Any music teacher will tell you, including this one, that singing is the best thing a student can do for their basic musicianship. The voice, YOUR voice, OUR voices, are the first instrument that we all try to learn and improve in our own way. Our favorite songs — heartfelt, playful, meaningful — are what we carry around with us in most of our waking moments; sometimes even in our dreams. (I have this bizarre recurring dream that Paul McCartney and I are chums, but enough about that 🤔). For aspiring professional musicians and educators, the desire is to take all that many steps further. As instrumentalists we are taught to “sing through your instrument.” “Sing, Sing, Sing!” For those who pursue formal training in the vocal arts, the rich vocal repertory of the past presents an opportunity to encounter masterpieces, that are not only profound in their meaning, but represent the languages and cultures of the world. When musicians combine singing with their other musical talents — acting in musicals and opera, instrument playing in jazz and mariachi, dancing in your elementary school choir, strumming on the guitar, chording on the keyboard — that basic fundamental from childhood experience, singing, gets more exercise. We reminisce through it, get sparks of joy through it. — So keep singing! In the shower, in the car, in a barbershop quartet if you want. That song in your heart is an energy source that can get you through the day and inspire you to keep going. It’s truly transformative.
Jack and Pat Fariss Scholarship Endowment for Music Education at SHSU 