JMR Voice Notes

Don't Look Down

2012-02-04T15:18:00.001-08:00

I love this quote from Dr. Paul Lam about looking down, and I will definitely be sharing it with my voice students.

"The eye is the energy of the spirit - the window of the mind. Often you will notice people practicing tai chi with their eyes downcast, like this as I show you Chen style Single Whip movement. This will lower your internal energy. Now look where the direction of the energy lies, you can feel your energy being stronger and more wholesome. The principle is to connect your vision with your internal energy. Looking down is actually a part of human nature. All of us at times feel unsure of ourselves, and we tend to look down which will lower our energy. To be aware of this is easy but it is challenging to do well. However, no matter what level of tai chi you are at, if you are aware and focus on this principle, you will improve. When your visual direction is right, your energy will be stronger, your tai chi, posture and feeling about yourself improve."

I teach my students to avoid looking down because it cuts off the audience. They can't see and connect with your facial expressions. I had never connected looking down with a change in energy, although now it seems obvious.

I've always believed that inspiration and enlightenment are actual energies as opposed to just ideas. When we "look where the direction of our energy lies" we grow stronger physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Looking down, on the other hand, literally weakens us and reinforces negative attitudes (both our own attitudes, and the attitudes of others about us).

Wow.

-- Posted from my iPhone

-- Posted from my iPhone

I Have a Secret

2012-02-04T04:56:00.001-08:00

OK, it's not that big of a secret, but it is something that a lot of people don't know about me and would probably not expect from a voice teacher.

I don't crave the spotlight. Most singers I know do. Yes, some deal with performance anxiety which creates a love/hate relationship with performing, but they cope because whatever negatives they experience are worth the thrill they feel on stage in front of an audience or the joy of being the center of attention.

I have to sing, but I could easily live without performing. I sing for the joy it brings me. I sing becauses there is beautiful music just begging to be sung. I sing because it helps me understand who I am.

I perform because it is good for me to remember the fears and vulnerabilities involved in performing. How can I teach a student to deal with that if I haven't done it myself?

I perform because not performing seems like I'm being ungrateful for the marvelous gifts I've been given, both the gifts of my ability and the gifts of the songs themselves.

I perform because of the relationships formed through performance. Some of the people I love the most in this world are people I have shared the stage with. The smell of the theatre makes me homesick, not for the spotlight, but for the people and the experiences.

I perform because I know that my voice and the messages I bring have the power to affect others. And if I can help bring joy or peace to someone, I figure it is worth all the anxiety that comes with my performing.

And lastly, I perform because songs were written to be heard. Yes, I've had some moments of incredible beauty in the practice rooom. Yes, I have had transcendent experiences singing alone. But music, as it was intended, and when it is the most profound is when the energies of the creators (composers and poets), the realizers (singers, players, conductors) and the listeners (audience) unite and feed each other. It's not as common as some would like to think, but when it happens, that experience is like no other. And that, most of all, is why I continue to perform. I walk on stage not to sing, but to become music.

-- Posted from my iPhone

10 Things You Shouldn't Say to Your Voice Teacher

2011-08-11T18:55:00.001-07:00

I may regret posting this as it may seem somewhat harsh. It's not really a rant since I am quite calm. I just think that some students don't think before they open their mouths. Here is a list, in no particular order, of things you should not say to your voice teacher and why.

1. "It's been a long time since I've sung this."

If that song was part of your assignment for this week, the last time you sang that song should have been as part of your warm-up before you walked into the lesson. If your lesson is during the school day and you can't warm up before, the last time you sang the song should have been at your practice session yesterday.

2. "I think I have strep, but my mom won't take me to the Dr."

First, if you think you have strep and you are not on antibiotics, I don't want you anywhere near me. Second, a sore throat does not necessarily equal strep, but if the sore throat is accompanied by fever and/or lots of pus pockets on your swollen tonsils, you absolutely must see a doctor. Untreated strep can cause other health problems (including heart problems).

3. "I couldn't practice because I had laryngitis."

No, you couldn't SING because you had laryngitis. Practicing isn't just singing. You can learn a lot of music and work a lot of technique without phonating. Unless you are so sick that you are non-functional, you practice.

4. "I need to find a song to learn and sing for an audition on Saturday."

The only time you should be learning a song right before an audition is when they request a specific song. The rest of the time, you should be choosing songs from your repertoire list of things that you know well and have already polished. Show the directors the best of what you have to offer. If you don't have an appropriate song in your repertoire, maybe you shouldn't be auditioning for that part yet.

5. "You didn't go over this part with me yet."

The fact that I didn't play it for you does not excuse you from learning the melody. You have solfege skills. You have a recording of the melodic line (or should ask for one.) You have YouTube. Use them. Don't wait for me to spoon-feed you the melody. With foreign languages that you have not studied, I will walk you through it it first time, but there is no excuse for not knowing your notes and rhythms when you have the skills and resources to take care of that yourself.

6. "You didn't tell me."

To be honest, this only bugs me when I've said it in your lesson, emailed it in lesson notes, posted it on the bulletin board and given you a piece if paper containing the information. Please, just say, "I forgot." I love personal responsibility.

7. "I need to cancel or change my lesson because today is the only day my whole family is free to (fill in fun activity that teacher doesn't get to do because she is committed to being at school for lessons.)"

First, your whole family is not free that day. YOU have committed to be at a voice lesson for 30-60 minutes of that day. Second, if your family had planned ahead a little and had given me more notice, it would have helped me to help you.

8. "I need to cancel because I have a dentist appointment."

Why did you schedule a dentist appointment during your lesson time?

9. "I can't pay you when tuition is due because we went (or are going) to Mexico (or Florida or NYC or Europe) on vacation so money is really tight right now."

And voice lessons aren't very important to you, so I'll put someone in your time that values what happens here. Also, someday I would really like to go to Mexico myself, but I can't afford it.

10. "My music is in my locker. Do I need to go get it?"

If your accompanist or I have a copy of the music, you are 100% percent memorized, and you can remember perfectly every little detail of the things we work on without marking your music, then no, you don't need to bring your music. Basically, that means everyone should bring all the songs they are working on to every lesson.

Too harsh???

-- Posted from my iPhone

Slightly annoyed

2011-07-15T13:50:00.001-07:00

I don't usually teach on Fridays, but I figured that since I was meeting a friend earlier, I would already be out of the house, so I scheduled a lesson with a student whose email I missed and therefore didn't get her in earlier in the week. Then, since I had one student, I decided to let another come to do a makeup for one she forgot.

My friend had to cancel. The student I owed a lesson to because of my mistake cancelled.

Now I'm leaving the house for 1 lesson that technically I would get paid for even if I didn't allow the makeup.

I'm trying to change my attitude and look forward to this lesson. She's a good kid and rarely misses which is why I allowed the makeup in the first place.

I want to teach this lesson.
I want to teach this lesson.
I want to teach this lesson.
I want to teach this lesson.
I want to teach this lesson.
I want to teach this lesson.
I want to teach this lesson.

(It's not working.)

OK, let's try a new approach.

While at school I can do my own practicing and sing some amazing Poulenc and Mahler.
While at school, I will have a large quiet place to do some Tai Chi and Qigong.
If I get my butt out of the house I can stop for some yummy food on the way home.

Now I'm slightly more motivated, but still need to write a note reminding myself: DO NOT schedule lessons on your day off. You need the time to relax and recharge.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Dealing with music program cuts

2011-06-04T19:11:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, MusicTeachersHelper tweeted this question:

With school #budgets being #reduced and schools #closing #music programs, what have your schools done to prevent this?

Using "schools" this way is like talking about what the "government" is or isn't doing. The government isn't some other group out there. It is us. The schools are us--parents, teachers, students, administrators, etc. With budget and program cuts, what are we doing to save music in the schools, and if it can't be saved, what are we doing to step in and fill the needs for those students that won't be getting music at school?

I can't tell you what our "schools" are doing, but I can tell you a little about one teacher that I know and his efforts. As someone who is genuinely concerned about the future of our program (and not just his job) he has gone out of his way to form relationships with other music teachers of all levels in our district. He understands that the sucess of our high school program depends on what happens in elementary and middle school classrooms. He supports them and that helps us.

He works closely with administors both in our building and in the district helping them to understand both the needs and the benefits of a strong music program.

And last, but certainly not least, he brings excellence to the classroom everyday, demonstrating to students and parents how important music is.

So that is what he is doing. What are you doing? What am I doing to make sure music education is available to anyone that wants it?

Last year, the community where one of my friends teaches held a huge fund-raiser to help keep their music program.

Parents and others from the community can let the school board know their feelings about music education.

When we can't save music programs, we can help provide other opportunities for those students. Allegro Choral Academy is expanding to help serve kids in a district where the choir program has been severely reduced. You can help them by donating. Your donation can help
them add programs and keep tuition low. Go to http://allegroca.org/donationinfo.html and donate.

Over the years, I've given private scholarships to a few students that wanted voice lessons but couldn't afford it. It is a way for me to give back and show appreciation for the people that helped me. But each year as we do registrations there are more students that want lessons but can't afford it. If I could, I would teach them all for free, but I am feeling the financial crunch of the times too. So, this is the year. I've talked about it forever and now it is time to do something. Keep checking back for info about my new voice lesson scholarship program. It will be small at first, starting with just a few kids that study with teachers associated with our school. I hope it will grow until any child in our district that wants lessons will be able to afford them. Big dream? Of course. Those are the only ones that count.

P.S. If you want to help with setting up the scholarship program, or if you want to donate, let me know.

-- Posted from my iPhone

It Takes Time

2011-05-07T07:31:00.001-07:00

I am loving my new journey of learning Tai Chi. And I am amazed (though I probably shouldn't be) and how many similarities there are between this and studying/teaching voice. When I first began my Master's degree in vocal performance, my teacher had me read Brenda Ueland's book If You Want to Write. She said to just substitute sing whenever Ueland said write. The book is amazing and has influenced me both as a writer and a singer. In Dr. Paul Lam's latest newsletter, I found an article and a link to a video that once again reminded me how closely related the things that I love are.

The article is actually the text from Brenda Hum's talk that she gave at a Tai Chi Conference. "What does the Spirit of Tai Chi Mean?" is a beautiful exploration of what Tai Chi can do for us as individuals and as a group. If you substitute the word music, you could give this talk at a music educators' conference. Please read it. All I can add is AMEN!

The video of Marty Kidder's talk is hilarious, especially as he shares "code" phrases for how to encourage your students and what the teacher might really be thinking. Students--I just want you to know that I've been using these phrases for years, and not because you are clueless, but for the reasons he states at the end. The pursuit of any worthy goal takes time and discipline and a willingness to risk and even embrace failure in order to learn.

Someone recently asked me about my interests and activities and I mumbled a few things and then felt like I must live a pretty boring life. I think she just caught me at a bad time. The truth is, I live a pretty amazing life. I love to explore--places, ideas, feelings. I read a lot. Lately it's been more news and blogs than books, but I can't stop reading. I love watching plants and animals and people. You can learn so much from quiet observation. I love music, tai chi, and writing and those 3 interests alone could provide a lifetime of learning and challenges. I'm not perfect, and I don't have to be to really enjoy them. The mastering of any skill or art takes time, and even the greatest masters never stop learning and practicing.

I'm not sadistic

2011-01-11T16:28:00.001-08:00

I'm not sadistic. Really I'm not. Maybe my students think so, but the pure joy I feel is not because of their suffering, but because I actually think that what we are doing is fun. (And no, I'm not masochistic either.)

Last week, each student got a new song. Because choir auditions for next year are just a few weeks away, we need to be working on music reading skills, so I've been having students learn their new music by count singing and singing on solfege. And I've been having a blast! Except of course when they have complete melt downs and I have to tell them that it will take time and work but they will get it eventually.

Why do I love count singing and solfege? Because I am a total geek. This is the logical, straight-forward, one-right-answer part of music. It's a game and I love a good challenge. In fact, a few years ago on a long road trip, I kept myself entertained by singing on solfege every folk song and hymn I could think of. It was awesome.

But solfege was not always my friend. I had had a very brief introduction to it in high school, and of course, I sang along with The Sound of Music, but I never really worked with solfege until I became a music major and skipped first semester theory and skills. I missed all of the first semester easy stuff and went right in to the tougher second semester. I did well enough to pass, but I would never have said that I loved sight-singing. In grad school I took a remedial class and got much better, but still no love. The love actually came from teaching it.

As a teacher, I learned to love solfege because I was doing it nearly every day and I saw how much the students improved over all as their reading skills increased. And that is what the students just don't get at this point. It's totally normal for it to be hard. (There are those freaks, and you know who you are, that get it immediately, but most of us have to work at it.) I love it because it is now familiar, an old friend. And like any friendship, there are still times that I am challenged, but that challenge is exciting rather than discouraging.

I keep thinking of the medical teaching model of see one, do one, teach one. For me, the see one step was easy. I understood it intellectually. The do one was trickier, but necessary. The teach one step is where you really learn. I need to find ways to have students teach each other or ask more questions and get them to "teach" me. Most of them get it, they just have not spent enough time applying it and teaching it.

I suppose that the same ideas apply to count singing, but to be honest, I don't remember my own learning process. I began piano lessons at 4 and I didn't just count out loud, I sang along, so I was count singing long before I knew what it was. I know a lot of people hate it, but I've had lots of light bulb moments with kids this week as they finally get the big picture of rhythm. And if it was good enough for Shaw and his choirs, it is good enough for my kids.

I am a firm believer in the fact that theory and music history knowledge makes you sing better. Yes, I teach better tone and proper use of the instrument, but I want my students to be musicians not just singers.

Long live sight-reading and count singing!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Goodbye Micheal

2010-10-19T18:20:00.000-07:00

When I was a teenager in the 80's, I listened to a variety of music (classical, musical theatre, light pop/rock) but most of it was on the clean side--not too loud, obnoxious, or vulgar. My brother on the other hand, listened to heavy metal and a lot of stuff that I have trouble even calling music. One day, he brought his boombox upstairs and played us a song without telling us who the performer was. It was a beautiful ballad, and both my mother and I had to admit we liked it. Then he dropped the bomb and taught us the lesson. The performer was Ozzy Osbourne (or someone equally vile and disgusting) and I had admitted that I liked his work. It was a good lesson. We cannot make blanket judgements about a certain type of music or a certain performer or composer; we really have to look at each song individually to determine its value.

Micheal Larsen was just a little kid in a town far away when I learned this lesson. I don't know if he knew then the place that music would play in his life or if it was something that developed later. I know that when I met him, he was already a professional musician, touring and recording. He came to me for voice lessons, but I think I learned almost as much from him as he did from me.

I'm always a little hesitant when the first conversation I have with a student involves them telling me that they are in a band. Quite frankly, most of those people already on the professional track for this kind of music would be better helped by someone else, and I tell them that. I also tell them what I can and cannot do to help them. Rap is definitely not my thing, and there was nothing I could teach Micheal about it. But, there were other things that I could teach him and he wanted to learn.

Micheal wanted to broaden the scope of what he could do vocally. Our lessons were unique. I've never had another student that actually wanted to spend 30+ minutes of his 45 minute lesson singing solfege exercises to improve his music reading, tuning, and general vocal technique. We talked about how the concept of the vowel, its space and the sound you imagine, change the tone color. We talked about how different emotions and attitudes affect the sound. He sang solfege exercises like a lullaby or like a rant and felt how his production of the tone was changed by the meaning of what he sang. He had a huge range, both in terms of the high and low notes he could hit, and the diverse styles he could perform. All the news articles are using words like hip hop or rap when they discuss his work, but I heard so much more than that in his lessons. Had he chosen the classical music path, he would have been wonderfully successful in that area too.

Often, Micheal would bring in recordings for me to listen to. Sometimes they were examples of a tone color or vocal effect he wanted to learn. Sometimes he wanted me to hear the style of the songs and understand how they were influencing his compositions. Strangely, we didn't really listen to much rap. Most of the songs he played for me, like the one my brother played, I never would have found on my own, but I really liked them.

Micheal was a deep thinker. Our conversations were often about music related things, but occassionally we would get off on a tangent and explore something else entirely. I enjoyed the intellectual stimulation. I looked forward to lessons with a student that taught me and challenged me as a teacher to expand my views.

If you don't know Micheal, check out this story from MPR. It is one of the best I've found. This quote from the article really describes the Micheal I knew.

"I know it made me want to practice, want to get better, want to make this my
craft, and realizing that it is a craft, that it is something that needs time
and skill and growth and development to really become a good musician," he said.
Wanke says in his music Eyedea was almost like a teacher, determined to show
people it was okay for them to explore their brain and test ideas. To Wanke,
that made Eyedea's records less a collection of rap tunes and more a journey
toward enlightenment.

To be honest, I'm not sure I really knew the man that his fans and band mates knew. But I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to know this man and learn from him. I'm even developing an appreciation for rap--at least when it is done as artfully as Eyedea did it.

October voice lesson announcements

2010-10-13T04:49:00.001-07:00

Dear students and parents,
We're off to a great start this year. I've enjoyed meeting the new students and getting to know their voices. And of course, I love jumping into a new year and new goals with the returning students.

Emails
As you've noticed, I will be emailing lesson notes and song melodies and accompaniments to help you practice better at home. Also, I will periodically send emails like this one with information about coming events. Please keep your contact information up to date on the website and remember to check your email at least once a week.

Lesson Schedule
Due to days off school, choir concerts, and our studio class, the remaining weeks of this quarter will not be regular weeks as far as lessons are concerned. At this point, the website is not completely accurate regarding the schedule. The schedules for the rest of this quarter on my bulletin board. The most up to date schedule will always be there. Please get in the habit of checking the board. I will also remind you each week when I will be seeing you next. If you have missed a lesson and would like to make it up, you are responsible for signing up for a makeup lesson time. See me if you have any questions about how to do that.

Forms and Tuition
Most of you have turned in your forms and tuition, but if you are among those that haven't, please do so immediately. Each student should have turned in the Voice Student Information Form, Performance Survey, and the Policy Signature form.
Seniors, you should also turn in the forms about college auditions ASAP so that we can begin working on that material.

Please plan ahead for the Nov. 12 due date for Quarter 2 tuition. I did not charge late fees this quarter, but those go into effect for Quarter 2. I will not charge a late fee if you work out a payment plan with me.

Auditions and Performance Opportunities

Hal Leonard is sponsoring a vocal competition involving YouTube. Go to this link for more information http://www.halleonard.com/vocalcomp/
If you are interested in this, I will help you choose and prepare the required repertoire, but I do not have the equipment to make the videos, so you will be responsible for that.

On Nov. 11 we will have our first studio class of the year. All students should plan to attend either during their EVHS choir class, or after school. The after school session officially starts at 2:30, but students coming from other schools can arrive later and we will work them in.

If you want to perform at studio class, you need to turn in a Performance Application (found on the website after you login) and the homework it lists by Oct. 28. If you have questions about the homework, ask them now, not on Oct. 27 at 10PM.

Thanks,
Jeannine Robinett

-- Posted from my iPhone

The illusion of perfection

2010-09-21T13:46:00.001-07:00

In Amanda White's article in the September 2010 issue of Classical Singer she addresses some of the Internet and social media sources used by musicians in the popular music world and how they can, or should not be used by classical singers. The article is great and I agree with her assessments of these tools, but at the same time, I am disturbed by her general response that unless it shows you at your very best, you don't want it out there. To be fair, this is the prevailing attitude in the classical music world, so it is not Ms. White that I am arguing with.

I recently read Lynn Eustis' book The Singer's Ego. Loved it! It should be a "must read" for singers. My response to the book was this--I've thought that for years, but we're trained not to express doubts or fears, or let anyone know that we are anything but the very best at what we do.

Singers need to know that we all have doubts. We all have works-in-progress. We desperately need to discuss these things and know that we are not alone. What academia and the professional world does to singers in terms of mind games would be viewed as abuse in other disciplines.

I want students to talk about the reality of what it is we do without worrying about being viewed as a lesser musician because of our doubts or our less than polished performances.

But on the other hand, what does the nature of the art demand? What standards of excellence do we need to hold to in order to teach respect for the art?

In many ways, the explosion of Karaoke has been good. Otherwise shy people will get up and sing because they know that the expectation is not high. Karaoke gets the world singing. It has created a culture though, where my students feel entitled to the stage rather than earning their place on it. They think that knowing the right notes and words means that they are performance ready. But the music, the art, asks more of us.

So, I continue to struggle with how to teach artistry without creating head cases. How do you stretch them without making them feel inferior? I don't have all the answers, but I know that we can acknowledge and even value the struggles. We can show them the goal. We can teach excellence. And, we can love and nurture them. A dear friend of mine reminds me that although our titles say voice instructor, we are first and foremost teachers of people, not voices. Maybe that is where the answer lies-- in valuing both the art and the person.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Letting go

2010-08-31T15:38:00.000-07:00

Today I received some amazing news. In many ways, I already feel happier, lighter, and more excited about teaching. But this news also brings a challenge.

The choir directors have reworked how they are dividing the duties of making this large department function well. And as part of that, they decided that they need to cover the organizational stuff related to running the voice program (assigning students to teachers, masterclass day, solo and ensemble contest, all-state auditions, etc.) and just let me teach. The good news is that I was doing a lot of stressful work for the department without any monetary compensation and now I don't have to worry about it.

On the other hand, although some of the work was dumped on me, some I took on voluntarily to make teaching and learning here a more positive experience. I'm a little nervous about some of those details and how they will be dealt with in the future, but I'm also viewing it as a chance for me to learn to let go and trust.

The first two tests of my ability to let go will happen very soon. One of the reasons I agreed to do the assigning of students was so that I could make sure I had enough students. By the end of the second week, I'll know what is happening there.

The second test will be studio rotation. I've always made a rotation schedule so all the teachers get a chance at the good room and no one gives all their lessons in the tiny modules. I don't know if someone will take care of this or not. My guess is that it will be a free for all, kind of like this summer. If you're the 1st one here, you get the good space. It's actually a great motivator to get here early.

So, I've been doing this for over a decade and it's time to let go. Since I won't be organizing anything, my January through mid-April should be much nicer. I just have to prepare my students for all the performances those months. That I can do. And I think I will be even better at it without all the other stuff to stress me out.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Karl Paulnack's Welcome Address

2010-08-26T05:33:00.001-07:00

In case you didn't catch this in the September/October 2010 Journal of Singing, here's a link to the Boston Conservatory page:
http://www.bostonconservatory.edu/s/940/Bio.aspx?sid=940&gid=1&pgid=1241

This is why I am a musician!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Playing for my students

2010-08-26T04:36:00.000-07:00

I have a 2 tier "club" system for evaluating the expressiveness of my students' singing and admission to these "clubs" is hard to get. Club 2 is when the student in singing so expressively that they make me change the way I play (I become more expessive because of how they sing). Club 1 is when they give me goosebumps or make me cry.

Recent reading has made me remember that I also have the power as an accompanist to influence the expessivity of the singer. When I am only the accompanist, and don't have to be voice teacher as well, this is much easier to do. Sometimes when I am listening for technical issues my playing becomes more of just hitting the right notes in the right rhythms rather than creating music. My goal is to be more attentive to the possibilities of expression in the piano part from the very beginning of the student's learning process and thus encourage them to be expressive earlier.

In an article in the May 2010 Choral Journal, Tammy Miller discusses how an accompanist of a children's choir can aid the director in teaching expressivity. While playing parts to help the students learn the notes, an accompanist can model appropriate phrasing and articulation. I love this quote, "Quite simply, they will sing what I play the way I play it; they are easily influenced."

I've been reading Martin Katz's The Collaborative Pianist and have been pleasantly surprised to find that much of what he is telling the accompanists about building an interpretation is very similar to what I tell my singers. At first, my response was, "But isn't that the singer's choice to make?" But then I realized that he's right. If both the singer and the accompanist come to the rehearsal with interpretive ideas, it truly becomes more of a collaboration. The accompanist and singer can feed off the energy and emotions the other is bringing, creating a much more dynamic performance.

So now the question becomes, "How can I play differently in lesssons, from the first day of learning pitches, to help my students be more expressive?" I think I've already started to revise how my students learn a song. At the end of the last school year, I revised my Microwave Memorization method to involve not just learning notes and words quickly, but to include technique and interpretation from the very beginning. (To view the handout on this, click the Resources tab on my website www.jeanninerobinett.com)

My other goals are:
1. Always play melodies with expression (phrase shaping, dynamics, articulation, and meaning). They will sing it the way they hear it. If I bang, they will sound bad too.
2. Remember to ask them when we begin a new song what they think the song is about. We can further refine the interpretation in future lessons, but they need at least a general idea to get them started.
3. Practice committing to the interpretation AND listening for technical difficulties at the same time.

I started this post by explaining the 2 "clubs" to which my students aspire. Here are the 2 "clubs" that I'm working towards: Club 2--Inspire my students to be expressive by making every note that they hear me play expressive. Club 1--Give my students opportunities for goosebumps and crying as I demonstrate how beautiful those same old folk songs or Italian arias can be.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Put down the ducky

2010-08-22T17:18:00.001-07:00

Once again, I apologize that blogging from my phone doesn't allow all the same helpful features as if I was at my computer. But here is a great link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMAixgo_zJ4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

It's a lot of fun, plus it says something important to music students: Sometimes being a musician requires a sacrifice and we have to temporarily give up something really important to us to achieve our dreams. But we don't have to give it up forever, we can pick it back up again later.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Questions and answers about my studio

2010-08-20T19:56:00.001-07:00

On the Music Teacher's Helper Forum, a teacher posted a list of questions in the introductions section. I spent some time coming up with answers and decided that I might as well use this as a blog post. His questions reminded me of a survey I was putting together last year to learn more about how other voice teachers teach and run their businesses. I'll post those questions and my own answers sometime in the future. For now, here are my answers to the questions on the MTH forum:

1. Your name (or remain anonymous).
Jeannine Robinett
www.jeanninerobinett.com

2. Instrument(s) taught and/or voice?
I used to teach piano and organ too, but now my studio has grown enough that I can focus on what I do best and love most--teaching voice.

3. Years of teaching experience? Your age?
I am 40 years old and have been teaching voice for 17 or 18 years.

4. Did you have formal teacher training?
I have B.M. and M.M. degrees in vocal performance and my course work for both included classes in vocal pedagogy. In addition, I started out as an elementary ed major and completed many of the required courses there before switching to music.

5. Typical high and low numbers of students during the year? Approximate number of hours spent teaching each week?
I teach between 60 and 100 students during the school year and about half that during the summer. When I have close to 100 students, it is usually because I am teaching several small groups (3-6 students sharing a lesson). I have 28-35 hours of student contact time per week during the school year.

6. Do you perform? If so, roughly what percentage of your musical income/time is spent performing vs. teaching?
I have not done much performing professionally in the last 10 years, but I am currently preparing a recital.

7. Do you teach music privately or are you an employee of a school (or both)? If teaching privately, do you use a home studio or rent elsewhere? If a school, what kind?
I am a private contractor that works in a public school. Technically I own my own business. The students pay me directly, but I teach at the school. Students leave their choir classes or study halls for lessons.

8. Do you have paid work other than music teaching? If so, What do you do? How much time do you spend teaching music compared with other work? Is this by necessity or preference?
With the exception of the occassional performance or adjudication, my income is entirely from teaching. I prefer this. Over the years I have been able to cut back on other work and also to condense my studio to one location and this has made my life much simpler and happier.

9. What are your rates? If you don’t mind, indicate the range of your monthly income from teaching music.
Tuition is $160 per quarter for half hour lessons which includes 7 lessons plus a studio class and/or recital. During the summer I charge $23 for half hour lessons and most students enrolled for summer take between 5 and 10 lessons.
Because most students pay quarterly, I have some months that are over $8,000 and some that are under $1,000. Since the size of my studio varies from year to year, the only way I can really figure out a monthly income is to add up the last year and divide by 12. It make my own personal budgeting rather complicated.

10. Do you limit what students you work with in terms of level, age, gender, style of music, etc.?
Although I do accept children, it is always on a trial basis. Generally I prefer to work with middle school aged students and older. I teach many styles, but reserve the right to "veto" any song a student brings in that is inappropipriate for them based on their age and vocal development. The foundation of what I teach is classical, and all my students receive some classical training even if it is only to compare it to other styles and techniques. I specialize in beginning and intermediate students, but also teach advanced and professional singers. If they need more than I feel that I can give them, I send them on to someone else.

11. Do you have student recitals? If so, how often? Are they encouraged or required of students?
I have a recital at the end of the school year plus an informal Holiday recital/party. Students also have the opportunity to perform at 3 studio classes held throughout the year. Performance is encouraged, but not required. However, studio classes and recitals are part of their tuition package and I don't give refunds if they choose not to participate.

12. Do you prepare students for competitions or auditions?
All my high school students are given the opportunity to sing at the district Solo and Ensemble Contest. Sometimes other competition or audition experiences are offered to students meeting the entrance requirements. I prepare students for choir auditions, musical auditions, and any other auditions for school related events.

13. Do you teach private students or classes or both?
Most of my lessons are private lessons, but through the school, I also offer 2 person lessons and small group lessons.

14. Do you coach ensembles? If so, how large?
At this time, I only work with small ensembles (duets, trios, etc.) in preparation for Contest.

15. Do you teach at music camps?
I'm not currently connected to any camps, but would love to do more of this. Contact me if you know of any good opportunities.

16. Best experience(s) with students?
The best experiences are when I see my students succeed. Sometimes it's a big success, but often it's just those little light bulb moments when you know they get it.

17. Worst experience that comes to mind?
Having to tell a talented student that really wanted to learn that I couldn't teach her anymore until her divorced parents figured out who was going to pay the $355 that they already owed me. Especially in cases like this, I wish I could teach for free, but then how would I pay my bills?

18. Funniest experience?
We laugh and have a good time in lessons, but for some reason, I can't think of any really funny experiences.

19. What is most rewarding to you about teaching?
Watching students grow. Even the little steps forward are exciting to me. Sometimes the most rewarding lessons are not the ones of the star students, but the ones where the kid finally sings a phrases matching all of the pitches correctly. I love teaching the kids that frustrate other teachers.

20. What is most challenging?
The most challenging aspect of teaching is dealing with the students and the parents that want instant miracles, that don't understand that learning to sing well takes time, effort, and patience.

21. Have you ever felt burnt out at any time, and if so, what did you do about it?
I lived in burnout mode for several years. For me, burnout was a result of overworking. Even if you love what you do, too much of it can kill you. Over the past 5 years or so, I voluntarily cut back giving up about $13,000 of income per year. Financially, life is a little trickier, but I feel better, and I am a better teacher. I've also invested my time and money in things that feed me, like conventions, continuing education classes, and Tai Chi classes.

22. Are you a member of a professional organization?
I am a member of NATS, ACDA, MTNA and MMTA.

23. Do you attend conferences, workshops, lessons or classes for your own professional development?
Absolutely! This year I attended 3 conferences/conventions. Yes, it's expensive, but it is so worth it.

24. When teaching, do you use published materials, your own materials, or both?
I use many of the same voice anthologies that most voice teachers use. I have a huge personal music library plus a lending library for students who cannot afford to purchase music. On my studio website, students can access numerous handouts that I have prepared on voice related topics.

25. Do you use recordings in teaching?
Yes, I have students listen to professional recordings and I also record students singing at their lessons and have them listen to it.

26. Do you advertise?
My advertising is minimal. At the beginning of the school year, I attend Open House and Orientation, and go to the choir classes to talk to students and their parents about lessons. I also let the teachers at our school plus the middle schools know when I have openings in case they have students that ask about lessons. My website might serve as advertising, but I haven't paid any fees to make sure that it comes up at the top of searches.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Accompanists

2010-08-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

I've been asked to speak to a group of music teachers in a couple of months about accompanying. I can go any direction I want, but it was suggested that I might want to include training young accompanists. As I considered what I want to talk about, I decided that it might be best to structure my comments using my own musical history.

As I started making a list of people, events, and experiences that helped me to learn to accompany, I made a somewhat unsettling discovery: I received the training and nurturing that I needed as a young accompanist because I went to schools that couldn't afford to hire professional accompanists and coaches, and the church I attended does not hire professional musicians. I was given opportunities as an accompanist because there was no one else to do it.

I now live in an area where schools and churches hire professional musicians. In many ways, this is a good thing. The quality of the performances is better, and musicians are able to make money doing what we have invested a great deal of time and money in learning to do. I believe musicians should be paid, but what opportunities for training the next generation are missed when we hire professionals? Is there a way to hire professionals, maintain a high level of artistry, AND give young people the opportunities they need to learn?

Then the question becomes why should we teach young people to be accompanists? If that is truly the profession they want, there are many wonderful collaborative piano programs at the University level. Do students need collaborative experience prior to college? What about those that won't be pursuing this as a career, those students whose adult musical experiences will be avocational at best? Should we teach them to accompany and if so, why? What purpose will it serve?

Although I do occassionally take an accompanying gig, this is not my main source of income. However, the experiences I have had as an accompanist have shaped who I am as a musician, teacher, and human being.

Here is one small example from my accompanying "career" that changed me in more ways than just making me a better accompanist. Weston Noble is a big name in the choral world, especially here in the Midwest. When I was a student, and the choir accompanist, at Idaho State University, he came for a festival or clinic, or some similar event. I don't really remember the details, but I remember how he changed my life. I've always been really good at "following", but he encouraged me to do more. He taught me to be open to the music and how to work with him collaboratively, not merely follow his beat pattern. I don't really even remember what he said, but it changed the way I viewed the music, the way I viewed the performance experience, and the way I viewed myself. For a big event like that, perhaps they should have brought in someone with better technique and more experience, but I am very glad they didn't. And because they didn't I learned about trust.

I will never play as well as my accompanist/coach. She is amazing. But does that mean that I shouldn't call myself an accompanist or that I shouldn't play for groups or soloist when I am needed? Absolutely not! Yes, we need amazing accompanists and coaches, but there are places in the world where those of us that are just pretty good can do just fine. There are even times when those who doubt their skills can be great.

Watch for future posts as I explore who we should teach to accompany and why.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Making a Difference

2010-08-12T06:39:00.001-07:00

The August 2010 issue of Minnesota Women's Press (see www.womenspress.com) celebrates the 90th anniversary of women's right to vote. When I learned that it took over 70 years to get the 19th Amendment passed and the work that generations of women did to bring this about, it made me think once again about what I am doing to make a difference in the world. Is it enough? How much longer might it have taken if fewer women had spoken up? How much sooner might we have been given this right if more women had taken a stand?

With a few minor exceptions, I am healthier than I have been in over 20 years. The last several years have been about me focusing on the things that will bring peace and health to my life. I know I can't return to the overcommitted and stressful life I used to live, but is there room in my life to do something more to make a difference?

I love my current job, and don't see myself leaving it in the near future, but it was never my intent to spend my life here. This was a temporary job to pay the bills and help me gain valuable experience. The real dream, and the one that I still see at some point in my future is running my own non-profit arts school where all students, regardless of ability or financial situation, can have a life changing experience with the arts. I've seen a lot of kids miss out on these opportunities simply because there was no money to pay for them. I know teachers that only want to teach the best and the brightest because the are the most fun to teach and they make the teacher look good.

Yes, I do love it when one of my "stars" succeeds, but I know that some of my most rewarding moments as a teacher have been in seeing the growth in those students that some other teachers might label hopeless. And the growth I'm talking about is not just vocal. In my early years as a voice teacher, I had an adult student that was going through some major struggles and life changes. As we worked on a hymn we talked about what those words meant to her, especially with the situations she was dealing with. She chose to sing this song at the recital. Afterwards, an audience member (who is also a voice teacher) told me how touched she had been by this student's performance. Technically, it wasn't the best performance on the program, but because this woman sang from her heart and let us know what she knew, it was the most beautiful performance on the program. That is why I teach--to help students find the beauty and to help them know how to share it.

Last month I had a great talk with a friend, fellow voice teacher, and one of my teachers and mentors about my dream. At that point, I was really in the "I need to do more" mode. She reminded me of how important what I'm doing right now is. The students that I'm teaching now will take the things they learn (whether it is technique, discipline, music appreciation, or any number of things) and use them and share them throughout their lives. She made a difference in my life, and because she did, I am now making a difference in the lives of my students. OK, I will admit that some will leave my studio having changed very little if at all, but whatever influence I do have will continue to echo through generations.

In the past two weeks, I've heard from two different people (that didn't really stand out in my memory) that I had made a difference. They were still using tools that I taught them. Even more than the talk with my friend, these incidents reminded me of the difference I can make, that I do make, every single day.

But the question still remains--Is there more that I can do? Are there bigger issues that I can and should be taking a stand on? When is the right time, both in my life and in the history of the cause for me to become actively involved? Can I simply share what I feel and believe, or do my actions and how I choose to spend my time need to say something about what is important to me? Are rallies, marches, and hunger strikes in my future? How far am I willing to go, what am I willing to risk to make a difference?

-- Posted from my iPhone

What I do has value

2010-08-10T18:39:00.001-07:00

I just read this article http://esswellness.com/news/newsitem.aspx?newsid=868&newsitemid=4615
and was impressed by how easily I could substitute my teaching every time he refers to healing. For starters, although the primary goals of voice lessons is not healing, I think anyone that really invests themselves in the art eventually finds healing.

The author, Timothy Cope, addresses several issues that people making their livings as healers have to deal with. He talks about how difficult it is to find that perfect rate for our services where we are not asking too much and exploiting our clients, or asking too little and exploiting ourselves. This is tricky. In some ways I am glad that the school sets my fees. Since the students at school are the majority of my students, I just charge my non-school students the same amount. Based on my education and experience, I would be comfortable charging more, but I don't need to. What does get tricky though is every few years when I approach the vocal music staff about raising our rates. I understand that we want to keep things affordable, but the parents and the salaried staff need to understand that we don't get a cost of living increase each year. The good news is, I think our rates are fine for at least a couple more years. Now I just need to make sure I have enough students.

Which brings me to one of Cope's other points. We are dependent on our clients (or students). We need them so we can pay the rent. I love this sentence, or maybe hate it, or perhaps it just scares me because it is true: "Further thoughts, barely audible to our own awareness, may whisper suggestions on how to encourage our clients coming back, perhaps not so much because it is in their best interests, but because it seems to be in ours."

As a young teacher with a ton of debt, every student that wanted to change teachers or take a break was not just a blow to my ego, but a severe stress on my financial situation as well. On the outside, I think I handled things quite professionally, but on the inside I was desperately trying to come up with ways to make it work for them to keep taking lessons, even when I knew that staying with me was not in their best interest or in mine in any way other than financially.

I'm proud to report that I'm growing up. I think I am better able to help students make the decision that is best for them. Here us an example. I have a young student that is also a dancer. This fall, she will be doing dance team at school, studio dance, and her choir at church which basically means that Monday through Friday she will be on the go from 7am to 9pm. Her mother emailed to ask if she could take a break from lessons until dance team is over in a couple of months. My brain first thought of how much money I would lose if she took 2 months off. Then the smarter, more mature, more caring teacher took over (thank goodness). If I say no and insist that she continue studying, I will be adding incredible stress to a young student's life. If she is stressed out and sleep deprived, she will not sing well. It is in her best interest to take this break. What I can do is make these next few lessons the kind of experience that makes her want to come back. I can also give her some little things she can do during the break to help maintain the skills she has already developed. I made a choice based on what is best for her, and I know in the long run, that it will also be the best choice for me.

Cope also talks about sacred exchange saying, "vendor and healer, client and customer, are all sacred beings and what passes between them is sacred too". I truly view my "job" not just as a way to make money, but my true calling, what I was brought here to do. Though we don't often discuss religion, or even things of a spiritual nature in lessons, I believe that what I do is sacred. Singing is so very personal and vulnerable, that if I fail to see to true worth of that person standing in front of me, I cannot truly be the teacher they need. Seeing my part of the exchange as sacred is not new to me. Seeing that check I receive as sacred is a new idea that I think I like.

Finally, Cope has this to say about our businesses, "Perhaps we need to devote as much time to understanding the subtleties and complexities of business as we do our healing disiplines and modalities". I've spent a lot of time and an obscene amount of money this year attending conferences and learning more about the voice and teaching singing. What would my business be like if I invested the same time, money, and energy in learning about business? Personally, I would just like to show up in the studio and teach and have someone else deal with all the other stuff. But that won't be a reality anytime soon, so I need to find ways to make this sacred service that I give also be a profitable business.

-- Posted from my iPhone

The student is the method and fact based pedagogy

2010-08-07T14:32:00.001-07:00

I had a wonderful time at the NATS Conference in July and came away excited to apply the new things I learned and refine my approach to some of my ideas that were reinforced.

During the course of the conference, several references were made to Scott McCoy's term "fact based pedagogy". In a masterclass, Stephen King said something to the effect of "the student is the method" meaning that our pedagogy needs to be specific to the technical needs (and I will add learning styles) of the student we are working with at that moment; there is no "One size fits all". I also loved the bodymapping sessions with Kurt-Alexander Zeller and bought the book What Every Singer Needs To Know About the Body.

It is these 3 ideas that I want to explore together in this post: fact based pedagogy, the singer is the method, and bodymapping, specifically as it is approached in the book listed above.

First, let me start by saying that "the student is the method" has been my approach for a very long time. All though some of my teachers were "one size fits all" teachers, as an accompanist I had the opportunity to play in many studios and learned from that experience that there were multiple valid approaches (and some crazy ones) to working with any issue or student.

I've also learned that some of the worst instructions I ever received, that totally messed up my singing, can actually help some students in some situations. I'll explain more later as I discuss the "vocal myths" presented in the bodymapping book.

Although my students could get together and compare notes and find many similarities in the things we discuss, no 2 students are taught in exactly the same way. If fact, sometimes the instructions I give to one student are the exact opposite of those I give to another. For example, I have 2 students (brother and sister) that come to lessons together. It's not ideal since their voices are very different, but it is what the family can afford. I try to discuss the general principle (fact based pedagogy) and them give them each specific instructions on what they need to work on at this point in their development towards that goal. The boy has some definite talent, but likes a pushed belty (not healthy belt) sound, plus he has had vocal nodes in the past. We're working on lightening the tone, and as part of that, I asked him to sing his song quieter. His sister is also quite talented. She studied with me last year in a group setting and has already learned a lot. She is at the point where she needs to think about more energy and singing louder to really help her find that head voice resonance. Being cautious and careful and quiet just gets her into trouble. I don't usually like to give instructions regarding volume, but like her brother, she responds well to that, so I have asked her to sing louder, monitoring for tension and pain (which would be signs that she is too loud or creating the volume the wrong way).

My only critique of What Every Singer Needs to Know About the Body is that fact that some of the information is presented as "the one and only right way". I love this book. I think that understanding how the body functions can help us greatly in creating freer and more beautiful tone. I'm a science nerd and find learning about anatomy fascinating. But, some of my students will not respond well to what they perceive as overly technical information and might respond better to imagery, or other techniques. I think that if I know this information, I can use it to better help my students in whatever way they learn best.

I love MaryJean Allen's chapter "The Core of the Body and the Six Places of Balance". I do believe that understanding this will eliminate the need for some of what she calls "posture myths". But, I also understand where these come from. I think the danger is when they are taken to extremes. Here are her myths (in bold) and my responses (in italics):

Stand up "straight" as if the spine were a straight, solid broomstick. I actually agree that this is a myth we need to get rid of and I have found no situation yet where this has been helpful.
Lift the sternum high. Again, proper alignment and understanding of breathing will eliminate the need for this, but when the sterum seems to approach the belly button and move 6 inches into the body, sometimes the easiest thing to say is to lift the sternum. Yes, some students will take it too far and arch the back and tighten muscles. The problems she presents with this myth are, I believe, a case of a student taking a good thing too far.
Roll the shoulders back and/or hold them down. If a student's shoulders are hunched forward, don't we need some feeling of moving back in order to bring them into alignmen?. Again, this is a good thing taken too far, and then taught as "the one and only right way" by teachers that don't understand the principle behind it.
Tuck the pelvis under. Maybe I don't need to do comments on every myth, since most of the comments will be the same or very similar. I tend to lock my knees and end up in butt out position. Tucking the pelvis reminds me of alignment, but if taken too far, will actually pull me out of alignment in the other direction.

So here's my take on the last 3 items: I believe that bodymapping (and fact based pedagody) is the way to go and will give the best results in the long term. However, it takes awhile to explore and figure out your map. Teachers use these as quick fixes; some of them understand the alignment principles behind them and some don't. Students that don't understand the principle learn these "rules" and think that that is the way it should be and teach it, without checking for how these can cause other problems in addition to fixing the first problem.

I have great respect for school choral directors and would not want their jobs for all the money in the world. However, some of these choir directors and other voice teachers take a few years of lessons and believe they are qualified to teach vocal technique when really they are just repeating "rules" someone else told them without truly understanding the principles. It is these teachers that create voices with problems. It is these teachers that we need to be educating. At the conference, Scott McCoy spoke of the recent change in the NATS membership application process eliminating the requirement for letters of recommendation. One of the reasons for this change is that there are a lot of teachers in the world; we can exclude those that we don't think are good enough, or we can bring them into the fold and teach them to be better teachers.

The next errors/myths sections is in Melissa Malde's chapter "The Singer's Breath". Again, the information presented here is very clear. It helped me to more fully understand some aspects of breathing.

Breathing Errors

Tanking up. Taking in more breath than you need for the phrase is very common in singers and leads to all sorts of unnecessary tension...Only take in the breath you need. Use all the breath you take in. My argument here is that since I work with mostly young beginning students, most of them really do not take in enough breath. Again, we need to have the students monitor for tension and we need to be watching them to see if they are overdoing it. I believe that the statement "Use all the breath you take in" can also be taken to extremes by students. I have students that sing through 3 or 4 rests (or countless punctuation marks) because they still have breath and don't need to breathe yet. I also have students that think you need to push out that extra air with a puff before you can breath again, creating a coughing noise at the end of each phrase. It's about balance.
Keeping your ribs out during exhalation. Yes, I agree that we cannot keep the ribs completely out all the time, but I do think that trying to helps train the muscles that help us regulate the breath flow. (Again, check that you're not creating extra tension.). To put it really simply, I believe breath support is the "stay big" muscles saying no to the "collapse in immediately" muscles. Maybe this works better as imagery than as how the body works in fact.
The diaphragm is perpendicular to the floor. Totally agree here. This is a factual error! I can't begin to tell you all the strange stories I hear about the diaphragm. I would bet that 90% or more of the new students I get know (from a former teacher, choir director, friend, etc.) that you need to use the diaphragm when you sing. I'm not sure I've ever had a student that knew what that meant though. OK, a few thought they knew, but they clearly had no idea where it was or what it does.
The ribs are immovable. Again, I totally agree that this is an error. I'm glad this one was in the book for two reasons: first, I need to watch for students who believe this, and second, although I knew that the ribs do move, I learned that there is far more mobility available than I had believed.
Pushing out with the abdominals will bring about inhalation. OK, yes, I am agreeing again and maybe I have fewer arguments with the authors than I thought. This is a big error. Looking like Santa Claus has nothing to do with how much breath you are taking in. (On a side note, some students actually shift their weight forward at the hips to look like the abdominal region is enlarging, thus doing improper breathing and messing with alignment.) I think this is a misconception that comes about in choir (sorry to pick on the choir directors again). In a private lesson, we can check other things to make sure that a good breath is occuring. In choir, you may have 90 or more 9th graders that you are trying to teach about breathing. There is no way that you can make sure that every single one of them has a correct understanding of the principle.

Breathing Imagery

I love this quote from Malde,"Images may work for some singers. Other singers will take them literally and get confused. Never assume that an image that works for you will work for others. Any image that goes against the laws of anatomy and physiology is especially prone to produce movement that defies nature and induces injury."

Once again, here is my positition: Use whatever works for that student at that moment (imagery, technical information, imitation, etc.), while at the same time, making sure that the students understands what is actually physically happening (Ask them what changes physically when they think of that image or imitate that sound?). They also need to understand that today's imagery works for where the voice is today and if taken to an extreme (focused on exclusively while ignoring other issues) can cause problems in the opposite direction.

I appreciate Malde explaining the common misconceptions that occur with some types of breathing imagery. It gives the teacher things to watch for. Buy the book and read it. However, I think the thing that bothered me was that she seemed to imply (and maybe it's just the way I read it) that these kinds of things will mess up all singers for these reasons. It's seems to be another "One size fits all" or in this case "One size fits none." I don't like absolutes. Black and white keeps us from exploring and finding what will help each individual at the point they are in their journey.

So here is her list:

Belly breathing
Drinking in the breath or sipping breath through a straw
Column of air
Breathing down to your toes
Filling an inner tube around your waist
Filling up from the bottom
Suprise breath
Breathe through your belly button
Back breathing.

One of my favorite stories from my teaching was a student that had this response when asked what she knew about breathing: "You don't breathe into your lungs; you breathe into your stomach." I pointed out, as does Malde, that any air that gets into the stomach does not help us sing well; it only makes us burp. We then talked about anatomy and how she had misunderstood what she had learned about deep breathing. (I really hope she misunderstood and that noone in any kind of teaching position actually told her not to breathe into her lungs!)

Malde's chapter, "Resonating the voice" is awesome. As a 40 year old singer and voice teacher, I was ready for the details of this chapter. I'm not sure how my baby high school beginner singers would respond to the information. I think that for young voices, often imagery and paying attention to sensations that occur with correct resonance is the best approach in this area. I do love what she has to say about the buccinator and masseter muscles and have had students do some of the exercises to become aware of these and release the tension. She explores 6 resonance images and their pitfalls. Again, these things may work for some people and may cause misintepretations and tension issues for others. The 6 images she lists are:

Lofting a parachute in the back of the throat
Feeling as if you could swallow a grapefruit
Holding an egg at the back of the your mouth
Placement in the mask
Imagine a golf ball held by your upper and lower molars
Lifing the checkbones

Actually, several of these images were new to me, and I thought I was the queen of imagery! Two thoughts: First, I actually was told at one point to do the grapefruit thing. Nothing could be further from right for my voice. I hate that image and swore never to use it. Then I had a student that I had tried everything with and the kid still couldn't find the right resonance space. I think I said something like this, "I hate this, but let's try it and see if it works," and it did! In the 17 or so years that I have been teaching, I think that the grapefruit image has only worked for 1 or 2 students, but it was the only thing that worked for them. So as much as I hate it personally, and as bad as it is for most people, I still keep it in my bag of tricks.

Second thought: In Zeller's chapter on physical expression, he addresses lifting the cheeks and eyebrows as resonance helpers in more detail, basically telling you that you are wasting time and energy because none of those muscles in any way affect the resonance. But...(here I go again) those images help some students. I can't tell you the exact physical mechanism by which it works, but sometimes it does. My theory is that by thinking of lifting the cheeks and the eyebrows, other body parts go along for the ride. I sometimes have my students open a slinky vertically while singing. That hand doing the lifting is not directly connected to the soft palate, but that motion does help to keep the soft palate lifted. Our brains are powerful tools. Asking for lift from any part of the body is bound to influence others as well. On the positive side, I whole-heartedly agree with Zeller that engaging cheek and forehead muscles for technical purposes can make you look really funny. Perhaps these should be used as tools to help us find what the resonance feels like and then when we know what it is, we can let those muscles go back to their primary function which should be expressiveness.

One final thing from the book and then I'll bring this to a close. In the appendix is a fabulous section by Barbara Conable on Performance Anxiety. Only once did she slam a technique that I occassionally use, and to be honest, on a certain level I agree with her, but for my baby beginners, it is a first step that gets them to be brave enough to make sounds in their voice lessons. Overall, I love her ideas and she ends the section with a list of tips for eliminating performance anxiety. The thing that I love is that everything is so positive. We can do so much for our students by creating safe places for them to experiment and grow and by giving them feedback in a positive way. People respond better when we are building them up. Solo and Ensemble Contest always worries me. We try to get judges we know and that we know work well with kids, but sometimes we bring in people with great reputations, but that we don't know personally. This past year we had a judge that gave sound technical advice on the things the students needed to work on, but several students, including a few of our "stars", came back to the homeroom feeling like failures because the judge had not said one positive thing to them. They got great scores, but there were several hours of torment as we waited for those scores because the students had not had a positive experience in the room.

So to wrap it up, here is WHAT I BELIEVE:
1. There is no "one right way." We need to find what works for each student that comes into our studio. The method we teach them is based on what they want to do and what they need to change to get there.
2. Teachers need a HUGE bag of tricks. If we truly want to approach each student as an individual, we can't just teach them the way our teachers taught us, and her teacher taught her, and her teacher taught her, etc. My student's issues are not all the same issues I dealt with. My issues were not the same as those my teachers had to overcome. If a former "swallower" teaches a student who is already peeling paint to bring the sound more forward, we end up in a really scary place.
3. Our bag of tricks absolutely must include a clear knowledge of how the body and the brain actually work. We might not teach all those details to every student, but we need to know what should be happening in order choose the correct tools from our bag of tricks.
4. Teachers can never stop learning. The minute you know it all, when you stop your own explorations, you close the door on things that might be just what the next student to walk into your studio needs.
5. We need to reach out to other teachers, not to convert them to our ways, but to learn from them. If they are willing to talk and share, chances are that even though we don't agree on everything, they just might know something that will make you a better teacher. NATS is just one way to connect.
6. I build people. Singing is fun. Singing well is thrilling. Yes, our students are paying us to help them be better singers, but they will get there a lot faster if we don't spend all of every lesson tearing them down. I've taught lots of lessons where I have been frustrated by a student's lack of preparation, their apathy, their resistance, and sometimes even by the seemingly insurmountable challenges they will have to overcome in order to ever sing "well". But I don't think I've ever taught a lesson where there truly was nothing that I could compliment the student on. My students will tell you that I'm tough, but I always try to point out the progress they are making and make sure that they leave feeling empowered rather than broken. That is why I chose not to pursue teaching in a music major program. I don't want to tell people that they aren't good enough. I don't build voices; I reveal them. I do build people.

Good week overall

2010-04-03T10:28:00.000-07:00

I always worry when we have a week of spring break and then have to come back and prepare for Solo and Ensemble Contest in just 2 weeks. Somehow, that week of no lessons and very little if any practicing, causes students to regress 3 or 4 weeks in their preparedness. I am pleased to say that for the most part, that was not the case this week.

I must admit that all week I had trouble getting out of bed in time to get to work. It's funny how your body can get so used to sleeping in when you sleep in for a week. I was also really tired because Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were really long days. I basically came home and went to bed.

I was tired this week, but the lessons were great. I think some of the students might be getting bored with their songs now, but I love it when they know them well enough that I can actually work the details. I also recorded many of the students and had them tell me what they heard that they needed to work on. They hate to listen to themselves, but almost all of them can find issues to work on, even when their opinion of the performace before listening to it was that it was really good.

I also had two really good practice sessions of my own this week. I do something everyday, but I don't always have the time and energy to really work. A few of the songs on my recital are really technically difficult for me because of how they sit in my voice. I'm still considering doing them in other keys, but for now, I want to see how much I can improve them in these keys by just really working the technique. Last night I had a great practice session. It was so good that I didn't want to stop working. On my good days, it's hard to remember not to over do it.

I hope next week goes as well as this one. Solo and Ensemble Contest is on Saturday, so there will lots of organizational stuff that needs to be done in addition to teaching the lessons and making sure the kids are prepared.

Learners vs. Learned

2010-04-03T10:02:00.000-07:00

"In times of change, learners inherit the world - while the learned remain beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists." --Eric Hoffer

I just found this quote and I love it.

To me, this quote means that to know a lot is great and wonderful, but in order to really grow and thrive, we need to keep learning. Learning must be an ongoing process. We can't depend on the knowledge we gained last week, or last year. We have to keep learning the things that will help us right now.

To be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God. 2 Nephi 9:26
All the knowledge of the world is useless unless we can be open to new knowledge (from God or any other source) that enables us accomplish the things that are most important at that time. But, no knowledge is ever wasted. Everything we know provides a foundation for what we will learn in the future. Everything we encounter is colored by what we know.

One of the things I love about being a singer is that every time I sing a song it is different from any other time I have sung it. Each performance is colored by the new things I have learned about my voice and my life experiences. To expect or even desire to give a performance that is just like another is not only not realistic, it also will lead to stagnant, boring performances. Performances are fresh and engaging when we've practiced and learned all the details, but then allow ourselves to be open to the needs, emotions, and energy of the moment--to learn and experience as we go.

I am learned. I hope to always remain a learner.

I learned something new

2010-03-30T18:21:00.001-07:00

Today, I learned that one possible cause of nasality is huge tonsils. A student was really struggling today and no matter what I asked her to do, we could not get rid of the nasality. Finally I sent her to the mirror to see what her tongue looks like in the ng position and what it looks like down. I looked too and realized that even with her tongue down, it is touching her huge tonsils and there is hardly any space back there.

Anyway, now I know to check tonsils when nasality is a major problem.

-- Posted from my iPhone

I finally found the songs to complete my recital program

2010-01-24T11:54:00.000-08:00

I think I have finally figured out what to do with this recital I've been planning. I had a bunch of songs that I really love, but most of them were depressing and slow and I knew that an audience might not like a whole program of that as much as I would. On Friday, I finally got the music that my coach had recommended nearly 6 months ago. I spent Saturday translating, and then went over to the school to play and sing through them. Not only do they add variety to the recital program, I love them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Too many exclamation points? No. I really do love them that much.) My voice is being quirky again--I can't decide if it's the allergies, or the meds to deal with them--but even with a voice that wasn't at its best, these songs sounded and felt great.

My biggest challenge and the saddest part of yesterday was narrowing down the huge list of potential recital songs. I read somewhere that editing your novel is sometimes like killing your children. That is kind of how I felt about dropping these songs. The good news is that just because they won't be on this recital doesn't mean I can never use them. I will sing them again sometime in the future. It's just hard to let go of them, even just for awhile, when I have grown to love them so much and they have taught me so much.

There may still be a few minor adjustments to make, but I think now that I have a program that will be musically satisfying for me and interesting for the audience. I finally have some variety in the tempo and mood. Now I just need to work on building the stamina for this big program. When I feel well, I am singing better than I ever have. Sometimes I'm even shocked at how beautiful it is. But on the days when I am fighting the pain, tension, and allergies, it takes a lot more time and patience to work it into that good place. And some days, I really am better off just not singing. All that makes it very difficult to find the consistency and build the stamina that I know I need.

I'm so excited about this new music that it's hard not to practice it. I love it when I have to force myself to stop singing.

Why singers should do their own translations

2010-01-23T13:37:00.001-08:00

I love the fact that many song anthologies now come with translations and IPA for the songs. There are also several Internet programs and iPhone apps that will do the translating for you if you can't find it in a book. These kinds of translations are especially helpful for young students who are still in the early stages of learning the language. And for more advanced singers, it definitely cuts the time it takes to work up a new song.

However, I still think that it is absolutely essential that singers learn how to do their own translations. First, by sitting down with the dictionary and 501 Verbs, you learn more about the subtleties of the language. You can see how the spellings change for the different verb forms or for making something plural. Also, most word-by-word translations give one definition per word, but the dictionary often gives multiple options. I find that I have a much clearer understanding of the poet's intent when I see these other possibilities.

The second reason for doing your own translations is that those translation programs, like spell check, don't always look at context. I have a new song that I am looking at as possible addition to a recital I am planning. I recognized many of the words, and could make a fairly good guess at what it was about, but I wanted to make sure it fit my program before spending all the time doing my own translation. So I typed it into a translation app...and boy was I surprised at what I got back. The line I needed to translate was:

"mie pene segrete"

If you speak Italian, you know where this is headed. What I got back was:

"my penis secret"

This definitely changes the whole song! The program chose the most obvious match for "pene" instead of the accurate one. "Pena" means suffering or pain, and when paired with the plural "segrete" the final letter becomes an "e". The line refers to my secret pains, not my penis secret! (Just to be fair, babelfish did get this correct). I think it's safe to sing this song in front of my mother.

Yes, use the tools that are available, but also take the time to really understand the language you are singing in.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Why I love contests, festivals, masterclasses, etc.

2010-01-14T17:19:00.000-08:00

In a few weeks, when I'm complaining about getting kids ready for Solo and Ensemble Contest, please email me and remind me to read this post.

It is so easy to get frustrated in preparing students for Contests or Festivals. For starters, their idea of ready is never quite the same as mine. Will I ever be able to convince kids that just because you know the notes, rhythms, and words, and are memorized, it does not mean that you are polished and performance ready? Then there is the whole thing with communicating scheduling and fee information. I tell them at their lessons; I email them and their parents; I post it on the lesson board; but still there are always a few that say "You didn't tell me." Once you get them to the event, there's always the concern that you will end up with the crazy judge that asks the kids to do something totally opposite of what you have been working on or the even scarier one that doesn't have anything nice to say even to the amazing kids.

So why do it if it is just one giant headache?

Here's why: because some of my students are going to grow in incredible ways from these experiences. Sometimes a judge will say the same thing I've been saying for months, but worded just a little differently and suddenly a light bulb clicks on for the student. Some times the light bulb moment is not while they are with the judge, but later in the next lesson as we talk about what happened. And sometimes, the light bulb is mine.

Two of my students just participated in a major festival held in another state. Their solo performances at the festival also counted for their scholarship auditions to that college. I hope the students will forgive me for sharing their stories, and I will try to keep things as anonymous as possible.

When Student A began voice lessons with me, I knew that there was potential for a really good voice there, but there were some serious technical issues that we had to work through. It didn't happen over night, but Student A has worked hard and has nearly conquered those hurdles. In addition to the technical stuff, we have talked a lot about interpretation and singing the meaning of the song. I was unable to attend the festival, so Student A's choir teacher was the accompanist. Student A did an amazing job, singing both technically well and extrememely expressively. Student A advanced to semi-finals and I believe that qualifies this student for one of the scholarships. I was really excited for Student A's success, but what pleased me more was that the choir teacher was able to see how much this student has grown and progressed.

Student B also did a very good performance at the Festival, but the really exciting stuff happened in the next lesson. Student B described some of the exercises that the clinician had had Student B do. Both Student B and the choir director seemed excited about the changes that these exercises had made, so we tried some of them in the lesson and then applied them to another song Student B is working on for auditions. There was some progress and with more practice, I think Student B could have improved the overall sound this way. At the very end of the lesson, I was inspired by the things we had been trying and had Student B do something very different, but with the same goals in mind. Instantly, Student B had the sound that we both have been working toward for months. Would I have had my inspiration if we hadn't just discussed her festival experience? Maybe. But I think the reason it happened is because both of us were open to learning new things and trying other methods.

So why do I keep sending/taking kids to festivals, etc. when sometimes beating my head on the wall would be less painful? Because even if it is just one or two students that find that awesome feeling of success or learn something new about themselves, all the frustration is worth it.

O Holy Night

2010-01-02T11:04:00.001-08:00

For the last 10 years or so, I have been asked to sing "O Holy Night" at least once during the Christmas season. I appreciate the invitation since I don't do a lot of performing anymore, but at the same time, it adds stress to my already stressful December. Sometimes I think I should just say no, but then as I reflect on the experience later, I realize that singing this song is a very good thing and something that I need to continue doing. Here's what I've learned over the years.

1. It's not about me or how I sound. It is about what the listeners hear and feel. This year at one performance I totally skipped the second verse and didn't even know it for several phrases. My accompanist knew that I had skipped ahead, but couldn't find where I was. We ended up just having to stop and then start that section again. My younger self would have freaked out and left the meeting immediately after the song to avoid the embarassment of talking to people afterward. My calmer, more mature self didn't get thrown. The music that came after the mess up was just as beautiful as what came before. And although people noticed the problem (How could they not?)their comments afterward were genuinely positive. Even through my errors, they heard the message of the song and were touched by it.

2. Because this song does not naturally sit well in my voice and requires mega stamina, when I sing it I must focus on moving the phrases and letting the meaning color the tone. If I let it get too slow or heavy, or if I am just thinking technique, it is not a pleasant experience for me or the listeners. This year, I found some colors and dynamics that I have not been capable of previously.

3. The song continues to grow and improve the more I do it. As I just mentioned, this year I had a totally different approach to the colors and dynamics and I think it created a better sound. It was certainly more interesting for me.

4. As strage as it sounds, this song is actually a little easier a half step higher. In E flat, it just sits in the wrong place. I have to work it up half a step and then bring it back down while maintaining the lift I find in the higher key. Yes, I've considered just transposing it for the performance, but I'm almost always sick or recovering from illness when I have to sing this, and I just don't trust my B when I'm sick yet.

I survived another season with "O Holy Night". Will I do it again? Probably. It's not my best song, but it makes a difference in the lives of those that listen. So I guess I will continue to give them what they want and continue to find ways to make it easier for me.

Practice Journal 12/5/09

2009-12-05T18:40:00.000-08:00

Although I have made contact with my music every day by listening or studying the music, it's been awhile since I've had a really good singing practice. This past month or so has been a very tense one and even the short singing sessions I was able to get in did not feel good. Today felt and sounded really good. Yes, there are still a few technical things to work out, but it was so much easier. I didn't feel like I had to find to loosen up or place things correctly. I even checked the Bflats and the B (which I've been avoiding since those notes were so tight.) Sounded and felt great !

The secret to tonight's success--75 minutes on the treadmill. It's amazing how much that relaxes my body. When the blood has been pumping and all my muscles are warm and relaxed, I sing much better. The only problem is that I am tired when I start singing, so I can't really sing for as long as I would like to. I need to start experimenting and see how much exercise I need before I sing.

Avocational Singer: Whatever the Limitation; Never Give Up

2009-11-27T09:26:00.000-08:00

Here's another great blog you need to read.

Avocational Singer: Whatever the Limitation; Never Give Up

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T15:26:00.001-08:00

On my other blog, I made a more general list, but thought it would be fun to do a music related "What I am thankful for" list here.

I am thankful for my iPhone. How did I ever live without it?
I am thankful for iTunes.
I am thankful for YouTube. All of these have made learning and loving my songs much easier.
I am thankful that my parents and grandparents thought that piano lessons should be a priority. We had a lot of financial difficulties as I was growing up, but somehow, someone always found a way to pay for the lessons. Thanks for all the sacrifices of time and resources that were made so that I could be the musician I am today.
I am thankful for wonderful teachers who encouraged me and challenged me to be the very best I could be.
I am thankful for mentors who took my under their wings and taught me the things I needed to know.
I am thankful that I went to a small private junior college where I had teaching and leadership opportunities that most don't get until graduate school.
I am thankful that Mr. Keenan, though a wonderful pianist himself, insisted on having a student accompanist at the piano every day. I learned so much from those 3 years of being a choir accompanist.
I am thankful for every opportunity I had to accompany church singing, a choir, soloists, operas, or musicals from before I was even 12 years old. I received thousands of hours of free instruction as I watched directors and teachers work.
I am thankful for my students, even the one that sometimes drive me nuts. Sometimes I am most thankful for them because they keep me on my toes. They challenge me to find new and better ways to share what I know. I also love the kids whose enthusiasm and energy brighten my day.
I am thankful for my blogs. Both of them have given me the chance to say things that are harder to say in person. They've given me the opportunity to claim my beliefs and my fears, and to move forward with integrity.

So, the list is not complete, but it is time to move on to the next portion of my Thanksgiving Celebration.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Networking= Caring about people

2009-11-21T17:14:00.001-08:00

Another great blog post you need to read.
http://avocationalsinger.blogspot.com/2009/11/what-does-stay-at-home-mom-know-about.html#comment-form

I love what she has to say about how her husband really cares about the people he meets and cares about helping them as opposed to wondering what they can do for him.

Pep talk

2009-11-21T11:15:00.000-08:00

I read this amazing Nanowrimo pep talk this morning and thought I would share it with you. It spoke to me on a lot different levels. Of course, it spoke to the writer in me, but also to the singer, and also to the regular everyday me just trying to get through life and make a difference.

I hope you enjoy it. I'll try to comment more about it later.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/node/3457857

Mary Wilson

2009-11-20T16:20:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, Mary Wilson (opera singer) came and sang for our Concert Choir. She is in town to sing on a concert with her dad's choir this weekend. It's been fun to follow her career over the last 10 years. She's from Rosemount and I get to work with/see her parents frequently at music related things.

Here are just a few things that I loved about what she said to the kids and how she sang:

When she was singing, she was an amazing artist. When she was talking to the kids, she wasn't afraid to be herself and let her personality come through. The kids got to see that opera singers are real people.
She was so incredibly expressive with her tone, face, and body. I've been to many professional recitals, but few artists captivate my attention like she does. I loved that my kids got to hear amazing music that was not just beautifully sung, but sung in a way that drew them in and made them want more.
She spoke to the kids about presence at contest and auditions. You can't enter with an apologetic posture and attitude and expect your judges or audience to be interested in you. This is all the same stuff I tell them, but I'm just their teacher. She's a cool, kind of famous person.
She talked about coloring the voice depending on the emotions you are trying to convey.
She sang softly, but with a sound that still had core and could be heard in the whole room. I'm going to be reminding students of this everytime they give me that wimpy, non-supported sound that barely hits the music stand and they tell me they sang that way because it was marked pp.
Here's another thing I love about Mary--she is smart and really knows how to make a song work with her voice. She sang Schubert's "Gretchen am Spinnrade." Personally, I think this is a song that works better with a bigger voice. Had I been choosing music for Mary, I would not have chosen this song. However, it was amazing! It was one of the most gripping performances I have heard of this. She knows her voice and the style of the music well enough to pull it off. I was reminded of some of the performances I've heard of Elly Ameling where she chose music that really should not have worked in her voice, but she found the way to make it beautiful. But just for the record, Mary and Elly are the only "smaller" voices I've ever heard pull this off. Most of the performances by smaller voices were just painful for all of us. And no, none of you high school students will be singing this one any time soon, no matter how much you love it.

Mary's probably never received a review quite like this one, and I hope that if she ever stumbles upon it that she will forgive my very casual approach here. If you ever get a chance to hear her, don't miss it. You will not be disappointed.

Learn more about Mary at www.marywilsonsoprano.com

Me and House

2009-11-11T18:42:00.001-08:00

I love the TV show HOUSE for a lot of reasons. First, I'm a total science geek and a mystery lover, so what could be better than a show where they are trying to figure out the mystery illness. Second, I love Hugh Laurie. Even as the cantankerous, unshaved House, he's hot.

But, this is a voice blog so perhaps I should move on to why teaching voice is like being a doctor on HOUSE. Many years ago, someone told me that if I couldn't immediately identify and fix a student's vocal problem that I shouldn't be a teacher. I used to think the same thing about doctors--they should add up all the symptoms, immediately come to a diagnosis, and recommend the treatment that would fix it. Obviously, that isn't the case on HOUSE. If it was, the show would only take 5 minutes. The problems for both doctors and voice teachers are that
1. We don't always know all the symptoms. We try to ask the right questions and make the right observations, but sometimes a patient/student doesn't tell us something because they don't think it is important, but it's the one thing that might help us make a definitive diagnosis.
2. Often, similar symptoms can have very different causes. Even a grouping of 3 or 4 symptoms might still give us multiple options for diagnosis.
3. Since each body is different, we have to tailor the treatment for each individual. My mom and my dad react very differently to pain medications. My mom can usually only handle a half dose of the mild stuff. My dad needs the heavy duty drugs and quite a bit of them. As much as I hate it, and as bad as it is for my voice, sometimes the only thing that will help a student open enough is to tell them to imagine a grapefruit in their throat.

Today, we spent most of one lesson struggling with the same concept. As I teacher, there is part of me that gets frustrated with this and I start to doubt myself. Sometimes, ok most of the time, the kids also get frustrated. I'm so glad that my student tonight was so flexible that she didn't get frustrated. We just kept trying different things until we found something that worked. And she sounded great at the end of the lesson. I was able to diagnose and treat this "patient" within her half hour "episode". I wish it was always like that. Unfortunately in real life, things often take longer. I just need to remember to be patient with the process.

-- Posted from my iPhone

NATS

2009-11-08T13:10:00.000-08:00

I love going to the NATS student auditions. I wasn't able to go on Friday this year, but spent all day Saturday there. It's fun to connect with colleagues that I don't get to see often. It's also nice to hear singers that are more advanced than my own who are mostly just beginner high school students. Each year, I'm also reminded of some very important things.

1. It is so important to choose the right rep for each voice. It can make or break an audition. A gorgeous voice singing something that is not right for him or her will not sound good.

2. We don't always sing our best every time we open our mouths. I was surprised that some of the singers in the finals had made it to finals. But, I also judged a semi-finals round and heard different things from those singers in the finals than I did in the the semi-finals round. The girl who won had had a good semi-finals round, but based on all her rep, I wouldn't have chosen her as the winner. But, in the finals round, she sang her best song and she owned it. It had been good at semi-finals, but was great at finals.

3. We all have different preferences for the tone we want to hear. I was a little surprised by some of the rankings in the finals, but it was not because I was wrong, as much as that there were other teachers who had a different preference.

4. Even when they are no longer studying with you, your students are always your students. I was so proud of one of my former students, now in her junior year of college, that won her division.

Overall it was a great day.

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

2009-11-03T18:09:00.000-08:00

Bonus points if you can correctly identify the source of today's title.

Today was mostly about being freaked out over all that I didn't get done over the weekend and all that has to happen soon. I also didn't feel well and had lots of pain and tension issues.

But then, I decided to do a little bit of singing, just to see what my voice was like. I found a new Brahms piece that I wanted to try out. I did a little warming up and then did some sight-reading of 2 Brahms songs. I think one will work well and might be a good back up piece if I'm still having tension and pain that cause high note issues. It sits nicely in my voice and moves well. The second song was pretty, but not a great fit at this point. Then I sang through a couple of the ones I'm currently working on and they sounded amazingly good, considering how I felt. Since that worked well, I pulled out a Brahms song I did several years ago. It's a little different in character from the ones I'm working now, and might be a good one to pull back for the recital. Today it was a completely different song that it was when I sang it several years ago. The spots that previously stressed me out were easy. I'll have to try this out with Ruth and see what she thinks.

Anyway, I love when there is at least one bright moment in a difficult day and today Brahms took care of that for me.

Practice Journal 11/2/09

2009-11-02T18:27:00.000-08:00

My coaching with Ruth was cancelled today. I was disappointed, but a little relieved too, since I'm still not feeling well. So instead of getting dressed and going to St. Paul, I crawled back in bed with my iphone and my music binder and did a couple of hours of listening and score study.

Today I noticed how much my perception of performances is affected by how I feel physically and emotionally. Different performances were my favorites today as those singers connected with the place I was today.

Schwarzkopf's "wogenblauen" (the soft G in Morgen) is still the most gorgeous sound ever, except maybe Caballe's floaty high note in "Casta diva", but I didn't listen to that today so it doesn't count. Schwarzkopf has an interesting voice. The things I've listened to are not very consistent, but maybe I've been listening to the wrong things. However, when she is on, she is so on that you forgive every other little flaw.

This is a big oversimplification I am sure, but as I listened to the voices of the past, singers that are now dead or retired, I hear tone that is less consistent, but overall performances that I like more than some current performers. It's almost like the current generation has perfected the sound too much, losing the risk that must be involved to achieve true beauty. Of course there are exceptions, on both sides, but still I wonder. And it makes me wonder about my own singing. Yes, I need to really work the technique and the sound, but I can't forget that first and foremost it is about communicating and connecting with my audience, whoever it may be. A pretty sound can't make up for missing expressivity. Beauty is something much deeper than just the tonal concept. I think it involves vulnerability.

More on this later.

Theme songs

2009-11-02T17:54:00.000-08:00

I just read a blog from a singer about what she learned about herself by looking at the songs she was drawn to. It made me think about my "theme songs".

To be honest, I can only think of two of them at the moment, but I want to share them with you. When I was in college, I discovered the musical The Secret Garden, and "Hold On" became my theme song. Sometimes I heard a dear friend sing it to me, and sometimes I was singing it to myself. Those were very dark years in my life. The only thing that kept me going was the hope that there was something better down the road. "Child, hold on, it's this day, not you, that's bound to go away."

The year 2000 was a major turning point in my life. "Hold On" was still my theme for a few more years, but soon it was replaced by "Defying Gravity" from Wicked. I felt energized and enthused and ready to take on the world. I was making my own choices, finding my own path and I no longer felt that I had to live up to the expectations of everyone else.
"Something has changed within me Something is not the same I'm through with playing by the rules Of someone else's game Too late for second-guessing Too late to go back to sleep It's time to trust my instincts Close my eyes: and leap!"

I'm still working on finding my own path, but "Defying Gravity" isn't really my theme song anymore. I'm not sure what is. I'm in a calmer place now, no longer fighting to survive, or fighting to live my own life.

I have some favorite songs, like Mahler's "Ich bin der Welt Abhanden Gekommen", but I'm not sure that I would really call it a theme song. And I love the Brahms, Strauss, and Puccini I'm working on now, but the despair and loss most of them present are also not where my life is now.

I'm not sure this is my theme song, but today it makes me happy. John Denver's "Sunshine on my Shoulders"
Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry
Sunshine on the water looks so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high.

I love the sun and hope more sunny days are on the way.

Pianists

2009-11-01T18:57:00.001-08:00

As singers, we frequently discuss our favorite singers, past and present. Doing all the listening that I have been, I've once again been reminded how important the person sitting at the piano is. I don't care if you call them collaborative pianists or accompanists, as long as you realize how important they are and what they bring to a performance.

I've served in both roles, and yes, I do mean served. It's not about us. We're merely there as vehicles for the music. Last week I helped out a co-worker by playing for his audition DVD. I had forgotten the joy of being on that side of the piano. I still think he could have used someone whose technique was stronger, but I so appreciated the opportunity to be part of that wonderful music making.

And now to the point of the whole post--I love Gerald Moore! I think he and I could have worked beautifully together.

So, now is your chance to comment and let me know that someone really does read this.

I've often thought about which people from history I would most like to meet. Today the questions are about musicians.

What pianist from the past (must be dead or retired) would you most like to work with?

Is there a conductor from the past that you would like to work with?

-- Posted from my iPhone

Practice journal 10/31/09

2009-11-01T03:40:00.001-08:00

After cleaning most of the house and doing the grocery shopping, I really felt too tired to practice, but I went to school to try anyway. The warm up took longer than usual since I was tight and tired, but I finally got things loosened up and had a fairly porductive practice.

The interesting thing was that An die Nachtigall and Die Mainacht worked pretty well, while the others that have been good were only OK. An die Nachtigall was better than it's been in a long time. It was more comfortable and much more fluid. I hope I can keep that for my session with Ruth on Monday.

On the other hand, I seem to have lost the magic of O kuhler Wald. It wasn't bad, but it didn't sound or feel like it had lately.

One of the things that is frustrating for me is that with my allergies and fibromyalgia, it seems like I have a different voice every day. It's hard to find any consistentcy. Since it's constantly in flux, I can't really go for the same sound or even the same physical sensations that I had in a previous session. The only thing I really can do is make sure that the vowels are placed high and everything stays loose. If I can achieve that, I usually like the sound, even if it feels and sound different than the last time I practiced.

I love writing. It really helps me to clarify and work out my issues. I was frustrated over the lack of consistency, but in writing, reminded myself of the solution. Love it when that happens!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Practice journal

2009-10-30T22:15:00.001-07:00

I had great plans to practice a lot over this long weekend, but my body had other ideas. I'm feeling a lot better now and hope to get over to the school to do some singing tomorrow. All the listening and memory check stuff I've been doing is good, but I really need some singing time.

I'm working with Ruth again on Monday and I'm excited to get some feedback on what I've been doing. Since my voice still isn't at it's best, we'll probably work the lower/easier stuff.

I bought 2 more recordings on iTunes today. I really need to stop. It's easy to spend a lot when song are only $.99. I do think though that it has been worth it. I've done far more listening with these songs, and listened to more singers on each song than I ever have before. I think it has given me more ideas about what I want to do and what I want to avoid.

YouTube has also been a great resource. The other night I watched several performances by several different singers of "Vissi d'arte". There is one of Callas that is amazing. Another of her is great for the acting, but had some serious tuning issues at the end. Caballe is also interesting to watch. I have a
Tebaldi recording that I love, but the only video I could find of her singing this was not all that impressive. I wondered if maybe the reason it lacked dramatic interest was that even though there was a set and she was in costume, it was a
performance just of that song and not the full opera. I also watched a vocally glorious performance by Renee Fleming that seemed to have similar issues. For me, her facial expressions did not match what is going on in the opera at that point.

I'm planning to do some video recording as I get closer to performance so that I can make sure that I am conveying what I intend to convey.

I should be doing more audio recording now, but it just seems like a waste with all that I already know I need to work on.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Excuses vs. taking care of myself

2009-10-25T16:40:00.000-07:00

Life has been busy. I've been tired. I could go on, but it's the same stuff that always gets in the way of writing or singing. I haven't even been reading other blogs this week. (And a week of blogs is a lot to catch up on.) I could beat myself up for not accomplishing all that I should, but what good does that really do. Instead, I choose to acknowledge that there were some difficulties this week, and I did what I needed to do to take care of myself. My house is much cleaner and I've had the rest I needed. I've also got the sugar and caffeine out of my system which will make me a much kinder person.

The good news is, even though I haven't had much actual singing time in my practice, I've still been able to make contact with my music every day. Teaching also reinforces vocal concepts even if I don't get a chance to apply them myself as much as I would like.

I'm including links to 3 blogs I read this week that I think are awesome. I don't always agree with this author, but I like the fact that she tells it like it is. She doesn't sugar coat anything. She says, here's who I am and what I believe. I hope you find something useful in her writing.

http://susan-oncemorewithfeeling.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-large-is-your-spirit.html

Ok, I'm having technical difficulties today and can't seem to get the other blogs to link. So, once you've read "How large is your spirit", also read "fix my voice" and the blog on vocal health.

Frustrations

2009-10-20T15:50:00.000-07:00

In case anyone is actually checking up on me, I have practiced the last few days. I just haven't had the time/energy/ desire to post about it.

I took the long weekend as a much needed vocal rest time. I also spent more money on iTunes and did a lot of listening and work on memorization.

Yesterday I tried singing again and even though the voice was very rested, it wasn't one of my better sessions. I was just too tense and in too much pain to make good sound. This is starting to get frustrating. Yes, I'm learning a lot through this whole process, but I still need to learn how to balance the rest of my life so that I can get my best sound more often.

Today I didn't have much time to practice, but I finally felt better about the sounds I was making. It wasn't as hard today.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Practice journal 10/16/09

2009-10-16T16:14:00.001-07:00

More listening and memorization work. Today I focused on 3 of the longer songs(at least as far as words go)--Die Mainacht, An die Nachtigall, and Schlechtes Wetter.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Practice journal 10/15/09

2009-10-15T21:07:00.001-07:00

I'm saying that I'm giving myself a day of vocal rest, but really, I was just too tired to go to school to sing and I can't sing at home.

I finished putting the song texts into my phone notes. I also ckecked memorization as I exercised. Dein blaues Auge, O kuhler Wald, Ach Lieb ich muss nun scheiden, and Die Nacht are solid. The others still have one or two places where I have to stop and think, but I'm getting close.

I'll do a little listening tonight as I fall asleep.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Practice journal 10/14/09

2009-10-14T17:56:00.001-07:00

Typed more of the words to my songs into the notes section of my phone so that I can study them anywhere. The only problem is that the auto correct keeps trying to change some of the German words. Everytime I type "dich" it gives me "dichotomy".

I also did some singing today while conducting, letting the movements my body wants influence the conducting gesture and then both influencing my line and tone.

I'm totally worn out now and I going home to go to bed early. On second thought, maybe I'll go get a movie.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Lessons that energize

2009-10-13T17:13:00.001-07:00

I love when the teacher is emotionally and physically drained, but students are willing to work hard and leave the teacher with more energy than at the beginning of the lesson. It' so much better than those students that just suck all the life out of you.

My Friday students were awesome last week! I love ending the week on a high note.

I also taught until 7pm tonight (and started at 8:25 am). I wasn't sure how I was going to get through the last two lessons, but the enthusiam of the students was contagious. I feel great now. Thanks!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Practice journal 10/13/09

2009-10-13T10:02:00.001-07:00

Did a little practicing when a student didn't show up. I worked on the low stuff again, but this time also recorded to see if what I was feeling and hearing from the inside was what the rest of the world heard. I was pretty close, but recording helped me to pick up a few other details that needed tweaking.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Practice journal 10/12/09

2009-10-12T19:50:00.001-07:00

My upper range still is giving me trouble, but I had a great practice session today just working the lowest phrases of several songs getting everthing to be relaxed and lined up.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Practice journal 10/10/09 & 10/11/09

2009-10-11T19:16:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I just did gentle warmups and listening. I was very tense, so I mostly focused on loosening that tension.

Today I did more listening. I can't find a recording of Ich trage meine Minne that I really like. I did find 3 that I like parts of, so I'll be listening to those. On iTunes, the clip they played for most of the songs was the middle section. Why does nearly everyone think that they need to yell the high note? On so many of the recordings it just seems pushed and strident. I guess I know what to work on avoiding.

I also read through all the words to the Brahms, Strauss, and Puccini. I need to remember to leave one of the copies of the Debussy at home so I can review and study it here.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Icebergs

2009-10-10T15:09:00.000-07:00

It's another day of double posts--here's part of what I posted on my other blog.

Little children seem to have a fascination with the word "why". They want to know the why of everything, sometimes much to the annoyance of the adults they keep asking. But on the opposite extreme, sometimes as adults, we fail to ask the question "Why?" and respond only to the behaviors, actions, and situations that are currently present. We punish the offender or medicate to relieve symptoms rather than digging for the deeper meaning of the offense or pain. Don't get me wrong. I'm not opposed to punishment or pain meds. But, if that is as far as our interaction goes, we are not getting to the root of the problem. Or as I learned at the autism workshop, we are just addressing the tip of the iceberg.

As I'm sure you know, the part of the iceberg that is visible above the water is usually a very small percentage of the full iceberg. Although what is above the water line is dangerous, it is what is below the water line that is the real iceberg and because we cannot see it, it poses a greater risk. I wish I could just reprint these illustrations for you, but I will do my best to describe them. When looking at the iceberg that is called "Tantrums", we see that the specific behaviors lying above the water line are screams without apparent cause, self-injurious, and destroys toys. If we respond only to those behaviors that we see, noone is going to be happy, and nothing will improve. If we look at and work with the underlying deficits, that part of the tantrums that lies below the water line of our iceberg, we have a chance of changing things for the better. Those underlying deficits are unable to communicate needs, emotional inconsistency, poor understanding of the situation, strong need for closure or sameness and low frustration tolerance. To be honest, if I were a parent dealing just with the specific behaviors described here, I would probably be an abusive parent. But looking at the underlying causes helps me to love this child more and look for ways to help him or her.

Let's move this concept beyond autism. Take for example the social/political situation in the middle east. It's very easy to condemn those horrible people and what they are doing to their neighbors based solely on religious differences, but when you take a look at the last few thousand years of history in that region, or even the last hundred years, the lines between the good guys and the bad guys become blurred. You start to understand why they feel wronged and why they feel entitled to the land and the government of the people.

And what about our health? How many of us go to the doctor because we want him/her to fix what is wrong, meaning make the pain or disease go away? Do we take the time and interest to ask why it may have occurred in the first place? Western medicine is improving in this area, but I think we have a long way to go. I love my fibromyalgia and I bet you won't find many people that will say that. The reason I love it is because my body is constantly reminding me of what it needs. If I treat it with love and compassion, it is much kinder to me. It's very easy to treat the pain with meds, and the fatigue with sugar and caffeine, but it is a short term fix, and in the long run, makes things worse instead of better. When I am in pain, I need to look at why. Is my stress level too high? Have I missed too many workouts? (Endorphins are amazing.) Have I consumed too much sugar and/or caffeine or even carbohydrates in general? Although they help with the fatigue, they make the pain and inflammation much worse. If I'm tired or not sleeping well, I need to look at why? Is it the rebound from the sugar and caffeine? Have I missed my daily deep breathing exercises? Is my bed in dire need of replacement? The answer to that last one is a definite yes.

Finally, I need to be asking the question "Why?" more as I work with my students. It used to create great frustration when my very talented students wouldn't practice, but as I've come to understand some of the their reasons, it bothers me less. Rather than the lecture on how they'll never improve if they don't spend hours practicing, I now try to help them find ways to fit in whatever they can in their lives and we're all happier.

It is also easy to treat a vocal "symptom" without ever addressing the actual cause. Here's my favorite example and one that I'm constantly dealing with with my students. The [i] vowel can be a singer's best friend or their worst enemy. For those of you not familiar with IPA, I'm referring to the ee sound like in the word cheese. In fact, think of that horrible bright smiley word that photographers have you say to make you smile and you'll understand why choir directors hate this vowel. As it is normally spoken, it is very bright, shallow, and horizontal. If sung in the same manner, its sound jumps out of the texture of the music and doesn't blend well at all. Some choir directors will have students change all [i] sounds to [I] as in the word skin. Others use other ways to manipulate the sound of the group vowel. But what happens too often is that when kids come to me, I discover that their perception of the fix has totally destroyed anything even closely related to the [i] vowel. Often the kids are pulling their tongues way back. Yes, it does take the piercing sound out, but now the vowel jumps out of the texture in the other direction. You have beautiful clear sound, and then a really muffled swallowed [i] vowel breaks that line. In the choir teacher's defense, they cannot check how every student is interpretting their instructions. They just hear the overall result of the choir. When the choir [i] is what they want to hear, they assume that the individuals are creating it correctly.

The true and beautiful [i] sound is not achieved by changing the vowel or by pulling it back. It is achieved through making it vertical and releasing the tension in the jaw and tongue. That [i] is wonderfully resonant AND lines up with everything around it.

When a student seems to not even try when given new instructions, it's easy to decide that they don't care, that they are just oppositional by nature, or as one teacher decided about me, that there is just something wrong with the student. To be honest, there was something wrong, several somethings actually, but what was most damaging about her assessment was that it seemed to imply that I was hopelessly flawed and couldn't be fixed. It's easy to assign labels based on behavior. It takes more work, more time and more energy to find the underlying causes beneath those behaviors.

Practice journal 10/9/09

2009-10-09T18:20:00.001-07:00

Just listening and memorization checks today. Although I didn't have the energy to do my own practicing today, lessons went really well.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Practice journal 10/8/09

2009-10-08T19:17:00.001-07:00

Just listening today.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Practice journal 10/7/09

2009-10-07T18:53:00.001-07:00

My voice is still not at it's best, but I'm learning a lot anyway.
One of my books has the title Verzagen translated as Despair. Today I looked it up in my German dictionary. It said despondent. Yes, they are very similar, but despondent makes me sing it better.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Practice Journal 10/6/09

2009-10-06T17:10:00.000-07:00

I had a chance to warm-up and start my practicing when a student cancelled her lesson for today. Verzagen is just feeling really awkward right now. It's not bad, but it's not really improving and going where I want it to. I think I need to set it aside for awhile and focus on other things.

After all the teaching was done for the day, I stayed and worked on the Strauss songs. The Schlechtes Wetter high note that I wanted to work yesterday actually worked today. Overall, the high notes are feeling much better. I just need to remember not to force them. It's the same issue with the higher pitches in Ach, lieb ich muss nun scheiden. I have to remember that those notes are easy for me now and don't take as much effort physically as they used to. The last page of Die Nacht with all those repeated Ds is also feeling much bettter. The G is also good, but coming down after that still needs to be worked and smoothed out a bit more.

Practice Journal 10/5/09

2009-10-05T14:49:00.000-07:00

Stayed at school after lessons today to practice. I was able to accomplish a couple of things, but the top is still a little rough, so I only did a couple of the Strauss songs and then quit for the day. I really wanted to work the high phrase, because it is so close to being what I want, but by the third attenpt, I knew it wasn't going to happen today. My voice was doing weird things when I was just talking to students today, so I didn't want to push my luck. We have a few long weekends coming up and I'm interested to see how my voice is when I have a little more rest. Hopefully it will be better.

Practice Journal 10/3/09 and 10/4/09

2009-10-04T15:24:00.000-07:00

Difficulty with computer and iphone kept me from posting yesterday.

Yesterday, I did a lot of listening. In fact, more than I intended. I was going to take a nap and listen to 4-5 songs as I fell asleep. However, I must have changed something without knowing it, because the music just kept playing for my whole nap. I would wake up enough to hear that it was still on, but not enough to turn it off. It also worked into my dreams in weird ways.

In additions to the sleeping/listening, I did some attentive listening and then went over to the school in the evening to do some other work and practice. By the time I started singing it was almost 10PM. It was weird. I was tired, but relaxed enough that the sound was actually pretty good. From the way it feels though, I think I might be on the edge of laryngitis again, so I'm giving the voice a rest day. Yesterday I sang through 3 of the Strauss songs since I've been listening to those a lot lately. The high note in Schlechtes Wetter really felt good and I didn't even need the breath before "wallen". That's a first.

I've been listening to Schlechtes Wetter as performed by Kiri Te Kananwa, Elly Ameling, Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, Renee Fleming, and Christa Ludwig. Very interesting. At this moment, I like the Ludwig version best. Gorgeous, and I think her concept of the piece is closer to mine than some of the other recordings I've listened to. I thought she was a mezzo and she sounds like a mezzo, but she sings this in the high key with absolutely no difficulty on the top. I thought maybe I was thinking of the wrong singer, so I googled her and found out that she is a mezzo, but later in her career also sang a few soprano roles. Cool. Again, we see the wisdom of finding the right key for your voice. She definitely has the notes and it sounds great in her voice.
It's also interesting to listen to the choices the pianists make. The pianist playing with Fleming is very good, but I like the Gerald Moore color and interpretation better. He's the accompanist on 2 of these recordings and I'm planning to listen for differences in them. Differences could be responses to the specifice singer, or changes or maturing in his own interpretation through the years. More later when I've done more specific listening.

Practice journal 10/2/09

2009-10-03T05:03:00.001-07:00

For the last couple of days, I've been sight reading from Arie Antiche Vol. 3 as part of my warmup. There are some nice songs in there that I would like to use with my students. I love the 24 (or 26, or 28), but with as many students as I have, I need to find more rep so that we don't have 3 or 4 performances of "Se tu m'ami" at every studio class.

I also spent way too much time trying to get a cd that I own imported to my iTunes and then onto my phone. But I did finally get all the kinks worked out and now I can listen to Kiri sing Strauss.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Practice journal 10/1/09

2009-10-01T19:59:00.001-07:00

Just listening tonight.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Permission to be bad

2009-09-30T19:28:00.000-07:00

I'm all about lofty goals and high standards. I can spend an entire lessons
picking at little details that need to be improved in a student's song. But sometimes we have to give ourselves and our students permission to be bad. Sometime that is the only way we grow.

This week a student expressed concern that her voice just isn't sounding as good as it used to and that she didn't feel like she could do things that she used to be able to do. Anytime a student comes to me with these concerns I want to make sure that both of us know exactly what is going on with the voice and determine if there is something I need to send him/her to a doctor for. The first thing I have a student do is keep a voice journal recording what they do, what it feels like and how it sounds. For this particular student, I also made a check list of technical things that she could check when she wasn't happy with her sound. And finally, I gave her a list of things that can affect the voice and how it sounds and feels. We didn't have to go far into the list to discover the reason her voice wasn't happy. She has a very tough schedule this year at school, and her stress level is really high. I know from personal experience what that can do to a voice. So we talked about doing what she can do and understanding that it won't be good, but she can learn and progress.

Tonight, my practice session was a perfect illustration of that. Today I was dealing with a lot of pain and tension, which is bad news for a singer. As I started to work on my songs, it didn't feel good and I could feel and hear lots of things I wanted to change. But, since I knew how hard that would be on a night like tonight, I gave myself permission to be bad and focused on checking my memorization. Because I gave myself permission to be bad, I didn't stress over those things I didn't like. That just adds more tension. I focused on what was working well. By the time I finished, I was actually making pretty good sounds, but I wouldn't have arrived at that place if I'd freaked out over the details tonight.

There are some practice sessions where you need to pick things apart and really do the detail work. And sometimes, you need to go for the big picture, allow bad sounds to happen, and be open to whatever good comes. I'm learning that about my own work, and I'm planning to be more conscious of it in the work I do with my students.

Practice Journal 9/29/09

2009-09-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

Yes.

Practice Journal 9/28/09

2009-09-28T20:05:00.000-07:00

Did a little warming up today when a student didn't show up. The voice is still not happy, but it is getting better. In addition to my usual memorization and listening work, I played through most of the Brahms songs. I like to play the accompaniment because it helps me to be aware of what is going on there in a way that I don't get by just listening. I also find new ways of shaping the phrases as I pay attention to the harmonic rhythm.

Myths and Misunderstandings

2009-09-28T19:17:00.001-07:00

Not long ago, a fellow voice teacher's status on Facebook told us about a new student of his that thought she was a good singer because she "sang with her diagram."

The beginning of the school year is always a fun time for finding out which kids are completely confused but are confident that they know everything. And it's not just the kids new to my studio. Some of the returners are a little confused too.

Most kids are clueless about the diaphragm. Their choir teachers told them to sing with it, but either they didn't explain what that meant, or the kids weren't really paying attention. (And yes, not paying attention could be the real problem here.)

Here are some of my favorite things I've heard from kids:

"When you breath in, you need to fill up the diaphragm."
Will someone please explain to me how to do this? You can't put anything in it. It descends. Time to talk about anatomy and pull out the cool pictures.

"For singing, you breathe into your stomach, not your lungs."
OK, I can understand how this misperception got started. It's because we refer to the entire abdominal region as the stomach and teachers are trying to get the kids to take low breaths, not shoulder breaths. However, once again, it's time for the anatomy discussion. The only place you can breathe into is your lungs. If you breathe into your stomach, it doesn't make you sing better; it makes you burp!

"But my last teacher said it didn't matter what it sounded like if the technique was right."
(Sounds of me screaming and pulling out my hair!) Technique is a tool to help us create beautiful sound, not the goal itself. If it doesn't sound good and feel good, the technique is not right.

Now, just to be fair, I'm sure that there are kids out there right now telling their new college teachers that I told them to sing out their eyes. And for some of them it is true. I use a lot of imagery and movement to help my students find their best sound. Most of them are high school students and don't need to know all the technical information about what is really happening. However, when I have them do something like singing out their eyes, I make a point of explaining the physical changes that that mental image helps to create. I make sure they know it is just an imagination game, not literally what happens.

So, fess up. What things do you say to your singers that they may misinterpret or mistake for actual technique? How do you go about fixing students misperceptions without saying, "Your last teacher was an idiot," or "You weren't really listening, were you?"

Also, I want to hear the wonderful quotes from your students!

Why I keep doing these practice journals

2009-09-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

If you've been reading this blog over the last couple of weeks, you're probably wondering why I continue to post about my pathetic practice attempts. Shouldn't I be horribly embarrassed? I post because I want my students to know (and I want to remind myself) that:
1. I know it's hard to find the time and energy to practice.
2. I know that even a little bit keeps me moving in the right direction.
3. I know that there are days that I don't think I have what it takes mentally or physically to practice, but when I try, sometimes I have major break throughs and insights.
4. I know that there are wonderful moments and I want to remember those.
5. I know that showing up is half the battle.

So, if the post looks short and boring, feel free to skip it; it probably wasn't one of my good days. But, I will keep posting and when those wonderful moments come, I'll keep sharing. I also have several great blog ideas that I hope to get to soon. I don't intend for JMR Voice Notes to be just about my practicing or lack thereof).

Practice Journal 9/27/09

2009-09-27T19:33:00.000-07:00

More memorization and listening. I know, boring post. I'm hoping my voice is up to some real work tomorrow. If not, I need to find more interesting ways of memorizing and listening and reporting about them.

Practice journal 9/26/09

2009-09-26T18:47:00.001-07:00

More memorization and listening today. Found a spot I memorized wrong. That's why it's important to keep listening and reviewing the score even when you think you've got it down. I do pretty well with the nouns and verbs, but I really have to watch that I'm not changing articles and prepositions. Since I'm not fluent in German, sometimes it it's hard to remember which article to use.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Practice Journal 9/25/09

2009-09-25T19:36:00.000-07:00

More listening and memorization. Voice is still weird today. I can't decide if it's totally allergy related or also just tired from talking so much at lessons this week. A lot of kids were sick, so we did more talking about technical things than actual singing which means my voice got a lot more use.

Practice journal 9/24/09

2009-09-24T18:19:00.000-07:00

Did a little singing today, but my voice clearly needed rest more than practice, so once again I just have listening and memorization.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Practice journal 9/23/09

2009-09-23T18:53:00.001-07:00

Worked the end of "An die Nachtigall" concentrating on solidifying memorization.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Practice journal 9/22/09

2009-09-22T17:46:00.001-07:00

Did it.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Practice Journal 9/21/09

2009-09-21T20:23:00.001-07:00

I had planned to do lots of practicing tonight since I was scheduled to be done with lessons at 3:15. However, I was so frazzled by that time that I went home and took a nap. So...once again, I didn't get to the singing. But, I did work on memorization and I listened to the Brahms songs again.

Practice journal 9/20/09

2009-09-20T18:57:00.001-07:00

Mostly just sang through my songs tonight. I did stop and work a few spots, but wanted to just get the big picture.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Practice Journal 9/19/09

2009-09-19T19:36:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned that I love singing? Practice went well tonight and the things I've been working on are becoming more and more consistent. I took a break part way through to work on some school stuff and when I came back it was even better. I had forgotten that my voice likes to warm-up, take a break, and then get to the real work.

Practice Journal 9/18/09

2009-09-18T18:31:00.000-07:00

The original plan for today was to stay at school after lessons and practice. But, by the time I finished all the things I couldnt' avoid, I was just too tired to try to focus with all the craziness still going on at school. Musical auditions were tonight, so there were still a lot of kids around. Instead of practicing, I came home and did a little memorization and listening. I'll try to go in to school tomorrow when it is quieter to get some practicing in.

Practice Journal 9/17/09

2009-09-17T17:41:00.001-07:00

Good practice tonight. Nothing much special to report except that I did practice (mostly singing) for nearly an hour and a half. I also played through the accompaniment to several songs.

Flexibility

2009-09-17T04:27:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, in order for me to sing my best, I need to do warm-ups that require a lot of flexibility. Flexibility is not one of my vocal strengths. In fact, if I see a song with lots of 16th notes, or bouncing around all over the place, or even sometimes slower melismas, I know that it's not going to be a good fit for me. So why do I torment myself with exercises that focus on that kind of stuff? First of all, you can't just avoid the things that are hard. Yes, my voice likes long, drawn out lines much better, but occassionally for whatever reason, you have to sing some melismas or faster notes and the exercises help prepare me for those times. The second reason these warm-ups are essential for me is that in singing all those long lines, with rich full tone, I tend to get a little heavy. Flexibility exercises keep the weight out of the voice and help me to find a high vowel placement. When I stay light and high, I can do these exercises. If I get heavy or the vowel drops, they are impossible. When I can do several flexibility exercises in a row, I know that I am warmed-up enough and that I have found the place my voice needs to be. Then I sing my long, drawn-out phrases and I can add warmth without getting bogged down.

But all of that is not the real reason for writing about flexibility. Even more important than working flexibility in my voice is working flexibility in my life and practicing. I'm loving the fact that I have so long to prepare this music. When I was in school and knew I had to sing a song for my next lesson, I would work it, even if it didn't feel good that day, and I think that led to more frustration than success. Now, I have a general plan for what I want to do in practicing, but if something isn't going well, I can move on to something else and come back at another time. Here's what happened last night:
My voice had been quirky during lessons that day, so I took about 15-20 minutes to warm-up before starting songs. I was feeling pretty good, so I decided that it might be a good day just to run through all the recital rep since I haven't done some of the songs in awhile. I started with Strauss' "Ich trage meine Minne" since it's usually the song that sets me up for good singing. It was awful. Instead of helping me find my place, it was just totallly tight. So obviously, this was not the night for a sing through.

I left the Strauss and tried a little "In quelle trine morbide" just to see how it was feeling. Even though it is harder, it worked much better. I did a work through instead of a sing through, stopping whenever I got tight. I love the B flats in this. The approaches, especially with the first one, make it so easy.

After the Puccini success, I went back to the Strauss and worked through it this time. As I checked for tension and went through my checklist of the things most likely to make it better (start in the space of the highest note of the phrase, high consonants, etc.) everything started to fall back into place.

I like to work technique and interpretation all at the same time, but there are days like yesterday that I just have to break it down to simpler components again. I had to give up the interp and thinking to the end of the line and just worry about getting the vowels to line up high.

By the time I had worked through the Strauss, I was ready for more. I worked a little on each of these songs--Dein blaues Auge, O kuhler Wald, Allerseelen, Ach lieb, ich muss nun scheiden, and Schlechtes Wetter. I also played through the accompaniment to them listening for how the piano interacts with my part. I also had some great intepretive break throughs. I figured out who I need to think about for Dein blaues Auge. It totally changed the song and I found the tonal color I was after. Those same blue eyes also made "deiner susse Blicke" in Allerseelen really click in.

If I had just become discouraged with the first bad time through the Strauss, I would have quit practicing and missed out on all those other wonderful moments. But, since I'm becoming more flexible, and go-with-the-flow in my life, I was able to let it go and move on to something that was more successful.

One more observation for the night--When I exercise, there is a moment that occurs somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes into the work-out when my body just relaxes (plus all those cool endorphins kick in). I think I have a similar thing going on with singing. If I'm struggling, but keep going and concentrating on staying loose, there is a spot somewhere after 30 minutes, where my voice quits fighting me and the beauty kicks in. So to get myself through the rough times, I just have to keep reminding myself of how much I love it when it is good.

Practice Journal 9/16/09

2009-09-16T19:36:00.000-07:00

I finally got to do practicing that was more than just listening. In fact, I sang for 1 hour and 15 minutes today. Things started out a little rough, but it turned out to be a really good practice session overall. Watch for more details in a post that I hope to get to in the next couple of days, titled "Flexibility."

Time and changes

2009-09-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

10 years ago, I was starting what would turn out to be my last semester as a grad student, although I didn't know it at the time. I was dealing with all sorts of health issues including hormones and neurotransmitters being completely out of whack. I suffered from a lot of anxiety, particularly when it came to singing. I loved to sing, and had a lot of respect for my teacher and wanted to sing well for her. But the more I wanted to do well, the more anxious I became and the worse things got. For several years after I left school, I would still get sick anytime I went near the university. I even had some minor anxiety when I saw my teacher this summer in a more social setting.

All that anxiety about singing and my voice teacher makes what happened tonight really funny. These first couple weeks of school are usually high stress for me as I'm trying to recruit enough students to pay the bills, but condense my schedule enough that I'm not working insane hours. I'm a little stressed this week and my anxiety is higher than has become my new norm (but no where near what it was in grad school.) So...tonight when at finished lessons at close to 7:30, I was feeling frustrated that once again, there was no way I could get in actual singing practice. My body just didn't have that kind of energy left. I was frustrated and anxious and trying to figure out how to make everything work. As I did one last email check, I turned on a recording of my teacher. Guess what happened? I relaxed. I could feel the tension release in my body as I listened to the beautiful sound. What a great way to end the day! And what a great way to bring this relationship full circle. I met her through a recording and knew that I had to study with her. I studied with her; we had our ups and downs; and I moved on. Now I'm continuing to learn from her recordings.

Practice 9/15/09

2009-09-15T18:53:00.001-07:00

Another crazy day when all I could fit in was listening. I'm hoping to find time and energy for actual singing tomorrow.

Practice Journal 9/14/09

2009-09-15T04:16:00.000-07:00

With lessons, listening to Freshmen, running errands, and Parent Open House, I didn't get much practice time. I did do some listening, and wrote out the words to Verzagen.

Practice Journal 9/13/09

2009-09-13T07:41:00.000-07:00

Listened to several recordings of An die Nachtigall and worked on memorization. Also checked Holty's dates. He would not have known about Keats' "Ode" since he was dead before it was written.

I have an interesting recording of Kirsten Flagstad singing "An die Nachtigall". There are some quirky things that I don't really like, but I can't figure out if it is because of how the song fits (or doesn't fit) in her voice, or what. I think a lot of the vowels are not as lifted as I would like to hear. I have other recordings of her that I like more. I keep listening to this recording though, because even though I don't like some of what I hear, there are things I do like. Her tempo is a little slower than the other recordings I've listend to. I also like how she shapes some of the phrases and the longer notes. I love how she does "den Himmel". I also like how even though she takes the tempo slower she can get all the way through "und spend' im Nest der treuen Gattin Kusse" in one breath. Considering the opera rep she's famous for though, it's not surprising.

I also went to the school and practice for about an hour.

Oops!

2009-09-13T07:37:00.000-07:00

As I was turning off the computer last night, I realized that although nightingales show up in several of my songs, there are none in the one that Brentano wrote the words for (O kuhler Wald). I did nightingale reasearch and Bretano research on the same night and somehow had them stuck together. Holty was who I meant in the last post (and will edit it to show that.)

Practice Journal 9/12/09

2009-09-12T18:24:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to do a little practing at school tonight, but because of the marching band event, parking was crazy, so I skipped it.

I did listen a little this morning and tonight I read through the nightingale research. My job now is to figure out what Holty thought and knew about nightingales. For example, they use to think that it was the female that sang, but we now know it is the male singing to attract a mate. When did we figure this out? What mythology and other literary references did Holty know about? I can't remember Holty's dates. Did he know the Keats "Ode..."? What did Brahms know? More fun stuff to think about.

I'm going to write out the text tonight while I watch a movie and see how close I can get to memorized. Yes, this really does help me and it's a fun way to multi-task.

Back to school, and teaching concepts not just notes

2009-09-12T07:35:00.000-07:00

I started a few kids with lessons this week, but most of them start next week. Hopefully then I will also write about more things than just my own practice.

I need to remember next year to tell the kids that they can sign up for audition help, after they have learned the notes. These kids are fully capable of learning the piece on their own, especially since they can watch it on youtube, so why do they expect me to teach them the notes? Because I have in the past. I've got to be tougher about this. It says in my policy that if they come to a lesson and don't know the notes and rhythms that I will teach them reading strategies and make them learn the song that way. I need to really stick to that this year. So be warned students, if you don't know your song, you will be writing in solfege and counting and I will guide you through the learning process, but I will not be just playing the notes until you know it. If you are an auditory learner, please ask for a recording and then listen at home. You will get much more from your lessons.

On a positive note, I did review some sight-reading strategies with students on the first phrase of the co-curricular audition piece. I also worked technical issues, even if they weren't sure of the notes. I also talked to them about stagger breathing in a choral setting, and how they should choose where to breathe if singing a solo. On the audition pieces for the musical, I had them come up with attitude or emotion words for each phrase. I also did video recordings of several of them so they could see if their faces were showing what they thought they were. The ones I didn't record will be recorded at their lessons early next week. I was pleased that even though I did have to pound out notes for them, I was also able to do some real teaching with every student.

Practice Journal 9/11/09

2009-09-12T07:20:00.000-07:00

At about 2:15 I realized that I had to teach from 2:30-after 5 and then go straight to a wedding rehearsal, but I hadn't practiced yet. Definitely should have planned the day better. So I went back to school after the wedding rehearsal. I did stop and buy dinner on the way so that I at least would have some energy. I took longer to warm up than I have for awhile and that really helped. I also did more lip buzz. It helps me to loosen up and to focus on the breath.

I did some technical work on vocalises and then worked on "An die Nachtigall." The really good warm-up helped this one to start out better today. I did some work just on [i] which has been a great vowel for me lately. This song is really hard for me to keep lined up, and I think the biggest reason is all of the consonants. If I really think about how I am creating them, and keep them loose and high, it is so much better. I very clearly remember a former choir director telling us to place the consonants on the lower pitch to help us connect the notes. Maybe this works for some people, but not for me. For example, in "der liebentflammten", the r that ends the first word needs to be on the same high pitch as the l and the vowel of the 2nd world.
This song is starting to come together both technically and interpretively.

By the time I worked all that out, I was pretty much out of energy, but decided to play through "O kuhler Wald". And then I thought I'd do a quick internet search to see if anyone had written anything about Brentano's poem. Word of warning---there is no such thing as a quick internet search, at least not for me. One thing leads to another and pretty soon I realize that I've been sittting there to long and I'm in pain. Someday I hope to learn to stop before the pain. But anyway, I did find some good resources to look at more later.

Practice Journal 9/10/09

2009-09-10T05:39:00.000-07:00

The really long post below about Die Mainacht totally counts as practice time.

I also had a good practice session after work. For warm-ups I did some of the vocalises that I want to use with my students this year. I chose them because they are easy to do on solfege, but doing them, I realized that done right, they are really great technical exercises. I hope the kids like them.

I worked a little on Verzagen and once again remembered the if the consonants are not on the pitch, that "was weinest du" is not good.

I worked the second half of Die Nachtigall and then spend way too long online looking up info about the nightingale and its symbolism. Cool stuff. I'll report more on that when I've read through all the stuff I found.

Imagery and symbols in Die Mainacht

2009-09-10T04:53:00.000-07:00

This post may not be very organized or coherent. My interpretation is in progress and therefore, this might be more like a list of ideas instead of full sentences. It definitely won't approach scholarly paper status.

Many of you readers might be familiar with this song. If you haven't sung it, you may have studied it in a vocal lit. class or heard it sung by a favorite singer. There is also at least one really good choral arrangement of this. My point here is, I'm interested in your interpretation. You don't have to agree or disagree with my ideas, but do tell me about your ideas.

I began by making a list of key words/images that I thought would be important.

Nachtigall--nightingale. It's a song bird, but what symbolism is associated with it? It shows up in a lot of songs.

dunklere Schatten--darker shadows

Tranen (yes it needs an umlaut, but I still don't know how to do it)--tears. Why is tears the longest note of the piece and why is there a crescendo through most of that word?

Morgenrot--morning-glow. Contrast to the darker shadows of night.

strahlt--shines. Again the contrast.

shimmering light of the moon vs. morning sun--silver moon--silver is a cold color. Morgenrot is morning-glow, but in that "put two words together to make a new one" way that the Germans have, it can also literally be morning red. Red is a hot color. The color of fire, warmth.

Entzucken--enchantment, one translation also uses delight

Taubenpaar--pair of doves. Doves represent purity, peace, love, innocence. My dictionary also told me that in the Old Testament doves are also used as messengers of deliverance. I like the deliverance idea. Are the doves offering deliverance from the pain? He turns away. He doesn't want deliverance, he wants her. (Yes, I'm reading this poem from the man's perspective. I usually try to approach songs from a female perspective since I know that best, obviously, but sometimes, even when it is not explicit in the text, I just feel that it is a man and I can't make the switch. I have to become him. )

heisser--hotter. Why is the tear hot? It's hot on his cheek, so it's not like his eyes are burning from crying. Tears feel hot when the skin they touch is cold. He is cold, no longer warmed by his love, his morning sun. Which leads me back to the interpretation insight I posted about before.

Although I've never really worked this song before, I've known it for years and occasionally pulled it out for a sing-through. And I've always been puzzled as to how to convey the beauty of all the amazing nature things described and still give his pain. It's like, "Oh look how pretty everything is. Life sucks." (Bet you've never read anything like that in a German poetry paper.) While listening to one of the recordings (I'll let you guess the singer--Elly Ameling, Glenda Maurice, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Janet Baker, Fritz Wunderlich, or Anne Sofie von Otter) it occurred to me that maybe I don't need to go all out in the description of the pretty stuff. I love spring, especially seeing the daffodils and brightly colored tulips, but I remember a few springs when I was really depressed. I could see the beauty and I remembered how it used to make me feel, but I felt nothing. There was none of the wonder or awe that usually comes with that beauty. I think that this is totally where this man is. He recognizes what is in front of him, but he cannot feel it. All he can feel is the loss. And I think it's not just the loss of his love, but also a little bit about losing the wonder and awe. I could be totally off base, and it may not be what that singer intended at all, but I like the idea and will work with it until something better comes along.

Practice Journal 9/9/09

2009-09-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

Awesome practice today. And...the singing was not good. Yes, it's possible to have successful practice even when you are in a lot of pain and dealing with a lot of tension.

When I started to sing tonight, I knew that I wasn't going to be able to work the technical stuff, so I decided to take a different route. Lip buzz was not as uncomfortable as singing, and if I really concentrated, I could even make it pretty relaxed. So I worked on shaping phrases using the buzz.

Then I sat down and played through Die Mainacht while buzzing. I'll be honest, I can't begin to imagine how someone really learns and explores the music completely without being able to play the piano. They must be much better at looking at the music and hearing it in their heads. That or they spend a lot of money on pianists.

Anyway...the long hard phrase was really easy when I was playing the piano and buzzing. There are several explanations for this, but I think these are the most important:
1. I shape the phrase more with the piano part and the motion of the piano carries me though.
2. Buzz helps you to use the air better.
3. Buzz also helps me to get in a better resonance place, and I think that was the big thing tonight. If I can place those vowels higher, I'm in a better resonance place and breath is not wasted.

I also started looking at images and symbols in Die Mainacht. There is some awesome stuff in this song, but I'm tired, so I'll save that for another post.

I knew I was getting tired and it was time to quit when I came up for the title of my Recital. I was looking at all the songs in all the sets for themes and came up with this--Night and Day, Home and Away, Let us Pray. Before you panic, I do realize that that is ridiculous and I'm not using it. Remember I said that figuring out the title was how I knew it was time to quit. I'm obviously a little too far gone tonight.

Beating Burnout

2009-09-09T19:17:00.000-07:00

Here are the notes and my goals from an MMTA session this summer on Beating Burnout. I was having issues with formatting, so it's not always clear which are my ideas and which are his. Sorry. If you have questions, I can dig out my notes.

Wow! The formatting is even worse here than it was in Word. I hope it makes sense. If I get a chance I'll come back and clean it up later.

My notes from Dr. Maurice Hinson’s
MMTA session on Beating Burnout
(and my plans for applying)
¨ Addressing the causes
¨ Lack of feeback
o Connect with choir directors more about how my students are doing in choir
o Masterclasses-give more
o Solo and Ensemble Contests-judge more
o Observe and be observed.
¨ Overly emotionally involved with students—detach, but remain sympathetic
¨ Overloaded schedule
o Schedule breaks
o Set hours and stick to it
o Think health first and then money
¨ His recommendations and how I will implement.
o Set goals in small steps
§ When students have goals to make a show, get a lead, make a choir, have them break it down into mini-goals
§ Ex. If the goal is to make Concert choir, have the students
· Break down the goal: improve sight-reading, work rudiment, mature sound, tonal memory, work ethic, tuning
· Then break each of those down further
o Improve sight-reading
§ Accurately read scale-based melodies in any key.
§ Be able to find the pitches of Do, Mi and Sol from anywhere else. Use them as anchors.
§ Integrate rhythms, pitches, and solfege.
o Encouraging motivation
¨ Contests, auditions, recitals
¨ Choose music earlier so they have time to really prepare and feel secure.
o Masterclass and Solo and Ensemble Contest music chosen first week after winter break.
o Recital rep chosen second week of March
o Change recital. Do 1 classical piece (maybe from Solo and Ensemble Contest) with the option to add 1 of another style.
¨ Computer—encourage use for research/practice
o Youtube
o Itunes
o Amazon
o Lied and song page
o IPA source
o Virtually vocal
o Smart music
o Theory games
¨ Regular opportunities for informal performance
o Continue studio class options
¨ Invite parents to sit in
o Get parents more involved. How?
o Teachers need motivation
§ Membership in professional organizations
· Look into renewing memberships in NFMC, ACDA, MENC
o Professional magazine and journals
o Continuing education
· More conferences and conventions
· Look at local options
§ Vary teaching methods
· Make more definite lesson plans
· Teach different age groups
o I will continue to accept adults and middle school students if they can come when I want to teach.
o Special events—parties, volunteer at events
§ Add Holiday party
o Social Support Systen
§ Friends
· Continue in writer’s group and meal exchange
· Facebook
§ Family
· More emails and calls
§ Colleagues
· How can we continue the brunch idea during the school year?
· Lunch—Try to keep this time lesson free. (Won’t work this year, but I will be free 7th hour when all of the other teachers have a prep.)
· Facebook, blog
o Correct mental approach
§ My health first—physical, mental, musical
§ Sympathetic, but not attached
§ Serve through love (of them and the music) without becoming their slave. I choose how and how much I serve.
§ My job is to inspire, not force them to learn.
· How can I inspire them to want to practice?
§ Be tough but fair.
o Correct physical tiredness and chronic fatigue
§ Food—make good choices
§ Exercise—daily
§ Rest
§ Keep working on increasing the number of items from the “daily list” that I do each day.
§ Schedule breaks
§ Set my schedule and stick to it.
§ Move more doing lessons
· Stretch with them
· Send them to the mirror and go with them.
· Stand up to explain concepts and sit to play.
· Use more movement with students to
o Relieve their tension
o Shape phrases
o Express
o Take time off for vacation
§ Book holiday vacation and leave before school gets out.
o Change the environment
§ Posters for the ensemble room
§ Clean up the ensemble room. It is a teaching space, not a storage room.
§ Figure out a solution for the piano tuning situation. If I have to pay for it, I’m paying for the black Yamaha and using it in the ensemble room.

Practice Journal 9/8/09

2009-09-08T08:40:00.000-07:00

This morning I listened to six different performances of Die Mainacht as I did chores around the house. I'm very close to memorized with this. I think I've also figured out my concept for the piece. I can't wait to get over to the school and try it out. If it works, I'll tell you about it. The wonderful thing about interpretation is that there isn't just one "right" answer. Your interpretation may be different than mine, and my interpretation today may be different from the one I have 5 years from now. In fact, it should be different because of the different life experiences that we bring to music.

My practice session tonight was OK. I had errands to run, so I didn't get to the gym before practice. I think that really helped last night. I ended up working Die Mainacht in the low key tonight. I just couldn't get it loose in the high key. Then I worked a little An die Nachtigall and it didn't feel good in the regular key, so I took it a step higher. I definitely don't want to perform it in that key, but it got me above the trouble notes and it all flowed much better.

I put off working on these two songs because although I think that eventually they will really work well in my voice, these are the ones that really kick my butt technically. It's a challenge to know what is a problem because the song doesn't fit and what just needs more work. I really like these songs though, so I'm planning to really work and then get my coach's opinion when we meet next. I trust her ears completely.

I wish my students would learn that you have to do a little bit of work before I can tell how well the song will work. I'm getting better at choosing rep for my students and I'm choosing audition and contest music earlier, but if they don't practice, by the time they know it well enough to really sing it, it's too late to change if it's not a perfect fit.

Practice Journal 9/7/09

2009-09-07T18:53:00.000-07:00

Great practice today! The day didn't start well (I hate allergies), but after an afternoon nap, I felt much better. I went to the gym first and then when over to the school to practice. My workout helped release enough tension, that when I was ready to sing, I was able to without much difficulty.

I find it funny that in order to be free enough to really stretch the long phrases I have to warm up with more coloratura exercises to get the heaviness out of my voice. Whatever works!

The Courage to Teach

2009-09-07T06:56:00.001-07:00

Since I started my voice blog, I've spent much more time with it, and less on my other blog. Today, I have a post that fits perfectly with both, so I will be double posting (kind of like when I used the same paper for my college theatre history class and a music class.)

I just finished reading The Courage to Teach by Parker Palmer. When I was just a few pages into it, I looked back at the original publication date (1998) and wondered how I missed reading this amazing book in the 10+ years that it's been out. It's been said that when the student is ready, the teacher appears (possibly a Buddist proverb; I can't find anything definite.) And I was definitely ready for this book.

I'm not going to do a book review, since I'm sure you can find better ones elsewhere, but I am going to share some of the things that tied in very well with where I am in my life right now. On page 10 he says, "This book builds on a simple premise: good teaching cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher."

Integrity has always been something I've worked for, but I feel like I'm embracing it more now. And I'm embracing it in a way that is new for me. In the past, in my life, I've tended to lean towards this definition of integrity: "firm adherance to a code of esp. moral or artistic values."
There is nothing particularly wrong with that, except that the values I was adhering to belonged to other people. The integrity Palmer talks about, and what I've been leaning towards now, is "the quality or state of being complete or undivided." It's understanding what my personal code of values is and living all parts of my life that way. It's knowing who I am and allowing that true identity to come through in my interactions with others, rather than responding the way I think they want me to respond.

Palmer also addressed the issue of paradox. We live in a society that works with either/or, black/white, yes/no dichotomies. However, much of what we know to be true involves paradox, seemingly contradictory ideas, that nevertheless are true and exist together. The concepts of justice and mercy create a paradox. How can they both exist? And yet this is the foundation on which the plan of salvation is built. Or in singing, look at chiaroscuro. It doesn't refer to somewhere between a bright and a dark sound. It refers to embracing both of those characteristics at the same time to find a balanced sound.

Finally, Palmer discusses subject-centered learning. In traditional teacher-centered learning, the teacher stands as an expert between the learners and subject. Everything the students know of the subject comes from the expert. They don't actually have access to the subject itself. He has some great diagrams you should check out if this isn't making sense the way I explain it. He instead advocates subject-centered learning, where we are all learners and have access to the subject itself. The teacher then functions more as a facilitator rather than an expert. You really do need to read his explanations on this. I'm just hoping to use this model more in my teaching. I think I've had some of it in the past. For example, I feel like I help students discover how to sing, and show them how to access their voices, rather that "teaching" them to sing.

It's a great book, so if you're looking for something to read, definitely check it out. I also recommend his book, "A Hidden Wholeness".

Practice journal 9/6/09

2009-09-06T15:46:00.000-07:00

More listening and memorization work. I wrote out the texts several times. Writing always helps me because I'm not just thinking of the sound of the word, I'm getting the spelling right too which then makes my visual learning stronger. I'm fairly secure with the memorization on 3 of the 5 Brahms lieder now, and hope to get the other 2 down this week.

I've been listening to performances by several different artists. Today's favorite is Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's performance of Dein blaues Auge. His interpretation is closest to how I read this song. My favorite part is how free, easy and sweet the high note is on the last phrase. He just floats it.

Practice Journal 9/5/09

2009-09-05T19:48:00.000-07:00

More listening today. Also worked on memorization.

Practice Journal 9/3 and 9/4

2009-09-04T15:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was not a good day for practicing, but I did do a lot of listening.

Today I felt a little better, but still didn't do much singing. There was a lot of tension today due to other things, and I just didn't feel like working for as long as it would take me to release it. I did record parts of Verzagen and worked on those sections. I definitely need to record my practice more, and I need to do it on days that I feel like I am singing well, not on days that I'm already struggling.

Finding my tempo

2009-09-03T05:03:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, it’s taking me awhile to find my tempo on these Brahms songs. This morning I listened to Elly Ameling and was reminded just how much of the choice about tempo is determined by the kind of voice the singer has. I listened to several songs that are also on the Glenda Maurice CD I’ve been listening to. You couldn’t find two different voices, in size, color, and the way they move through the line, but I loved the performances of both women. In fact, I could listen to these two CDs all day every day.

I had the privilege of studying with Glenda Maurice. She is an artist and a magnificent teacher of the artistry of singing. Glenda is a mezzo, and in her prime, could sing a 20 minute phrase without running out of breath. OK, I am exaggerating…slightly. Honestly, her recordings of some of these Brahms songs are the slowest I have heard. However, she never loses that forward motion and movement though the line. The other thing I love and that I’m going to make my students listen to is how the vowels are always lifted. There is never a low placed or heavy vowel.

Elly Ameling uses a similar approach to the vowel placement. Everything sounds free and lifted. I have never heard Elly perform live, but I did have the wonderful opportunity of watching her give masterclasses on two separate occasions. I remember how impressed I was with her poise and presence. I also remember her stopping a student to comment on how beautiful something was (it may have even been something the pianist did). How often does that happen? Elly Ameling is a soprano with a smaller and lighter, but absolutely gorgeous voice. I would not have expected to see some of these songs on one of her recordings since I typically hear them from voices more like Glenda’s, but that doesn’t stop her from creating beautiful music. She takes a faster tempo, but never compromises the integrity of what the composer intended. And she’s wonderfully expressive.

I’m neither a Glenda, nor an Elly, and think that I will actually find my tempo somewhere between the two. I love technology and the fact that I can learn from performances that I never had the chance to hear live. Now I just need to find a way to limit my spending on itunes.

I just found a quote from Elly Ameling that totally ties in with this post. Sorry I can't give a detailed reference. My copy is a copy of an article by Robert Jacobson that was retyped. My guess is that it was in the NATS Journal many years ago.

"There is a big difference between a big sound and a carrying sound. If through coloring you make a great impression to the last seat in the house, it's as impressive as a thunderous sound. If after you hear a large voice there comes a pure, fine-colored voice, it is something special. And it's the beginning of the end for a singer like me to try stretching the voice. I try to sing only music suited to me, and there is so much I can do justice to and create. I am her in the world to make music of the great composers--as a serving task to them--not 'here I am in my glittering dress', and so on. The first thing is re-create the sound of the composer. That's my philosophy: to be a serving task. "

If you want to listen to the recordings I've been listening to, you can find them on itunes. The Elly Ameling CD is titled "Songs by Brahms" and the Glenda Maurice CD is "Songs by Brahms, R. Strauss, Mahler".

Practice Journal 9/02/09

2009-09-02T06:04:00.000-07:00

I have several hours of lessons today, followed by Freshmen Orientation, so I'm not sure how or when I'll get time to practice. But, I committed to everyday, so I started my day by listening to a few professional recordings of some of my songs.

I actually found a few minutes between things to practice. Yeah! I worked Verzagen and the tough spots of Die Mainacht.

Practice Journal 9/1/09

2009-09-01T20:03:00.000-07:00

Today I didn't get a chance to practice until after I finished teaching at 6:30, so I was already pretty tired to start with. I decided to work on O kuhler Wald (yes, I know there is an umlaut, but I'm not sure how to insert it here) and see if I could solidify the memorization. My allergies are bugging me, so it wasn't a great day for singing, but I did work on some technical issues as I worked on the memorization. Although the original key is usually better for my voice, today a couple places felt uncomfortable, so I worked them in the higher key to loosen them up a bit. I still haven't found my tempo for this piece yet. I like it slow, but I'm having trouble keeping the forward motion.

I also worked a little more on the long phrase of Die Mainacht. It's coming, but there is still a lot of work to do before I will feel comfortable performing that piece.

I was surprised that even though I didn't feel well tonight, once I started practicing, I was able to do more than I expected.

I also listened to a couple of different recordings of O kuhler Wald.

Practice Challenge

2009-09-01T06:54:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned yesterday, my students have lots of excuses for why they can't practice more. And some of those are valide excuses. But, I have encouraged them to at least make some kind of contact with their music every day.

How can we encourage our students to practice more when we let work and home obligations get in the way of our practicing? Maybe you don't have issues, but I know I do. It's been said (and I don't always agree) that if you really want to accomplish something you should tell people. Being accountable to others gives you that little extra push. So, I'm telling you. With my schedule and my ever changing health situation, I can't guarantee solid, singing practice everyday, but I can do something everyday to keep me in contact with my songs and brush up on technique. Each day I'll write a report about my practice. You will find it here listed as "Practice Journal (insert date)".

Is anyone interested in joining me? You can use the comment function to report on your practicing.

I'm excited to see first, how much I grow and how much progress I make this year, and second, if my students will be at all motivated to take the challenge if they know that I am trying to do the same hard thing.

Teaching is more than just student contact time

2009-08-31T17:07:00.001-07:00

School officially starts one week from tomorrow, but today was the first day back for teachers. The "real" teachers spent part of the day in meetings and then had professional development time. I'm techincally a "private contractor" so I didn't have to go to the meetings, but I did spend several hours getting ready for school.

Have you ever stopped to consider how much time you spend on things other than the lessons themselves? There is so much more to teaching than just showing up for the lessons. Think of the prep work, the scheduling, the invoicing, communicating with parents, etc. I spent most of my summer getting my website ready to go. Included in that time was the revising of all of my handouts and posting them on the website so that the students can download them after they login. Today I turned in all the copying that needs to be done. I'm making fewer copies of most things this year since I'm just making a classroom set that students can refer to while in lessons. Still, that was a lot of stuff to get organized.

When I attended a business seminar this summer, they reminded us to figure in all the "other" stuff when setting tuition rates. Monica K. Allen gave us this list of questions:
1. How many hours do you spend with students per week?
2. How many hours do you spend on prep time per week?
3. How many hours do you spend on administrative duties per week?
4. How many hours do you spend on marketing per week?
5. How many hours do you spend on professional development per week?
6. How many hours do you spend practicing each week?
7. How many total hours are you working each week?
8. Do your tuition rates reflect this?

I loved these questions, not just because they help me justify my fees, but because they reminded me of all the things that really do go into being a good teacher. Here's a little about how I will spend my time in each of these areas.

1. Time with Students
This is always a little tricky. I'm trying to get as many students as possible during the school day so that I don't have to stay as late at night. We'll see how that all works out. I'm shooting for no more than 40 hours per week at the school (and that includes some of the admin stuff.)

2. Prep time
This varies a lot for me, but I'd like to start spending 30-45 minutes before I start lessons warming up and getting ready for the day's lessons. Yes, warming up is prep time. Also, I did a lot of the general prepping and organizing this summer, so this time in the morning will be thinking about where I want to go with each student and how I want to approach his or her music.

3. Administrative duties
This is the one that sucks up all the time. I'm hoping that using the Music Teacher's Helper system will make the day to day business (recording attendance, payments, etc.) much quicker. Returning emails and phone calls still requires time.

4. Marketing
At the beginning of the school year I go to Freshmen Orientation and the Parent Open House to talk to people about voice lessons. We also do a day where we talk to each of the choir classes. Beyond that, I don't do much with marketing. I rely a lot on referrals to fill the after school spots.

5. Professional Development

During the 2009-2010 school year (and the following summer) I will be doing the following professional development activities:

Preparing a recital. This process will include both long hours of my own practicing and work with my accompanist/coach.
Attending the North Central ACDA convention in Minneapolis. It's a great time to get back into ACDA. I let my membership lapse, but I'm looking forward to getting involved again. Although I'm not currently conducting a choir, I work with choral people and need to keep involved in the choral world.
Attending the MMTA Convention. The vocal area is small, but growing and this has been a great networking opportunity for me in the past.
Attending the NATS Convention in Salt Lake City. I've been to 1 ICVT convention and 1 NATS Convention and loved both of them. It's such a great way to get recharged.
I don't know if I can make the dates and work, but I would also like to attend the Classical Singer Convention.

If you're like I used to be, you might think, "I can't afford to go to conventions. They cost money and I lose money since I can't teach during that time." Both of those things are absolutely true, but it is totally worth it. I am a better teacher because of these chances to network, recharge, get new ideas, etc. It's also nice to hear "famous" people talk about the same things you tell your students every day. It's very affirming. If money is an issue, try setting aside a little from each deposit you make. Or find ways to cut expenses in other others. Just find a way and go. It's good for you and your students.

6. Practicing

This summer has been great for my own personal practice and I hope to continue that during the school year. My students are really overscheduled, but I ask them to find at least a few minutes to connect with their music everyday, whether it's listening to a professional recording, or going over the words once, or actually doing real practice. If I'm asking them to do it, I'm going to do it as well. My biggest problem is that once I get started, practicing is too much fun. Then by the time I'm done, I don't have the time or energy left to go to the gym, which I also really need to do and enjoy doing.

7. Total hours

As I mentioned before, I don't want to be at school for more than 40 hours, but I can see myself easily doing another 5-10 at home with the practicing and administrative stuff.

8. Do my rates reflect all of the above?

I wish that what I make per hour of student contact time was what I made per hour of work time. 50 hours at my rates would be awesome. I would feel comfortable charging more, but we try to keep the rates reasonable so that we can have more kids involved. We also try to stay pretty close to what the other schools in the district are charging. I think that how much you charge should reflect the things listed above, plus your education and experience, plus take into account the local economy.

How much time do you spend working outside of lessons? Do your rates reflect this?

The secret to successful memorization

2009-08-29T08:44:00.000-07:00

There is a fool proof way to make your memorization easy and secure. Are you ready for me to reveal this amazing knowledge? Get ready. Here it is...

Find what works for you.

Sorry to disappoint you. There is not one fantastic method that works for everyone. However, that does not mean that you shouldn't try all those wonderful things that people "guarantee" will work. One of the many ideas out there or a combination of ideas will work for you. I firmly believe that people that think that they can't memorize just haven't found the right strategy yet.

So if we know that our best strategy exists out there, why do we declare we can't memorize, or stick with less efficient methods?

In Clifton Ware's Adventures in Singing, he outlines 4 basic learning modes (Visual, Aural, Kinesthetic, and Analytical) and their relationships to learning to sing and to learning music. Some people fall strictly in to one category, but most of us learn using some combination of those modes. People who are primarily visual learn best by seeing things. These students benefit from teaching styles that encourage reading, imagery, note taking, etc. Aural learners need to hear things. Some of my students can't sight-read to save their lives (we're working on that), but if they hear a melody once, they have it. Kinesthetic learners need physical motion to reinforce their learning. These are also the singers that respond best when you talk about how correct singing feels. Analytical learners like to break things down, analyze component parts, understand structure.

Understanding your learning mode or modes can be a key to helping you find your best ways to memorize. But even so, I think many people are just content to do what they have always done whether it works well or not. I give my students a handout that has more than a page of memorization strategies including ones that address every kind of learning style, but most of them just want to sing the song over and over until they think they are memorized.

I will agree that maybe for a few people, this is the most efficient method of memoriztion, but I seriously doubt that that is the case for the 98% that claim it. First of all, singing it over and over is extremely boring. Secondly, it only puts the information into your brain in one way. Where's the backup? What happens if that fails?

I encourage students to memorize using several methods. This way, if one method fails, another will step up and take care of you. For example, I'm a very visual learner and when I memorize piano music, I basically see it in my head. But what do I do if I get to a spot where all I see is a blank staff? Yes, I must admit I panic a little, but then my fingers find the right notes and go on. How can they do that? They do that because they know how that particular passages feels in my hands (kinesthetic learning), my brain also understands the chordal structure of the piece (analytical learning), and finally, I know what that passage is supposed to sound like (aural learning).

I regularly work with students with "learning disabilities". I've put the term in quotes first, because I can't remember if that is the PC term right now and second, because I believe it is an inaccurate description for most of these people. If we define a disability as not being able to do things in the "normal" way, then sure, lots of people are disabled. If we instead look at it as functioning in a different, but completely valid way I think the concept of disability melts away. Feel free to correct me if you have more education in this area or experience a "disability" yourself. My point here is that I believe that everyone can learn, but we learn at different paces and in different methods. Sometimes the pace and methods are extreme, but we are all progressing and moving forward. In my studio, a disability is not an excuse to not try, but a challenge for both the singer and teacher to find something that works and not become discouraged if the pace is slow.

That was a long introduction to the real topic of this post--my discovery of my best memorization strategy. Actually, this is the core of my strategy, but it is supplemented and reinforced with other methods as well.

I'm currently putting together a recital and as I've worked, I've discovered that I'm learning and memorizing the music so much quicker than I did when I was much younger and in school. It's been a pleasant surprise. Shouldn't young minds learn faster? Shouldn't the fuzzy thinking often associated with my fibromyalgia get in the way? How can I do this? I can do it, because I've found the approach that works for me at this point in my life. Here it is...

I learn best when I have a translation of the song before I even start to learn notes. My word-by-word translation, my IPA transcription, and my music sit side by side as I work. I play a phrase or two of the music several times, thinking the words as I play. Then I do lip buzz (AKA lip trill) on the pitches as I think the words. When the melody is secure without the piano, I sing that section. Sometimes I start with just one vowel and sometimes I use the words. If I'm having trouble lining things up, I definitely work that section on a single vowel. As I work on the technical and interpretive aspects of the phrase, I do not look at the music. If I'm struggling with a few notes of the melody, I play the accompaniment and see how the melody fits into the harmonic and rhythmic structure of the piano part. When I feel like I have a firm grasp on the notes, rhythms, words, technique and interpretation of that section, I move on to another.

Re-reading that last paragraph, it seems like quite a laborious process, but for me, it is quite enjoyable and has actually dramatically reduced the amount of time it takes me to learn and memorize a song. I'm nearly 40 and discovering new things about how I learn. I love it! Maybe it took me a little longer than it takes other people, but that's OK. It's not about how fast you progress. It's about moving forward.

So how do you learn and memorize? Please share.