Singing with Your Whole Self - 2nd Edition by Samuel H Nelson & Elizabeth L Blades (Paperback)

About the Book

With new lessons and chapters on kinesthetic imagination and neuroplasticity, the second edition of this book reveals how the Feldenkrais Method of neuromuscular activities can be used to obtain optimal vocal performance. It features unique modularized lessons specifically des...

Book Synopsis

With new lessons and chapters on kinesthetic imagination and neuroplasticity, the second edition of this book reveals how the Feldenkrais Method of neuromuscular activities can be used to obtain optimal vocal performance. It features unique modularized lessons specifically designed for liberating function in singers and other voice professionals.

Review Quotes

The authors' specialized backgrounds allow them to masterfully apply the Feldenkrais Method to the physical needs of singers. Singing with Your Whole Self, therefore, acts as both textbook and workbook, providing information alongside exercises. It demonstrates that when science and practice merge, and when dedicated practitioners continue to explore, old practices can be enhanced by modern understandings.

The second edition of Singing with Your Whole Self offers several elegant and effective updates. The ingenious presentation of Awareness Through Movement lessons in short modules is retained, and several new and imaginative lessons have been added. An exciting chapter on neuroplasticity and learning will help any singer harness this human superpower in service of beautiful and expressive singing. A resource to bring vocal pedagogy into the modern age!

About the Author

SAMUEL H. NELSON is a graduate of the Toronto Professional Feldenkrais Training Program (1987). He has offered Awareness Through Movement classes to the public since 1985. He held a seminar on the Feldenkrais Method each semester at the Eastman School of Music for many years and has presented seminars at music schools in Indiana, Ohio, and Virginia. Nelson also presented workshops for musicians at several area high schools, as well as for physical therapists and equestrians. He has a private practice in Rochester, New York.

ELIZABETH BLADES holds both doctor of Musical Arts and masters of Music degrees from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. She is currently adjunct associate professor of Music at Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA. Previous appointments were at Heidelberg University (Tiffin, OH) where she served as associate professor of Music, coordinator of Vocal Studies and director of Opera; and as a visiting professor of Music at Nazareth College, Rochester, NY.