Jazz for the classical vocalist Blog #1: Introduction

Welcome! My name's Donna Wickham, and I'm a jazz and classical musician who heads the vocal jazz program at the University of Denver Lamont School of Music. Over the years, I've encountered many classically trained singers who wanted to sing jazz, but despite all of their musical training, they just weren't sounding “jazzy.” This YouTube video is a great example of terrific classical singers trying to sing contemporary commercial music.
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As you can see, these very accomplished singers are not very effective singing this style of music. If this resonates with you, I hope you'll join me for this series I'm calling “Jazz for the Classical Vocalist.” 

In this 10-part series, we'll be touching upon some of the techniques and skills you'll need to get off to a good start in your exploration of jazz singing such as
Building your repertoire
Figuring out your key
How to write a basic lead sheet in your key
The Importance of Rhythm
Jazz Phrasing
Jazz Vocal Production
Improvisation
Working with a Rhythm Section
​The Next Steps in Your Journey.

If singing jazz is an important goal for you, or something you are curious about, make sure to follow along so you don't miss anything. As we go along, feel free to comment about the content or ask questions. See you next week, when we discuss how to begin building a repertoire of jazz standards.