Opera is a style of theater that is fused with classical music, which performs a performance while singing. Although it takes years of training to become a professional opera singer, if this is your desire, you can start with a simple apprenticeship process. To do this you need to know a series of basic concepts that we are going to refer to throughout this article.
To begin with, you need to take into account your vocal range, and also learn to read opera scores. It is also advisable that you start taking some professional singing classes in order to improve your technique. Once you have this base, you can follow the instructions that we are going to give you below.
Instructions for singing opera
If you want to know how to sing opera you must follow the following steps:
- First of all, you should warm up your voice. You should try an exercise that is known as “elevator slides”, as it is a perfect way to warm up the voice and thus make the vocal cords have less tension. You must imitate a slow and long siren while emitting the sound “aa…”. You have to start as low as possible and then go as high as possible and go back down.
- Then repeat the procedure several times, trying other vowel sounds like “ee…”, “oo…”. At all times you have to keep your throat relaxed.
- The next step is to breathe slowly and deeply. To do this you must fill your lungs as you normally would but doing it deeply. Try to inhale through your nose and not make any kind of sound when doing so.
- You must keep the diaphragm expanded, being necessary to support the voice on each note. To locate the diaphragm, you must place your hands firmly around the waist and cough. The muscle that will push your hands is the diaphragm.
- Keeping your hands around your waist to make sure you support your voice on him, you should start singing from middle C and go up two octaves. So you can check if you have a soprano This is the highest range of the female voice. If you can’t hit the highest C, you might be a mezzo -soprano.
- Next you should try with “sol” below the middle “c” and go up two octaves, so that you will be able to know if you have a mezzo -soprano voice. If you don’t reach it you will have to sing in “F” below the middle “C” up to an “F” one octave above in order to check if you have an alto and countertenor voice .
- Once you know the voice you have, one of these mentioned or its equivalent for men, you must learn to read the scores. To know how to sing opera it is essential to know how to read sheet music. If you don’t know how to do it, it is advisable that you look for tutorials or take lessons with an instructor. You must learn the basics, for which you can study the staff and the notes on the treble and bass clefs.
- On the other hand, it is advisable that you familiarize yourself with some languages, specifically French, Italian or German. These are the most used in opera and will help you to know the meaning of what you are singing, something that is important to be able to carry out the appropriate interpretation.
- To improve your singing ability and be able to enjoy this highly demanded genre, it is recommended that you train with a professional instructor. This will help you to learn different patterns, modulation and also different voice impulse techniques.
- It is also advisable that you join a vocal singing group. Whether it’s within a local organization, school, or church, it’s a great opportunity to start practicing and improve your singing skills. Being part of a choir will help you enormously in your learning.
- In addition to being part of a group, you must go to live opera acts. In this way you can fully immerse yourself and live the full experience of it. You can also watch live and listen to recordings. All this will help you to know the environment better for when the time comes when you can be the one on stage.
- Once you have already started training and have certain knowledge, it will be time to present yourself to auditions to actin operas that are close to where you live. Little by little you will be able to make a place for yourself in this highly competitive artistic world.
Tips for singing opera
- You must maintain a healthy diet and discharge enough. This is key so that your vocal cords are in perfect condition and you can avoid getting sick, which will always affect your voice.
- Avoid those noisy places where you are forced to shout to converse with those around you, as this will affect your voice negatively.
- Avoid consuming caffeine before rehearsing or performing, as it can cause a dry throat.
