The Happy Homemaker

I decided to get back into voice lessons. I was tired of saying to myself, “one day I will get back into singing!” I sing around the house all day and look forward to singing hymns at church. I think it is time to do something more with this love I have for singing.

My “singing career” was short but I did well in that short period of time. I never got the lead parts but since I only sang for less than a year I was surprised that I got parts at all. I gave up voice when I changed schools. I loved my choir director at one school and those days in choir were my happiest in High School. I even got to do a couple of solos.

My problem was lack of experience. Singing is not just natural talent, but it is a lot of hard work. I lacked confidence to do solos and loved to hide in a choir though I would get in trouble for singing louder than the choir. My choir director told me I had a natural knack for opera, and as he was also an opera singer I thought that was a compliment. I never could get over my lack of confidence, however. I hated my own voice and wanted to be better. I wanted to get professional voice training, but I knew my parents could not afford it so I gave up and became bitter because of the rich girls who could afford voice lessons. Of course, they won more parts. I realize now that I could have paid for the lessons myself. I was working at the time and if I really made singing a priority I could have saved up the money to pay for the lessons myself. I could have taken voice lessons in college. In other words, I have no one to blame but myself.

I always had a good ear for music and can keep in tune. From the time I was a small child I had people say that I was a good singer. That doesn’t mean I was ever a singing diva however. Sure I could carry a tune well, but I needed to work on my technique. My breathing was off and I had trouble transitioning between my middle and head voices. I could reach a High high C at one time, but without practice I can no longer do it.

What really got me thinking about getting back into singing was You Tube. There is a channel on You Tube that shows the notes and words to famous opera songs as they are being sung by famous opera singers. I had a lot of fun singing the opera songs along with the most famous mezzo sopranos and sopranos in the world. I then remembered how much I enjoyed singing, especially singing classics. I love Mozart and Purcell the most. Mozart to me is a lot of fun, and Purcell’s Mezzo parts fit my voice range. Handel is also fun to sing.

I got a book with an accompanying CD to practice at home. Right now I am working on register transitions and breathing, two of my major weaknesses. Eventually, there will be a point when I will need to get a voice teacher, but for now, I will practice at home. Maybe my first step out of the home will be to practice with the church choir. Sometimes the choir directors at church studied voice or are voice teachers themselves.

Voice takes a lot of discipline and a change in lifestyle. This is exactly what I need in my life!