The Vaccai Project: A practice diary exploring the historically informed performance practice of the bel canto style inspired by the classic lessons of Vaccai

280 pages of information and inspiration in premium color - you'll WANT to practice! Appropriate for singers at all levels. Inspired by bel canto principles, The Vaccai Project explores the optimal and healthy use of the un-amplified voice. Applicable to all musical styles. The Vaccai Project includes the 15 classic lessons of Vaccai's Metodo pratico newly engraved in the medium (original) key. Higher and lower keys, as well as a bass clef version are available via link provided. Historical performance practice notes on the score help the singer unpack historical notational conventions. Most modern music books are either scores or textbooks. Scores sometime have an Introduction or Appendix with information in tiny print; most textbooks have some score examples, but not enough to use in every day practice. Historical treatises often have both but can be impossibly long and difficult to read. This book combines the score of the Vaccai Method with historic exercises and essays on history and performance practice – solving the problem, uniting scholarship and music together in one place. For good measure, we throw in Italian poetry and libretto study and both basic and advanced Italian diction as well! The course kicks off with exercises to solidify fundamental concepts: Basic Preparatory Daily Exercises Exercises on one note on vowels Exercises connecting two notes on vowels Introducing Consonants Advanced Daily Exercises Messa di voce (dynamics) Laryngeal registration (singing in chest and head voice) The study of the lessons themselves are divided into 50 chapters designed to be used as practice inspiration. The singer should do no more than one per day. Each chapter has a Practice Journal inspiring singers to write down their own thoughts. Many chapters have prompts or tasks to help singers connect the lessons to their regular repertoire. Scattered through the book are QR codes linking to instructional videos. Why 50 chapters on 15 lessons? The course uses the Vaccai lessons to inspire a journey through the Italian Style including Italian Poetry and Libretto. Here is a run down of topics covered: Basics of Legato Introduction to Laryngeal Registration Dynamics Singing Coloratura The Why and How of the Appoggiatura Poetic Meter, Syllabification and Text Underlay Introduction to the Italian Libretto: Versi sciolti and versi lirici Verb Tenses and Moods Advanced Italian Diction: Phrasal Doubling and Assimilation The Mind/Body Connection Units of Pitches: The Building Blocks of Ornamentation, Variation and Coloratura Singing Scales and Ornamental Patterns Finding the Melodic and Harmonic Skeleton Ornamentation Practice Sheets Variation Practice Sheet Construction of the Cadenza Recitative Study Technique: The Libretto and The Score