"Why should I sing an Art Song?  I want to sing something more complex or that's not the music I am interested in singing." This is the question I often get asked when assigning art songs to my voice students.  There are so many reasons:

We learn from any vocal repertoire that we sing!  Art songs give us a chance to work with words as poetry.  Art songs (classical songs) were most often poems before they were set to music.  The words inspired the composers to set them in a song.  

We learn to pay attention to the words and their meaning as the composer interpreted.  To look at how the melody interacts with the piano accompaniment to create a desired effect.  To really communicate our interpretation of that meaning.  

What Singing Art Songs Does For Us:

- Teaches us the power of words and how they function in creating images

- Teaches us to notice details.  (Nuances between the melody and accompaniment to create images)

- Exposes us to poems by many of history's greatest poets from all nationalities

    ** A great exercise is having students sing songs with the same text by a variety of composers and in a variety of eras!!

- It adds to our working vocabulary in various languages (Italian, French, German).  Our vocabulary in the specific language we are singing grows quickly as we study more and more art songs.

- Stretches our imagination and how to analyze a poem.   How do WE interpret the poem?  (A direct correlation to English classes in school)

- It is history and song that leads to so many of the contemporary music of today.  (We didn't just get to where we are in music by magic!)

- It teaches us to communicate a story.  Words are not always straight forward and need to be interpreted and then communicated.

-  It often  teaches a simplified melodic line or recurring theme.  Often melodic lines are simplistic in nature in beginning art songs and folk songs.  Repeated words lend to repeated melodic ideas. These are the backbones of most music regardless of genre.

Art songs (classical songs) are an essential to vocal study and learning to communicate the meaning of any style of music.  Embrace the beauty of text and song to help you share meaningful music!  

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