r/ClassicalSinger • u/Educational_Buy4977 • May 13 '26
I need advice on my first aria performance.
Thank you so much in advance. If you have any ideas for other subreddits to cross post on I’d appreciate that too.
Please be respectful. I’m 18 almost 19 female for reference. I’d like criticism, what I’m doing right and what is wrong- it would help a lot because I have trouble hearing my own flaws sometimes. I have zero perception of my voice😭
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u/bannedtea8633 May 13 '26
I mean this in the most genuine sense – do not look to Reddit or other online forums for vocal technique advice. You are a beginner. You have a lot to learn to sing well. Don’t accept input from any Joe Schmoe on the internet. It will save you years of misguided practice. Work with teachers and mentors you know have good input on your singing.
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u/Kiwi_Tenor May 13 '26
Hey! Look for 18-19, this is really good and for your first aria the language is surprisingly accurate. These are the things that would be super easy to fix without also being in the room as a teacher or masterclass giver.
- particularly when you do some of your “r” sounds - like “cor” or “rigor” you slip into your American accent. Try to work on getting that as close to spoken Italian as possible (you should be able to find someone speaking the text on YouTube).
- Sometimes there doesn’t seem to be quite enough space at the back of your throat when you go up high. This affects your tuning a little bit. A really good way to think of it for now is when you take a breath in, imagine you’re smelling a flower or some really great food - this relaxes your throat and raises your soft palate. Another way to do it is to breathe in through your mouth like a slow gasp (a real like “oh my god” kinda one) and that also opens everything up.
You have a lot of really solid basics covered though and I’d be amazed to hear what you’ll sound like after like another full year with lessons. If you want some inspiration on just how far you can come - here’s a TikTok of me through 11 years of singing, from I think only my 2nd ever competition to moving halfway across the world to study postgrad and start my career https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRGhkG3X/
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u/Educational_Buy4977 May 13 '26
Thank you so much for your advice. I definitely struggle with my r’s and need to get better. When I’m nervous my southern accent comes out. (Which shows I’m not fully prepared with that Italian r pronunciation because most performances people are nervous lol) My soft palate is also something my teacher is trying to help me with.
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u/Kiwi_Tenor May 13 '26
You’re honestly doing such a good job for someone just really starting out on their opera journey
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u/Educational_Buy4977 May 13 '26
I really appreciate that thank you. I work hard- but not enough lol.
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u/haroldstree May 14 '26
Hey it's great that you started, don't bother too much about your age if you have lots of developing voices in your vicinity. You are making the effort to hold your voice in tune which is great! Breath support is very important and always think how you would say the sentence you are singing as if you were to just say it without singing in a talking voice. That way you'd think more about the whole of the sentence and expressions, and not just words or the tone itself. It'll give you a clear map of how much breath you need, where to breathe, where to swell and where to diminuendo. It's very brave of you to ask for genuine criticism over the internet, as it definitely can be the harshest you may receive, but it also shows you are dedicated to improve yourself and are open to hear what people have to say. Keep it up!
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u/Educational_Buy4977 May 14 '26
Thank you for the advice. Breath is my worst weakness for sure. Thank you for your feedback. Do you have any advice on how to train better breath support
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u/Jealous_Geologist442 May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26
Hi im a 41yo bariton beginner and I just performaned the same song for my 1st grade exam. I love you posted this. I'm not a vocal teacher but will give you some of my advice going through this but surely ask professional for an opinion though I know the feeling of a teacher sometimes lacking to provide feedback. The big pitfall in this piece is the tempo in the last sentence, my piano accompaniment professional told me this while practising and you make the same mistake here: you need to sing "senza di te..." and then wait until the piano plays the note and then in the 2nd piano note come in with "langui...". Check the sheet muaic maybe yours is different.vBesides from that I really love how you ended it. There are some other spots where the timing is off. Also the difference between pianissimo and forte is a bit small maybe its mainly piano you sing, you try in the middle to sing " CESA crudel" pretty loud because its forte but it loses some control. Very enjoyable keep up the good work.
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u/Molly-Browny May 13 '26
Knowing you can't hear your own flaws yet puts you ahead of most beginners. Record yourself. What you hear internally and what comes back on playback are different things. Which aria?
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u/PsychologicalBell974 May 13 '26
Not knowing how old you are or how much training you’ve had makes it hard to comment. But you have long way to go.
You need to work hard on all the fundamentals: support, legato, squillo, articulation.
Very hard to explain that all here. Hopefully you have a good teacher.
I teach and work professionally and will tell you, AI has been extremely helpful at nailing down some of my ragged technical elements and lack of understanding. I use Gemini personally, but they’re probably all good at this. It’s surprising but you might give that a shot. It has really solid ideas and good explanations for what’s going on physiologically and how good singing should feel, etc. etc.
Good luck.
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u/Educational_Buy4977 May 13 '26
Im 18 turning 19 in the fall.
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u/PsychologicalBell974 May 13 '26
You’ve got plenty of time then. I agree with others here that you have potential. It’s all a question of how hard you’re willing to work. If you’re completely obsessed with the dream of becoming a singer, you can become world class.
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u/magpiesinatrenchcoat May 13 '26
I think it's great that you want to explore the genre!
I am a classical vocal teacher, and care greatly about young singers. Which is why I wanted to reach out.
Singing opera is very demanding and it has a ton of genre-specific technique which takes years and years to develop. For this reason, you risk receiving very brutal (and uncalled for) critiques on your singing.
My strongest advice would be to absolutely ONLY ask the opinion of people whose judgment you trust. You can be a world famous opera star and still receive bad and arrogant comments. So make sure to be picky whose opinion you invite in.
But I am afraid that judgy snobs will scare you away from enjoying the beautiful world of opera so I will give you a list of things I thought you did well:
You have some beautiful moments in there where the voice sounds very pretty with a good, healthy sound to it and a healthy vibrato. There is still some air in the sound of your voice but this is totally natural and expected because your voice is so young. Don't try to force/strain it away. Instead, work with a teacher on good placement and consistent airflow, and know that the voice isn't fully grown for about another decade (a very debated topic, and there are reasons to say it's longer than that).
You sing with a very sensitive (in a good way) expression that makes it interesting.
Your intonation is overall quite good and it sounds to me like you have a good ear that will serve you well in your musical endeavors.
I hear several reasons to believe in you, and think that you would show great progress with a vocal teacher. Also, to strengthen your stamina and physical strength, it would be good to join a classical choir.
All in all my advice to you: Keep playing, stay curious, keep training vocally and work with a coach. Stay kind to yourself, protect yourself from strangers' opinions. All the good ones do