Quirks presents...

11:00pm: A very short review of "The Beggar's Opera" (Nuffield Theatre, LOpSoc, 13/2/08)
And to quote daweaver... 'No-one knows what these soprano singers are on about.'

11:27pm: Making alternative teachers look like absolute doughnuts: Helen, 13/2/08, 1005-1050
Delayed a few minutes by my own doing - needed to get the money for the lesson from a cashpoint, at which there was a delay - the second lesson began. My first ever 45-minute lesson, the price of £7.50 is certainly money well spent, and this lesson showed it.

The warm-up placed a fair emphasis on humming - this seems to be typical of Helen, certainly at the very start of warm-ups, and while this was also done by Gemma and Shylo it was seldom to this extent - and produced some useful hints, most notably for 'oo' sounds to be made with a roughly circular opening in the mouth that should be larger at higher pitches.

The strategy for future lessons was planned out at the end of this warm-up; you've already seen it described, suffice to say she approved. Oh, and she's actually got her own copy of the very same book of art songs I acquired in Oxfam, apparently...

She herself suggested musical theatre, asking what I felt about it (to which my reply was that it would fit very well with me, especially given its lyrical complexity and hence focus on diction, as well as of course my desire to write in that medium); Rodgers and Hammerstein, and specifically South Pacific, was mentioned, and is likely to be coming next. The art songs will no doubt be considered; their role will probably grow later on, for no other reason than how many of them have an F as their highest note. Although transposition is an option, and one Helen is quite willing to adopt. Kelly Clarkson will also remain in the rotation, with Because Of You next. (Ironically, she'd heard this on the radio and thought of me...)

And of course it was to Breakaway we turned, working very much on the diction, and the priceless suggestion that I should move my mouth frantically in the verses to the point that I would 'look like an absolute doughnut'. Was alarmingly effective, that.

We meet again next week. Any change to the 45-minute duration - which does seem to work, I think - will be to one hour. I cannot see any way I will not continue with Helen for the forseeable future. Granted, Shylo and Gemma were impressing at this point, but Helen has avoided the trap of the latter, seems more efficient and oddly approachable than the former (being a fellow student helps), and far more affordable than either. I'm sold.