Webb: McCoy Ch. 1

Ch. 1: The fact that the first chapter acknowledges different vocal styles was honestly a breath of fresh air. I once heard a story about how Death Metal and Opera use fairly similar vocal techniques. They had a professional from both ends try to teach each other and, surprisingly, they were able to pick the specific techniques from each style. I also think it is very interesting that during the critical listening part, there wasn't a single person who was majorly dark in their vocal timbre. Usually, it would just come down to if they were fully bright or not as bright. I also thought it was interesting how all of the crossover singers had a high rating on "non-stylistic." It is fairly challenging to stylishly sing a genre you aren't familiar with. Even in Anastasia, I've had a little bit of trouble changing my stylistic approach to the music, as the show is definitely closer to being a more "modern" musical theater style. But overall, I really enjoyed how McCoy introduced a lot of the terminology and then started to fully analyze singers with it once you had an idea for it. (Also brief side note, I'm so happy that he uses Jessye Norman. She is probably one of my favorite sopranos of all time!)

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