Breathing into the dan tien

This past week has been a breath focused week in my studio.  I have several new students, so we are talking about the science of how breathing works, how a good breath feels, and things that we can imagine that help us get a better breath.  Returning students are getting informal quizzes and reminders about these basics, and then we're taking it a step further adding information and exercises based on their current level of technique.

One student needed and was ready for a new approach that would help her internalize the concepts that I know she understands intellectually, but doesn't always apply.  So we talked about Chines concept of dan tiens.  The lower dan tien is located just below the navel and 2-3 finger widths in, which just happens to be a great place to feel the sensation of a low, relaxed breath.  Energy can move up the body to the middle dan tien (about heart level) and the upper dan tien (forehead, between the eyebrows).  (Energy can actually move anywhere in the body along the meridians, but that is a longer more complicated discussion.)

We talked about imagining the breath as energy and drawing it to the lower dan tien. Then, since imagining the sound coming from her forehead (sometimes I say "sing out your unicorn horn") I had her try singing again, thinking of the energy flowing up from the lower dan tien to the upper dan tien to create the sound.  It made a huge difference for her.

Yes, I do realize that technically speaking, there are some issues with this (both from voice science and Chinese medicine perspectives), but the basic concept works and made a huge difference for her.  Plus, I am always careful to fully explain that we are just using imagery, and I also explain the science of what that image tricks us into.  The same image might not work for someone else, and that's OK.

New Book: The Boy's Changing Voice

The Boy's Changing Voice is the newest of Hal Leonard's books for the student singer.  It is designed to meet the needs of those boys right in the middle of the voice change, with songs in that range that is so hard to find music in:  F below middle C to the G above middle C.

If you are like me and own most of the Hal Leonard books for beginning and intermediate students, you already have all these songs, just in different keys.  Like most Hal Leonard products, this comes with a CD that allows you to change the key, which can be especially helpful for these young voices who may need a different key each week.

To help you get the most from this book, here's a list of the songs in the book and what keys they are in, plus where each songs shows up in other Hal Leonard publications.

• All Through the Night, Key of Bb.  
• The Student Singer, High Voice, Key of Eb
• The Student Singer, Low Voice, Key of Ab
• Aura Lee, Key of C
• Easy Songs for the Beginning Baritone/Bass, Key of F
• Barbara Allen, Key of F
• 15 Easy Folksong Arrangements for the Progressing Singer, High Voice, Key of G
• 15 Easy Folksong Arrangements for the Progressing Singer, Low Voice, Key of Bb
• Bendemeer's Stream, Key of C
• Easy Songs for the Beginning Tenor Part II, Key of A
• Bill Groggin's Goat, Key of D
• Easy Songs for the Beginning Tenor Part II, Key of D
• Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie, Key of Bb
• 36 More Solos for Young Singers, Key of F
• Come Again, Sweet Love, Key of Bb
• The Student Singer, High Voice, Key of A
• The Student Singer, Low Voice, Key of F
• Drink to me Only with Thine Eyes, Key of G
• 15 Easy Folksong Arrangements for the Progressing Singer, High Voice, Key of Eb
• 15 Easy Folksong Arrangements for the Progressing Singer, Low Voice, Key of C
• The Erie Canal, Key of gm/Bb
• Easy Songs for the Beginning Baritone/Bass, Key of cm/Eb
• I Gave My Love a Cherry, Key of Bb
• 15 Easy Folksong Arrangements for the Progressing Singer, High Voice, Key of G
• 15 Easy Folksong Arrangements for the Progressing Singer, Low Voice, Key of Eb
• It was a lover and his lass, Key of F
• The Student Singer, High Voice, Key of F
• The Student Singer, Low Voice, Key of D
• The Jolly Miller, Key of b flat minor
• Easy Songs for the Beginning Baritone/Bass, Key of f minor
• The Lark in the Morn, Key of Bb
• Easy Songs for the Beginning Baritone/Bass, Key of Bb
• Pastime with good company, Key of b minor
• The Student Singer, High Voice, Key of b minor
• The Student Singer, Low Voice, Key of g minor
• The Rambling Sailor, Key of F
• Young Ladies, Shipmates, and Journeys Baritone/Bass, Key of D
• It is also in the Tenor book of the same title, but I don't have that book.  
• Shenandoah, Key of F
• 36 More Solos for Young Singers, Key of F
• The Silver Swan, Key of F
• The Student Singer, High Voice, Key of Eb
• The Student Singer, Low Voice, Key of C
• Simple Gifts, Key of Bb
• Easy Songs for the Beginning Baritone/Bass, Key of E
• Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, Key of b minor
• The Student Singer, High Voice, Key of g minor
• The Student Singer, Low Voice, Key of e minor
• The Streets of Laredo, Key of Bb
• 15 Easy Folksong Arrangements for the Progressing Singer, High Voice, Key of G
• 15 Easy Folksong Arrangements for the Progressing Singer, Low Voice, Key of Eb

I have one boy that I will be sending to get this book.  The keys aren't perfect for him (and I probably won't find a book that is perfect), but with my other books and the ability to choose the best key when using the CD, I feel like this will be something that we will be able to use until his voice matures a little more and I know whether to have him get tenor or baritone/bass books.  

Another great bonus of this book, although it might be slightly confusing to students at first, is that all the songs are written in treble clef.  It means that students will have to get used to reading as low as F in ledger lines, but it also means that these songs look low, and that has a major psychological effect.  Many boys at this age are anxiously awaiting their lower voices.  I think it will make a big difference in how a student approaches the song if he things of the ledger lines in treble clef as low notes as opposed to seeing ledger lines in bass clef as high notes.  

Guest post: Duets

Since I'm not teaching a lot of duets these days, Nicole Marschall has written a guest post to share some of her favorites duets and duet books.  Thanks, Nicole!

Are there other books or sheet music sources that you use for duets?  Please share.  

Treasures for Two, Andy Beck – This is my FAVORITE duet book for young singers.  Any voice combination.  Both parts have melody and harmony.  Favorites:  Who Has Seen the Wind?, Till the Stars fall from the sky, The Snow Begins to Fall, Remember Me and Benedictus.  My young women especially love these songs, very lyrical and beautiful melodies.

Standards For Two, Sally K. Albrecht  - Great jazz songs and jazz musical theatre songs with mid range songs, lots of harmony.    All duets can be m/m, f/f, or m/f.  Some of my favorites:  Button Up Your Overcoat, Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye, Friendship, When I Fall in Love

The Contemporary Singing Actor, Duets Edition – Many options of duets from contemporary musical theatre shows.  Some of my favorites:  For Good (Wicked), In His Eyes (Jekyll & Hyde), Who Will Love Me As I Am?  (Sideshow), I’ll Cover You (Rent), All I Ask of You (Phantom), I’d Give It All For You (Songs for a New World), The Last Night of the World (Miss Saigon), The Proposal (Titanic), Sun and Moon (Miss Saigon)

Classics for Two, Patrick M. Liebergen – A nice mix of well known classics.  Favorites include:  Laudamus te (Vivaldi), Pachelbel’s Canon of Peace, Panis Angelicus (Cesar Franck) and When at Night I Go to Sleep (Humperdinck)

Duet Album, Boosey & Hawkes – Great classical duets that are both well known and a bit more obscure.  Favorites – Die Schwestern (Brahms), Lost Is My Quiet (Purcell), Sound the Trumpet (Purcell), and Spring Wind (Eric Thiman)

American Folk Songs for Two, Andy Beck – I have just discovered this book and have not used it much yet.    Traditional folk songs arrangements include:  Go ‘Way from My Window, How Can I Keep from Singing?, Simple Gifts and The Water is Wide

Folk Songs for Two, Jay Althouse – Another of my favorite books for young singer duets.  Favorite arrangements include:  Poor Wayfaring Stranger, Scarborough Fair, Homeward Bound, Cindy and Shenandoah

The Singer’s Musical Theatre Anthology Duets Editions

Musical Theatre Anthology for Teens, Duets –Lots of great musical theatre duets, some songs are not duets in the actual production.  Some favorites:  My Favorite Things, It’s A Grand Night for Singing, Sisters)

Broadway for Two by Andy Beck & Brian Fisher – A great mix of duets!  Love this book!  A nice mix of contemporary and classic duets.

Duet sheets:  Ave Maria (Saint-Saens), La ci darem la mano (Don Giovanni), Sull’ aria (from The Marriage of Figaro), Via, resti servita, madama brillante (The Marriage of Figaro)

More Octavos

I went to the music store today to pick up my new music.  Unfortunately, someone had pulled the old editions of 3 books I wanted rather than ordering the newest edition.  Yes, it does matter, especially since I already own the old ones and I wanted the new ones because they have changed the contents somewhat.  Anyway, I didn't get the music that I was excited to review this weekend.  But, I did get copies of 9 octavos that I have not used in this format before.  So that's what today's post will be about.

In July, I wrote this post about using octavos and other options that are cheaper than buying complete books.  I especially like these options for students new to my studio.  By assigning the first two songs from my library of octavos, it gives me a chance to get to know a student's voice better before having them make a big financial commitment in the form of a book.

Most of the songs I'll be writing about today are also found in the books that I recommended for beginners.  Many of the songs in books by BriLee Music are actually solo settings of choral songs.  Heritage Music Press and Alfred also have considerable crossover between their solo and choral works.  I generally only purchase the octavos designated unison.  I do have some that are 2 part and I just walk the student through how to follow the melody.

All of the linked song titles will take you to more information about the songs and choral recordings.

When I purchased Tales of the Land and Sea, I fell in love with the very first song I played through, "Never Far From Home", and I knew that it would be one that would appeal to many students.  But it was in a book with "Solo Songs for the Male Changing Voice" plastered across the cover.  I couldn't really send my girls to buy this book.  Now I don't have to.  The octavo is in D and in the book, the songs is in A flat, so I now also have key options.  Most of my students are fine with looking at one key   but singing in another if I make a recording for them to practice with.

These are the other octavos I purchased and the books that the songs also come in.

• "O Captain" by Mark Patterson.  TB.  Also in Tales of the Land and Sea in the same key.  
• "I'm Bound Away" by Mark Patterson.  TB.  The octavo is in F, and in Heroes and Vagabonds you find the solo version in Eb.  
• "My Lord, What a Morning" by Ruth Elaine Schram.  Unison.  In Traveling On in the same key.  
• "How Can I Keep from Singing" by Laura Farnell.  Unison/Two-Part.  In Let Nature Sing in the same key.  
• "Night Winds" by Laura Farnell.  SA. This song is in the key of G in the octavo, and the key of F in Let Nature Sing.
• "The Arrow and the Song" by Mary Lynn Lightfoot.  Unison.  Both the octavo and the Medium Low book of And This Shall be for Music have this in the key of Eb.  The Medium High book is in the key of G.  

I haven't had anyone sing "Velvet Shoes" by Randall Thompson in a long time because I only had it in one ancient book that I got at a used book store.  I just bought the SA octavos from ECS Publishing (No. 2526). The music says that it is also available as a solo, but the SA version only really breaks into parts for the last phrase, so it is easy for a solo singer to work from, and I still have the option of using the music for ensembles.  (The recording of this is the SSATTBB.  I haven't heard it before, but I think I love it.)

My only totally new to me purchase was "O Rushing Wind" by Mark Patterson.  I'll let you know if students like it.

Part of me wants a few more weeks of summer, but all these new music options are getting me excited for school to start so I can try them out.

Giving Praise

How do you find a good balance between praise and constructive criticism?  Is saying one nice thing per lesson enough?  Is one compliment per criticism a good balance?  The sandwich method involves telling the student something they did well, then something they can work on, and then wrapping it up with something else that they did well.  I've even heard people say that we need to hear 5 positive things for every negative comment.  

I believe that it will be a little bit different for every lesson.  Sometimes one well-phrased comment about a student achievement will let you sail through a whole lesson of picky details.  Some students don't want to waste time hearing what's already right.  They want to spend every possible minute learning how to be better.  Some students can't see what is working well for themselves.  They only see the flaws, and part of teaching them to sing better is teaching them to acknowledge and trust what they are doing right.  Those kids may need 90% of their lessons to be carefully chosen, honest compliments.  I have also had students that just want to pay me to tell them how awesome they are.  Just building kids up without really teaching them how to sing does not serve them or me.  So in the beginning, these kids also need more compliments so they can swallow the truth I will be giving them next.

What you say and how you say it matters.  It must be sincere and it must be true.  That's not always easy.  While going through my files, I recently found a single sheet of paper titled 99 Ways to Say "Very Good".  I don't know if I received it at a contest I judged or in a class, but I know that I've had it probably close to 20 years.  I love that someone thought we needed to not get stuck it the same boring compliment.  I'm concerned that someone might just pull items from the list at random.  "You've just about mastered that" is very different from "FANTASTIC!"  That's like thinking that all the synonyms listed in the thesaurus for the word nice can be used interchangeably.

When I have a student sing through a song for me, I listen both for things I want to work on and things that worked well.  Very often a trouble spot can be fixed by analyzing what was working well in another spot.  One of my students was singing "Here Amid the Shady Wood" and had a very tight [i] vowel on "seat", but the vowel was gorgeous on "retreat". We discovered that it was actually the way she was creating the s that was causing the tension.  We also found that even though it was on the same  high pitch, when she sang the the word "soul", she released the s tension faster.  By using two good spots, she found beauty and freedom in a trouble spot.  

Elly Ameling has been known to stop a singer, not to correct something, but to comment on the beauty that just occurred, from the singer, the pianist, or both.  Try it with your students.  It's fun.  Most people expect that when they are stopped that it is to fix something.  Some of my students even tell me what was bad before I get a chance to say anything.  No one expects to be stopped because of something they did well.  Maybe we need to do more of that in lessons, and in the world.

I have a couple of secret clubs in my studio.  They are secret because I don't usually tell people about them until they earn membership in the first club.  Plus, no one knows who else is in the club.  Many students perform well and sing beautifully, but membership in these clubs requires a little more.

When I play for my students at lessons, I am playing, listening, trying to help them move through the line, etc.  It's not always as musical as I would like it to be.  But sometimes, one of my singers brings so much to the interpretation of the song that they make me change the way I am playing.  (I've been accompanying for years.  It's habit. If someone gives me something to follow, I will.) Sometimes they will even make me look at a song in a completely different way.  When they make me play musically, then they are given membership in the first club and told about the second.

The second club is harder to get into because it takes a lot to get this response from me. I love and appreciate good music, but apparently I'm not moved as easily as other people are.  Standing ovations bug me because only a handful of times have I been sufficiently moved to justify one.  But that's a post for another day.  Students gain membership in the second club when they give me goosebumps, or when they make me cry.  And this is a very small club.  But, I had a student reach it this week.  She has one more lesson with me before she leaves for college.  Her performance was stunning.  We both wish we had recorded it, because I would put it up against any professional.  The technique was solid. The tone was pure.  She became the character, showing all the subtle changes in emotion.  She found artistry.  And you can bet that I told her just how well she had done. The interesting thing is that when you reach this level, you don't need to be told that it was good.  You know.  She felt it.

Song of the River

I actually have my wonderful friend and colleague Kari Douma to thank for discovering Mark Patterson's "Song of the River" and the BriLee publication My Heart Sings that also contains this song.   She used it with one of her choirs, and since then I've had many students choose to work on this song.

Mark Patterson wrote new words to the tune of "Salley Gardens."  Like "Give Me Wings," this is a text that young students easily relate to.  I love the beautiful, flowing accompaniment.  In addition to being in a very singable range for most young voices (just over an octave), this song gives me many opportunities to teach both theory and vocal technique.

• The first thing I talk about with students even before we sight-read the piece is that this song is in AABA or song form.  I point out the patterns, and the places that those patterns vary slightly.  Because they recognize that pattern, by the time we get to the last A phrase of the 2nd verse, they are singing with confidence and I can tell if the song is going to be one that will work well for them.  
• The B phrase gives me an opportunity to work on high notes. It begins with a Do to Sol jump, and ends with an almost step-wise progression to the high Re, so in one simple phrase I learn which approach is easiest for the student, and I can also give instruction on making both approaches easier.  
• In the first verse, the melody is almost always doubled in the accompaniment, providing a little more security for the student early in the learning process. After that, the accompaniment has more variation, and although the piano part gives harmonic support, the student must be fairly confident to hold on to the part.  
• Phrases are mostly 4 measures, but commas mid-phrase allow for extra breaths if needed.  I use this song to talk to students about how to decide where to breathe if you can't make it to the next rest or editor's breath mark.  
• The song ends with a slowed down repetition of the last phrase.  Although it is not pure augmentation (everything doubled exactly), I do introduce the student to that concept.  

"Song of the River" is available as an octavo (in both Unison/Two-Part and SATB settings) and in the book My Heart Sings.  The song is in the Key of D in both the octavo and the book.  

Music Teacher's Helper and Me Part 3 (or Part 2 Rewritten)

Sometimes technology hates me.  Actually, I just made a dumb mistake and didn't catch it soon enough to undo it, so I totally lost the text for the post "Music Teacher's Helper and Me Part 2".  If anyone was so amazed by it that you saved it and printed it, please send me a copy.  Since the chance of that are slim to none, I decided to try to reconstruct something resembling what the first post looked like.  I remember that although it was intended to be a post about what I learned at convention about MTH, I didn't really learn a lot new, so I used that post to comment on how I am using all the cool new things I learned about while preparing the session.

This post will hopefully help me pull some thoughts together.  I have an article to write for the MMTA newsletter.  It won't really resemble this much, but believe it or not, it really does help me to just write like this.  I'll try to remember to post a link to the article when it is done.

Home Page

Your home page can be customized to include any or all of the following:  unreconciled events, upcoming events, birthdays, latest blog articles, account information, a monthly earnings chart, and overdue lent items.  I like having the account and earnings info come up every time I log in.  If you are up to date with charging fees and reconciling lessons, you can see exactly what you pending earnings are and who owes you.  (Unfortunately, due to a change in the way I am entering the charges in the system, and the fact that I haven't updated old accounts, this feature isn't as helpful for me as it could be.)  I also have the unreconciled events show up on my home page, but I've decide not to include more items because it was just too much for me on one page.  

Students Tab

The pages included under this tab are the ones that I've been trying to make better use of in the last few months.  MTH recently updated the manage student page.  One of the helps of that update is that now when you click on "view", you are taken to one page from which you can easily access all information relating to that particular student.  It's still not quite as clean a process as I would like it to be, but it is an improvement.  

I've always used the email feature, but now that I am being more complete on the information that I include on students' individual files, I can also quickly select just the particular group that I want.  For example, if something applies only to my EVHS students, I can enter EVHS in the filter and it will pull up only the EVHS students and their parents. I'm also getting more comfortable with some of the formatting options in the MTH email page.

Only a few of my students are using the MTH practice log.  (I don't require it.)  I'm also having trouble remembering to check the logs.  I wish the practice log information was included in the daily summary emails that I receive.  Although there is great potential with this feature, I'm not using it as well as I probably could.  

I am doing much better with the Lending Library.  All of my materials that circulate are now entered in the system.  I've been checking things in and out during lessons so I'm not forgetting or getting behind.  Once it is all set up, the Lending Library is very quick and easy to use.  

Repertoire Tracker is another area where I'm just not doing all I would like to.  I think I really do need to spend lesson time on this or it won't get done.  I might end up just using it to record songs that students use for contests.  I like the ability to record information about the score the student received.  

Calendar Tab

I am pleased to announce that the calendar features are being well used.  I am now using my MTH calendar as my personal calendar too.  (I just added myself as a student.)  I've added several new categories and locations with their own individual colors and icons.  It looks pretty good.  

I required all students and parents to have log in information, and now all scheduling, canceling, and rescheduling is on the website.  I love it!   No more phone or email tag trying to set things up.  A student signs up on the website, it is automatically changed on my calendar, and I receive an email to let me know that a change has been made.  The only tricky thing is that I still need to go in a change the price when a student cancels with the required 48 hours notice.

I've also discovered that when setting up the calendar, if you use the blocked dates page, you can choose a range of days rather than blocking just one day at a time on the actual calendar.

My MTH calendar also sends updated to the calendars on my computer and phone so I see things there too.  Unfortunately, it doesn't work the other way around, so everything has to be entered in MTH first.  I also can't edit events in iCal or on my phone.  If someone has found ways around this, please let me know.

Billing Tab

There are things I need to clean up and do better with in this area.  Because I charge quarterly, but it isn't at a regular interval (like the 15th of every 3 months), I can't set it up to charge tuition automatically.  What I used to do was divide the tuition by the number of lessons and have the system charge a per lesson fee.  But that got messy when dealing with make up lessons, etc.  Last year, I changed to making lessons $0 and then using the charge a fee function to enter the full price of tuition.  It worked much better, but unfortunately, there are still a few things to clean up from previous years.  

I also want to get better at using the mileage tracker and expenses records.  I always put my expenses in, but it's usually as I'm preparing my taxes at the end of the year.  I want to get better at recording things right away.  I also think that some of the travel I am doing could count as a business expense, so I need to do a better job of recording that.  

My goal for reports is to download and back up the information more often.  If the entire MTH site crashed (which is highly unlikely, but still possible) would I still be able to reconstruct my records?  I'm a firm believer in having multiple back ups in place.  I just downloaded my latest reports and in addition to saving them on my computer, I emailed them to myself so there is a copy in my email too.  

Website Tab

This tab is where you control all the content of your site.  One of the reasons I chose MTH is that it allowed me to make password protected files available to my students.  I have about 30 handouts that I used to copy and give to students as we discussed that material. Now I just put a note in their lesson notes to go log in and look at the related file on the website.  I'm saving paper and time by having these all ready to go and making them easily accessible to my students.  I've been working revising all of my handouts (about 30 right now), creating PDFs of them, and posting them in the File Area.  

I need to learn more about how to post photos.  I don't like the way it is set up right now.  

I'm also hoping to get better about posting announcements on the website.  I send out a lot of email communications, but I need to remember to get the short version on the website too.  

I just spent some time updating the information on the various pages of my website.  I'm not saying that it's totally what I want yet, but it is better.

Affiliate Program

I haven't made any money yet through the affiliate program, but if you're interested in creating your own Music Teacher's Helper website, please click here to get 10% off your first month.  Then you too can join the affiliate program and make money (maybe) just by telling people about Music Teacher's Helper.