Sunday, July 20, 2008

The Collected Poems of Octavio Paz, 1957-1987: Bilingual Edition

tr Weinberger, w/Bishop, Blackburn, Levertov et al
Customer Review: Collected Poems of Octavio Paz
This is an excellent edition of the collected poems of Octavio Paz, with English translations facing the Spanish originals. I purchased this as a gift for my Spanish teacher and she was delighted! My favorites are his poems written when he served as a Mexican diplomat in India and Japan. His sensitive mind absorbed the nuances of place and religion, which are recreated for us in the poems. His efforts at haiku en espagnol are enlightening, pun intended.
Customer Review: excellent poetry
I bought this book after reading an excerpt of one of Paz's poems at a camp. I didn't know what poem it was from, so I bought the book and scoured it until I found the poem. It was Brotherhood. The poetry is beautiful and moving. It is the type of poetry you can read and enjoy no matter if you understand what it is saying, the writing is that beautiful


Singing lessons are very useful for those of us who love to sing and would like to improve our vocal technique as well as our overall pitch and rhythm sense. However, some singing students may be a little overwhelmed whenever they attend lessons, and may not know how to best make use of the time that they have with their vocal coach or singing instructor!

Here are some important tips for all singing students, so that you will be able to make the most out of your singing lessons, and be able to improve quickly in your singing and vocal technique:

Get A Good Vocal Coach

For your vocal lessons to be genuinely useful to you in developing a better singing voice, you will need an experienced vocal coach who is able to 'diagnose' your voice and know exactly what exercises you will need in order to improve your singing! For example, you may need more exercises to strengthen your chest voice, or more pitching or rhythm training, or even some basic lessons in pronunciation and diction. Your vocal coach should be able to tell you what you need, and be able to communicate these ideas to your clearly!

Always Come Prepared For Lessons

Every singing lesson is an opportunity for you to talk to an expert in singing and to learn as much as you can from your vocal coach! So, always come prepared with questions that you may have had during the past week or are genuinely curious about. This will show your vocal coach that you are motivated about learning how to sing, and he or she will be more inclined to teach you even more! Your instructor will also be able to understand better what are your main concerns and how best to answer them so that you will be able to improve even more!

Practice, Practice and More Practice

Make sure you practice whatever vocal drills or pitching exercises that your singing instructor has given you during the singing lessons. Learning how to sing is just like learning how to play any musical instrument, and as with any instrument, practice is absolutely essential if we want to improve in our playing or singing skills! Also, pay attention to how you practiced during your lesson with your vocal instructor so that when you practice at home, you know how to do it correctly and certainly not inadvertently harm your voice during your self-practice!

Be Patient

Learning how to sing well takes some time and effort, and certainly does not happen overnight. Just like how it takes a piano player many years before he or she is able to be great at playing the piano, so it will also take us a certain period of time before we are able to master our singing voice! Even professional singers take regular singing lessons to keep their voices in top form, and to keep improving in their vocal technique!

One reason for a longer learning curve is because our voice learns through what we call 'muscle memory'. Many of the functions of our vocal cords and voice box are involuntary reflexes that we cannot control consciously. In order for us to correct our singing habits, we need to practice positive reinforcement through muscle memory, using the correct singing methods often so that our voice and our brain remembers them and uses them each time we sing!

Enjoy The Learning Process

One great thing about singing is that it is fun and enjoyable even during proper lessons, and we would certainly be able to enjoy the learning process that we must go through in order to get a better singing voice! Once we accept the long learning process, we will certainly be more relaxed during our lessons and be able to improve our voice even more! It is a virtuous cycle that singing students will be able to benefit from with the correct mindset and attitude.

With these important pointers in mind each time we attend our singing lessons, we will certainly be able to get the most out of our lessons and achieve a great singing voice through practice and patience!

Singapore-born Aaron Lim has been a Vocal Coach for the past 8 years, and has taught a variety of vocal students ranging from teenagers to mature adults. He is the founder of an online singing guide: http://www.your-personal-singing-guide.com , which provides a wealth of resources and tips available for any singer! Find out everything you want to learn about singing from this useful and comprehensive website!

Aaron is also the director of Intune Music School, a dynamic and vibrant music school in Singapore that provides professional music programmes in singing, songwriting, keyboard and guitar sing and play, music arrangement and audio engineering! Find out more by visiting the school website at: http://www.intunemusic.com.sg

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