Teaching Singing to Children and Young Adults, Third Edition

Jenevora Williams

Full Voice Music 2025

Soft cover, 330 pps.

ISBN 978-1-897539-65-1

The legendary soprano Joan Sutherland is reputed to have said something that rings true with my own experiences as a performer and teacher: “Singing has to be simple, but that doesn’t mean that it is easy!” This is the dichotomy we live with as singers and singing teachers – we want our art to be spontaneous and free flowing, but we also know just how much hard work and unpredictability lie behind a successful performance.

Dame Joan also said (perhaps rather more contentiously) that “the art of singing is one of the most elusive of all arts. If it were easy to teach, one would be able to pick up a book on singing and learn about it, but you can’t. You can read all the books you like, but you don’t know that much more than when you began.” Well, perhaps that was true back in 1985, but the latest edition of Jenevora Williams’s vital book goes a long way to proving the Dame very wrong.

From the outset, practical good sense prevails over dogma, “method” or received wisdom. Those of us who have benefitted from previous editions of Teaching Singing to Children and Young Adults will recognise the core elements that have thankfully been retained: chapters on voice function and anatomy, fostering good vocal health and how to optimally structure our lessons have been refined and improved. But we can also rejoice in the extensive new material that not only makes this edition “up to date” but also opens whole new vistas. Jenevora’s collaborative spirit sees contributions from, amongst others, Heidi Moss Erickson (an excellent chapter on “How the Human Brain Learns”), Liz Jackson Hearns and Frith Trezevant (“Singing in Adolescence”) and Amelia Carr (“Performance Anxiety and Building Confidence”), whilst Alex Aitken takes us on a thoughtful and informative three-part journey through the development and consolidation of musicianship skills in young singers. The splendid illustrations (as before by Harry Venning) amuse as well as enhance the text, while the excellent references, glossary, recommendations for further reading and comprehensive index more than satisfy the inquisitive reader.

This edition is a third longer than its predecessor which reflects the burgeoning research into singing and vocal pedagogy. But it is an eminently practical book too, with well-considered exercises peppering the text, a clear and readable layout and a style that makes the science approachable rather than overwhelming (and there is a great deal of science in the art of singing). It is a book very much aimed at the singing teacher, be it a beginner just starting out or a more experienced hand, but it is also recommended for the more mature student who will also find the material accessible, comprehensible and comprehensive.

Perhaps what I like most about Jenevora’s approach is something she emphasises at the book’s opening when she describes the three most important facets of the teacher’s art: intuition, imagination and information. Yes, this book is essential reading for anyone wishing to build up their store of information, but it also sparks the imagination and gives us a bedrock for those moments of intuition that are generally so hard won but also so very important.

Jenevora concludes the book with what she calls her “golden rules for teaching” and they are excellent pointers for us all: be kind; be positive; respect everyone; and have fun.

 

Review by Richard Edgar-Wilson who is a singer and singing teacher, and a former Treasurer of the BVA.

www.richardedgar-wilson.com