Training Soprano Voices.(Review)(Brief Article)

Training Soprano Voices by Richard Miller Oxford University Press, 192 pp. $25

Richard Miller, a respected professor of voice at Oberlin Conservatory of Music with several books on singing already to his credit, begins with the premise that "there are more sopranos than singers of all other voice categories combined"; and that "most singing teachers are themselves sopranos" and "that principles of good voice production apply to all voices." He describes the plan of his book as "to identify subdivisions within the general designation of `soprano' and to offer suggestions and practical vocalises appropriate for the several types."

What this really adds up to is a compendium of Miller's own philosophy of teaching. His views are bound to be controversial. Up to the modern era, most "classical" singing technique was based on the Italian school of the past three centuries. In the past fifty years, however, the mechanics of singing -- the anatomy and physiology of the vocal mechanism -- have been investigated with the methods of modern science. The results have been embraced by some voice teachers. Miller combines historical voice methodology with contemporary voice science, beginning with the categories of ...