about what makes art, which was interesting aside from a (thankfully brief) racist tangent essentially asserting that only Westerners are sophisticated enough to make true art and everyone else is just kind of banging around to make noises.
There are a few exercises included which I haven't tried yet. Overall, I found it an interesting critical take on vocal pedagogy circa 1917 and a good perspective to keep in mind, even if it's mostly not immediately practically useful.
There's also a bit of philosophizing about what makes art, which was interesting aside from a (thankfully brief) racist tangent essentially asserting that only Westerners are sophisticated enough to make true art and everyone else is just kind of banging around to make noises.
There are a few exercises included which I haven't tried yet. Overall, I found it an interesting critical take on vocal pedagogy circa 1917 and a good perspective to keep in mind, even if it's mostly not immediately practically useful.
July 30, 2017
Clippinger's instruction is quite good, I think completely in line with everything I've learned. Plus he's kind of funny - particularly when expressing his disdain for "instructors" who don't know anything about singing :-)
March 4, 2013
I first became acquainted with this book after seeing the author quoted in a wiki article on head voice. Boy, was I glad I found this small book.
Mr Clippinger addresses a critical issue--one that I can identify with. That is, why do singers--especially low-voiced males, fail to attain head voice? I have noticed in choirs that most males have not developed the head voice. As my choir director agrees, that's one reason why there are so few tenors in many community choirs. However, this need not be the case, as the author points out.
Clippinger notes that males singing head voice is the #1 most difficult aspect of vocal training. In classical days, years were spent training the voice, but in modern times, we want a quick short cut--a huge mistake. The author emphasizes that this skill must be attained in a very slow, easy fashion--with absolutely no strain whatsoever. He provides several exercises to do just that.
I found this book to be very inspirational and helpful. I can personally vouch for the exercises that the author includes.
Mr Clippinger addresses a critical issue--one that I can identify with. That is, why do singers--especially low-voiced males, fail to attain head voice? I have noticed in choirs that most males have not developed the head voice. As my choir director agrees, that's one reason why there are so few tenors in many community choirs. However, this need not be the case, as the author points out.
Clippinger notes that males singing head voice is the #1 most difficult aspect of vocal training. In classical days, years were spent training the voice, but in modern times, we want a quick short cut--a huge mistake. The author emphasizes that this skill must be attained in a very slow, easy fashion--with absolutely no strain whatsoever. He provides several exercises to do just that.
I found this book to be very inspirational and helpful. I can personally vouch for the exercises that the author includes.
August 12, 2012
Unlike many other singing textbooks that focus on the technical and physiological aspects of singing, this author emphasizes the mental aspect - of hearing first in your head what you want and then producing that sound.
November 16, 2013
A remarkable and strangely useless exploration of the voice - beauty is truth so stop thinking.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews