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The Online Guitar Store - Solutions for Singers: Tools for Performers and Teachers
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List Price: $39.99
Our Price: $31.30
Your Save: $ 8.69 ( 22% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 783.04
EAN: 9780195160055
ISBN: 0195160053
Label: Oxford University Press, USA
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 320
Publication Date: 2004-01-08
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Studio: Oxford University Press, USA
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Editorial Reviews:
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While many texts and courses on the art of singing offer comprehensive overviews of technique and performance, few have time to delve into the specific questions they spawn. Solutions for Singers explores these unanswered questions, filling in gaps that professional performers, students of singing, and voice teachers have long sought to close.
Fielding over 200 questions, distinguished teacher and performer Richard Miller tackles problems raised during hundreds of his master classes and pedagogy courses. He deliberately avoids abstract generalities, concentrating instead on specific, recurring questions: What are some good exercises to loosen or relax tension in the back of the tongue? Do you apply the same principles regarding breathing to a younger student that you do to older students? What is meant by voiced and unvoiced consonants? Is there a female falsetto? Through such specialized questions, Miller probes the very essence of artistic expression.
The questions are organized under ten broad topics, which Miller considers from various angles. He couples traditional and modern philosophies to present the most relevant and precise solutions. The result is an invaluable handbook for singers, which, read either sequentially or selectively, provides a unique and pragmatic approach to vocal artistry and technique.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: List of contents more impressive than actual contents
Comment: I ordered this book after reading through its impressive-looking list of contents and on the strength of Miller's excellent earlier books on singing technique. I was slightly disappointed that the text turned out to be somewhat superficial, repeating much of what the author has written in more extensive detail in his earlier books. It may be a useful book to buy if you don't already own his other manuals but it's overpriced and redundant if you do. It's really a sort of extended FAQs or troubleshooting manual, presented in question-and-answer format, and the length of the "solutions" to the questions ranges from a couple of paragraphs to a couple of pages. Few of the solutions are discussed in any great depth, and one has the impression of being in a conference hall where the clock is ticking and the lecturer has been instructed to answer as many questions as possible before the coffee break. It contains a great number of interesting questions, but the answers tend to be unbalanced in terms of detail. A question about placing three fingers in the mouth as a way of opening the throat gets one and a half pages' worth of answer, but one on breathiness in the high register of female singers (surely the more important of the two) receives only 9 lines in reply. In view of the wealth of information at Miller's disposal, the problem probably lies at the hands of the commissioning editor responsible for the book's structure, rather than with the author.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very Helpful, For Advanced Singers and Teachers
Comment: As a professional singer and teacher of singing, I truly enjoyed this book. Miller brings up a great deal of food for thought. He has created a book that not only answers many questions, but prompts you to do some thinking on your own.
I understand Miller has written a number of books on singing. This is the first one that I have read. This is one of the first discussions of singing that I have seen that tackles the science and anatomy of the singing voice. Miller prefers specific discussion of vocal pedegogy to the visualization techniques many teachers are fond of these days. After reading this book, I am excited to read his other works.
One side note; this book is not for the new singer. The information contained within could be confusing to the novice without a background in vocal technique. I found that it gave me a great deal of information on the mechanics of singing and prompted me to think about how this information could help me in my teaching. However, I would not recommend it to a young student wishing to learn how to sing.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Less would have been more
Comment: Richard Miller's `The structure of singing" greatly impressed me so I blindly ordered this one, expecting more properly arranged advice and actual information. I was unpleasantly surprised to find "Solutions for singers" just a scrapbook (thrift shop) of questions that were put to the maestro sometime in his life, and the answers he has given. Solutions ? Tools ? If this book was on cooking it would be one of those where the chef uses page after page for delivering personal anecdotes and totally self absorbed opinions, and the reader finds himself left with 3 teaspoons of recipes and 50 gallons of unrestrained bla bla bla. Hardly any help.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Solutions for Singers is Amazing
Comment: Solutions for singers is an amazing tool and reference book for any vocal issues or concerns one may have as a student or teacher of voice. Miller truly explains things in an intelligible way that will spark interest and mental imagery within the mind of the reader to relate to given topics on an intimate level. His approach to pedagogy is largely ecclectic (both holistic and mechanistic) because he not only explains the science behind the madness of singing, but also concludes that the intrinsic muscles of the larynx cannot be consciously controlled. I give this book five stars and highly recommend it!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Semplicemente fantastico
Comment: Un'opera seria e approfondita per gli insegnanti di canto. Da non perdere. Ho ordinato anche il libro sulla tecnica vocale di Richard Miller.
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