Should a singer spend time learning literature and music history?
You bet your bippy! A singer is just like any other musician and should be able to compete with the best of them at drop-that-needle competitions! How do you keep learning more? Listen, listen, listen. Listen to all kinds of music, all styles, all instruments, all composers. Read about who wrote what, how they wrote, why they wrote. Read about who played what, where, when, how and why. Who were and are the innovators? There is so much to know. So many traditional instruments, rhythms and styles are being introduced to jazz, from Africa, South and Central America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand and from right here in North America. Here in New York, we have so much at our disposal; even far from New York, there are still cable music channels, NPR stations, books, records and tapes in libraries. Plus all the resources of the internet. We are so lucky to have so much available to us now! So you say you want to study music how? listen, listen, listen! But yes, it’s also imperative to know
