On Becoming a Singer - a Guide to How

By Steve Ostrow

There are many books on the market attempting to teach people to sing. Steve contends that although they may be interesting and even informative, there is no way you can learn to sing from a book. But what you can learn he demonstrates, is how to go about learning to sing and even more to the point—why.

For the young student or experienced per former, this is an invaluable handbook covering all aspects of the singing profession.

And even though Steve says—you can’t learn how to sing from a book—don’t blame him if after reading his book you find yourself singing like a bird.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 20, 2010
• ISBN: 9781450003834

Steve Ostrow

Steve Ostrow is an expatriate American now living in Sydney, Australia. Steve spent most of his life in New York City both as an opera singer and as an entrepreneur, having built and operated the world-famous Continental Baths, where Bette Midler, Barry Manilow, Patti La Belle, Peter Allan and countless others got their start. Steve has sung with major opera companies the world over, including the New York City Opera, the San Francisco Opera, the Stuttgart Opera and the Australian Opera. During his stay in Stuttgart in the 1980’s, Steve also was contracted by Bob Hope and the USO to put on shows for NATO troops and their families stationed in Germany. Now retired from the stage, Steve is the director of the Sydney Academy of Vocal Arts and is a vocal coach to many of Australia’s best young performers. In addition Steve is the founder of the MAG project and an Education Officer for the AIDS Council of New South Wales as well as being an entertainment venue consultant. Together with the If God series, Steve’s autobiography Saturday Night at the Baths Books 1 and 2 is now being prepared for publication. He has also just completed The Ring, a novel of intrigue, espionage and opera centering around the 2020 Olympics. He is currently writing Musings On A Life: Mine In Particular, a compendium of thoughts and observations garnered over a life spanning almost 7 decades.

Book preview

Copyright © 2010 by Steve Ostrow.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 06/22/2022

Xlibris

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Contents

The Author

Introduction — Why you can’t learn how to sing from a book

Chapter 1     On The Journey

Chapter 2     What Is Singing?

Chapter 3     Visualise This

Chapter 4     Am I A Singer?

Chapter 5     What Do I Do Next?

Chapter 6     Finding A Teacher

Chapter 7     The Good Student

Chapter 8     Your Friend, The Voice

Chapter 9     The Care Of The Voice

Chapter 10   What Is A Proper Technique?

Chapter 11   So What Do I Sing? Choosing Repertoire

Chapter 12   How Do I Learn a Song?

Chapter 13   With A Song In My Heart

Chapter 14   Lights, Camera, Action

Chapter 15   How Do I Get Started Performing? (Overcoming Fear)

Chapter 16   The Seven Stages of Man

Chapter 17   Your Body Is Your Voice

Chapter 18   And The Winner Is . . .

Chapter 19   What To Sing At An Audition

Chapter 20   Your Friend Your Accompanist

Chapter 21   The Voice Doctor

Chapter 22   The Winning Circle

Chapter 23   Don’t Quit Your Day Job

Chapter 24   It’s Critical

Chapter 25   The Challenge

Postlude

The Author

Steve Ostrow is that rare combination of performer, teacher and entrepreneur.

He has been doing all of the above for the past 50 years, with most of his life spent in the Big Apple, and as his career attests, if you can make it there you can make it anywhere.

Well that anywhere is now Sydney Australia, where Steve is Director of SAVA, the Sydney Academy of Vocal Arts and is a much sought-after vocal coach. In addition Steve has been a lead tenor with the Australian Opera and the Lyric Opera of Queensland, as well as having sung with many of the great International Singers in the world in Europe and the United States.

But Steve’s major claim to fame has been through his world famous Continental Baths in New York City, where in the 60’s and 70’s he nurtured the careers of Bette Midler, Barry Manilow, Peter Allen, Patti LaBelle, Morgana King, Sara Vaughn and countless other now legendary performers.

In this short but concise book Steve has condensed the expertise that he has garnered in over a half century of not only performing, but studying with the finest teachers in the world.

There are many books on the market attempting to teach people to sing. Steve contends that although they may be interesting and even informative, there is no way you can learn to sing from a book. But what you can learn he demonstrates, is how to go about learning to sing and even more to the point—why.

For the young student or experienced performer, this is an invaluable handbook covering all aspects of the singing profession.

And even though Steve says—you can’t learn how to sing from a book—don’t blame him if after reading his book you find yourself singing like a bird.

Introduction

Why you can’t learn how to sing from a book

In over fifty years of singing, I must have read almost as many books on how to sing. But other than finding them interesting, I can’t say that they are responsible for one note of my two- to three—depending on the day—octave voice.

The reason? Singing is an aural effort. It requires a complex combination of neurological stimuli; muscular coordination and—last but most important—that elusive but indispensably ineffable ingredient, emotional involvement.

Ah, you might ask But doesn’t a cello, violin, piano, sax and so on require the same? The answer, of course, is yes. But what makes learning to play all those instruments different is that they are all visible. You can see and touch all of them. But the vocal instrument remains a mystique. We must learn how to play it without ever seeing it. And therein lies the conundrum.

I have, just in the last decade, given over ten thousand lessons to students of all