Vocal repertoire suggestions

*Please always purchase music that has a piano accompaniment, not just simply a vocal line and/or guitar chords – you can use it in many more performance situations, and it’s easier to use in the lessons!

(An exception to this is some jazz standards – please make sure they have piano chording at least.)
Basic Method Books (suggested for all voice students)

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  RCM Voice Repertoire – Grades 1-8 (published by Frederick Harris Music)
  
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    These are great for a variety of ages and skill levels and are one of the few sequential voice methods available. We can assess your beginning level depending on age, vocal/musical maturity, prior experience, etc.
    
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  Easy Songs for the Beginning Singer (Joan Frey Boytim – comes in 4 volumes based on voice type)
  
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    These are best for 11- to 14-year-old singers with ranges that are starting to secure, and also great for older singers with limited musical backgrounds.
    
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  The First Book of Solos (Joan Frey Boytim – comes in 4 volumes based on voice type)
  
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    These are great for students 13 years and up with secure ranges and developing technique, and cover a wide range of repertoire and languages.
    

(I will supply a variety of vocal warm-ups and exercises in addition to these, but these are also good resources to have.)

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  Sight-Singing For Success (Joan B. Heels – comes in 2 volumes) – these books contain exercises in the same format as those used for RCM sight-singing examinations, so they’re extremely beneficial!
  
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  50 Lessons for Voice (Concone – comes in 3 volumes based on voice type) – vocalises with no words.
  
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  Practical Vocal Method (Vaccai – comes in 3 volumes based on voice type) – like short songs with English and Italian lyrics.
  
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  RCM Vocalises & Recitatives – Grades 5-7, 8, 9-10 (published by Frederick Harris Music)
  
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  333 Elementary Exercises in Sight Singing (Zoltan Zodaly) – this is where “Do-Re-Mi” comes from!! This is an easy set of progressive exercises that help you to learn music more quickly and sing independently.
  
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  Theory for Beginners (Barbara Wharram) – This is suitable for singers 10 and up. It’s generally easy to read and understand, and there are lots of examples!
  

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  Elementary Music Rudiments (Mark Sarnecki) – I find this works great for singers 12 and up. It’s not too keyboard-oriented and discusses a lot of rhythm, intervals, etc.
  

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  24 Italian Songs & Arias (published by Schirmer – comes in medium high and medium low volumes)
  
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    I highly recommend this for everyone, as Italian is an extremely easy language to sing and pronounce!
    
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  Other Italian – Mozart, Handel (IMC)
  
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  French – 40 French Songs (Kagen), Faure, Debussy (published by International Music Company)
  
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  German – Schubert (Kagen), Schumann, Brahms, Bach, Mozart (IMC)
  
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  English – Purcell, Handel (IMC)
  
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  Operatic Anthology (Schirmer, compiled by Kurt Adler – comes in 5 volumes based on voice type)
  
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  G. Schirmer Operatic Anthology (comes in 6 volumes based on voice type)
  

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  Solos from Musicals for Kids (Louise Lerch) – age-appropriate and interesting solos for kids!
  
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  The First Book of Broadway Solos (Joan Frey Boytim) – these are great for pre-teen/teenage students, as well as older beginner students.
  
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  Kids’ Musical Theatre Anthology (Lisa DeSpain) – Some wonderful solos from both classic and more contemporary musicals, including story/character summaries and 16-bar cut suggestions for auditions!
  
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  The Teen’s Musical Theatre Collection OR Musical Theatre Anthology for Teens (Louise Lerch – comes in Young Men’s/Young Women’s volumes)
  
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    Both books are good selection of gender-appropriate, easy to intermediate songs for teens.
    
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  The Singers Musical Theatre Anthology (Richard Walters – comes in 5 voice types and several volumes)
  
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    These are my favourite musical theatre books for singers 14 and up. Fun, challenging, and range-appropriate material! Great for recitals, auditions, competitions, etc.
    
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  The Contemporary Singing Actor (Richard Walters – Women’s/Men’s Editions)
  
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    A great selection of songs if you’re looking to sing something from musicals of the last 10-15 years.
    

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  Some other musicals often in stock: Wicked, High School Musical, Hairspray, Mamma Mia, Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Fiddler on the Roof, Guys & Dolls, Chorus Line, etc., etc….
  

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  The Real Vocal Book (published by Hal Leonard) – this used to be an illegal collection of the very best vocal jazz charts; now it’s published! Every jazz singer owns a copy of this. It’s a must-have.
  
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  The Great American Songbook (Hal Leonard; comes in several different volumes) – this comes with piano accompaniment and is a fantastic collection of jazz songs.
  
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  150 of the Most Beautiful Songs Ever (Hal Leonard)
  
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  A few other singers’ collections often in stock: Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, Michael Buble, Norah Jones
  

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  Folk Songs for Solo Singers (Jay Althouse – comes in Medium High/Medium Low volumes)
  
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    a nice collection of beginning to intermediate folk songs.
    
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  10 Folk Songs for Solo Voice (Mark Hayes) – this book, and the Spirituals and Hymns & Gospels books, have really fantastic piano arrangements and great, intermediate to advanced vocal arrangements that are really fun to perform!
  
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  10 Spirituals for Solo Voice (Mark Hayes)
  
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  10 Hymns & Gospel Songs (Mark Hayes)
  

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  Contemporary pop/rock/country music changes so rapidly and everyone’s tastes are very different. While I try to keep a selection of recent hits and more classic numbers in my teaching collection, it really depends on the individual student to seek out repertoire in this category that might interest them. Please always check with me to make sure that this is appropriate music for a structured voice lesson.
  
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  Most contemporary female singers are low voices (altos to mezzo-sopranos) and many male singers have quite high voices (high baritone to tenor). I can give some ideas on appropriate music/singers for your voice type so that you’re not singing in a range that’s harmful for your voice.
  
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  Take a look at your local music store first; if you can’t find the singer/songwriter you’d like or would only like one song rather than a collection, you can most likely special order from your local store or www.sheetmusicplus.com, or visit online printable music stores like www.sheetmusicdirect.us.
  

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  Best Classic Rock Songs Ever (Hal Leonard ) – a good collection for medium-high to high voice ranges.
  
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  The Beatles Keyboard Book (Hal Leonard) – great for baritone to tenor singers, or treble singers singing up the octave.
  

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  Mighty Big Book of Children’s Songs (published by Hal Leonard) – great for 8-10-year-olds! Includes several Disney tunes as well as well-known songs from movies, musicals, nursery rhymes, etc.
  
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  Disney Solos for Kids (Hal Leonard) – 10 easy songs with piano accompaniment for 8-11-year-olds.
  
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  The Disney Collection (Hal Leonard) – these are good intermediate songs from Disney classics; if you’re a piano player, it’s an added bonus because the songs are very easy to play!
  
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  Contemporary Disney (Hal Leonard) – my pre-teen and teenage students seem to love this book. It’s intermediate material and includes many songs from recent movies.
  

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  Easy Classical Duets (Joan Frey Boytim) – a wonderful collection of duets from easy to moderate ability – great for challenging one’s vocal independence, ear, and reading ability while having fun singing with another person!
  
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  Folk Songs for Two (Jay Althouse) – includes songs such as “Amazing Grace”, “Scarborough Fair” and “Shenandoah”.