Dear all,
I have a bit of a dilemma, and I hope somebody can help me with it.
The thing is, I've been singing for about 6/7 years now (I'm almost 18) and I am currently a Tenor/Baritone, being trained as such under my current singing teacher (who I've had for about a year now).
Over the past couple of years, however, I have become a hardcore fan of baroque music and especially the countertenor voice. I just find it so enchanting and beautiful and I love to sing in that voice whenever I can (I am a falsetto countertenor; does that count? I hope so!). This is where my problem arises. My singing teacher isn't keen on the idea of me singing countertenor and wants to concentrate on my baritone voice (which seems fair enough because he is a phenomenal teacher), and the music staff at my college seem to think I am a bit bonkers when I say I want to sing countertenor, and they try to put me off the idea. But I have such a passion for the countertenor voice and baroque music and I really really want to pursue this exciting venture further.
I have my A2 recital coming up this year and I really want the theme of the recital to be "European Music of the Baroque Era", and I feel that I can only make the recital more authentic and unique by including some countertenor pieces in addition to baritone ones.
I sometimes sing tenor in my barbershop chorus which is essentially a falsetto countertenor part anyway, so I do get some extra practice in that voice. I can reach a compound major 2nd above middle C very comfortably in falsetto voice (I can actually reach a compund major 4th above middle C, but with a little discomfort), but I want to expand that range to make the F (compound 4th) comfortable to sing.
Sorry for the rambling length, but I felt I should explain the situation fully. So what do I do? Do I sing countertenor against my teachers' advice, and can my baritone training help me to strengthen my countertenor voice? If so, are there any particular exercises I can do to really strengthen my countertenor voice?
With best wishes to all who read this,
Baroquefanatic
I have a bit of a dilemma, and I hope somebody can help me with it.
The thing is, I've been singing for about 6/7 years now (I'm almost 18) and I am currently a Tenor/Baritone, being trained as such under my current singing teacher (who I've had for about a year now).
Over the past couple of years, however, I have become a hardcore fan of baroque music and especially the countertenor voice. I just find it so enchanting and beautiful and I love to sing in that voice whenever I can (I am a falsetto countertenor; does that count? I hope so!). This is where my problem arises. My singing teacher isn't keen on the idea of me singing countertenor and wants to concentrate on my baritone voice (which seems fair enough because he is a phenomenal teacher), and the music staff at my college seem to think I am a bit bonkers when I say I want to sing countertenor, and they try to put me off the idea. But I have such a passion for the countertenor voice and baroque music and I really really want to pursue this exciting venture further.
I have my A2 recital coming up this year and I really want the theme of the recital to be "European Music of the Baroque Era", and I feel that I can only make the recital more authentic and unique by including some countertenor pieces in addition to baritone ones.
I sometimes sing tenor in my barbershop chorus which is essentially a falsetto countertenor part anyway, so I do get some extra practice in that voice. I can reach a compound major 2nd above middle C very comfortably in falsetto voice (I can actually reach a compund major 4th above middle C, but with a little discomfort), but I want to expand that range to make the F (compound 4th) comfortable to sing.
Sorry for the rambling length, but I felt I should explain the situation fully. So what do I do? Do I sing countertenor against my teachers' advice, and can my baritone training help me to strengthen my countertenor voice? If so, are there any particular exercises I can do to really strengthen my countertenor voice?
With best wishes to all who read this,
Baroquefanatic