Level B of Singing Lessons for Little Singers - Very Young Beginner Series

We are pleased to announce the full release of Level B of Singing Lessons for Little Singers - Very Young Beginner Series! Level B is our most comprehensive level yet, with 29 new lessons that cover the rest of the Body Scale, sight-reading, and basic percussion and piano techniques.

The new lesson book can be purchased through our three distributors: Amazon.com, Lulu.com, and CreateSpace. (Take 15% off your purchase of Level B with the code “NYQCH55F” at CreateSpace: https://www.createspace.com/5600762)

Included in this release of Level B is 29 new lesson plans (available in the book and on our website) and 16 rhythm flashcards (in the book). 7 of the 11 new accompaniment tracks are currently available for free download on our website (http://littlesingers.info/…/very-young-beginner-level-b-re…/). The rest of the tracks will be available soon.

As always, we love to hear about your experiences teaching with Singing Lessons for Little Singers!

Preview of New Singing Lessons for Little Singers Level #1: Level Objectives

With the impressive success of the original Singing Lessons for Little Singers book (available on Amazon and Lulu.com), we have received numerous requests to expand the method.  As many of you already know, a pre-school to early elementary level is currently in the works, with progressively more advanced levels to follow soon.  Here is a sneak peak of what we have been working on...


Each new level in the New Singing Lessons for Little Singers Series will begin with "Level Objectives", a specific listing of the skills and activities that students will be learning in the book level.  This will be a great help for teachers in:

1. Regularly evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of their students in a comprehensive fashion.
2. Determining which level of Singing Lessons for Little Singers is the most appropriate for the student's own current skill level.
3. Maintaining focus on the areas that need improvement
4. Setting a "gold standard" of expectations for what students should be learning in the different areas of singing and musicianship (ear training, rhythm, technique, performance, sight reading, etc.) at a given point in their training so as to not develop skill deficiencies that will hold them back later.
5. Explaining concisely to parents what you are currently teaching their child and what progress they have made.

Here is our tentative objective list for the soon-to-be-released Level A:

Level A Objectives
Ear Training

• Match pitch between C4 and C5 ("middle C" and an octave higher) or more.
• Sing a "siren" of at least an octave up and down, correctly identifying the direction.
• Correctly sing and do the motions of the "body scale" steps Do, Mi, Fa, So and La.
• Sing Level A songs with at least 75% pitch accuracy.

Rhythm

• Sing, clap, step, and/or play a percussion instrument along to the beat of Level A songs at a variety of tempos.

Technique

• Demonstrate a basic understanding of "belly breathing."
• Hiss, buzz, trill and/or sing an open vowel for at least 10 seconds on a single pitch.
• Hiss, buzz, trill and/or sing an open vowel moving up and down in pitch.
• Comfortably sing in both high and low voice/register.

Performance

• Act out the songs of Level A while singing them.
• Perform a solo (or several) for parents (or even in a recital, if ready).

Level A is our most basic level of instruction, ensuring that singing students have a good foundation in pitch and movement before turning their focus to vowels, scales and intervals, diction, breath support, sight reading, etc.  Students with less singing experience will greatly benefit from extra time and practice from frequent repetition of songs and exercises, while the more experienced will progress quickly and soon be ready to move on to Level B.  Exceptional students will also benefit from supplementary songs according to their ability.

"Singing Lessons for Little Singers" Author Publishing New Book!

Singing Lessons for Little Singers author Gregory Blankenbehler has begun a new, ambitious endeavor with the Pitch Perfect Publishing Company. As part of the Bel Canto Masters Study Series project, Blankenbehler will be editing and introducing important singing treatises of the 18th and 19th century for republication.

"We thought that this was an important contribution that we could make to the world of vocal pedagogy, since most of these writings of the bel canto masters are either out-of-print or prohibitively expensive to purchase," says Gregory Blankenbehler. "These texts are quite important, however, because they relay the techniques of many of the greatest singers that ever lived. I have based many of my own teachings on their writings and am excited to make them more available to voice teachers everywhere."

To kick off the new project, the Bel Canto Masters project has released their first installment to the public on Lulu.com: G. B. Lamperti's The Technics of Bel Canto ["Die Technik des Bel Canto"].


As the last of the great master-teachers of the “old Italian school” of singing, Giovanni Battista Lamperti taught his students virtuosic vocal techniques handed down from the great castrati of the 17th century: exquisitely rich chiaro-scuro tone, seamless flowing legato phrasing, undetectable passaggi register transitions and the delicately poised appoggio breath technique that allowed the astonishingly rapid coloratura typical of baroque music.

In the only treatise he ever wrote, Lamperti the younger shares with all students, teachers and enthusiasts of singing, the techniques and skills that made his students that greatest singers of their time: the arcane secrets of bel canto.

Little Singers Author Greg Blankenbehler's New Website

Singing Lessons for Little Singer's author Gregory Blankenbehler is launching his new website, GBMusic.Me.

Gregory Blankenbehler will also be holding a free singing workshop on Friday August, 21st 2009 from 7-8:30 at the LDS Roseville Stake building in the Sacramento, CA area. All are invited who wish to attend.