Essentials of Beautiful Singing, The: A Three-Step Kinesthetic Approach
Author(s): Karen Tillotson Bauer (Author)
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Publication Date: July 29, 2013
Language: English
Print length: 168 pages
ISBN-10: 081088688X
ISBN-13: 9780810886889
Book Description
Voice research has revealed much about the singing voice, but science without practical application may fall short of fine singing. In The Essentials of Beautiful Singing: A Three Step Kinesthetic Approach, performer and scholar Karen Tillotson Bauer bridges the gap between science and singing. It reframes the complexities of voice science with a cultivated simplicity of style and terminology that speaks directly to the singer’s experience of singing, a kinesthetic one. Although well grounded in science, Bauer’s book does not linger in scientific terminology, but rather focuses on an action-based pedagogical approach that speaks to the kinesthetic nature of singing. The skillful use of the body as a musical instrument is the source of fine singing and only through heightened kinesthetic awareness can vocal skills be achieved and refined. Fact-based explanations of kinesthetic singing processes are remarkably clear and replace vague notions about good breath management, rich resonance, and clear enunciation. Guided exercises inform both the body and the mind as a kinesthetic unit. The Essentials of Beautiful Singing has received praise in the Journal of Singing, Choice Reviews for Academic Music Libraries, and the International Choral Bulletin, among others. Its practical perspective reflects the efforts and goals of singer, voice teacher, and choral director. Paired with a science focused text in a voice pedagogy class, it provides a needed balance between science and singing.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Highly Recommended” “This is a how-to manual in the truest sense. Experienced singers and novices should…find the book enlightening and refreshing in its ease of use and practicality.” (Choice Reviews for Academic Music Libraries, S.C. Champagne, Oberlin College Conservatory of Music)
Review in the International Choral Journal of the International Federation for Choral Music, Volume XXXIII, Number 4– 4th Quarter, 2014 by Tobin Sparfeld:
“Despite a subject matter that can be difficult to describe in words, The Essentials of Beautiful Singing is written in a direct, clear manner…The terminology used in the book is in line with modern voice research…Its effective and targeted exercises, and clear description of how to correct common vocal faults make this a handy companion to anyone who works with singers of all ages.”
“While I have not been in the habit of blogging about new vocal pedagogy books very often, the approach taken by Karen Tillotson Bauer has me tapping away at my laptop. Well-written and easily comprehended, The Essentials of Beautiful Singing: A Three Step Kinesthetic Approach needs to be in your library.” – Voice Talk, online blog by Daniel James Shigo
I started hearing about the book everywhere I turned. Bauer’s helpful approach is not merely one teacher’s bag of tricks or collection of sometimes useful images. Rather, it applies the functional understanding gleaned from voice science to the voice studio in a manner that accentuates practical, reliable, and repeatable techniques. Classical Singer, March/April 2017, Brian Manternach
From the Author
I am very pleased with the response my book has received. It tells me that there are many people out there–teachers and singers alike–who feel the need for methodological input that is aligned with voice science, but focuses on developing the skills of singing. The Essentials of Beautiful Singing: A Three Step Kinesthetic Approach is just that. It focuses on the physicality of singing, a kinesthetic experience. Voice science provides the cognitive element and informs the teacher and singer, but it does not substitute for the kinesthetic experience of either singing or of teaching singing. Well informed teachers will recognize the science behind the kinesthetic approach put forth in this book, but for the teacher or for the pedagogy classroom in a university setting, I heartily recommend a second text that focuses on the science of voice. That way, both the cognitive and kinesthetic elements of pedagogy would be duly represented.Let me hear your thoughts!Karen Tillotson Bauer kbauer@northpark.edu
About the Author
Karen Tillotson Bauer has spent more than thirty years teaching singing in the voice studio, in pedagogy classes, and in choral settings for undergraduate and graduate students. She has taught numerous master classes in the United States and abroad, most recently at the University of London, England. She has taught voice and staged opera for the Opera Festival di Roma, Italy, as well as at North Park University in Chicago, where she is director of the Master of Music in Vocal Performance. Bauer’s passion for teaching professionally bound singers and training future voice teachers has led to this unique three-step approach to singing.
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