Don't Sweat the Technique: A Performer's Guide to Hip-Hop and Rap

VoiceCare BookClub—We all have books we want to read to learn more about the voice, so let's do it in community and meet the authors!

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This month we willl dive into: Don't Sweat the Technique: A Performer's Guide to Hip-Hop and Rap. Our discussion will be with author Melissa L. Foster (MelissaFosterVoice.com), moderated by Beth Falcone, M.M., NYC Singing teacher & SVI Trained Vocologist. (BethFalcone.com)

Bring your questions and a cup of your favorite morning, afternoon or evening beverage (depending on where you are tuning in from! :-) and settle in for a fun discussion among colleagues. Want to join us in creating some ambience? Download your Cafe D Zoom background. (Totally optional of course!)

2D Location (via Zoom): Cafe D, Holidayopolis, an all-inclusive virtual venue.

Don't Sweat the Technique equips aspiring performers, musical artists, singers, and hobbyists with the tools and knowledge needed to become a better rapper. Written in simple language and filled with many exercises, this book helps build techniques and unlo cks solutions to common stumbling blocks that make people afraid to rap. It includes exclusive advice from dozens of MCs who share their approaches and give further insight into mastering the craft.

Part one provides an introduction to hip-hop history—the birth of the genre, how it reflects African American experience and culture, major influencers in the industry, different subgenres and styles, and check points towards finding your authentic self in rap. Part two provides a tapestry of exercises, methods of practice, and practical tips that help with breath support, posture, diction, rhythm and flow, storytelling and delivery techniques, mic techniques, vocal health, and much more. After reading this book, you’ll not only improve your rapping, but you’ll also have something to say that will make people want to listen.

Melissa Foster is a Charles Deering McCormick Distinguished Professor of Instruction in the Department of Theatre at Northwestern University, and is the proud recipient of the 2021 Galbut Outstanding Faculty Award. She is currently on the Musical Theatre Voice Faculty in the School of Communication, and simultaneously serves as one of 5 Faculty in Residence on Northwestern’s campus. Teaching responsibilities have included/include: Musical Theatre Voice, Pop and Rock Singing Styles, HAIR to HAMILTON: The History and Performance of Pop/Rock Musicals,, Vocal Pedagogy for the Choral Educator, New York Senior Showcase, Junior Musical Theatre Techniques, and a Masterclass series for Opera/Musical Theatre crossover. When not at Northwestern, Melissa is thrilled to be a Resident Vocal Consultant for LYRIC UNLIMITED (a division of the Lyric Opera of Chicago), working on various projects (Chicago Voices Gala, and Empower Youth! (an original work that combines R&B, Slam Poetry, and Rap ). She has been guest faculty for Broadway Evolved, Broadway Breakthru, IHSTA, Stagelighter, and more. Foster is on faculty for the Contemporary Commercial Music (CCM) Vocal Pedagogy Institute, teaching Pop Rock Vocal Styles, and is an Artist in Residence for the ArtsLink Foundation. Melissa has been a guest artist at dozens of universities; including Penn State, Ithica, Samford, Goshen, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, and Berklee College of Music. Recently, her travels took her to a residency at Notre Dame University, focusing on Pop/Rock styles in Jesus Christ Superstar, and Musical Theatre singing for Voice and Opera Majors. Internationally, Foster was the Vocal Teaching Artist and Master Technician for workshops in Xi’an, China, Hong Kong, and Guang Xhaou. She is looking forward to returning to Xi’an, as well as teaching for a prominent school in Beijing.

A true career highlight- Foster co-taught a live-streamed, sold out Masterclass with world renowned opera legend, Renee Fleming.

When not teaching, Melissa is writing. Look for her book, “Don’t Sweat the Technique: A Performers’ Guide To Hip-Hop And Rap”( Rowman and Littlefield Publishing) is available on Amazon. She is also the Lead Author for the Chapter on Western Musical Theatre in Oxford University Press’s upcoming “The Vocal Pedagogy Handbook”.

Melissa has had the pleasure of working with the casts of numerous professional productions in both Chicago and New York, the most recent being the current National Tours of Miss Saigon, Fiddler on the Roof, and A Bronx Tale. She has also vocal coached for Broadway in Chicago’s 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, American Music Theatre Project’s reading of the Boublil and Schonberg musical, La Revolution Francaise, as well as the 1st National tours of Peter and The Starcatcher, and The Book of Mormon.

Her students have been seen in numerous Broadway/National Tour productions including Hamilton, Aladdin, Dear Evan Hansen (her student is currently one of the Evan’s on Broadway), Beautiful: The Carol King Story, Mean Girls, Moulin Rouge, Beetlejuice, Kinky Boots, The Book of Mormon, Young Frankenstein, If/Then, Hair, The Lion King, Spring Awakening, The Band’s Visit, Rent, Next to Normal, Avenue Q, 42nd Street, Scottsboro Boys, The Notebook, American Psycho, Pretty Woman, Carrie, Jersey Boys, Heathers, Pal Joey, Jersey Boys, The Last 5 Years, Fiddler on the Roof, American Idiot, Nice Work if You Can Get it, An American in Paris, Sweeney Todd, Mamma Mia, Gypsy, Dog Fight, ELF, Cabaret, Once, Bring it On, A Christmas Carol, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Frozen, and Wicked.

Foster also spent time as a professional studio backing vocalist, with recordings on RCA, Sire and Universal Records, and has a blast doing commercial work with her daughter. She has studied Estill, Voiceworks, Bel Canto, SLS, and has taken courses with Rock The Audition and the CCM Institute. Foster currently lives in Evanston, IL, with her husband Matt Boresi (Hilliard and Boresi 21st Century Opera), and their 9-year-old daughter, Vivian.

Beth Falcone is a New Yor City based pianist, conductor, composer-lyricist, and SVI Trained vocologist. Among numerous awards, she is a Kleban Prize Winner for Most Promising Lyricist in American Musical Theater, Harrington Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement and most recently garnered the award for “best musician” at the United Solo Artists Festival in New York City. BethFalcone.com

Her pitch matching method, designed for those who believe they are tone deaf, is the subject of a research study with Dr. Monica McHenry at New York Medical College. She has given numerous masterclasses around the world and the United States on vocal health, basic vocal anatomy, mechanics and technique, and her students have performed on Boradway, Off Broadway, national and international tours. She specializes in classic musical theater and CCM styles (Contemporary Commercial Music).

Ms. Falcone is currently writing a book to help her fellow teachers with those “pitch challenged” students who happen to cross their studio doors. Life’s a Pitch and Then You SPING: A Pitch Tutor’s Toolkit. If you'd like to contrinute your pitch matching stories, please email her at: [email protected]

As a musical theater writer, Beth is currently working on a commission from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the story of an inspiring, gifted young woman who has not only survived but thrived despite her diagnosis of Cystic Fibrosis.

Perhaps most known for her musical, Wanda’s World, it premiered Off-Broadway at the 45th St. Theater and received two Lortel Award nominations, including Best Musical, and a Drama Desk Award nomination for Best Book. The show was released on Broadway Records with album producer Michal J. Moritz, Jr. and is available for licensing through Theatrical Rights Worldwide. Learn more at WandasWorldMusical.com.

Fun fact: She was a music assistant and rehearsal accompanist for Broadway’s The Lion King and transcribed Lebo Morake’s music which he created and taught to the cast right in the rehearsal room!

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