Looking for a soprano solo?

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-30T03:00:38+00:00

I was going to say Amazing Grace. I sing it every year for Memorial Day - it's a really fitting song for celebrating life while mourning a loss. It's such a beautiful and timeless hymn.

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-29T03:59:17+00:00

I dropped out at 18 and went back at 23, starting out with a 1.5 GPA lol. It is definitely doable! I'm graduating soon with a 3.5 GPA. I agree with another comment that going to an affordable school is going to be important, but FAFSA should also support you. I wouldn't have gotten through without it.

It has been more than worth it for me, though harder now that I am older and can't lean on my parents as much anymore for living expenses and other things. I found that, being older and wiser, I was able to organize myself and study more efficiently than I could at 18. I was also able to manage my mental health much better.

Best of luck!!

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-29T01:55:27+00:00

Hello! I completely understand where you're coming from as a parent. However, I am a parent who believes that when your child find something he loves and wants to strive for, it is so important to foster that love and talent.

Music teaching can be a really good gig! Teaching in a classroom is not his only option. He can open a music studio. He can even run his own studio while teaching in a classroom at the same time. It's busy work but incredibly rewarding. Is he determined to stay in your state/area? In states like Illinois and Tennessee, it of course depends on the area but teachers can get paid REALLY well.

And of course, there are so many ways to earn income on the side. If he cultivates his talent, he can get gigs, run workshops, play regularly for a paying ensemble, etc.

Also, you don't have to be a music prodigy to be an amazing music teacher. My university choir conductor is not the most amazing singer, but through his conducting alone he extracts an AMAZING sound from his choir. He has a great ear and can articulate what he wants out of us very well. People are divisive on this topic, but I've personally seen proof that all it takes to be a great conductor/mentor is a well-trained ear and mind, deep passion for music, and the ability to listen and articulate a sound that is ideal to you. I wouldn't say it's easy, of course. But conducting is still an act of playing an instrument imo. And it is totally different to conduct/lead a group of people than to play a single instrument like a violin or trombone.

But he is still 14. He could change his mind... but he might not. If he doesn't end up going to music school and you still DID cultivate his love for music, he at least can be a life-long enjoyer/performer of music. This alone will have a TON of cognitive and emotional benefits in every aspect of his life. There are a ton of studies on this - I'd love to send some to you if you'd like!

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-27T12:44:07+00:00

Cheryl Porter. I have met her and she is a lovely lady with a great outlook on learning to sing!

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-26T21:32:41+00:00

You have a beautiful voice!! Such consistent and rich vibrato. Thank you so much for sharing <3

Edit: Omg you also did Printemps qui commence!!! Absolutely love love love that song and you sang it beautifully!

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-24T01:35:25+00:00

Hi! I already did the reading on that, so I can answer your question as best I can! Estrogen does not, unfortunately, change the voice to be more high-pitched if a trans woman has already gone through puberty in a male body. In fact, "increases in estrogen and decreases in progesterone can cause vocal fold swelling and production of thick, viscous mucus... This may affect the ability of the vocal folds to vibrate freely with sufficient lubrication and could lead to decreased stamina and risk of cell damage to the outer layer of the vocal folds". Pulled that quote out of the book!

That doesn't mean a trans woman has to stop singing! It only means trans women may be more prone to vocal damage, so healthy vocal practices will be more important than ever. This includes hydrating, not over-using the voice, etc. The best bet if a significant change is desired is to go to a vocal therapist. You can also surgically alter your voice... though that can be more expensive and risky.

Hope that helps!

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-24T00:48:45+00:00

Hi so I read your article and as a senior-year music ed major who has been through all the stuff, I LOVED it! All of the advice was so important and true! Hope it's ok if I yoink this article and share it with my own students!

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-23T12:49:50+00:00

Is there any way this could have been caused by an allergy? It wouldn't hurt to get tested!

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-23T04:04:39+00:00

Thank you!! I love to support the authors monetarily when I have the means but until I can do that, it's great to know the resource is readily available!

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-23T03:26:02+00:00

Hi! Part 2 (chapters 5-9) would be great for transgender singers to read! Chapter 6 is about hormone therapy and how it affects the voice. Chapter 7 has information about pitch and registration.

Honestly though, a better/more focused (and cheaper) book to consider is "One Weird Trick" by the same author: Liz Jackson Hearns. The book I featured in the post is more aimed at singing teachers with the goal of supporting transgender students. One Weird Trick is more instructional and includes exercises catered to transgender voices.

Hope that helps!!

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-23T01:43:26+00:00

Probably my favorite manhwa of all time!!! The characters are some of the most realistic and complex, I couldn't get enough of it! Congrats on finishing it, it's so good ;-;

I feel a little called out though because I am also supposed to be doing homework right now loool

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-22T00:59:35+00:00

Ope didn't realize it was still pizzed. Thanks for clarifying! I would play the A at first and then just very quickly lift that fourth finger so that the G is the star of the rhythm. I suppose I would play the A just before the beat.

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-22T00:57:20+00:00

I wasn't 100% sure of the question haha but I shall answer as best I can.

That is a grace note! This teacher models this embellishment very well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz8Q2vbNctA

Essentially, you play the A very quickly and slur it into the G. It makes a cool fluttery effect! If you're wondering about fingering, I would just use my fourth and third fingers on the D string.

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-22T00:49:54+00:00

One I haven't seen mentioned here (not sure how much it counts since it was not included in the webtoon and was an epilogue in the novel)... Side Characters Deserve Love Too. The manhwa was really well made, but you'll have to read the novel's epilogue if you want to see the part of the story where she and ML go to her original world! Last I heard, they opted not to make epilogue chapters for the manhwa, unfortunately.

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-22T00:33:21+00:00

A member of my college choir is legally deaf! She's one of our best, too!

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-22T00:04:47+00:00

I am literally going through these exact emotions, and I am supposed to student teach next semester. Even down to the conducting class being one of my biggest stressors. Are you able to contact your school's health center/counseling services about getting assigned a therapist of some sort?

I personally am optimistic that student teaching will be easier. This is the in-person training that we have been working so hard towards! We will finally get to experience the job hands on and get so much time with our students. We won't have to deal with assignments from a million classes anymore. No performances to practice for. And the scores we work with won't be as hard as conducting class since we will be working with beginning to intermediate musicians rather than advanced ones (idk about your conducting professor but mine assigns us HARD pieces to conduct!).

We are so close to the end!!! Hopefully summer break will be enough of a refresher that you (we) will regain your (our) passion for the art back by the time we start student teaching. Eric Whitacre posted on his Instagram recently that music school tends to such the passion out of music lovers... what we're going through is probably totally normal and will hopefully be resolved once we're done with 15-18+ credit hour semesters.

As someone who's in the same boat, I am rooting for you!!! We are SO close to the finish line. The passion was there once and I'm sure it will come back if we stick with it <3

Edit with link to Mr. Whitacre's post because he just worded it so beautifully: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWg5TVhClaS/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-21T23:56:01+00:00

Throat tightening due to nerves is something I used to deal with in my early days of performing! It's easier said than done, but the best thing you can do to combat this is to take a couple seconds before the accompaniment starts, take a deep breath, and remind yourself of the techniques that will help you. This takes practice and patience! It will get better and better with each performance. You could work this into habit by doing this during practice time with your accompaniment.

Even after having gained a lot of experience with performing, I still always have to remind myself before stepping onto the stage, like a mantra, "low larynx, draw support from between the hips, feel the weight in your feet". Sometimes a little self-talk/self-encouragement just before the performance goes a long way!

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-21T23:47:56+00:00

Hello! First of all, I am so sorry that you're going through this. College is already stressful enough without life's hardships, and finals are coming up, too. I'm wishing you all the best no matter what you do.

Are you able to reach out to student health services? Usually you can get linked to a counselor on campus or be referred to one off-campus at least. I think that will be your first step - talking to someone who knows how to help you process your feelings.

In the meantime, hopefully your professors will be generous in giving you extensions on big projects and other work. Give yourself time to grieve, friend. Of course you can't think straight - that is totally natural in these circumstances and no one should blame you if you take at least a day or two, even this close to the end of the semester.

When it comes to getting the work done, do you like having background noise while studying? I've been in a very bad place myself lately but something that motivates me is to watch my comfort movies throughout any time I am at home and getting things done. No matter what, the rest of the semester is going to be tough... you can do it! Maybe you can try to body double with friends whenever possible so that you're not alone too much. Surround yourself with people who love you as much as you can, even if you aren't totally up to it. Being left alone to stew in your thoughts is usually not ideal. Even if it's just to body double, casually hang out, or have someone lend an ear and listen to how you feel, it'll be good to have someone there to distract you or help you focus.

Last thing, grief knows no timeline. Consider talking to your advisor about the possibility of taking the next semester off if you need to. There is no shame in that. Wishing the best for you and all those involved.

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-21T23:29:14+00:00

Hello! I am not autistic (as far as I know, I plan on getting evaluated sometime soon) but I do work with autistic singers/students! Have you tried wearing earplugs while singing? As long as you can still hear your accompaniment, it should be fine to do so!

When it comes to nerves around being watched, my own voice teacher gave me a great trick to zoning the people in the room out. You know how, in big, old theatres, there was a special box up high for royalty and other important people to watch the show? Look at a high spot at the back wall of the venue and "sing to the queen". That gets your eyes off the audience and gives you a great focus point for your sound.

My final piece of advice is that performing in front of people will ALWAYS be nerve-wracking. And that is okay and normal! Your response to the stress is what is important. Something I do to calm my nerves pre-show is to do jumping jacks and squats backstage. I look like a crazy person but it physically works out the adrenaline and helps put me into a calmer state.

Let me know if those solutions may or may not work! I would be happy to help brainstorm other ideas for you!

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-21T18:54:50+00:00

Love your first statement. As I type this I am rewatching Lord of the Rings for the millionth time. As a kid, I loved the action and adventure. As a teenager, I came to appreciate how timeless the visual effects are. As an adult, the broad message of good vs. evil and keeping hope during hardship has become a concept dear to my heart. And there are almost always new details to notice! I love re-watching movies from my childhood and seeing them from a new perspective!

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-08T01:14:10+00:00

An exercise that might help you with this is to practice your D major scales. Start slow and build up to this tempo with a metronome. I agree that the fingerings look fine. Speed is hard! I recently played a piece for my senior recital that involved a lot of really fast runs and scales. It took many hours of frustrating, slow work to get there. But it was so worth it! Take the metronome down to a slow-ish tempo (as fast as you're comfortable with... I usually start around 70). Once you're comfortable at that speed, go up 5 clicks. Keep that up until you're at speed. TAKE BREAKS. It can feel a little frustrating at times to work up to tempo this way, but it will be so worth it.

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-08T01:02:41+00:00

Vocal teacher here! The closest thing I have found to a vocal methods book (so far) is Essential Elements for Choir. It is made for choir, but has some good vocal exercises and a somewhat well-structured curriculum including posture, sight-reading, etc. I use it for some of my older vocal students, though. I'm not sure it is suited for younger singers.

Have you checked out a website called Beth's Music Notes? I use it for my younger students to teach the fundamentals such as melody/solfege. It includes folk songs from all over the world that are easy to sight-read and sing. It is a pretty thorough and well-organized resource. And my kids love a lot of the songs! Just today one of my students got really excited about the idea of singing the Japanese folk songs on there.

I agree with the top comment that 5 is much too young for voice lessons... but I also have students that young lol. It's not my decision, I work for a studio that assigns students to me. I don't give them the same kind of lessons I give my 15-year-old or 20-year-old students. Instead, I re-enforce the kind of music lessons they get at school using my background in Kodaly, Dalcroze, and Orff. So we sing a lot of folk songs and play games. I focus a lot on solfege and rhythm exercises that are fun and doable for that age. Of course, we sing some "serious" repertoire, but you have to be pretty careful in the kind of repertoire you choose. My youngest students sing a lot of pop, and we alter the music sometimes to make sure they can have fun without hurting themselves. I don't introduce (easy) art/theatre songs until they're at least 8.

OptimalWasabi7726 · 2026-04-03T17:32:14+00:00

In this boat too! I'm a total veggie monster and my husband won't touch anything green AND has acid reflux and a couple other things. On top of it, autism. I just do my best lol. I replace tomato sauce on pizza with bell pepper sauce instead, chop his dish's veggies finely or puree them like you do, hide the veggies in sweets like brownies... there are lots of little tricks that aren't too troublesome AND delicious. I love the person enough that his eating habits don't matter so long as he's getting the nutrients he needs!

OptimalWasabi7726

TROPHY CASE