Canto recommendations

Do we need a piano for practicing singing at home?

It is recommended to rehearse along a piano, in order to maintain the needed control, accuracy and precision in practicing at home.

What’s the optimum age for taking up singing lessons?

Girls are recommended to begin studying vocal art at ages 15 – 16, and boys at ages 17 – 18.

Singing versus musical education

Musical education is necessary for setting a basic knowledge background, as well as for developing the ability to understand the variety of music genres and interpreting methods.
Children are the most gifted students, as they can very easily come to master the art of singing; for them, “to sing” will be a mix of playing and developing such skills as diction, musical hearing, stage movement, dancing, role-playing, relaxation, and, why not, it can even trigger the beginning of a musical career.

What do children learn during singing lessons?  

Children will first get acquainted and then become familiar with music notes and music rhythms, while also learning musical pieces adequate to their age.

What do adults learn during singing lessons?

Adults learn to reproduce music sounds in all exactness, to correctly breathe and pronounce, to do voice modeling practice, and to learn music pieces. They can learn to form and develop their musical hearing, to express their emotions through music and, last but not least, to conquer over their fear of singing in front of an audience (friends included).

Vocal technique: is it recommended to vocalize by oneself?

The students can vocalize by themselves only once they have mastered the correct vocalization methods; while doing so, they should mainly keep their focus on controlling both their breathing and the sounds emitted.

Beginners’ frequent mistakes

The most common mistakes to be made by beginners are neglecting breathing control and / or intonation, submitting them to vocal excess and lacking perseverance in case of difficulties triggered by the retentiveness and interpretation of musical pieces.

How much time is recommended for singing practice?

As much time as one feels necessary, as long as no excess is undergone – namely singing to the point of getting a hoarse throat. An optimum amount of time cannot be decided in all exactness: 30 minutes to an hour should be enough. But this choice depends on the strength characteristic to one’s body and vocal apparatus.

Are there eating & drinking recommendations? What should one be careful about?

Drinks that are either too hot or too cold should be avoided, as should food that is too salty or spicy, and – generally speaking – all types of food that will leave a “dry throat” feeling. Before singing, one should also avoid carbonated drinks and air conditioning.

Other recommendations for students taking up singing

Other recommendations refer to doing physical exercise in order to develop and maintain a basic muscle tonus necessary in vocal activity, breathing exercises, vocal exercises (vocalization), musical interpretation practice (phrasing, diction) on the pieces studied under the teacher’s supervision.