So You Want to Be a Broadway Musical Star or the Next American Idol?

Many of my young students come to my studio with dreams of someday being a musical star on stage or in film.  It’s true that some were able to succeed because they had a God-given natural singing voice, and they just opened their mouths and stars flew out.

The truth is, that’s rare.  To succeed in the business of musical theatre, where the competition is stiff, you first have to read music and sight read well.  You have to be able to sing parts in an ensemble and learn it quickly because time is money.  

My mother was wise to put me in piano lessons as a child, age 7.  While I’m not a concert pianist, reading music helped me excel in Madrigals at Hollywood High School. I would never have been cast in professional musical theatre productions without being able to sight read.  And it was rare to find anyone in the cast that was also not proficient at sight reading.  

Students also come to my studio expecting to become their dream overnight and they want to immediately begin singing the latest top hit on the billboards.  Becoming a great singer typically takes patience and hard work.  Regardless the genre of music you want to pursue, it takes time to learn the technique and repertoire to be successful.  I’ll be addressing those topics soon.    

We are starting at Square One:  How to read the notes and do it well.  It’s a basic skill.  Here are some videos I grabbed from the Internet that approach the basics of reading music for different age levels.  They are short and simple, and they will even help children or adults that have never laid a finger on a keyboard understand how it works.

For younger students

For Intermediate-Older Students

Now Practice Reading These Notes!