Intermediate and Advanced Students: Books compiled by Joan Frey Boytim

Before I jump into the meat of this post, I want to clarify my definition of this category. Although I will cover books whose titles and/or descriptions include "young" or "first book", I rarely start a young student in these books.  If I do, it is because they are already interested in classical repertoire and there are enough easy songs that they like in the book to give us time to work on basic technique before jumping into the hard stuff.  Even with my beginning adults, I like to get to know them and their voices before choosing a book from this list.  Also, when I use the terms intermediate and advanced, I mean for high school students.  Although some of the rep in these books is difficult, I can't see myself sending a grad student in vocal performance to buy one of these unless it was the only source for a particular song we wanted to work on.

As we move into this category, we also see more books for specific voice types.  I will be covering a set of books at a time, adding a few notes for each book.  We'll begin with the G. Schirmer/Hal Leonard publications by Joan Frey Boytim.  Boytim's first books came out when I was a very young teacher, so in a way, I've kind of grown up as a teacher with these books.  And my library has grown too, including most, but not all of the volumes edited by Boytim.  Much of the repertoire is wonderful, but there are a few songs that could have stayed buried in the depths of the files in the "out of print" storage area.  But, I do realize that different people like different music, so some of the songs I'll point out here that I love, may be the ones that you don't like.


If I had to choose one and only one book for a student, it would probably be the book from The First Book Complete series that matches their voice type. There are some of the individual volumes I like more than others.  In the complete edition, I get the volume that has the most songs that I like and I also get those few wonderful gems from the volumes that haven't worked as well for me in the past.  The complete volume includes numerous folksongs and spiritual arrangements, a few Christmas songs, plus art song, operetta, and oratorio repertoire in English, German, French, Spanish, and Italian.  There is also at least one song in Russian.  The price listed by Hal Leonard is $34.99 per book, but I've found them on Amazon.com for around $26.  Plus, they usually qualify for free shipping.  If students can afford this, I can't see any reason not to invest in this book.  I've already sent a had a few students purchase it, and I think I will be assigning it to many more in the fall.

Each volume of The First Book Complete includes much of the standard vocal repertoire, but also a few things that are lesser known, but wonderful teaching pieces.  In Part I of the soprano volume, we find "I Love All Graceful Things" which works on legato line in a high tessitura (which in my studio means sitting above a C for a measure or more.)  My actresses love "A Little China Figure" and "The Green Dog".

In Part II, we find a lovely setting of "Ave Maria" by Franz Abt and Schubert's "La Pastorella" which I had never heard before this book.

Domenico Bruni's "Se Meritar Potessi" in Part III has worked well for many of my women that wanted an Italian song that not everyone else was singing (meaning not the 24, 26, 28).  The setting of "Star vicino" is also a little different from what we sing the 26 Italian.  I also love "Love Among the Daffodils".  Part III includes more songs that I wasn't already familiar with than either of the other volumes.

The Boytim book that I've used the most in the past is The First Book of Mezzo-Soprano Solos Part I.  The songs included in this book are wonderful, plus there is the added advantage of the fact that I have most of the songs in other keys in other books, so if we decide we like a higher key later, I can just play from my other book.  "Loveliest of Trees", "Silent Noon", "The Sky Above the Roof", "Wind of the Western Sea", and "American Lullaby" are among the most frequently used songs in this book.   "The Cherry Tree", "Evensong", and "The Statue at Czarskoe-Selo" are lesser known songs that my students  have enjoyed.

The First Book of Mezzo-Soprano/Alto Solos Part II is the book that I have been assigning to those students who want to call themselves altos, but really are sopranos.  The songs are generally in a comfortable range, but there are more opportunities to challenge them with Es and Fs.  "Carmena" even gives them an optional G in addition to being a fun, up-tempo piece.  "Wind of the Wheat", "Separazione", and "The Sleep that Flits on Baby's Eyes" are great songs for the student that wants something that is different from what their peers are singing.

"Dolce scherza" in Part III is a wonderful choice for a first Italian song.  The melody is simple and there aren't a lot of words to learn.  "If There Were Dreams to Sell"and "Spiagge amate" are other favorites from this book.

High school tenors can be the hardest students to find music for, and for that reason I'm very excited about the complete book for these voices.  In each individual book, there are a few songs that work for tenors who haven't found the top yet, but as a complete volume, I have many more to choose from.  

Part I of the tenor books includes "The Daisies" and "I Attempt from Love's Sickness to Fly" which sit in a good range for many young tenors.  Those who have found more fullness and comfort in their high notes, and a little sensitivity, enjoy songs like "Go, Lovely Rose" and one of my favorites, "By Mendip Side."

"O del mio amato ben", "Linden Lea",  and "Where'er You Walk" are students' favorites in Part II.  I love "My Lovely Celia" and "Sonntag", but with Ds on the bottom and high Gs on top, the range is too extreme for many of my young men.  

The First Book of Tenor Solos Part III is my favorite volume of the 3 tenor books.  "Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal", "Der Leiermann" and "Auf Flügeln des Gesanges" are three of my favorite songs for working on creating a beautiful legato line.  "When I Think Upon the Maidens" is a wonderful song for helping men to become more expressive and energized.  

The First Book of Baritone Solos Part I has many songs that I like to teach.  Quilter's "O Mistress Mine" is a great song for Solo and Ensemble Contest or All-State auditions.  "Hör'ich das Liedchen Klingen", and "Jaglied" make excellent choices for a first song in German.  Dougherty's "Shenandoah"  with all the changing meters is another of my favorites.  

The First Book of Baritone Solos Part II includes the ever-popular "Give a Man a Horse He Can Ride" and "Rolling Down to Rio".  "Bright is the Ring of Words" and "The Roadside Fire" from Songs of Travel are also in this book.  

Once again, it was the Part III book that introduced me to many songs that I had not seen before.  I have a true bass that is loving "When Big Profundo Sang Low C" because he actually gets to sing the low notes that he loves and that are quite comfortable for him.  I've never had a student do this song and actually take the low Cs before.  "Invictus", "Five Eyes", and "River-Boats" are other student favorites.  

Lovers, Lasses & Spring (for sopranos), Roses, Laughter & Lullabies (for mezzo-sopranos), and Young Ladies, Shipmates & Journeys (baritone and tenor books are the same songs, just in different keys) are a set of books compiled by Boytim as supplemental material for students already using the First Book Series.  All of the songs in these collections are in English.  

In her preface to Lovers, Lasses & Spring, Boytim says that this book is "a selection of beginning coloratura songs, to be used to teach vocal agility."  I do see the need for every voice type to become as flexible as possible, but there are some voices that are just naturally more suited for this kind of music.  While some songs may work for all sopranos, most of the songs in this book do lean towards higher and lighter voices, and those are the singers that I have purchase this book.  "When Love is Kind" and "The Kerry Dance" are songs that I can assign to most sopranos.  I like "Cherry Ripe for students that are comfortable sitting in a higher tessitura.  Although the low note is an Eb, this mostly sits in the Bb to Eb range with jumps up to F and G.  "It Was a Lover and His Lass" sits in a similar place.  Neither would have worked for me as a young singer, but I've had several students that found them quite comfortable.  

Roses, Laughter & Lullabies has more my kind of repertoire, although the keys are wrong for me.  There are melismatic pieces in this book so mezzos can work flexibility too, but most do not seem as difficult for the non-coloraturas among us as what you see in the soprano book.  I'm happy that  "I Have Twelve Oxen" by John Ireland is in this book, since previously I have only been able to teach it from more expensive collections or in other keys.  Schubert's Cradle Song is included here, but only with English words.  

Of the 21 songs in Young Ladies, Shipmates & Journeys, I only like 8 of the songs, so I haven't had students buy this.  Since I'm always looking for new repertoire, especially for men, I was a little disappointed in this.  In the fall, it will become part of the Lending Library and maybe it will see more use there.  

The Second Book series (Part I and Part II for each voice type) is often too difficult for high school students.  Certain songs work well, but I rarely ask students to buy these.  If I do ask a student to purchase a book from this series, it is always after they have performed extensively from other collections.  Of the Second Book series, the volumes I use most often are The Second Book of Soprano Solos (for "Oh! Had I Jubal's Lyre", "Un moto di gioja", and "Vergebliches Ständchen") and The Second Book of Baritone/Bass Solos (for "The Vagabond" and "Si, tra i ceppi").

Joan Frey Boytim has also compiled these other books that I did not cover in this series.  I own some of them.
The Private Voice Studio Handbook

• Not a book for students to purchase, but a very helpful resource for teachers.  I use her solfege exercises included at the end of the book as part of my sight-reading program.  

Traditional Sacred Duets

Sacred Solos for All Ages

First Book of Broadway Solos will be covered in the musical theatre post.  

Christmas Solos for All Ages will be covered in the Christmas post in the fall.  

Also, you should know about these resources at Hal Leonard.  It's a great way to find which book a particular song is in or to quickly compare books.  

The next post will cover a few of the other book choices for this difficulty level.

New Music for the Young Voice

This is the first in a series of posts on vocal repertoire for young singers.  I also give workshops covering this material and how to select the best repertoire for each individual student.  You can contact me at robinejm@msn.com if you are interested in hosting a workshop.  

I teach in a public high school.  In most of my 15 years there, I've had a very full studio of 60-100 students with varying levels of ability.  Some of my students couldn't match pitch and some of them were on track for becoming professional musicians.  I had one extremely smart and talented student that came to me a few weeks into 9th grade to explain that she didn't like the song she was working on.  I had assigned a beautiful, but slightly challenging folk song, so I was expecting to hear that she didn't want to sing classical and wanted to work on the latest Brittney Spears song.  Boy was I wrong.  She wanted an art song in a foreign language.

How I wish that was the usual conversation I have with my students about repertoire!  However, that is not the case.  Most have had little if any exposure to classical music.  If I jump right into the 24 (or 26 or 28) Italian Songs and Arias, or even English or American art songs, I lose some of them.  So I am always on the lookout for "user friendly" music that I can use to teach my students classical technique and introduce them to the world of classical music without seeming so strange and foreign to them.

Another challenge I face teaching young voices is that many of them, especially the men, have limited ranges (although sometimes their range is less limited than they believe.) So my search for new music also includes looking for music with the right range (between a 5th and an octave) in the right key.  I have become an expert at music for the young voice and I'll explore more of my finds in future posts.  Today, I will focus on my newest finds.

Since finding songs for high school men is often difficult, let's start there.

Songs of the Wayfarer by Victor Johnson was the first of several books I found from Heritage Music Press.  (Thank you Nicole Marschall for this recommendation!) Until this year, I didn't even know that they had solo books.  Like BriLee and Alfred, Heritage Music Press has taken some of their best choral octavos and presented them in solo song form.  (The books I cover today may also included songs specifically written or arranged for these solo books.) I fell in love with these songs the first time I sang through them.  They are beautiful and sensitive and very much the type of thing that I could use with a young singer who will move on to the classics, but isn't quite ready for that challenge yet.  The book is available in Medium High and Medium low and the accompaniment CD contains both keys, so if you started a student out in the lower book and then the top got freer, he could easily switch over by just practicing with the high key recording.  The only drawback to this book is that most of the songs in the low key still go up to D or Eb and that is too high for most of my 9th grade baritones to do comfortably.

Contemporary Art Songs for Men by Vicki Tucker Courtney is a great option for my young men who may have a limited vocal range, but are also musically sensitive.  These are truly art songs.  I love the music of Jay Althouse, Mark Hayes, and Mark Patterson, but their music, and the music of many of the composers I use for young singers clearly says "educational" to me.  It is beautiful and "user friendly", but not something I would add to a professional repertoire list.  I believe that Vicki Tucker Courtney has what it takes to bridge the divide between teaching songs and true art songs.  These songs mostly have ranges of about an octave, with a few songs at a 5th or 6th.  Within this limited range, and using melodies that are fairly easy to learn, she creates something amazing.

Another bonus of Contemporary Art Songs for Men is that it comes with both keys in the same book, and like Songs of the Wayfarer, the CD also has both keys.  The recordings for both books are very expressive without using so much rubato that the students get lost (which is a common complaint of one of my colleagues who uses books with CDs a lot.)  One final note on these two books for men--if you have a female student that wouldn't have issues with carrying around a book with the words "for men" or "for the developing male voice" plastered on the front, I would recommend these books for girls too.  A few songs might not work, but many are not really gender specific.  I'm planning to sing a set from Contemporary Art Songs for Men for our faculty recital.

The next group of books are not gender specific, but I will probably end up using them more with my women than with my men.  These are books I didn't know about because my local music store doesn't keep them on the shelves with the other vocal solo music. After I found Songs of the Wayfarer, I explored the Heritage Music Press site for more vocal collections.  They have a few books that contain songs from several composers, but since I had limited funds, I chose to first get the books by a single composer since I know and love many songs by these women.

High on my list of things to buy was Sherri Porterfield's My Heart Shall Rejoice.  I've been using the octavos of "Something Told the Wild Geese" and "The Fly Away Horse" with students for several years, just crossing things out or drawing arrows to show them where the melody was.  I was excited to see these available as solos, and for $9.95 I would have purchased the book even if everything else in it was garbage, but I am please to say it's not.  I've already sent a student to purchase this and she loves the songs.  And that is saying a lot since she is one of my kids that wants to sing more pop.   It comes in High Voice and Low Voice and you can purchase a CD separately.  I just wanted to explore the book, so at this point I just have the Low Voice book, but the high voice is on my to-buy list.

Ruth Elaine Schram is another name I was familiar with both from octavos and her songs published in books by BriLee and Alfred.  I will admit that Dreams and Reflections was not a book that I immediately fell in love with, but I do like these songs.  I'm interested to see how the students respond to this book.  This book comes in Medium High and Medium Low keys and only as a book/CD package.

I knew less about Mary Lynn Lightfoot's work, so purchasing And This Shall Be For Music was a risk, but one that I'm glad I took.  "How Beautiful is the Rain" has been stuck in my head all week. (I'm in MN and it seems like we've had maybe 15 hours of sunshine in the last two months, so maybe that's why.  I'm trying to love the rain.)  But seriously, it is a great song and uses a rainstick which might be kind of fun for the recital.  The settings of "Pie Jesu" and "Dona Nobis Pacem" allow students with this beginner book to also explore some easy foreign language texts.  And I can never have too many settings of "How Can I Keep from Singing".  This book comes in Medium High and Medium Low keys and only as a book/CD package.

The last book I will cover today for beginners is the latest publication by Jay Althouse, Songs of the British Isles for Solo Singers.   Available in Medium High and Medium Low keys, this book can be purchase with or without the accompaniment CD.  When looking at the table of contents, you might say, "But I already have arrangements of Scarborough Fair, The Water is Wide, and Skye Boat Song by Jay Althouse in other books.  Why do I need this?"  But these are different, and well worth the purchase price.  I'm a huge fan of Folk Songs for Solo Singers Vol. 1, which was my first introduction to Jay Althouse, but in my opinion, he just keeps getting better and better.  These accompaniments are richer and fuller.  They also ask the singer to be a little more independent, so for my students that struggle, I still may go with the arrangements from some of his other books.  In addition to the songs already mentioned, you will find lovely arrangements of some of my other favorites like "Flow Gently, Sweet Afton",  "The Ash Grove", and "Danny Boy".  This book also includes 2 Christmas songs, and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" is unlike anything you have heard before.  I love it.

And finally, to wrap things up, new and exciting changes for those singers that you do think will be loving art songs and foreign languages.  Joan Frey Boytim's popular First Book series is now available with Parts I, II, and III all in one volume.  The prices vary on Amazon from time to time, but right now the soprano book is only $27.95 and qualifies for free shipping.  At that price, I have no trouble asking a student to buy the book since there are over 90 songs of varying difficulty in multiple languages.  I could easily see a student using this book and only this book for all of their high school voice lessons.  I still may supplement with other sources, but what a fantastic deal on the literature that will be the foundation of their study.  And for teachers who are still building their own libraries, this is definitely the way to go.

Another great resource for teachers is 28 Italian Songs and Arias Complete with all 5 keys in one book.  I don't see me sending many students to get this, but it sure would have been nice when purchasing those books for the school and for my own personal library.

Have you used any of these books?  What new finds have you recently added to your library?  Comments and discussion are always welcome.