On my other blog, Barefoot Fresca, I just finished up a post demonstrating, with illustrations and videos, a practice session I had in preparation for a re-test I am taking in Kung Fu this week. It occurred to me that much of what I was doing was similar to the kind of analysis and breakdown that is often necessary for a singer when she wants to intimately understand a piece of music.
First, check out the post here:
"If at First You Don't Succeed -- Practice!"
Now that you've done that, I'll show you what I mean about the approach being the same.
What I was practicing in the blog post was getting into my sparring gear in 3 minutes or less.
The Run-through
The first thing I did was a run-through to see where I was at. I video-taped the run-through to help with my analysis of the state of things. This is like recording or videotaping a run-through of singing a song.
Next, I impartially observed the outcome of the taping. While I succeeded to get my Kung Fu sparring gear on in 3 minutes, there were little areas of concern which, when nervous, might cause problems and cost seconds during the re-test. I made a note of where these areas of concern were and planned to visit each area separately in the next part of the practice session.
This is what a singer can do, circling the places in the music, specific measures that are causing problems, not secure, or display some kind of potential trouble or that might make the whole thing fall apart when under pressure during a performance.
Trouble Spot Number 1-- The Sparring Shoes
I noticed during the video, and also remembered from the actual experience as well, that there is sometimes confusion with putting on the Kung Fu shoes. Before taking a close look at the matter, the two shoes looked identical to me. That's because I had been observing the shoes while "on the fly" and I had never actually stopped to examine them.
This can happen when we just keep trying to learn a piece of music by singing straight through it over and over again. We may think that two particular musical phrases are identical, but when we stop to study the two phrases, which might be in different places in the music, we discover that there is a slight difference to them.
When I examined the Kung Fu sparring shoes, I found out that there was, indeed a left one and a right one. Not only that, I discovered that the shoes were shaped differently, one having a wider rounder toe box, and the other having a narrower, pointier one.
Two phrases in the same piece of music may have subtle differences like that also. Perhaps the same phrase starts on a different beat of the measure in one place than the other. Perhaps there is one note added to a little run, or an extra rest stuck in there. Taking the time to examine exactly what is happening brings greater understanding.
Once I knew there was a left and a right shoe, I found another surprise. I had assumed that the two shoes would mirror each other and that the manner of fastening the shoes would be the same. I discovered that my assumption was wrong and that the strap of the shoe went in the same direction for both shoes.
Sometimes, before we look closely, we might make an assumption about a section of music based on some other song we have sung and not realize that our assumption has caused us to learn the section wrong.
Trouble Spot Number 2 -- The Glove
When I took my black sash test, I was unable to slip the glove on quickly enough because it gave me some trouble by being tightly closed, and also because I forgot there was a hand strap inside the glove.
There can be a part of the music that has a specific difficulty to it that throws the singer each time she gets to that spot.
To solve the glove problem, I developed a technique that I would use for putting on the glove. By rehearsing this approach, I trained myself to do the same thing and set myself up right so I could put the glove on faster and with less effort. First, I opened the glove. Adding that step ensured that the other parts of the task were easier.
With the difficult music section, often there is a constriction, just like the closed glove. Learning how to remain open can often lead the way to better handling the section.
This is a dumb little post, but I hope you have been able to see how the process is the same. I now know that sparring gear inside and out. I know the pitfalls and problems and I've developed and practiced strategies. When the nerves of the moment hit, I will know exactly where I am at all times. This is the kind of preparation and readiness that is also needed to perform a song well too!
The highs and lows, successes and failures, smarts and stupids, joys and pains, ridiculousness and sublimity -- and -- the yin and the yang of one person's quest to master her singing voice and not give up, even if it takes a lifetime.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
How to Love Your Voice
When singer's are recommended to "love their voice" what does that mean exactly? The first inclination might be to think it means to love the sound of one's voice. But doesn't that bring to mind the mythological Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection in the water? It seems like there must be a healthier version of loving one's voice than that.
What examples of loving something could serve as a model to love the voice?
One of the most wonderful examples of love, when it's done right, is the love of a mother for her children. So, one way for a singer to love her voice is to love it the way a mother loves a child.
A mother feeds her child nutritious food to help keep her child's body growing and repairing itself healthy and strong. She doesn't give her child junk to eat.
A singer can love her voice by caring about nutrition and eating in a way that helps the cells, tendons, muscles, etc... involved in singing to repair and maintain themselves healthily.
A mother observes when her child is getting tired, often evident because the child begins to behave differently, and takes that child for a "time out" so the child can become integrated and peaceful again. She notices what situations and conditions are prerequisites for this dis-integration and plans and foresees potential problems.
A singer can do that with her voice too, paying close attention to different behaviors that signal it is time for a rest, and observing and learning what kinds of situations lead to the disintegration of the voice.
A mother ensures that her child get the needed amounts of sleep, even to the point of forcing the child to go to bed at a much earlier time than the child wants to.
A singer needs that kind of rest to function optimally, and sometimes singers, like athletes, might have to forego late night social events in order to get adequate rest for optimal functioning.
A mother researches and finds the best schools, television programs, books she can afford in order to inform her child of the higher path of learning. A mother sacrifices having luxury items and provides the lessons, teachers and materials she feels are better.
A singer strives to give her voice the best education possible to give her voice every advantage of learning. A singer makes financial sacrifices to in order to provide her voice with better instruction and materials.
A mother who loves her child listens to that child and tries to truly hear and understand what her child is telling her -- especially when the child is telling her, "something is wrong; I am not comfortable with this; I am being harmed by this situation" -- and believe and take the information into account when she decides things for that child.
So, also, a singer who loves her voice learns to listen to her voice when it says, "this just doesn't feel right to me."
A good mother disciplines a child. She says "no" when it is right to do that. She makes that child observe a schedule of some sort, and helps the child develop and practice routines and regular positive habits. She catches little things and bad habits that could cause bigger problems later if not addressed early.
Yet a mother permits her child to make mistakes, knowing that it is okay to make mistakes and even necessary in order to learn. She is patient with her child, knowing that perfection is too much to expect of one so young and inexperienced. She recognizes what is "too much too soon" and celebrates the strengths her child already possesses. She has reasonable expectations. Yet she also recognizes potential and has vision for what the child can become.
A mother accepts her child. She does not compare her child to others. She would not trade her child for any other child in the world. She does not try to mold that child into some preconceived image, but steps back and observes and discovers just who this little person is. She tries to find out where the child's natural passions and interests lie, and then nurtures and explores that interest with the child, assisting the child in reaching his/her potential. She lets that child be who that child was meant to be. She allows the child to be free.
A singer accepts her voice. She does not compare her voice to others. She would not trade her own voice for any other voice in the world. She does not try to mold that voice into some preconceived image, but steps back and observes and discovers just what this voice she has been given is. She tries to find out where the voice's natural passions and interests lie, and then nurtures and explores that interest with her voice, assisting the voice in reaching its potential. She lets the voice be what the voice was meant to be. She allows the voice to be free.
Finally, when all is said and done, a mother shares her child with the world. As she watches her child go forth to achieve his own personal mission in the world, she feels very proud of her child. If she sees her child doing good out there in the world, she has the reward of seeing efforts of her love blessing not just her own child, but all who come in contact with that child.
What examples of loving something could serve as a model to love the voice?
One of the most wonderful examples of love, when it's done right, is the love of a mother for her children. So, one way for a singer to love her voice is to love it the way a mother loves a child.
A mother feeds her child nutritious food to help keep her child's body growing and repairing itself healthy and strong. She doesn't give her child junk to eat.
A singer can love her voice by caring about nutrition and eating in a way that helps the cells, tendons, muscles, etc... involved in singing to repair and maintain themselves healthily.
A mother observes when her child is getting tired, often evident because the child begins to behave differently, and takes that child for a "time out" so the child can become integrated and peaceful again. She notices what situations and conditions are prerequisites for this dis-integration and plans and foresees potential problems.
A singer can do that with her voice too, paying close attention to different behaviors that signal it is time for a rest, and observing and learning what kinds of situations lead to the disintegration of the voice.
A mother ensures that her child get the needed amounts of sleep, even to the point of forcing the child to go to bed at a much earlier time than the child wants to.
A singer needs that kind of rest to function optimally, and sometimes singers, like athletes, might have to forego late night social events in order to get adequate rest for optimal functioning.
A mother researches and finds the best schools, television programs, books she can afford in order to inform her child of the higher path of learning. A mother sacrifices having luxury items and provides the lessons, teachers and materials she feels are better.
A singer strives to give her voice the best education possible to give her voice every advantage of learning. A singer makes financial sacrifices to in order to provide her voice with better instruction and materials.
A mother who loves her child listens to that child and tries to truly hear and understand what her child is telling her -- especially when the child is telling her, "something is wrong; I am not comfortable with this; I am being harmed by this situation" -- and believe and take the information into account when she decides things for that child.
So, also, a singer who loves her voice learns to listen to her voice when it says, "this just doesn't feel right to me."
A good mother disciplines a child. She says "no" when it is right to do that. She makes that child observe a schedule of some sort, and helps the child develop and practice routines and regular positive habits. She catches little things and bad habits that could cause bigger problems later if not addressed early.
Yet a mother permits her child to make mistakes, knowing that it is okay to make mistakes and even necessary in order to learn. She is patient with her child, knowing that perfection is too much to expect of one so young and inexperienced. She recognizes what is "too much too soon" and celebrates the strengths her child already possesses. She has reasonable expectations. Yet she also recognizes potential and has vision for what the child can become.
A mother accepts her child. She does not compare her child to others. She would not trade her child for any other child in the world. She does not try to mold that child into some preconceived image, but steps back and observes and discovers just who this little person is. She tries to find out where the child's natural passions and interests lie, and then nurtures and explores that interest with the child, assisting the child in reaching his/her potential. She lets that child be who that child was meant to be. She allows the child to be free.
A singer accepts her voice. She does not compare her voice to others. She would not trade her own voice for any other voice in the world. She does not try to mold that voice into some preconceived image, but steps back and observes and discovers just what this voice she has been given is. She tries to find out where the voice's natural passions and interests lie, and then nurtures and explores that interest with her voice, assisting the voice in reaching its potential. She lets the voice be what the voice was meant to be. She allows the voice to be free.
Finally, when all is said and done, a mother shares her child with the world. As she watches her child go forth to achieve his own personal mission in the world, she feels very proud of her child. If she sees her child doing good out there in the world, she has the reward of seeing efforts of her love blessing not just her own child, but all who come in contact with that child.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Inventing a Singing Form like Tai Chi Form
I was reading this about Tai Chi today:
I was thinking of how great it would be to have a single form that could accomplish things like this for the voice for the singer to practice every day. This single singing form would take the singer through a complete, natural range of motion over their "center of gravity." To me, the "center of gravity" could be a place of balanced phonation.
I once invented an exercise that I thought could accomplish something like this, only I was vaguely aware of what my intentions were. I called it a Figure 8. I don't know if my exercise was really any good, but my attempt to create a "form" with this Figure 8 exercise was headed in the right direction. I was trying to find a "center of gravity" within the singing voice that could serve as a kind of unifying theory of voice. Usually when someone is studying voice, one of the big problems is not having a center. It seems as if the voice is "broken" into two (or many) segments: the registers. In my feeble attempt to try to unify it, I thought that finding a central place, a place that was the "heart" of the singing voice, I might be able to devise a way of training and moving and coordinating all the complex muscular adjustments and movement so that there was some kind of smooth form the voice could work through.
My first thought was that this "center" could be the place where the action of the thyro-arytenoids (TA)and the crico-thyroids (CT) were exactly equal participation.
But what I didn't realize when I was devising this theory, was that I had formed a wrong idea of where this place in the voice of equal TA-CT participation was. It was a sloppy mistake, because all I had to do was think about it for a minute or two, but -- well, I'm sure I'm not the first theoretician to have formulated a theory with inexact or incomplete information. I'm sure scientists do it all the time, and merely revise their theories as new and better information comes their way, either to their personal understanding, or to the understanding of the community at large.
(One of the really great things about being an amateur, by the way, is that the penalties for being wrong are small and mostly inconsequential. I'm doing it for fun and interest and passion and I've got time to be wrong. In fact, however much I would like to, if I never achieve my goal in this life it really doesn't matter much at all. What matters is that I occupied my time pursuing something that brings me enjoyment and fulfillment.)
I have not abandoned a desire to understand/discover/define a kind of "center" of the voice. My most recent inclination is to dub the glottal opening itself as the "center" and declare that the glottal opening is the stabilizing point because the objective is for it to stay in the same place while all the other mechanical and moving parts surrounding it and affecting it adjust and change. All kinds of things are happening around this space, but it remains a stable centering point within the cyclone of activity. It is a strange thought that a space, something that contains no matter and that is empty, might be thought of as the center of something, similar to the eye of the storm. In that case, there would have to be no rigidity, no fixing. The space is just there, and everything else moves around it, with that as the point of reference
I think the idea of the glottal space works better than my original idea of making a specific muscular position (i.e., point of equal participation of TA/CT) the center, because that muscular position would not remain the same throughout the whole range of motion. By thinking of the opening itself as the center, that opening would remain in the same spot while things were changing around it. There would be no "coming back" to that position because it would always be maintained.
Okay, but back to the idea of a form that would take the singer through a complete range of motion surrounding that opening may not be as feasible as it is for the Tai Chi practitioner to do it in a Tai Chi form. One of the reasons it works in Tai Chi is that there can be a continuous flow of movement for an extended period of time. With the voice, there is always a need to interrupt the continuity in order to replenish the supply of air. So, one long continuous all-encompassing form that covers all bases may not be the right answer.
I guess disciplines evolve the way they do for a reason. In the tradition of training the vocal apparatus, a whole bunch of different kinds of exercises are needed in order to move and develop various different skills and qualities and train the different and varying actions of the muscles involved in singing. So, maybe the quest for some kind of unifying, all-encompassing routine for the voice that could take care of everything with one daily swoop is not realistically attainable. As appealing an idea as it is, perhaps there is no master form that can be developed that could accomplish all vocal conditioning in one fell swoop.
That leaves the singer with the task of picking and choosing from thousands of potential exercises and drills and making up a routine of their own for daily vocal mastery practice, which is always a confusing and formidable task.
The solo form should take the students through a complete, natural range of motion over their center of gravity. Accurate, repeated practice of the solo routine is said to retrain posture, encourage circulation throughout the students' bodies, maintain flexibility through their joints, and further familiarize students with the martial application sequences implied by the forms. (From Wikipedia article -- Tai Chi Chuan)
I was thinking of how great it would be to have a single form that could accomplish things like this for the voice for the singer to practice every day. This single singing form would take the singer through a complete, natural range of motion over their "center of gravity." To me, the "center of gravity" could be a place of balanced phonation.
I once invented an exercise that I thought could accomplish something like this, only I was vaguely aware of what my intentions were. I called it a Figure 8. I don't know if my exercise was really any good, but my attempt to create a "form" with this Figure 8 exercise was headed in the right direction. I was trying to find a "center of gravity" within the singing voice that could serve as a kind of unifying theory of voice. Usually when someone is studying voice, one of the big problems is not having a center. It seems as if the voice is "broken" into two (or many) segments: the registers. In my feeble attempt to try to unify it, I thought that finding a central place, a place that was the "heart" of the singing voice, I might be able to devise a way of training and moving and coordinating all the complex muscular adjustments and movement so that there was some kind of smooth form the voice could work through.
My first thought was that this "center" could be the place where the action of the thyro-arytenoids (TA)and the crico-thyroids (CT) were exactly equal participation.
But what I didn't realize when I was devising this theory, was that I had formed a wrong idea of where this place in the voice of equal TA-CT participation was. It was a sloppy mistake, because all I had to do was think about it for a minute or two, but -- well, I'm sure I'm not the first theoretician to have formulated a theory with inexact or incomplete information. I'm sure scientists do it all the time, and merely revise their theories as new and better information comes their way, either to their personal understanding, or to the understanding of the community at large.
(One of the really great things about being an amateur, by the way, is that the penalties for being wrong are small and mostly inconsequential. I'm doing it for fun and interest and passion and I've got time to be wrong. In fact, however much I would like to, if I never achieve my goal in this life it really doesn't matter much at all. What matters is that I occupied my time pursuing something that brings me enjoyment and fulfillment.)
I have not abandoned a desire to understand/discover/define a kind of "center" of the voice. My most recent inclination is to dub the glottal opening itself as the "center" and declare that the glottal opening is the stabilizing point because the objective is for it to stay in the same place while all the other mechanical and moving parts surrounding it and affecting it adjust and change. All kinds of things are happening around this space, but it remains a stable centering point within the cyclone of activity. It is a strange thought that a space, something that contains no matter and that is empty, might be thought of as the center of something, similar to the eye of the storm. In that case, there would have to be no rigidity, no fixing. The space is just there, and everything else moves around it, with that as the point of reference
I think the idea of the glottal space works better than my original idea of making a specific muscular position (i.e., point of equal participation of TA/CT) the center, because that muscular position would not remain the same throughout the whole range of motion. By thinking of the opening itself as the center, that opening would remain in the same spot while things were changing around it. There would be no "coming back" to that position because it would always be maintained.
Okay, but back to the idea of a form that would take the singer through a complete range of motion surrounding that opening may not be as feasible as it is for the Tai Chi practitioner to do it in a Tai Chi form. One of the reasons it works in Tai Chi is that there can be a continuous flow of movement for an extended period of time. With the voice, there is always a need to interrupt the continuity in order to replenish the supply of air. So, one long continuous all-encompassing form that covers all bases may not be the right answer.
I guess disciplines evolve the way they do for a reason. In the tradition of training the vocal apparatus, a whole bunch of different kinds of exercises are needed in order to move and develop various different skills and qualities and train the different and varying actions of the muscles involved in singing. So, maybe the quest for some kind of unifying, all-encompassing routine for the voice that could take care of everything with one daily swoop is not realistically attainable. As appealing an idea as it is, perhaps there is no master form that can be developed that could accomplish all vocal conditioning in one fell swoop.
That leaves the singer with the task of picking and choosing from thousands of potential exercises and drills and making up a routine of their own for daily vocal mastery practice, which is always a confusing and formidable task.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Local Music Groups Like Local Farm Movement
What does that expression I've head so much -- "to serve art" -- really mean? As an avocational singer, I feel that I'm beginning to come closer to an understanding of what it means. As I now am participating in two local musical choirs, and come into contact with all the excellent voices and musicianship surrounding me, and experience the leadership of very musical and accomplished directors, it has been given me a great joy to finally begin to realize that music as an art can be served in so many ways at so many places and so many times. It doesn't depend on the venue, necessarily. The presence of a person dedicated to serving art in a small local group can make the difference for everyone.
I am still glowing from the holiday concert this past weekend given by our all-women's community choir. We sang to a packed house. We have been here seven years and now have a local following and our concerts are full of warmth and love. Our families, children, neighbors, local shopkeepers, all gather together and we all just have a great evening together. We've all helped to produce it -- from the families that made do without the family member who was rehearsing, to the friends that set aside the date and bought a ticket to come in, to the local businesses that bought an ad in the program -- each and every one of us has cause to celebrate the fact that this production is happening because of a contribution we made that makes a difference. As a community, we have produced some art and it is special because it is our own.
I had a little solo in Britten's Ceremony of Carols. Afterward, I was presented with the customary little bouquet of flowers, and as I walked to the back of the church at the end of the concert, my daughter and several of her friends gathered around me, a bouquet of flowers of a different kind. Their faces were shining and smiling and they wanted to talk to me because I was someone they knew in the choir. I loved them there with me so much that I wanted to give them something, so I began to pluck flowers out of my bouquet and hand one to each of the girls. "You don't have to do that!" they protested, as if I was giving away something so precious and valuable. But the sight of them walking away with a flower was so beautiful I could think of no better way to enjoy that bouquet of flowers (Besides, I kept the ones I really loved -- the roses).
I think it could be so beautiful to grow a movement to support local music groups something like the movement to support local farmers and growers within the community. The little choirs and chamber groups and small opera companies (like the one I saw in Princeton this past summer) remind me so much of the small farmers. While the farmers are planting seeds, using their organic farming methods, and producing crops to bring to the local farmer's market, the small community music groups are selecting their repertoire, rehearsing and growing their musical performances to bring to the center of the town for consumption by the community.
The way our community choir is bringing us together to partake of the same musical experience unifies us, just like sharing the same food does, even if for one evening. It is a very inspiring and beautiful thing and I think it cuts to the heart, perhaps, of what being an avocational singer is truly all about.
And the children who are there absorb this music, and seeds are being sewn in their hearts that serves to keep the music alive from generation to generation. Who knows what will come of it?
Saturday, October 30, 2010
A New Era for Singing
Well, it's time for me to come over and start paying attention to my poor little Avocational Singer blog. Things have been so hopping over on the Barefoot Fresca blog that I've gotten a little sidetracked over there, but I can never forget my little labor of love over here where my first passion lies.
Where to start -- where to start -- where to start?!? There is just so much going on. Some of the events over the summer and some of the thoughtful decisions I've made have catapulted me into a new era of my singing life.
Let's try to break it down:
------------------------------------Choir Number I-------------------------------------------
I am still singing with my beloved all-women's community choir. I was an inaugural member of this choir and the women there are like family to me. Just like in a family, when one member wants to branch out and grow and explore, the family member still wants to keep grounded with her sisters. So, I am kind of killing myself trying to sing in two choirs.
The interesting thing is that our choir director is on an exciting sabbatical overseas and we have an interim director who is raising the bar as far as our reading and the amount of material and the pace at which we need to learn it. This is kind of exciting, and since I'm being challenged in Choir Number II on this level it is fun to try to keep pace and apply new and developing skills.
--------------------------------------Choir Number II-----------------------------------------------
This has been so great for me. The choir director had told me, when I auditioned, that I would fall in about the middle of this choir as far as my level of mastery and technical ability and she was exactly right. I feel invigorated by the people around me -- the ones with more highly developed voices, technical mastery, and musicianship -- but also feel like I'm making a positive contribution to my section, and that my own skills and sound weigh in more on the plus side than the minus side. In other words, I don't think I'm a problem in the choir. (phew!) That fares me well in the "choir self-esteem" department.
One thing I love about the new choir is that the director is herself a masterful singer and knows about voice. She guides with really healthy principles. In addition, her knowledge and approach is close to what I am getting in my new voice lessons so one reinforces the other and I am making good progress. Sometimes what a singer has to do in choir can undermine what she is working for in lessons, so it feels really good for everything to be lined up just right. How'd I get so lucky?
Another thing I love about the new choir is that there is a focus on precision with breathing and consonants in the music. I had never heard of assigning an exact time value to a consonant before I read it this past summer in the Robert Shaw Reader
and now I am in a choir where I have to apply that concept. You know how when you learn a new word, all of a sudden you start hearing it all over the place? Well, that's what this was like.
Some people don't need things broken down to that extent (or maybe they do -- who knows?), but I am benefiting greatly from breaking it all down.
--------------------------------------Voice Lessons----------------------------------------------------
I've only had a couple, but I would definitely say my new lessons with my new teacher are going very well. I definitely feel that I am in the right place for me vocally at this point in time. The teacher is extremely knowledgeable and I am enjoying the time spent in lessons immensely and I am also enjoying some of the good things that are happening vocally towards mastery.
All in all, exciting things are happening -- if -- if I can keep up the pace. The new schedule requires me to be on top of more things: reading e-mails from two different choir directors and two different board directors, supporting the fund raising for two different choirs, helping concerts to be successful by promoting them for two different choirs, managing a new protocol for setting up and getting to voice lessons, learning two sets of music and trying to remember which folder to bring to which rehearsal.
It seems like, with two choirs, the week comes around again so fast and I hadn't got a chance to work on my music. Or I've only had a chance to look at one or two key pieces.
I believe that during this time of transition I'll be all mixed up for a little while, but will eventually get it all organized and in place. There is a learning curve when new things are introduced into a schedule and I believe I can learn to manage what I've got. I will try it out for this year and see what happens. It's a lot of fun and it really keeps me on my toes.
Where to start -- where to start -- where to start?!? There is just so much going on. Some of the events over the summer and some of the thoughtful decisions I've made have catapulted me into a new era of my singing life.
Let's try to break it down:
------------------------------------Choir Number I-------------------------------------------
I am still singing with my beloved all-women's community choir. I was an inaugural member of this choir and the women there are like family to me. Just like in a family, when one member wants to branch out and grow and explore, the family member still wants to keep grounded with her sisters. So, I am kind of killing myself trying to sing in two choirs.
The interesting thing is that our choir director is on an exciting sabbatical overseas and we have an interim director who is raising the bar as far as our reading and the amount of material and the pace at which we need to learn it. This is kind of exciting, and since I'm being challenged in Choir Number II on this level it is fun to try to keep pace and apply new and developing skills.
--------------------------------------Choir Number II-----------------------------------------------
This has been so great for me. The choir director had told me, when I auditioned, that I would fall in about the middle of this choir as far as my level of mastery and technical ability and she was exactly right. I feel invigorated by the people around me -- the ones with more highly developed voices, technical mastery, and musicianship -- but also feel like I'm making a positive contribution to my section, and that my own skills and sound weigh in more on the plus side than the minus side. In other words, I don't think I'm a problem in the choir. (phew!) That fares me well in the "choir self-esteem" department.
One thing I love about the new choir is that the director is herself a masterful singer and knows about voice. She guides with really healthy principles. In addition, her knowledge and approach is close to what I am getting in my new voice lessons so one reinforces the other and I am making good progress. Sometimes what a singer has to do in choir can undermine what she is working for in lessons, so it feels really good for everything to be lined up just right. How'd I get so lucky?
Another thing I love about the new choir is that there is a focus on precision with breathing and consonants in the music. I had never heard of assigning an exact time value to a consonant before I read it this past summer in the Robert Shaw Reader
and now I am in a choir where I have to apply that concept. You know how when you learn a new word, all of a sudden you start hearing it all over the place? Well, that's what this was like.Some people don't need things broken down to that extent (or maybe they do -- who knows?), but I am benefiting greatly from breaking it all down.
--------------------------------------Voice Lessons----------------------------------------------------
I've only had a couple, but I would definitely say my new lessons with my new teacher are going very well. I definitely feel that I am in the right place for me vocally at this point in time. The teacher is extremely knowledgeable and I am enjoying the time spent in lessons immensely and I am also enjoying some of the good things that are happening vocally towards mastery.
All in all, exciting things are happening -- if -- if I can keep up the pace. The new schedule requires me to be on top of more things: reading e-mails from two different choir directors and two different board directors, supporting the fund raising for two different choirs, helping concerts to be successful by promoting them for two different choirs, managing a new protocol for setting up and getting to voice lessons, learning two sets of music and trying to remember which folder to bring to which rehearsal.
It seems like, with two choirs, the week comes around again so fast and I hadn't got a chance to work on my music. Or I've only had a chance to look at one or two key pieces.
I believe that during this time of transition I'll be all mixed up for a little while, but will eventually get it all organized and in place. There is a learning curve when new things are introduced into a schedule and I believe I can learn to manage what I've got. I will try it out for this year and see what happens. It's a lot of fun and it really keeps me on my toes.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Gentleness in Singing
There is nothing so strong as gentleness and gentleness is real strength.
(Francis de Sales)I once asked my very first voice teacher, “Do you have to be really strong to sing high notes?”
She answered, “Yes, but it’s not the kind of strength you think.”
I have always remembered that answer as something of a mystery. And finally in my life I’m beginning to understand the mystery.
Don’t manhandle your voice. A soft sigh is the way to great resonance and sound. This is what I’m discovering. A very gentle beginning will carry you very far.
Did you ever watch the classic scenario of a child with a toy that wouldn’t go? At first she tries to get the object to go every which way, and then at some point – when she can’t figure it out – she starts slamming the toy harder and harder and trying to force it to perform the desired action. The frustration becomes enormous and the effort grows greater and greater. The child doesn’t seem to understand that her method is wrong. She makes the mistake of thinking she is not powerful enough to make the toy work, and she concludes that she needs more strength and more and more force to achieve her ends, and doesn’t understand that what she really needs is a new approach.
I have been down that path and made that mistake as I’ve literally engaged in a wrestling match with my voice over the years in my attempts to master it. Buy nowadays I have been discovering that what I perceive as small is actually the key to getting big and beautiful sound. I think this “smallness” is what Jean-Ronald Lafond refers to when he writes on his blog about “the little voice.”
I have recently been doing some exercises to find my falsetto voice. Apparently women have falsetto too but it isn’t as obvious because of women’s head voice. I always thought that falsetto, if I would bother to play around with it, would be something that would occur in my higher range. But I have been experimenting with finding it throughout my entire range, including the lower. In the process of doing these exercises, which I shall post in Frescamari’s Practice Room at some point, after only a day or two I was surprise to find this soft little cooing voice.
This is a voice that many women singers may already be aware of, but I -- with my big loud voice, coming from a family that spoke very vigorously because we had to compete to be heard -- was not accustomed to nor familiar with this soft approach.
I have begun to use this little voice to sing songs. To my surprise, when I played the recordings back, the sound was big, resonant and beautiful. The wobble or distortion that often crept into my singing has receded, because the forcing that was causing it has ceased and my apparatus is responding to the more gentle approach.
I do find that I have to be very strong to use this voice. Even stronger, in fact, then when I mistakenly let loose all the other kind of strength that I had. The strength is hard to describe, and it is not what I thought it would be. I’ve heard some singers say it is isometric strength. At any rate, it is not for those that cower at the thought of using great effort. But it is finally an effort that is being used constructively, as opposed to destructively, like the child banging the toy to try to get it to work.
I am very excited about this discovery. It is leading me to a greater versatility.
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Click here to hear some samples.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Open My Mouth -- And Sing!
The kind of singing I want to do is larger than life.
Like a lot of things that are larger than life, it doesn't feel natural when first put on. So, for a person who wants to feel natural, there can be a resistance to doing things the larger way.
When I was first learning Tai Chi forms, I learned a compact kind of form where the movements were small.
But then I moved on to learning a different form where the movements were longer and extended and took up more space. At first no one explained to me that the new form was bigger, so I was still doing it with the smaller gestures.
It takes a kind of boldness to use the larger gestures. It takes an openness and more strength. It takes more energy and commitment. It is a fuller use of self.
The reason the larger version is not comfortable or natural-feeling is because it is not within our repertoire of self-expression yet. We never needed our expression to be that large for our daily life. But something from a distance needs to be larger to be seen and heard.
I remember when I was in high school, our English teacher picked three of us from the class -- me and two of my girlfriends -- to paint a mural on the back wall of his classroom. Up until that point, I had drawn on small canvases. When I wanted to draw or paint a picture I used something close to 9" x 12." Now as I confronted the task of blowing up my vision and seeing something bigger, my brush strokes had to be bigger. I had to reach above my head and go all the way down to my feet with my paintbrush. I had to use my whole body to paint, not just my hand and arm and shoulder muscles. I had to work on a section while keeping a much larger picture in mind. I had to understand when I was painting detail that it was going to be a small part of the whole, even though it seemed so large in front of me.
It's one thing to draw a 1" circle on a piece of paper, or a 4" circle or an 8" circle. The bigger the circle gets, the larger the motion you have to use while holding the pencil. But when we were painting that mural, we might have to draw a 6-foot circle. Now a circle always comes out better when it is drawn with one or two big motions as opposed to chipped away at in choppy little sections. The sense of roundness is different.
I am finally starting to understand just how big the kind of singing I want to be able to do is.
Part of the detail work, a part of singing which seemed so small, is to get my mouth open. I must learn a larger way to form vowels, and work with a much larger space.
It is time to open my mouth now.
Like a lot of things that are larger than life, it doesn't feel natural when first put on. So, for a person who wants to feel natural, there can be a resistance to doing things the larger way.
When I was first learning Tai Chi forms, I learned a compact kind of form where the movements were small.
But then I moved on to learning a different form where the movements were longer and extended and took up more space. At first no one explained to me that the new form was bigger, so I was still doing it with the smaller gestures.
It takes a kind of boldness to use the larger gestures. It takes an openness and more strength. It takes more energy and commitment. It is a fuller use of self.
The reason the larger version is not comfortable or natural-feeling is because it is not within our repertoire of self-expression yet. We never needed our expression to be that large for our daily life. But something from a distance needs to be larger to be seen and heard.
I remember when I was in high school, our English teacher picked three of us from the class -- me and two of my girlfriends -- to paint a mural on the back wall of his classroom. Up until that point, I had drawn on small canvases. When I wanted to draw or paint a picture I used something close to 9" x 12." Now as I confronted the task of blowing up my vision and seeing something bigger, my brush strokes had to be bigger. I had to reach above my head and go all the way down to my feet with my paintbrush. I had to use my whole body to paint, not just my hand and arm and shoulder muscles. I had to work on a section while keeping a much larger picture in mind. I had to understand when I was painting detail that it was going to be a small part of the whole, even though it seemed so large in front of me.
It's one thing to draw a 1" circle on a piece of paper, or a 4" circle or an 8" circle. The bigger the circle gets, the larger the motion you have to use while holding the pencil. But when we were painting that mural, we might have to draw a 6-foot circle. Now a circle always comes out better when it is drawn with one or two big motions as opposed to chipped away at in choppy little sections. The sense of roundness is different.
I am finally starting to understand just how big the kind of singing I want to be able to do is.
Part of the detail work, a part of singing which seemed so small, is to get my mouth open. I must learn a larger way to form vowels, and work with a much larger space.
It is time to open my mouth now.
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