Singer's Diction
Singer's Diction is a self-paced, competency-based lyric diction and English transcription course.
It is designed for the small diction class or independent study. There are 12 transcription exercises
in each unit. Answer keys for the first six exercises in every unit are included in the student manual.
An answer key for the additional six exercises is provided in the instructor's manual.
Unique features:
This is an introductory English diction text with detailed instructions for the pronunciation of the
schwa. QR codes give students instant access to sound examples. A dictionary of IPA symbols with
enunciation instructions is included in the glossary. Slides for interactive online study are included.
The Singer's Daily Practice Journal, Volume I
Textbook, workbook, and journal are combined in one resource for private or class voice. Each
section of the 15-week journal contains manuscript paper for recording weekly lesson notes and
assignments. A check-list of vocal concepts is included. This gives the teacher the ability to direct
students to the precise concept (with lesson and page number) that requires attention for the week.
Space is provided for the student to record progress and log daily practice times.
Vocal concepts in this text are discussed using the IPA. The symbols selected represent an elegant
manner of pronunciation as recommended by Madeleine Marshall, author of The Singer’s Manual
of English Diction. Space is provided beneath the IPA for students to supply the English translation.
This approach gives students the opportunity to hear proper English and complete a daily written
assignment. The newly released instructor's manual/independent study contains the answer key.
The newly released student manual does not contain an answer key. Interactive slides are included.
The Singer's Daily Practice Journal, Volume II
All volumes of The Singer's Daily Practice Journal combine textbook, workbook, and journal in
one resource. Volume II pairs vocal training with musicianship, diction, and phrasing. The concepts
needed to develop these skills are introduced using excerpts from Italian, German, and French art
song repertoire. Topics in diction and music reading are presented simultaneously and in a graded
order. A grading rubric of vocal concepts, glossary of terms, and interactive slides are included.
An abbreviated version of the voice pedagogy within all volumes is published in The Journal of
Singing: The Voice and Diction Connection, A Diction Instructor’s Approach to Voice Pedagogy.
See featured article on the "articles" page.
The Singer's Daily Practice Journal, Volume III
Volume III of The Singer's Daily Practice Journal is Singer’s Diction (see description above)
with weekly assignment, assessment, and journaling pages. Many teachers work with elective
students, voice minors, and students in small programs without diction courses. These teachers
find it necessary to supplement their students' education with diction study. Slides for interactive
online study are included.
Free Resources on this Website:
* Sample pages from each workbook (see "instructors" page)
* The Lyric Diction Listening Lab (see "listening" page)
* Sample gradebook and syllabus schedules (see "instructors" page)
* Resources for moving your classes and lessons online (see "teaching online" page)
* Resources for singers who read braille (see "braille resources" page)
* IPA charts (see "charts" page)
* IPA Scramble - template for group playing cards and free app for iPhone and iPad (see "apps" page)
* Voice and diction articles, poster presentation, and NATS Chat (see "articles" page)
Workbooks for the 3-4 Semester Diction Study
Workbooks for the 1-2 Semester Diction Study
Workbooks for Private and Class Voice with Interactive Slides
Voice and Diction Resources
Phonetic Readings for Lyric Diction
Phonetic Readings for Lyric Diction is an enunciation-based text designed to prepare the
student for English, Italian, German, French, and Latin repertoire assignments. It functions
easily as an all-in-one workbook for programs that offer diction in a single semester, or as
an introductory text for the two semester diction study. The IPA Handbook for Singers is a
companion text. Together, these publications provide a study of enunciation that is uniquely
merged with English transcription rules and worksheets.
IPA Handbook for Singers
The IPA Handbook is a dictionary of phonetic symbols. The International Phonetic Alphabet
provides a general guide for pronunciation but exact sounds vary from language to language.
This text defines the sounds as they apply to the specific language. Dictionary transcription
represents the spoken form of a language. Adjustments to the IPA are necessary for lyric
diction. The enunciation instructions in this text are designed for sung application. The newly
added QR codes with each IPA symbol give students instant access to recordings of native
speakers enunciating sample words. The adjustments needed for singing are further defined
in the freshly edited enunciation instructions.
Phonetic Transcription for Lyric Diction
Phonetic Transcription for Lyric Diction offers an efficient approach to Italian, German,
French, and Latin transcription. It is second in the two-part series (Phonetic Readings is
the introductory text). Together, these workbooks address enunciation and transcription
respectively. Enunciation is established in part one so that students are adequately prepared
for the rigorous approach to transcription provided in part two. An expanded version of
this workbook contains 10 additional units to cover English transcription.
Phonetic Transcription for Lyric Diction and the IPA Handbook for Singers may be used
together to provide a fast-paced transcription course or graduate level review. Syllabus
schedules are provided on this website. See the supplemental resources on the instructor's
page.
The Lyric Diction Workbook Series
S.T.M. Publishers presents a series of workbooks for English, Italian, German, French,
and Latin diction courses. The workbooks provide exercises that give students practice
in applying standard textbook rules as defined by Madeline Marshall, Evelina Colorni,
Corradina Caporello, William Odom, John Moriarty, Pierre Bernac, and Thomas Grubb.
The worksheets use words collected from over 7,000 art songs and highlight frequently
occurring words. The most frequently occurring words are short in length and appear in
the enunciation exercises. Other words are introduced in a graded order and categorized
according to sounds as defined by the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). A study of
articulatory phonetics is included. Consecutive units highlight specified symbols through
transcribed art songs, enunciation instructions with exercises, transcription rules, group
assignments, individually assigned word lists, and transcription quizzes. Units progress in
cumulative order culminating with exercises that give students the opportunity to transcribe
phrases from art song literature.
Designed for Singers
* Utilizes a basic vocabulary from art song repertoire
* Provides daily opportunities for in-class enunciation
* Provides transcription work for the entire class to complete during individual assessments
* Provides listening assignments that contain a frequent occurrence of the highlighted sound
Excellent for Instructors
* Encourages student accountability for memorized rules
* Simplifies the grading process (transcription is assessed based on in-class enunciation)
* Contains a summary of rules with prep quizzes for easy reference and review
* There are two products per language: 1) student manual 2) instructor's manual (the
instructor's manual contains the student manual with answer key)
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