Voice-lesson frustration

[betweensunandmoon]

As of late, it seems like every time I find a song I want to work on, my voice teacher doesn't know it, and so we end up doing something I know, but don't enjoy as much. I sometimes practice the song on my own by singing along to a karaoke version on YouTube, but it isn't the same. Take today's lesson, for example. I wanted to do "The Long And Winding Road" by the Beatles. She didn't know it. We did Taylor Swift's "Clean" instead. I actually like that song a lot, but it's not one I would have chosen to sing. I was pretty disappointed. I have a great teacher, but it seems like she and I are on separate musical wavelengths most of the time.

Songs I Personally Enjoy Singing

"Can't Help Falling In Love" and "In the Ghetto" by Elvis Presley

"It Had To Be You" and "Someone To Watch Over Me" (jazz standards)

"If I Were A Bell" from Guys and Dolls

"Bring On The Men" and "Someone Like You" from Jekyll & Hyde

"I Dreamed A Dream" and "On My Own" from Les Misérables

"Princess" from A Man of No Importance

"Til There Was You" from The Music Man

"Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" from The Phantom of the Opera

"Somewhere" from West Side Story

 

Comments

[igenlode]

That is disappointing. A few years back I had a singing teacher who couldn't play the piano, which was very frustrating, as we could only do music that had existing 'karaoke tracks' on YouTube (though I'm amazed how much opera karaoke there turns out to be, by the way; I suppose it makes sense, because most opera students don't have access to a tame orchestra to rehearse with).

My current teacher turned out to be not only a professional pianist but a good sight-reader, which is something I'm afraid I'd previously taken for granted in an accompanist -- relying on learning everything beforehand is fine for a soloist who gets to dictate the choice of numbers, but a bit limiting for anyone who is being employed to perform with others. That means I can go back to doing what I'm used to, which is turning up with random long-forgotten bits of original early 20th century sheet music and exploring them :-p

"Someone to Watch Over Me" comes from the Gershwin musical "Oh, Kay!", by the way. You might like "Do, do, do (what you've done, done, done before)", "Maybe" and "Clap-a yo' hands" from the same score; it's an unjustly forgotten show that suffered from its contemporary bootlegger setting, which of course became obsolete and antiquated as soon as the Volstead Act was repealed...

And presumably you've come across the Gershwin number "Lady, be good" (written for a man, but the lyrics have been arranged for a contralto)?