1012 Hilltop Pass
Nat Colbert
FW 76126
(817) 249-5288
Nat’s Literature
1. The Boatman’s Dance (Copland)–3/6
2. Amazing Grace–3/20
3. Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life (Victor Herbert)-3/27
4. Caro mio ben (Tommaso Giordani, ed. John Glenn Paton)–3/27
5. Long Time Ago (Copland)–4/2
6. I Attempt from Love’s Sickness to Fly (Purcell)–4/9
7. Comme possibile (Salvatore Marchesi)–4/16
8. My Lord, What a Mornin’ (H.T. Burleigh)–4/23
2/06/03
 Went through some of the Marchesi exercises to become familiar with the music
and apply some of the respective vocal fundamentals each piece addresses; went
over “Amazing Grace” for performance next Tuesday
2/13/03
“The Boatman’s Dance”
 Learned some notes, worked on opening the throat on the E
 Purify the vowel on the word “dance”
“Ah! Sweet Mystery”
 Be more legato; good job sensing the fermatas.
 Continue to memorize
2/27/03
 Practice voix mixe exercise this week; falsetto singing still too different from chest
for mix to be happening well yet (probably will be a while)
3/6/03
 Worked more on mixing falsetto; had good results
 Assigned “Caro mio ben” for work; “Boatmen’s Dance,” “Ah! Sweet Mystery,”
and “Amazing Grace” should be memorized
3/20/03
 Mapped out memorization for rest of semester
“Comme possible”
 Make sure notes are smooth and connected
“Caro mio ben”
 Fixed some vowel problems

Put ending consonants at end of notes
3/27/03
 Helped to have an accompanist–we got a lot done!
“Ah, Sweet Mystery”
 Good vocal sound here
 Worked on voix mixe and consistency of vocal tone on varying pitches and
vowels
 Memorization pretty good
4/3/03
“Long Time Ago”
 Work on memory, legato singing (notes were very choppy; words not too strong
 Good tone once we worked out an uncharacteristic nasal approach
“Amazing Grace”
 Be careful not to go overboard with the “Slowly” section (keep in meter)
 Keep the vowels consistent all the way to the end of the note
4/10/03
 No lesson on account of his sinus infection
4/17/03
“Caro mio ben”
 Worked on “eh” vowel, breath & phrasing
 Experimented with the trill; sounds pretty good
 Keep exercising that head voice, working the falsetto–the arytenoids muscles will
start to engage when the thyroid muscle is in shape
4/24/03
“Amazing Grace”
 Much better; very even in tone–better than Tuesday; it didn’t sound like he was
being vocally “schizophrenic”
“The Boatman’s Dance”
 Make sure you’re actually singing in the mix, not pushing on those high notes
 Needs to be more legato still
“Carò mio ben”
 Good work on tone–still need to work on pronunciations
 Let’s start the phrases with the mix rather than the chest when they (the phrases)
contain high notes
5/1/03
“Long Time Ago”
 Generally very good; make sure you solidify the text
 Go somewhere with the long notes, don’t cut them off and make the line choppy
“Amazing Grace”
 Nice singing; make sure long notes (esp. at end) keep good spinning tone
“Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life”
 Very nice; make sure we have lots of legato
 At the high notes don’t be afraid to start in falsetto and mix in the chest to clarify
the tone
Nammi Kim
Barnard hall, PO Box 22822
FW 76122
(817) 921-8749
Nammi’s Literature
1. Tu lo sai (Torelli)–3/7
2. Eye Hath Not Seen (Gaul)–3/25
3. He was despised (Handel, Messiah)–3/27
4. Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing–4/2
5. Thou Shalt Bring Them In (Handel, Israel in Egypt)–4/2
6. Nel cor più non mi sento (Paisiello)–4/17
7. Little David, Play on Your Harp–4/16
8. Che fiero costume (Legrenzi)–4/23
2/6/03
 Went over “Tu lo sai;” read through some of the Marchesi pieces for future vocal
exercising.
2/13/03
 Looked at a few songs; didn’t really accomplish much vocally, but did establish
some repertoire
2/27/03
 Went over first two Marchesi exercises (“Comme possibile” and “Perche”)
 Lots revealed here: vocally competent, but she needs to establish diaphragmatic
support and legato singing
3/6/03
 Worked on finding vibrato
 Practiced a bit on “Eye Hath Not Seen;” work on memorization
3/20/03
 Worked up schedule for remainder of semester
 Good work on memorization and preparation (“Tu lo sai,” “Eye Hath Not
Seen,” “He was despised”)
 Learn to “think ahead” in the music to facilitate longevity of breath
3/27/03
 Good lesson; it was nice having an accompanist, and it helped both of us
“He was despised”
 Worked on establishing vibrato and adjusted some vowels
4/3/03
“Come, Thou Fount”
 Good preparation
 Make sure we don’t get any wrong consonant sounds (“r”) where they aren’t
needed
 Worked on some consonants, but watch that they don’t interfere with the line. In
some places we will break the line to articulate
4/10/03
“Thou Shalt Bring Them In”
 Good preparation; good sustaining pitches, but could stand a little more support,
esp. on long notes
 Fix some vowels and pronunciations (e.g., “established” is “establish-ed”); trade
“ah” for “aa”
 Breathing is in artistic places–very nice; keep up the good work!
“Come, Thou Fount”
 Also well-prepared
 Make sure breathing is occurring early enough to support first notes of any
phrase
 Be thinking about legato even in such pulsed music, and make sure vowels are
consistent (like “song of loudest praise”–“est” and “praise” use the same vowel,
which needs to be tall and full, not short and spread).
 I need to bring “Se nel ben” next week
4/17/03
“Tu lo sai”
 Beautiful! I’d like to hear purer “o” and “u” vowels
 Don’t be afraid to hang on to consonants before opening up on the subsequent
vowels–this adds effect as well as security of tone on the pitch
4/24/03
“Nel cor più non mi sento”
 Don’t omit grace notes; otherwise, pretty good
“Tu lo sai”
 “Too,” not “tew”
 Put accents on the word “fear”
 Make the whole phrase fit the tone of the most difficult note
 Keep the energy consistent on lower passages to match the energy you must use
on the higher, more difficult ones
5/1/03
“Tu lo sai”
 Better “oo” vowel; don’t cheat it by going to the “l” of “lo” too soon
 Learn that figure at the end of the B section–it’s okay, but still just a bit wrong
 Don’t forget to phonate the “m” of “t’amai”
“Come, Thou Fount”
 Relax the voice on those high notes. They’re being formed properly, but you’re
clamping down on them, keeping them too stiff
“Nel cor più non mi sento”
 Very nice; keep the shorter notes at the beginning (“brillar…” etc.) vibrant, as
part of the vocal line (keep them energized)
 Lots of support necessary when singing the tritone line
 Make the second syllable of “pièta" a bit lighter and shorter (this is an artistic
thing, not necessarily fundamentally correct exactly)