Gertrude Wheeler Beckman

Gertrude Wheeler Beckman was an American author, composer, lyricist, singing teacher and phonologist. Her book on singing technique, Tools for Speaking and Singing, was published in 1955. She also inspired William Francis Giauque to study chemistry, the subject of his Nobel Prize in 1949.

Biography Beckman was born in Oakland, California in 1879, one of the three children of Charles C. and Angelina (or Angeline) (née Stetson) Wheeler. One of her brothers, Charles Stetson Wheeler, became a politician and attorney while the other, William Riley Wheeler, did not attend college.

Beckman became a singing teacher and phonologist. The Beckmans later moved to Berkeley, California.

Career Beckman taught singing to opera and folk singers, including Richard Dyer-Bennet. Beckman and Dyer-Bennet met at a Christmas party when he was a university student and she persuaded him to take a music course, a subject in which he had already shown aptitude, rather than be focused on professional sports. She also encouraged him to meet the lute-player Sven Scholander by travelling to Sweden, which turned out to be important in Dyer-Bennet's development as a singer.

In addition, Beckman wrote music and lyrics for songs. At least one survives from 1911: We are here, LaFayette! In 1955, her book Tools for Speaking and Singing was published. The content was about techniques for singing, especially learning to produce the sounds as a reflexive action, rather than through direct control of muscles. The principles of this approach were described in the first half of the book, followed by practical applications. A reviewer considered that this was an excellent approach and description, although parts could have been written more clearly. Beckman had developed this approach with her friend and colleague, the soprano Ida Auer-Herbeck.

Publications Gertrude Wheeler Beckman. Tools for Speaking and Singing (original author copyright 1948 Berkeley, Ca.) G. Schirmer, New York. 157pp