Hey, is anyone else taking their grade 4 voice exam? Mine is scheduled for the middle of December. I am singing:

1. One Hand, One Heart (from West Side Story)
2. Seligkeit
3. O Cessate
4. Still, Still, Still (acapella)

Is anyone else singing those songs? Just wondering!

hey, i'm doing one hand one heart at the moment, its such a pretty peice!! whose your teacher?
thomxxx

I know!! It is beautiful. Have you ever seen the musical "West Side Story?" I havn't, but I have it and hope to watch it soon.
My teacher is Dr. Paula Gilbert. She is sooo awsome! She studied music in Europe and was in tons of operas and productions. I admire her so much. I have had so many voice teachers, but she is definitely the best I have ever had. Who is your voice teacher?

Well I sat my Grade 4 voice exam on Monday. And probably a lot older than you guys! (33!)

I sang:

a) Love Quickly is Pall'd (I love Purcell!)
An Die Freundschaft
c) One Hand One Heart (a popular choice it seems!)

My Traditional song, me being Welsh, was:

Dafydd y Garreg Wen (David of the White Rock)

I found the sight singing a bit tricky but apart from that I think it went fairly well.

It meant a lot to me to do this exam as it was an exercise in confidence building. I auditioned for voice lessons at the Welsh College of Music and Drama earlier in the year and was not only refused but told lots of horrible things like I had no talent and was too old to study singing. After spending 5 days crying I picked myself up and carried on. My new teacher suggested I try Grade 4, which wasn't too hard or demanding technically.

And guess what? After I came out of the exam room, my teacher was waiting downstairs and she told me that the woman who was showing candidates into the exam room had heard me sing outside the room. She told my teacher:

"Your pupil's (meaning me) got a beautiful voice!"

Well I know she's probably not an expert in singing, but what a difference! It did make me feel a bit better. It was a much needed boost this week, as my brother (the guy who rarely practices and only started lessons about 4 years ago) has just been accepted into the Welsh College of Music and Drama for next year as a student and I'm not only having to put up with him rubbing my nose in it (he's a terrible snob, Im afraid to say) but my mother making tactful remarks about how I'll just have to be a little "amateur" and be proud of my professional brother. She has no idea how much it hurts to hear her talk like that, when going to music college was my dream for the longest time (accepted now I'll never happen, but it still hurts.)

Hey Lady Moonlight!

Good to hear from you again. And good that you're sounding so much more positive now.

I'm glad the exam went OK. It's only the first step to your doing greater and better things, you know. Everyone has to start somewhere, and this is the beginning for you.

Don't let your mum's comments get to you - easy to say, I know. Sometimes I think parents don't retain the tact they were born with. Mine still occasionally says that I'm the "dim one" in the family - despite an Oxford degree and a high-flying accountancy career . And she can't get her head round the fact I've now chucked the day-job to do singing instead

Anyway, what will you do next? Doing any good music over Christmas?

Cheers

Katyjay

Hey Katyjay, and thanks for your reply!

I'm afraid the only thing I'll be doing over Xmas is moving house! I'm not singing with a choir or choral soc at the moment (my audition with the RWCMD pretty much destroyed my confidence over public singing!) but joining a good society is the first thing on the list when my partner and I get settled into the new house (we're moving out of Cardiff up into a little mining village in the valleys and according to the internet there are a few choral societies and choirs in the area up there. We won't be that far from Cardiff either, only about 14 miles). Now I'm starting to get my confidence back I can start to think about public performing. The same goes for Orchestra. I need the confidence to go back.

My brother is not really helping at the moment (he said that if I tried to join his orchestra he'd tell the conductor he was leaving and they need him much more than thery need me!) and my mum's attitude is really unhelpful. She has no faith in me ever doing anything with music and keeps making comments about how I need to just get on with my office work (although she knows I hate it and only do it to pay the bills)and "just be pleased at least my brother has the talent to go professional". Its made me cry so much that I'm not currently speaking to either of them at the moment (families, eh?! )

Reading about how you've been building your singing career, even though you didn't have a music college training, has really inspired me and given me some hope that I might have a future ahead of me even though its going to be really hard and I'm going to have to make a lot of contacts and opportunities myself. Not sure where to start, but getting involved with a good society or choir is probably the first step, don't you think?

You're exactly right that a good choir and orchestra are a very effective first step. And if your family are negative - blow them! A choir is how I got (back) into music. Four years ago I was mourning the fact that I hadn't found anyone to sing with since moving house three years prior to that. Then I spotted a phone number for a local choir, and went along to their first rehearsal in the new year 2002. I asked the conductor whether they had more need of 2nd Sopranos or 1st Altos, and she said 2nd Sops. I hadn't sung Soprano before that! That conductor, with that choir, gave me my first solo at Christmas 2002 - which is what triggered my fret about my voice that led me to start singing lessons in January 2003. The rest, as they say, is history!

Oh, and of course the Adult Learner Concerts gave me a huge extra confidence boost. Fancy coming to the Egham one in February?

[quote name='katyjay' date='Dec 1 2005, 05:12 PM' post='201222']
[quote name='LadyMoonlight' post='201213' date='Dec 1 2005, 04:57 PM']
I hadn't sung Soprano before that! That conductor, with that choir, gave me my first solo at Christmas 2002 - which is what triggered my fret about my voice that led me to start singing lessons in January 2003. The rest, as they say, is history!

Oh, and of course the Adult Learner Concerts gave me a huge extra confidence boost. Fancy coming to the Egham one in February?
[/quote]


Wow thats really good, getting your first solo so soon! You must have so much natural talent!

I feel my voice is getting better since I've tried relaxing, but the problem is I can't get any high notes at all (over top G) without them sounding squeaky and strained, so I've decided I must be a contralto. My teacher says I sound best int he lower register. I sang all my Grade 4 songs in the "medium/low voice" form. Although i once dreamed of sounding like Maria Callas or Renee Fleming, I don't mind being a contralto, if I could sing like Kathleen Ferrier I'd be very happy! (well I guess it doesn't hurt to have an ambition)

I'd love to come to the adult learners concert in Egham in February! I'd try singing, although I'd be worried about people laughing at me! Plus I'd only be doing Grade 4 or possible 5 stuff and I won't sound that advanced . . .

Don't worry about high notes. They come best with relaxation, and you have to give yourself time to relax. And so what if you never sound like Renee Fleming - nor do I! I want to sound like the best Katyjay possible, and I'm sure you want to sound like the best Lady Moonlight.

I 100% guarantee no-one will laugh at you at the Adult Learners' Concert. That's because we are all learning, and we all know what the issues and pressures are. It's the most sympathetic audience you could ever ask for. Anyway, the other participants will probably still be deafened from my diabolical Grade 1 violin, so you won't have any trouble at all

I'll give it a go then! Where can I find out details about the concert - where it is, dates etc?

I'll be putting them up on the Adult Learners forum in a couple of days.

It will be in Egham, Surrey on 18th February. Rehearsals in the morning from 10 am, concert itself in the afternoon. Tea and chat afterwards