See Farley Teacher's post

Oh my goodness I do feel old having to tick the bottom one!

Never too old, but would have been nice to start younger...

Not, of course, saying that anyone over 25 is old, just that it's probably irrelevant exactly what age they were after that!

i started at the age of 14... i reeli wanted to start slightly earlier...

Bloomin' cheek, Cecilia suggesting we're irrelevant once we've passed our first quarter-century!

I agree with Emma - you're never too old. Music is for life, not just for school!

Katyjay

Gosh thanks Cecilia you are clever. I started lessons myself aged 13 which was considered young in those days. I know of some 8 year olds and even younger who have lessons and I wonder whether this is too young to start singing training (as oppose to just singing which everyone should do from year dot).

I started at 16... and I kind of wish it had been earlier. I used to be really shy when I was a kid, and though I wanted to sing I thought I couldn't, and I was scared of performing too. So I had to delay it till I stopped being shy. I suppose you have a whole lifetime to learn, so starting too late isn't a problem... but training early is good because you don't get into bad habits.

xx

QUOTE

Bloomin' cheek, Cecilia  suggesting we're irrelevant once we've passed our first quarter-century!

No, really, I was just thinking that you are never too old so it might be irrelevant, but there seems to be some debate about how young is too young! If you start as an adult, your voice won't change much afterwards but if you start too young... Honestly, I didn't mean to offend

Feel free to post exactly how old you were, 25+ people... if you REALLY want to!

QUOTE (cecilia @ Sep 5 2004, 08:41 AM)

Feel free to post exactly how old you were, 25+ people... if you REALLY want to!

One must never ask a lady her age....





but then my teacher says that sometimes you have to sing like a sl*t....

I was 31. lol

but my voice is still not that mature...even though i had passed my grade 8....if i compare with the opera singers...

You cannot expect it to be - you're still young. Even if you are 'mature' for your age, your body is a few years behind....

It'll come. We all get older!!!

a womans voice doesnt mature till shes like 30 or something! i love singing, but i dont have lessons, but i would quite like to.

Go for it then - it's great fun!

I'm thinking about having lessons too. I have just found out that a singing teacher has moved into our village and thought it would be quite fun to have a go. I did think maybe I was too old at 40 but perhaps not.

Emma when you started did you progress quite quickly and what sort of music did you start with?

i cant afford them

QUOTE (Lucia @ Sep 6 2004, 10:09 AM)

Emma when you started did you progress quite quickly and what sort of music did you start with?

Difficult to say reallly. If I'm being really honest, I feel I have progressed most quickly in the last four or five weeks. I have just changed teacher, and I think that her way of teaching must have just clicked. That's not to say I didn't progress before though - I was a very reluctant singer before, and did my Grade 6 about a year later. I think finding the right teacher for you is important.

Not sure what I started with. I took along some music I had after a few weeks, mostly stuff I liked. After that we did some stuff off the syllabus.

Is that helpful?

Yes thanks Emma I'm just trying to get some idea of how you get started with singing. Still not sure if I will have lessons, I would like to as I enjoy singing in the choir but have got to be sure that I can fit it in with my piano, the children's activities and later in the year I am hoping to join DaCapo's orchestra.

Just one more question how much practice do you put in each week?

That's a hard question! The short answer is probably none, not formal practice anyway.

I normally work about 70 hours a week, so there's not a lot of time for anything else! I do however do a lot of singing along to CD's in the car to try and remember / reinforce techniques etc, but I don't play the piano, and I can't work out the best way to sing at home. I am always singing something / trying to remember music in my head etc. Silent practice my oboe teacher called it, but now I have no physical instrument!

That was one of the questions I had for my teacher last week - but I forgot!!! I'll ask her tomorrow!

How does everyone else practise their singing?

QUOTE (Emma C @ Sep 6 2004, 08:02 PM)

How does everyone else practise their singing?

i usually start with a few warm-ups with the help from the piano.... i may start note-bashing if i have new pieces to learn.... i learn quite quickly.... then...i start singing the "known" repetoire.... unaccompanied.... it's easier for me to hear any "wrong" notes..... i will then focus on articulation and other things among those repetoires..... i finally will end with some bits that i think it's difficult...

QUOTE

How does everyone else practise their singing?

(Note I am not a singing teacher).

I find if I practice once a week it keeps the voice going while I don't have anything on- if I am preparing for a solo/concert I need to practice every day (nearly) for about three weeks before.

I have a set of exercises which I do to get the voice going before launching into songs. If I don't do the exercises then my voice isn't placed properly and I can't practice for very long.

I use singing in the car when I am trying to memorise but I don't feel it is a good idea for general practice as you are in a very bad position for singing.

It is ideal to sing in front of a mirror because then you see what your posture is like and what your face is doing! When I tried this first I found I was pushing my jaw down into my chest for low notes, which is very bad. Now I have a mirror in my front-room and always practise there.

I wave my arms around sometimes when I am singing to try and relax my shoulders which easily tense up, so the other important thing is to make sure that there is no one watching when I practise!!!

QUOTE (Katet @ Sep 6 2004, 05:52 PM)

i cant afford them  :(  :(

I'm going to uni this year and I won't be able to afford singing lessons either, so I'm going to study for my next grade by myself and just get a few lessons before the exam to make sure I'm doing it right. Maybe you could do something like that? (I asked the teachers forum a while back if they thought I could do it, and they gave me advice and stuff... the subject line was "Be My Own Teacher" if I remember.)

When learning a new song I try and listen to an actual recording of it by a real artist, to get an idea of how it should sound... Like "Panis Angelicus" (which I did for my last exam) I've got about 4 different versions of that. It sort of helps you get under the skin of a piece.

xx

it's so good that i don't have to pay.... don't have this kind of trouble..

you dont have to pay?! i have saxophone lessons, violin lessons, and piano lessons, but my school governers pay for my violin and sax lessons because we cant afford to pay for them. My mums going mad because shes just had to pay £41 for trinity gr 6 sax and £43 for ABRSM gr 6 piano! the nearest singing teacher to me costs £26 for an hour! i might see if there is some way i can get them because i love singing!

my school offers free weekly half-hour group lessons in one instrument if you're taking GCSE, AS or A-level music. or you can have half-price individual lessons (i have my singing lessons in this way).

i'm on scholarship....for your information

QUOTE (liebe_klavier @ Sep 23 2004, 09:11 PM)

i'm on scholarship....for your information

i see! that's lucky! well probably not lucky so much as the fact that you must be a good player to have got a scholarship... ok, i'm rambling. ramble ramble ramble. sorry!

yup...tough competition with other girls in my school...but that's allright...i still regard this as luck

i started at 15 but i think i should have started at about 12/13, but i dont see the point of starting at an age younger than that.

i started when i was 11 turning 12 but now when i look back i made slow progress then and now im making fast progress cause im more mature and know where i want to go plus my teacher is the best singing teacher in the world!!!