Class Voice

Class Voice: Fundamental Skills for Lifelong Singing is a unique undergraduate textbook which can be adapted to needs of any potential voice user, including music education students, voice students who are not majoring in music, and adult learners. By explaining the basics of singing using practical skills and examples, this text is accessible to students with a wide range of talents, interests, and expertise levels. With chapters devoted to skills for singing solo and in groups, instructors can tailor the included materials to encourage students to become thoroughly familiar with their own voices and to identify and appreciate the gifts of others. Learning to sing is a process of trial and error. The warm-ups and other in-class performance opportunities contained in this textbook can raise student confidence and minimize anxiety. The chapters about age and size-appropriate repertoire and issues of vocal health provide vital information about preserving the vocal instrument for a lifetime of singing. Key Features Warm-up and cool-down exercise routines, including strategies for relaxing and breath management Repertoire topics divided by language and genre and suggestions about how to use the repertoire to develop specific skills Issues of diversity, gender, and inclusivity covered in the chapter entitled "The Singing Life" Suggestions for comparative listening and questions for discussion to encourage deeper learning Adaptable materials which can be tailored to fit interests in choral music, musical theater, folksong, as well as Classical vocal repertoire Assignments, evaluation criteria, and assessment forms for midterm and final presentations A glossary of key terms A bibliography with resources for research and learning Information on basic musicianship skill training for those who need it A PluralPlus companion website with PowerPoint lecture slides and three sample syllabi tailored to different class voice populations and study questions with answers and suggested reading lists for students

Brenda Smith, DMA teaches voice, singer's diction and pedagogy at the University of Florida. Dr. Smith holds degrees in vocal performance and pedagogy from the University of Evansville, Westminster Choir College, and the University of Maryland with further study at the Hocschule fur Kirchenmusik der Ev. Kirche-Herford and the Hochschule fur Musik und darstellende Kunst/Hamburg in Germany. Dr. Smith works regularly with choirs and is active in singing in singing voice research related to the aging process. **** Ronald Burrichter, MM, joined the faculty of the University of Florida in 1984. His festival conducting and adjudicating have taken him from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Mississippi River to the shores of the Atlantic. A lyric tenor of international reputation, he has appeared in Carnegie Hall on 13 occasions under the baton of Robert Shaw, is heard as soloist on two of the eight CDs he has recorded with Mr. Shaw, and was the tenor soloist of choice by Sir David Willcocks and the London Bach Choir as well as Mr. Shaw with the Robert Shaw Chamber Singers in Atlanta. A Past-President of the Florida Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, Mr. Burrichter was honored by Florida ACDA for "Outstanding contributions to choral music in Florida." At the University of Florida, Prof. Burrichter has conducted the Men's Glee Club, the Women's Chorale, University Choir, Chamber Singers, and currently teaches voice and voice skills, a course for instrumental music education majors.