Customer Reviews

Diction for Singers: A Concise Reference for English, Italian, Latin, German, French and Spanish Pronunciation

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

With all due respect, well, yes, this book is of GENERAL use-there is a certain convenience in having all these languages in one book. And it maybe a way to begin this type of study. But, alas, there are so many aspects about diction not even addressed. Mistakes abound, and whereas those can be corrected, what about the information that is simply not included? The singer using this book will indeed gain a smattering of diction in all languages, but for adequate preparation for a classical singing career, singers should further their education with more specific textbooks on the languages in question. For instance Evelina Colorni's Italian book, Nico Castel's Spanish offerings, Glenn Paton's Gateway to German Diction, Thomas Grubb's Singing in French or Eileen Davis' new book Sing French. Shortcuts are exactly that, SHORTCUTS! If you are a serious singer, shortcuts just don't work. Get with it-study the details in order to be really competitive in your art. Would you shortcut your vocal technique? Of course not! Nor should you shortcut any part of your training. If you are a diction teacher of students targeting a performance career, please consider the future of your students and the foundation you are providing them.

This book is a must-have if you are to sing successfully. It is pretty easy to understand, and it introduces IPA without confusing everyone. There are a few mistakes in it but almost every book has mistakes in it. Excellent and easy to understand. Get it if you are a singer!

As much as I would like to recommend what SHOULD be quite a good diction book, I really cannot. While it manages to deal with 6 languages in a fairly clear and easy to reference manner, it simply fails to be consistent or accurate in the examples and organization. I know it is a very popular book for college diction course, but even brilliant lecturers are often throw off their game by printing errors or poor examples. I have yet to find a truly satisfactory book that deals with multiple languages cleanly enough to recommend, but "Diction - Italian, Latin, French, German...the Sounds and 81 Exercises for Singing Them"
by John Moriarty is a fairly good jumping off place. I prefer "Singing in French: A Manual of French Diction and French Vocal Repertoire" by Thomas Grubb for French as it really needs it's own book to provide enough information. I applaud Ms. Wall for her other publications and truly believe her to be quite a good pedagogue and technician, but this book really deserves a MAJOR re-write and update before any reprinting should be allowed. At least it's not terribly expensive!

Diction for Singers is a great book, it has helped my singing tremendously! It gives detailed information about a variety of languages and their pronunciation! I recommend this book for any singer!

Diction for Singers is a great book, it has helped my singing tremendously! It gives detailed information about a variety of languages and their pronunciation! I recommend this book for any singer!

I ordered the book and was advised that I would receive in about 3 weeks. About a week and a half later, received email that the order was cancelled.

This book is essential for any vocalist who is studying voice in a foreign language, in particular. The info in this book is good, and since I wanted to have a copy, I decided to buy it used. This was the best deal out there, but a little pricey for all the notes that are in the book, some of which are incorrect. Overall, a great buy, tho.

This is an excellent reference for diction for the six european languages which it covers. For full coverage of the subject there is a referenced volume of International Phonetic Alphabet drills and exercises.

"Diction for Singers" is a book that every voice major should have in their home libraries.

i never received my purchase. I had ordered the book for a class and needed it as soon as possible. Since the book never came in, i had to buy it again from other site. I paid DOUBLE for the book.