The Disciplines of Vocal Pedagogy: Towards an Holistic Approach.(Book review)

* The Disciplines of Vocal Pedagogy: Towards an Holistic Approach, by Karen Sell. Ashgate Publishing Company (101 Cherry St., Ste. 420, Burlington, VT 05401), 2006. 253 pp. $94.95.

Revising her doctoral dissertation to produce this book, British voice teacher Karen Sell has set herself a daunting challenge. Approaching any subject "holistically" is surely an admirable effort--and perhaps one that is intrinsically doomed to frustration and incompleteness. And what subject can be more elusive, more difficult to embrace holistically, than that most baffling field: voice teaching? The result is an earnest but modest introduction to the art and science of vocal pedagogy coupled with a very useful compendium of bibliographic material.

Chapter 1 attempts to provide a brief history of vocal pedagogy. Of course, such a history is necessarily incomplete. It will always leave the reader wanting to know more; and Sell's generous bibliography certainly helps point the reader in the right direction. Still, her own summaries of the writings of famous teachers and singers throughout history are peculiarly unsatisfying. Instead of providing tantalizing nuggets about, say, Lamperti's or Marchesi's principles, she tends to categorize them rather generally and impersonally, dismissing most early methods as not being physiologically or scientifically accurate enough. This somewhat flat and colorless historical account gives the impression that the author is dashing through an obligatory preliminary overview before arriving at a subject about which she is much more passionate.

And that subject makes its appearance in Chapter 2: ethics and psychology as they relate to vocal pedagogy. For this topic, Sell's conciseness is laced with an attractive bite. Here she is addressing issues on the basis of her experience as a voice teacher, not as a researcher. Her opinions, prejudices and passions shine through ...