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Acting in Plays, Singing/vocal coach and singing auditions

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Expert: - 8/8/2008


Question
i would love to learn how to sing very good. well i can sing very good its just that i need to get the right notes sometimes. can you please help me? i am 13 yrs old. and i would love to get into singing. do you know were they would have any auditions?

Answer
Hello, Brianna –

Thank you for the question.

Thirteen is a great age to start taking a professional approach toward music and singing.  Most every community has a variety of outlets for singers of every age to develop and share their talents.  What does your school offer?  Will you be attending a middle school or high school this fall?  Are there choral ensembles or perhaps an annual musical?  Find out.

Then look outside of school for other opportunities.  Here in San Francisco we have a number of organizations that produce musicals and plays for young people and offer training as well.  Last week my ten-year-old client appeared as "Harold Hill" in a junior production of Meredith Willson's THE MUSIC MAN.  It was staged at the Brava Theatre, a wonderfully refurbished movie theater from the '30s.  Later in the fall and winter I know I will be attending several high school choir concerts where some of my students will be doing solo work.  Others will be involved in the school's musical theatre production or with neighborhood religious choirs come the Holiday Season.

My job as a professional vocal coach is to help you "get the right notes" through a variety of vocal exercises.  Everybody's voice fits into a certain category, i.e., tenor, soprano, mezzo-soprano, baritone, etc.  Once I determine your vocal category, then the training begins.  Just like a student on the piano or violin or any other instrument – the novice singer must learn about their voice and how to display it through a progressive series of scales.  From one end of your range to the other, I can teach you how to balance your voice and how to apply those skills to any song you want (or are assigned) to sing.

Your job is to become the most informed musician you know.  Learn about every variety of vocal music including Broadway, jazz, blues, Hollywood, opera and symphonic music.  That's what Libraries are for.  While you're at it, sign-up for Piano 101.  You must learn how to read music and be able to play at least your own melody line.

If you want to pursue Music in college, then make everything you do between now and then be about qualifying for the biggest scholarship to the best university or conservatory.  Here in San Francisco, that would the Conservatory of Music.  The education is world class.

I am a professional singing teacher and vocal coach in San Francisco.  You can contact me through Craig's List – http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/lss/786516422.html I am also the fine arts critc for SanFranciscoSentinel.com.  All my articles and interviews provide a link to my personal e-mail.

Take a look at my You Tubes:
Lorena Feijóo - A Look at "Giselle" with Seán Martinfield
SAMSON & DELILAH – Meet Seán Martinfield

Below are links to recent articles and reviews:

NEW CONSERVATORY THEATRE CENTRE – The Season Begins
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=15450

THE MIKADO – Opens 56th Season of The Lamplighters Music Theatre
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=15450

FESTIVAL OPERA’S A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM – Opens Saturday, August 9th
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=15352

SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY’S 2008-09 SEASON
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=15362

BERNADETTE PETERS – A Triumph In San Francisco
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=15150

THE DROWSY CHAPERONE – Detours Ahead
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=15107

INON BARNATAN, Pianist – Thursday Night, Davies Symphony Hall
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=14913

THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE – at Broadway By The Bay
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=14777

AMERICAN IDOL – A ‘REALITY’ WAKE-UP CALL AT SAN FRANCISCO CITY HALL
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=14720

JENNIFER SIEBEL – A Conversation with Seán Martinfield
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=6361

A CHORUS LINE – at the Curran Theatre
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=14702

‘TIS PITY SHE’S A WHORE – At A.C.T.
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=13840

A CONVERSATION WITH IAN ROBERTSON – Director of the San Francisco Boys Chorus
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=13747

SAN FRANCISCO SILENT FILM FESTIVAL – At the Castro Theatre
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=14576

ARIODANTE – Cross-Dressing Goes Baroque – at SAN FRANCISCO OPERA
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=14127

TIMOTHY HORN – BITTER SUITE – A Sweet Tribute To Alma Spreckels
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=14049

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN – Just say “NO!”
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=13041

ERIK BATZ – A Conversation With “The Scarecrow” At The Mountain Play
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=12892

NORMA SHEARER in “MARIE ANTOINETTE” – At the Legion of Honor
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=8783

Best regards,
Seán Martinfield

Acting in Plays, Singing

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Sean Martinfield

Expertise

I am a professional vocal coach in San Francisco. In addition to answers from a previous web site (Askme.com - where my "tag" was "VocalCoach") I have published over 2000 responses related to vocal training - particularly as it relates to Musical Theatre and Opera. I have 24 years of experience as Personal Trainer to singers and actors in the San Francisco Bay Area. I sang professionally for 20 years and know what it means to live the life of a musician. I can determine your voice category, i.e., Tenor, Baritone, Bass, Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Alto, Alto Belter, etc., and how to broaden and strengthen your range. Need an audition song for a Broadway Musical? I will give you suggestions that are appropriate to your vocal category and to requirements specified in the audition notice. I have also created a vocal methodology, "The Belter`s Method". It will enable those in Musical Theatre to practice more efficiently because it focuses on the demands of professional performers as well as to those auditioning for school and community productions, and as University and Conservatory performing arts majors. If what you want is a better voice and more control over your career moves and choices, contact me. Also, as the Editor of SanFranciscoSentinel.com, it is my privilege to review productions at the San Francisco Opera, Ballet and Symphony, as well as Broadway National Tours booked into San Francisco's Orpheum, Golden Gate and Curran Theatres. I also review works by A.C.T (the American Conservatory Theatre) and Magic Theatre. I cover select films, tributes and retrospects, and various international film festivals – particulary those booked into The City's opulent Castro Theatre – including the LGBT Frameline Festival, International Film Festival, Silent Film Festival, Jewish Film Festival, etc. For private vocal instruction, I can be contacted through SanFranciscoSentinel.com. Look under: Seán Martinfield, Sentinel Editor and Publisher.

Experience

As a vocal coach, I work primarily with singers and actors throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. My students range from absolute beginners to working professionals, from pre-schoolers to senior citizens. The vast majority of my clients come to me through recommendation. I know how to identify any singer's vocal category, i.e., soprano, tenor, alto, baritone, etc. I know how to muscle-up every singer's vocal range and to expand it beyond conventional definitions. I have developed a vocal methodology for those who want to know how to belt, THE BELTER'S METHOD. As a singer who spent half of his career doing Bel Canto, I know that classical or Italian methodologies do not work in Standard American music. Bel Canto cannot be "adapted" to meet the needs of contemporary American music, including the demands of the Musical Theatre. There are a number of major components to my work as a vocal coach. The first is to identify the client's vocal category and to strengthen and maximize the vocal range accordingly. Then it's about teaching a reliable vocal workout that will enable the client to gain better control of their musicianship. That includes scale work to expand the vocal range and to improve placement, breath control, and diction. Then we work on material for the audition portfolio, the immediate job or assignment, a recording session, etc. My task to is to better equip singers and actors who are hoping to or relying upon their performance skills and vocal endurance to maintain a career in the Performing Arts. My clients regularly appear in cabarets and musical productions throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Some have worked in New York and gone on National Tours. For more information, Contact me at: Broadwaybelters@yahoo.com

Education/Credentials
San Francisco State University – BA in Theatre Arts; graduate work in Theatre, Philosophy, and Comparative Reiligion. Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley – Graduate work in Ethics

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