Singing for Dummies

by Pamelia S. Phillips

Ah, there's just nothing better than singing in the shower. The acoustics are perfect and you don't sound half bad, if you do say so yourself. In fact, with a little practice you could be the next "American Idol" platinum-selling recording artist, or stage sensation. It's time for Pavarotti to step down and for you to step up as monarch of songdom.Whether you're a beginning vocalist or a seasoned songster, "Singing for Dummies" makes it easy for you to achieve your songbird dreams. "Singing for Dummies" gives you step-by-step instructions and lots of helpful tips, hints, vocal exercises, reminders, and warnings for both men and women, including advice on: The mechanics of singingDiscovering your singing voiceDeveloping techniqueSinging in performanceMaintaining vocal healthPerforming like a pro

"Singing for Dummies" is written by Dr. Pamelia Phillips, Chair of Voice and Music at New York University's Undergraduate Drama Department. Dr. Phillips shares all of her professional expertise to help you sing your way to the top. She gives you all the information you need to know about: Proper posture and breathingPerfecting your articulationFinding the right voice teacher for youHow to train for singingSelecting your music materialsActing the songOvercoming stage frightAuditioning for musical theater

In addition to Dr. Phillips' wisdom, "Singing for Dummies" comes with a CD packed full of useful instruction and songs, including: Demonstrations of proper techniqueExercises to develop technique and strengthScales and pitch drillsPractice songs for beginning, intermediate, and advanced singers

"Singing for Dummies" contains all the information, practices, techniques, and expert advice you need to hone your vocal skills with ease.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Reference

360 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2003

Reviews

[Lynda Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has just joined a local choir I needed something to help me understand all the intricacies of the world of singing for pleasure that I just don't understand.....this book and the accompanying cd is great for me. If your needs are similar then I feel sure you cannot go wrong. I bought it on the strength of recommendations on Amazon which were all first class.

[Mike Parkes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Signed this out from the library, and unfortunately it was missing the accompanying CD that included lots of vocal exercises. I didn’t find the text alone all that helpful, but probably not fair to review without the CD.

[Wiseman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it did help me sing better!

[Sah · Rating 1 out of 5]

i think this book really does not help you with singing because most of the time, instead of singing your reading which kinda weird because supposedly when you desire to sing you'd practice it on hand instead of reading it and nothing seems to help you improve your singing but words written on a book describing what is the proper way of singing.

Well, this book is boring and nothing does help me to improve my voice.

And what's more this book has too many words, too many flowery words that makes you want to close the book forever. The author say to much, is it to inspire you? well, that is not what happened to me, it annoys me and wanted to skip those parts.

[Eszter Beáta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very useful book for everyone who want to learn to sing. You can find a lot of good tips for every type of singing, for the practicing, for the breath and for all the activities which have to do something with singing. You will receive answers for you questions about singing.

[Elizabeth Fama]

I only skimmed parts of this to try to improve my voice for our Boswell Sisters band.

[Barbee]

High time I learn the lingo and the how's of what makes my voice do what it does. Maybe I could then teach this stuff... I love helping people learn!

[Tammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book it helped me a lot!

[Sierra · Rating 3 out of 5]

It does exactly what it says it does. I feel like it leaves out a few techniques that are especially important to the demographic of folks who would read these. Although, I didn't expect an encyclopedia on vocal techniques so I consider it forgivable.