Choral Major

One of the programmes that I have particularly enjoyed at my school is Choral Major which is an intensive coarse aimed at developing a singers vocal and technical skills to the fullest. The aspect that I especially enjoyed was the solo nights, in which I had the opportunity to expand my skills in solo singing. While I have enjoyed singing as a fun past time activity for years, it has only been recently (and particularly through this program) that I seriously began to study the art form. I soon realized that the effort that was required to train the voice, especially to expand ones octave range, was far larger than I initially anticipated. For example, I am a bass singer, yet to sing the majority of repertoire it was necessary to extend my range to at least a baritone (just slightly higher than a bass). To accomplish this, I performed various scale and vocal exercise to constantly stretch my range as much as possible. At times, this could be quite painful in the sense that I was pushing my vocal cords to the limit (hurting my throat). And indeed, it took a lot longer than expected, well over two years of consistent work in order to extend it to the point where I can now sing much of the music that I wish to. Also, solo performing has always been a bit nerve racking for, but by forcing myself to do it over and over again I have reached a point where I am comfortable doing. That's not to say I don't still get pre-performance nerves, it's just that now I know how to control them and channel that nervous energy into my performance in a manner that it enhances it.