By Sarah Brown
Lebanon Local
The Lebanon Community Chorus held a master class and clinic for singers wishing to enhance their vocal skills. It was the first clinic of its kind for LCC.
Dr. James Reddan, DMA, and other vocal teachers shared their knowledge with people of all ages.
Reddan, assistant professor of music education at Central Washington University, was found instructing a choir, with LCC Choral Director Dr. J. Edmund Hughes assisting. While toying with the song, “Alleluiah, Rejoice!” Reddan instructed the choir to skip the consonants of the song, thus singing only the vowels in a diphthong manner.
Voice Instructor Erin McCarthy was found instructing a pair of sisters, Izabel and Samantha Scott. She told them about how people often “stack the breath,” which means they take many breaths in while singing without releasing enough breath out. McCarthy told the girls to continue singing without breathing in until their lungs were fully expended.
“I wanted to do this (take the master class) because we did a duet of the same song before when we were in sixth and seventh grade, and I just thought it would be fun,” Izabel said.
“We wanted to see how much we’d be able to improve,” Samantha added.
One of the main takeaways from the instruction, Izabel said, was to take less breaths and have more supported breaths instead of shallow ones.