# Top mistakes young people make when getting into opera



## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

most of you seem pretty experienced around these parts, but I thought this would make for interesting convo. here are some common mistakes young people make when getting into opera.
1) *"I can't be a soprano because I don't have a high voice".* Many sopranos, even lyric sopranos, have dark, chocolaty timbres and even cavernous low notes. Additionally, in female singers, speaking is more correlated with age and vocal _weight_ than it is range. For those of you who have heard Leontyne Price speak, she sounds much more like Mariah than she does Bess. Even some coloratura sopranos such as Edda Moser, can have a darker, "honey and roasted oats" timbre. 
2) *"I'm a dramatic ____"*....no, you're not, and there are three major problems with this:

dramatic voices take much longer to mature. if you have a weightier voice (like I did ever since 14), it's ok to play around with something a little more powerful than the Mozart and 24 Italian Art Songs you will likely be slapped with, but one should not be attempting serious dramatic repertoire until AT LEAST late 20s (preferably about a decade later)
even for non-dramatic voices, dipping your toe into precise, fach-specific repertoire should wait until at least 22 or so. most voices won't even begin to truly blossom until around 30 or so (though this will depend on the voice. lighter sopranos can reach their peak quite early, while a dramatic baritone will probably not be in his prime until his 40s)
singing powerfully does not make you a dramatic voice. many lyric voices like Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Nicolae Gedda and Antonella Bandelli sung with plenty of power. Being a dramatic voice means that the voice has WEIGHT.
_disclaimer:_ that does not mean you should be necessarily be singing light, pixey repertoire either, and many young singers with weightier voices can find conventional young people rep cumbersome and disconnected (ie, not engaging the full resonance of the middle and bottom parts of the voice). regardless of voice type, 
3) *"Physical size is a good indicator of vocal size":* to be fair, this one isn't completely a myth. Physical size and indeed serve as extra _support_ for the voice, but the main determinants of vocal size are the bone structure of the skull, the shape of the larynx and, of course, the cords themselves. Examples of thinner singers with large, opulent voices include Gwenyth Jones, Brigitte Fassbaender, Jerome Hynes, Jonas Kaufmann and, of course, Franco Corelli.
4) *"I need to put more vibrato into my sound"*: vibrato is a _natural_ result of healthy, technically sound singing. vibrato should give the voice a fresh ring of resonance, not make sound like a 60 year old with a wobble so wide you could drive a truck through it. 
5) *"Most opera singers are fat:"* if you look at your typical Wagnerian singer, yes, they tend to have a little extra cushion for the pushin'. Sn extra 15 pounds or so can, as stated above, help a little bit with support, but no, the majority of opera singers are not overweight. Your average Rossini, Handle or Donizetti singer, they actually tend to be on the trimmer side. Additionally, most people are comparing opera singers to pop stars when making comments like this. The truth is, if you're 20 pounds or so overweight but have pipes of gold and good technique _we really don't care that much about your weight_ (this has changed slightly over the past 30 years or so, but not really by much).
6) *Opera stars are all pompous, elitist divas who strut around in fur coats and French designer handbags*: LOL watch any interview of Renee Fleming, Samuel Ramey, Joyce Didonato or Dolora Zajick and tell me if any of them come across that way


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Change no. 6 to "Reality TV stars" and it's totally true.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

*Balalaikaboy:* You should check out the book ON THE ART OF SINGING by Richard Miller. It's a book aimed at young singing students, and it addresses a number of misconceptions about the voice, voice training, interpretation, and launching a career. One chapter in the book called "Woofy Baritones and Mooing Mezzos" is about how too many young singers try to sound like a stereotype of how their voice category sounds, rather than just sounding like themselves.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Another thing the above-mentioned book discusses is how too many immature singers seem to think that because they "feel" the emotion of what they're singing, then that emotion will for that reason communicate itself to the audience -- whereas in reality emotional portrayal is a matter of technique. The author says that singers must watch themselves on video to see how they _really _appear to the audience.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Bellinilover said:


> Another thing the above-mentioned book discusses is how too many immature singers seem to think that because they "feel" the emotion of what they're singing, then that emotion will for that reason communicate itself to the audience -- whereas in reality emotional portrayal is a matter of technique. The author says that singers must watch themselves on video to see how they _really _appear to the audience.


yes! additionally, "sing from your heart" is completely BS advice. you sing from your _gut_, not your heart. otherwise, you have no control and everything gets choked up in the throat.


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