SRJC Music Department
Fundamentals of Singing
Welcome Students! If you’re reading this, then you must have some curiosity about testing your singing skills. You may have a naturally beautiful singing voice, or you may feel your voice sounds like a crashing freight train! Either way, you’ve come to the right spot. I believe if you can speak, you can sing. It’s as simple as that!
Some students enter the class with a great musical background. Others have no training, and worst of all, no confidence! But we all have one thing in common – our love of music. My refrigerator door hosts two magnets offering the following quotes: “Without music, Life would be a mistake.” (German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche) and “Alas for those that never sing, but die with all their music in them.” (American poet Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.) In my opinion, that about sums it up in a nutshell!
This class has a well trained team ready to help you – an energetic instructor, an encouraging accompanist, and an enthusiastic cheerleader! We will guide you through breathing, pitch, timing, volume, dynamics, tonal coloring, interpretation, and confidence. Stage fright? We attack stage presence from the very first meeting! Can’t read music? We’ll teach you some basic notes, rhythms, and notation.
Take the risk! You’ll learn something about singing. But you’ll also learn something about yourself! Sure, there’s some tedious analytical stuff. But then there’s the euphoric moments when the heart melts, the soul flies, the tears swell, the hairs stand up on your arms, and you think, “Ahh… THAT’S what it’s all about!”
We look forward to having you in class. Breathe. Relax. Learn. And bring your sense of humor! Life’s too short to take yourself too seriously.
INSTRUCTOR: Marvel Gardner
PIANO ACCOMPANIST: Janice Young
STUDENT TUTORING/MEDIA: Tamis Baron tamis@baronunlimited.com
SRJC Music Dept. Office: 527-4249 for PHONE MESSAGES to Marvel