Product Description

Popular for more than two decades among college voice teachers and their students, this outstanding, authoritative vocal pedagogy text is an invaluable manual. It thoroughly examines the vocal problems prospective voice teachers will encounter daily in the teaching studio and choral rehearsal. The author’s approach is a unique one, based in large part on diagnostic procedures similar to those used by doctors. As each vocal fault is presented, its identifying characteristics or symptoms are stated, its possible causes are discussed, and corrective procedures are suggested. An especially valuable feature is the book’s accompanying CD that contains fourteen male and female voice samples of the various vocal faults discussed in the text, enabling students to better identify basic characteristic sounds associated with each fault. Current and prospective choir directors and voice teachers who need help in improving the vocal sounds of choir members or students will find this practical guidebook to be an ever-present help in time of trouble.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38804 in Books
• Published on: 2005-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 216 pages

From the Publisher
Titles of related interest available from Waveland Press: Emmons-Sonntag, The Art of the Song Recital (ISBN 9781577662204) and Stanton, Steps to Singing for Voice Classes, Third Edition (ISBN 9781577661351).

About the Author
James C. McKinney (1921–1998), late Distinguished Professor of Voice and Dean of the School of Church Music of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, has an established reputation as an authority in the area of voice pedagogy. A former president of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and member of the American Academy of Teachers of Singing, Dr. McKinney has ten publications to his credit.

Customer Reviews

Laying out the right way to teach voice

I've read several books on Voice Pedagogy and this is clearly the best one. James McKinney, the author, is a former student of William Vennard, a great voice teacher and voice pedagogue.

McKinney treats his book in a somewhat similar way that the MD might treat a patient (though, naturally, there are many differences between the M.D. and the voice teacher). I especially like McKinney's concept that the observation begins as soon as the student walks in the door. How do they stand? Talk? Act?

McKinney's chapters cover all the right areas of vocal production all in the right order: posture, breathing and support, phonation, registration, voice classification, resonation, articulation, the speaking voice, and coordination.

What I really like about the book is that McKinney dispenses with all the mumbo-jumbo of some voice books and gets right to the point. During each chapter, he notes the various problems associated with each chapter heading (problems relating to vowels which are too dark) and gives several concrete options for fixing the selected problem. If there are things McKinney doesn't know about (such as the exact cause of vibrato), he states the latest theories and scientific evidence, gives his personal opinion from his experience, and states that he doesn't really know. He does all this as well in a very clear fashion.

There are two things I don't like about this book, and I must say that they're not extremely significant. First, McKinney uses phonetic symbols instead of IPA symbols. Also, he doesn't have a conclusion. The book stops abruptly at the end.

But these aren't "dealbreakers." If I had to recommend voice pedagogy books, this would be one of the first, along with books by Clifton Ware, Oren Brown, and Richard Miller (good but more technical).

Indispensible Tool
As a voice teacher I find myself frequently turning to McKinney's wise guidance. This is a great resource for teachers and students alike and avoids using obscure pedagogical terms that might confuse the reader. McKinney gives excellent overviews of the all aspects of the singing voice such as posture, breathing, phonation, registration, voice classification, resonation, articulation, the speaking voice, and coordination. He also includes useful diagrams of the voice mechanism to provide a an even more concrete idea of exactly how the voice works. It is an indispensible tool I would be lost without.

A Primary Foundational and Clear Resource
McKinney is the direct descendant--vocally speaking--of the great pedagogue, William Vennard. His technical bent and his ability to communicate in easy-to-understand language has made him indispensable to an increasing number of voice teachers, choral conductors and singers. His systematic approach to the subject, as illustrated in the table of contents, makes the book a resource to keep handy (The Nature of Sound, Posture, Breathing and Support, Phonation, Registration, Voice Classification, Resonation, Articulation, The Speaking Voice, and Coordination).

I use this as the foundation for teaching vocal pedagogy to college music-voice majors. If you are looking for a fundamental and thorough knowledge of singing; or, want to learn how to spot and correct vocal faults, this is the resource to have. Other highly-recommended sources often come with a lot of "jargon" and terms in Italian and German and French that one needs dictionaries to translate. Wading through such material may be productive for a music researcher, but difficult for someone who's primary language is English who is also looking for ready answers. In my estimation, James C. McKinney's work is a jewel in the growing library of vocal-pedagogy resources. I would even go so far as to say that if there were a "bible" for vocal pedagogy - this should be it. Time will continue to prove its worth.