New address!

I have moved my blog from Blogger to Wordpress. Although I liked this platform as a start-up for my musings, I think Wordpress will give me greater visibility and it just looks more professional. I won't delete this page, but everything has migrated over there.

So if you want to continue following me, the title of the blog is still Why I Sing, but you'll have to go to a different place.

See you there!

What If You Were Your Own Teacher....

I just read the phrase, "as if they were their own teacher" on a FB page of independent teachers, in regards to how a student would do self-evaluation, including:

• Finding three things they did well
• Finding a couple of things they'd like to fix
• Figuring out how to fix them

This was based on the idea of submitting a video to a teacher in the event that you were unable to make your lesson that week. The teacher would then review the practice video and give his/her own observations and suggestions. I thought this was a really great option. I'm thinking of making this an option in the fall.

So here's a challenge for you this summer:

• Video your practice session (you can use your phone) as if it were a lesson. Include:
• Vocalises
• Repertoire
• Do each song all the way through without stopping
• Stop and address the issues you need to address
• Watch the session - either afterwards, or stop after vocalises
• Evaluate it
• Were your vocalises varied enough? 
• Did you vocalize long enough?
• Were the things you stopped and addressed the things you should have stopped and addressed? Did you leave anything out?
• What did you do well? (There must have been something.)
• What do you need to address the next time you practice? How are you going to address this? When?
• Is there anything you noticed that you need to ask me about?

I'm going to try to do this too. Let's see what happens.

Going through my files, Part 2: Personal Qualities that Affect Performance

In my performance anxiety folder, mentioned in my previous article, I also found an artist's profile. Apparently, I completed a questionnaire that was associated with a book called Performance Success by performance psychologist Don Greene, who has worked with artists all over the world, including at the Juilliard School, LA Opera, and the Olympic Training Center. While I still have the book, I do not remember taking this test at all. But I did. (I suspect it must have been free because I was a serious cheapskate in 2002. It's not free anymore.)

Here's a summary of how I scored:

Strengths:

• Risking Success
• Ability to Recover 
• Commitment 
• Will to Succeed
• Ability to Risk

Mid-Range Scores: 

• Ability to Fight (confrontation)
• Intrinsic Motivation
• Expectancy
• Insular Focus
• Self-Confidence

Areas for Improvement: [note it doesn't say "weaknesses"]

• Mental Quiet 
• Duration of Focus
• Object of Focus
• Presence of Focus [are we noticing a theme here?]
• Performance under Pressure

The overall analysis of these items was that I had terrific energy, commitment, and that I was passionate and perseverant. (Aw, shucks.)

BUT

I needed to work on my concentration (monkey mind!), my intensity, and poise. And that I overthought while performing instead of being in the moment. And that I worried about other people's opinions of me.

YEP.

I think this has changed. I hope it has changed. I don't think I could've done some of the things I've done in growing and sustaining a successful studio if my focusing skills hadn't improved.

Maybe I should spend the $19 to take the test again and see if it has. What do you think? Should I do it?

I think I should. 

I'll let you know if I do and if anything has changed in 17 years....

Going Through My Files, Part 1: Golden Rules for Conquering Performance Anxiety

Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, I found myself grappling with performance anxiety that really impacted both how I auditioned and how I performed. I found that I didn't have too much trouble if I were performing a role, but I did auditioning for one (which made it hard to get the role), and in performing in recital or concert. No matter how much preparation I put in, I would get up on stage and I would shake, I would hyperventilate, my mouth would get dry (once my lip adhered to my upper teeth while holding a high note, which looked weird, and then suddenly released, which made it sound weird), and my voice would suffer the consequences. As a result, I didn't pursue a lot of auditions, and didn't do a lot of performing in what should have been a peak time for me as a performer.

I looked for help on what was then this growing source, the Internet. One article that seemed to resonate with me was by composer/guitarist David Leisner. You can read the full article here, but I summarized the 6 rules on notecards that I apparently kept handy for me to refer to in the event I did have a performance or audition. I found 3 or 4 of them in a folder marked "performance anxiety." I also put each rule into my own words so that it would mean something to me. Here are the rules - Mr. Leisner's words are in bold, my "translation" in italics below:

1. You have practiced to the best of your ability.
   Trust your autopilot (aka your TECHNIQUE) to work!
2. Do not judge what just happened or will happen.
   No "what was that?" thinking!
3. Don't second-guess audience reaction.
   Please yourself only!
4. Be in the music, in the moment.
   Be on stage, not in the audience; be in the GIVING mode, not the receiving one!
5. Single out one aspect of your playing that is #1 priority (before going on stage)
   You can't address everything. What do you want to focus on? Breath? Expression?
6. Enjoy! Let your excitement for the music be present!
   You perform because you have a passion to perform. Nothing else matters.

I don't suffer from this anxiety anymore. I have an idea of what ended it, but it's personal (I actually do keep some things to myself). But finding this yesterday reminded me of what I went through and what other people still go through.

I'm going to write another blog about some other information I found in that folder, and about other resources that I had and that I still have.

Is this an issue for you? How do you deal with it? How can I help you? Just ask. I've been there.

Mission Statement about Curiously Stronger Singing

I just tightened up my website a bit (www.mezzoid.com) and am moving some text from there to here because I don't want to lose it. It's my raison d'etre, my mission statement, my philosophy, whatever you want to call it.

I am a firm believer that singing is the coordination of natural functions in a way to ensure a sound that is natural, free, attractive, and feels really terrific.

Singers are vocal athletes. The best athletes are not only strong, they are flexible and they are aligned so they can perform with ease. They are in command of their bodies - which are their instruments. In this way, singers are closer to athletes than any other musician. Our instrument is not external to us, it is not something we can put in a case and stuff in a closet. We carry it with us everywhere we go. We are curiously stronger.

We breathe to live. We breathe to sing. We balance our breath energy in order to create a beautiful tone. It's all about balance, in our bodies and in our spirits. And that's what I'm here to help you find. Balance.

Golden age musicals - why you should bother

I hear this way too often from people:

"Why should I sing golden age music? It's so old-fashioned! I don't know any of it."

• Technique. Today's musicals tend to be very text-driven, and aren't necessarily vehicles for mastering things like legato and breath management. (And that doesn't make them less than, just different.)
• Revivals are big nowadays. Two revivals were nominated this season - Kiss Me, Kate and Oklahoma (see below). 
• Sometimes it's right for the audience where you'll be performing. A retirement community will appreciate a Rodgers & Hammerstein song more than they will something from Pasek & Paul. Usually.
• Because choosing repertoire is one of my superpowers. If I'm picking it for you, it'll be right for you. Trust my judgment.
  AND
• History. Most of all, history.

Oklahoma won the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical. It's supposed to be fantastic, and I want to see it. And I don't even like the show. However, the way they're looking at it is more contemporary - the accompaniment is a band, rather than a full orchestra, the casting is diverse, and the direction takes it to a darker place than most traditional productions.

In undergrad, I wrote a paper about the characters of Curly in Oklahoma and Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro and how groundbreaking both of them were for their times. Frank Rich pretty much wrote the same thing in this article:

"At its birth, the show was to its America what Hamilton has been to ours: both an unexpected record-smashing box-office phenomenon and a reassuring portrait of our past that lifted up theatergoers at a time of great anxiety about the country’s future. Its Broadway opening took place less than 16 months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, when America was shipping its sons off to war and still digging out of the Great Depression. Like Hamilton, too, Oklahoma! was deemed artistically revolutionary for its time. A self-styled “musical drama” rather than a musical comedy, it dispensed with the usual leggy chorus line and leveraged its songs to advance character and plot."

There is a vast history of American musical theater, going back before Oklahoma! Knowing about it makes you a more well-rounded singer. 

And again - trust my judgment.

We GOT this! (Showcase Recap)

Just wanted to dash off a few words about the recital (reworded from emails I sent out yesterday to the studio).

I like to call the final recital of the year a studio showcase rather than a recital because recitals imply prim and proper stand-in-one-place and sing and that sounds boring to me. (In opera, that kind of performing is called "park and bark.") Sometimes there's a need for that - prepping for a competition, college auditions, things like that - but generally, I prefer a more active kind of performance, both as a performer and an audience member.

This past Sunday was our studio showcase at Springwell Senior Living in Mount Washington, and it was very successful. We had a lovely turnout from both studio family and friends and the residents at Springwell. Performers sang with energy and commitment, dedication to their text and were excellent collaborators in their ensemble pieces. Studio community is something that is very important to me - having my students all support each other and work together are elements that, in my opinion, set our studio apart from other studios.

I can't tell you how pleased I was with everyone. No one looked uncomfortable, scared, or as though they didn't want to be there. There were some really heartfelt and moving moments, a lot of dang funny ones, and a really great sense of camaraderie and a feeling of "we're all in this together and we GOT this."

Things I learned -

• I have to work with my students on bowing. I keep saying this. I kept saying it in Milwaukee too. Someone remind me.
• I need to check the lighting as it's going to be once they adjust the lights for the performance. The spot I designated as the edge of the "stage" was a little too far forward and put the performers in shadow.
• If you specify "booklet" when you upload your programs to the Staples website, it comes out much smaller than the standard 8-1/2x11" paper per page. A little hard to read for a senior living center audience. Oops. Perhaps next time I'll call upon people to help me print those out (like maybe 10 copies per participant) to help defray the cost and make it more legible. (I was running low on ink in my own printer and figured outsourcing it would be better...)

Next year I'd like to have a holiday recital in December and a final showcase in June. I'll be looking for places to do them - ideally, I'd like to find a place where we can rehearse in the space the day before for the June performance. I've also spoken to Cyd Wolf at Germano's about doing a studio cabaret, to which we would charge a small admission fee per attendee (I'm thinking $5) and where they could eat excellent food while enjoying the studio performances.

So many possibilities - we can do it! WE GOT THIS!!

My take on studio recitals (subtitle: Hi, ho! Come to the Fair/Recital!)

I recently took a course on organizing my studio (not that I haven't been running my own studio for 20 years, but hey, you can always do things better). One of the exercises that I did was to identify my strengths. This popped up when I was looking for past studio recital programs to use as a template. It was called "Mighty-ness." I thought, in view of the fact that the studio recital is this Sunday, that this was a good way of describing why I do what I do. (The prompts are in bold, my responses following.)

***

I’m often complimented on the way I handle studio recitals. I’m really good at programming music that is entertaining as well educational, that the student is comfortable with (but still challenged by), and at putting performers in an order where no one feels like, “Oh, I have to follow her? NOOOOOOO.” I don’t put people in order from least-to-best, either, because, well, that’s tedious for people to have to sit through and it makes the people early or middle in the program feel like, “Heyyyyyyy,” because it’s obvious that you’re saving the best for last. (It’s very validating for those at the end of the program, however.) I program based on the music that’s being performed - if there’s a great opening song, that’s the opening song, regardless of who is performing it, my most beginning student or my most advanced. I’m good at creating variety and interest, and finding some kind of theme to link things together (or at least to come up with a title that works).
My studio recitals have been smooth, and my expectations are clear so that students know what they have to prepare and how they have to present it. Whether they’re your typical assembly line park & bark recital or a semi-staged ensemble recital, the order is clear, and there’s never a gap of “Oh, whose turn is it now… um… I’m not ready…”

The things I find easy that others find difficult are: 

1. Choosing repertoire
2. Programming (see above - and below)
3. Directing
4. Diagnosing vocal issues and
5. Prescribing solutions
6. Creating exercises off the top of my head
7. Finding really cool and obscure pieces - especially American song
8. Justifying just about anything that I do [including using this to promote the studio recital]

I’m super good at programming! Whether it’s my own cabaret show, a recital or a studio recital, I am really good at picking repertoire and putting together entertaining and moving programs. I’ve had people say, “You could charge money for this!” after my studio showcases (ah, but then I’d really have to get the rights to things I do!). I try to use the idea of cabaret as “personal musical theater” (from a master class) by Amanda McBroom to govern the studio recitals I’ve done. I want people to love to share their songs, not just perform like show ponies.


****  

So that was my "mighty-ness." And hopefully, you'll agree with me after this Sunday's (June 9!) recital, "Come to the Fair!" at Springwell Senior Living Center in the chapel at 3pm! 

Stages of Grief (5? 7?) and Interpreting a Sad Song

I find that a lot of my students, both past and present, love to sing sad, heart-breaking songs of woe and loss. It goes with the emo-ness of youth, I think.

Personally, I gravitate toward funny (some might say nigh-ridiculous) songs, especially in programming. People say comedy is hard. I think tragedy is hard. At least, tragedy that isn't just superficial. 

Which is often the problem with interpreting sad songs. They're just sad sad sad from beginning to end. Come on! "I dreamed a dream" from Les Miserables starts out with "I dreamed a dream in time gone by - when hope was high and life worth living. I dreamed that love would never die. I dreamed that God would be forgiving..." Nowhere in there is the word, "DAMMIT." The first time we get the sense that things didn't pan out the way she wanted is at "But the tigers come at night with their voices soft as thunder - as they tear your hopes apart, as they turn your dreams to shame." 

And even then, "He slept a summer by my side - he filled my days with endless wonder." This is a fond memory, at least until: "Then he was gone when autumn came." That's where sadness comes to stay for the rest of the piece. Not earlier. But if you see the movie, the song pretty much slams you in the face with a shovel of sadness all the way through. (Which I don't blame Anne Hathaway for - I blame the director.)

A few years ago, I asked a student to think about applying Elisabeth Kübler-Ross' five stages of grief to a song.  These are

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

Not all of these stages may be present, and not all in equal amounts. I've used this device a lot and it seems to be helpful.

The five stages of grief have since been updated to seven in today's psychological circles (and some say they're completely invalid in the first place). The current stages are:

1. Shock and denial
2. Pain and guilt 
3. Anger and bargaining
4. Depression (reflection/loneliness)
5. Upward turn
6. Reconstruction/working through (in another site, it was called "testing")
7. Acceptance and hope

Clearly, these have been fleshed out a bit more. Depending on what you're working on, the basic five may be enough for you to apply.  You might want to pick from the seven - does your song involve survivor's guilt ("Empty chairs at empty tables")? Shock and denial ("I'm still hurting")? Making a choice to change your life and move on ("Astonishing")?

If you're singing a song of woe, especially one that is really well-known and overdone, how can you apply contrasts using these ideas? And how will you implement those contrasts? With dynamics? With a change in registration? With a change in tempo? A physical change? Where do you wail? Where are you curled up in a vocal fetal position? Where might you sing through clenched teeth (without hurting yourself, of course)?

What can you do to give life and depth to a song that might otherwise be on the "Do not sing" list? 

If you feel stuck, go through the song and see where these steps could apply.

Voice Teacher vs. Voice Coach - Can they co-exist in the same person?

Years ago, I had a young student who walked into her half-hour lesson one day and announced, "Today I want to sing three songs and I don't want to waste any time." I said, "Okay." We skipped the stretching and obligatory how-was-your-week discussion during same and launched into vocalises. She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily as I moved from lip trills to resonance exercises, and from articulation vocalises to scales. We started her first song. She made a mistake in the second line. I stopped to correct the error. We restarted the song. She made it again. We stopped. We started again and got to the same spot and she made the same mistake. I stopped and she snapped her fingers in my face and said, "Let's keep moving! Time is wasting!"

via GIPHY


I stopped and said to her, "If you want someone to play happy little songs while you sing without any correction, then you need someone who plays piano a lot better than I do. If you want to sing those happy little songs and know that they will be RIGHT every time you sing them, that's what I'm here for."

I am a voice teacher. I am here to help you develop vocal technique that you can establish so that you can have consistency in every song you sing. I assign you vocalises and songs that will help you develop that technique. I have taken courses in vocal pedagogy for both classical and contemporary commercial music. I specialize in classical and musical theater. I know both golden age musical theater and contemporary shows - the latter not quite as well as the former because, well, I'm old. Ish. But I'm constantly learning about new shows.

A vocal coach is usually a pianist who specializes on working with singers. Sometimes their focus is on diction, especially in classical music, where they need to know a variety of language rules. Sometimes they are a répétiteur (literally, "repeater"), which means that they are teaching you the notes and rhythms of a song. A good vocal coach will help you find expression in a song, nuance in the text, and explore different possibilities in interpretation. This is a great article about the differences between the voice teacher and the vocal coach.

When you are a professional performer, you may or may not continue to take lessons, depending on where you are in your vocal development. You may hire a coach to accompany you, to help you take your audition or performance repertoire to a new level. When you are a student, particularly a high school student, your teacher often wears both hats. We teach you songs, and we help you develop your technique, and we explore all the elements of the song besides the notes.

I do that. I'm a teacher, first and foremost. I select music for you that will help you grow and develop. In my studio policies, I outline this:

• I will trust Christine’s choice of repertoire assignments for at least 3 weeks. If, after 3 weeks, I don’t like a song, we can discuss a replacement.

The crucial word here, which I have bolded, is trust. I'm not here to teach you songs just for the sake of songs. I'm here to help you on your vocal journey so that you can sing what you want, when you want. But especially when we're first beginning that journey, you need to trust my judgment. I'm not saying we won't work on songs that you want to work on! But they have to be right for you.

Just don't snap your fingers in my face. Please.

A critic and a performer can't live in the same body (at least not at the same time)

Don’t try to create and analyze at the same time

John Cage pointed out they’re different processes. Doing one will interfere with the other.

What will you create today? You can analyze it tomorrow.

https://seths.blog/2019/05/dont-try-to-create-and-analyze-at-the-same-time/

Years ago, I took a writing workshop that said, "You can't be a writer and an editor at the same time." I applied that to music as well, and went home and put a picture of the then-Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel music critic, Tom Strini, on my music stand .... with an X through his face.

This wasn't because I disliked Tom Strini. On the contrary, I liked him quite well. He was always good to me, even on one or two occasions where I didn't deserve it. And he had been my downstairs neighbor for a time. 

The point was - you can't be a performer and a music critic at the same time. You'll never get anything done if, in the moment, you are analyzing, criticizing, evaluating, and self-shaming. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't evaluate your performance. That's what practice is for. That's what building technique is for. That's what your lessons are for - and in your lessons, I'm the one who is analyzing and evaluating so that you can take the feedback with you to work on further improvement.

But when it comes time to perform, you have to do it. You have to create, express, and just be. Put the editor, critic, and analyst aside. For that moment, anyway. 

She's the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - with something to say

I am a huge fan of the show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, the fourth (and final) season of which I'm watching on Netflix right now. The star and creator and producer and writer of the show is the multi-talented (as well as multi-tasking) Rachel Bloom, who plays the title character, Rebecca Bunch.

Each episode of the show features one to two musical numbers (also co-written by Ms. Bloom). They can be about mistakes Rebecca has made in her relationships (which are legion), about the men in her life and their reactions to her, her friends, her family, etc. They vary greatly in style, from

• big, showy musical theater numbers, complete with Broadway-level choreography; 
• intimate cabaret-style solo performances
• dance music videos

I just happened upon this video of an interview Rachel Bloom did with Seth Meyers about a year and a half ago, and in it, he asks her about using songs to tackle some pretty significant issues, particularly regarding mental health. I loved the way that she describes how a song is structured (this comes in nearly 4 minutes in). She refers to them as musical essays, with the thesis statement the chorus, and the supporting paragraphs the verses and bridges.  She says, "It's a great way to distill something down,  to be like, 'this is what we're trying to say.'"

What are you trying to say in your songs? What is the main point? What is in the supporting material? 

Let's take the song "Someone like you" from Jekyll & Hyde. It's very clear what the point is: If I had someone like you in my life, it would be better. That's the chorus. You sing it three times (and the last time, higher).

The supporting material:
The beginning: I'm an outsider. Nothing has ever worked for me. I've never had any hope.
The second verse: I'm feeling things I never felt before and I think there might be a way out. I know what that is now.

Watch Crazy Ex-Girlfriend on Netflix, if you haven't seen it already (caveat: adult content). 

If you're going to make a mistake, make a BIG one

I read a blogpost the other day by a musician and psychologist named Noa Kageyama (aka "The Bulletproof Musician") about the idea that making deliberate mistakes can teach you a lot. Kageyama's focus, generally, is on being very deliberate and mindful in your practice. So I was doing some thinking when I posted this on my studio FB page:

What would happen if...

You did that wrong again, but make it really wrong, on purpose?
You gave yourself permission to do it wrong? Would you do it wrong?

While "practice makes perfect" is less true than "practice makes permanent," being mindful and making deliberate choices is much better than being on autopilot.

****

What would happen if you:

1. Sang a note deliberately flat?
2. Sang a note deliberately sharp?
3. Sang the wrong rhythm - on purpose?
4. Sang the wrong interval - on purpose?

How would it feel in your body to sing flat/sharp/just plain wrong? And how does it feel when you do it right?

You have to know what WRONG is so you can find RIGHT. If you're going to make a mistake, make it big and make it deliberate so you can figure out just what wrong is and what is wrong.

Experiment with this - if you have a phrase where you are always flat, sing it REALLY flat on purpose. What's going on? Is your tongue in a weird place? Is the registration off? Your balance breath pressure less than optimal (or if sharp, more than optimal)? How can you adjust these things in your own body? 

What would happen - if?

"An instrument of discovery"

I just read this in a Facebook ad for former U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins' poetry masterclass:

"I think of a poem as a flashlight, an instrument of discovery. I’m here to light the way for you, to show you what I’ve learned, and not just about rhyme and meter. I’ll also teach you about being open to influence, understanding who you are as a poet, and inventing a persona, that is, a distinctive voice that is yours alone. Join me in my first-ever MasterClass."

This resonated with me. If you love song, you love poetry, because that's what we're doing - we're singing poetry. And this is exactly how I feel about teaching singing. I'm here to light the way for you, to show you what I've learned, and not just about breath and resonance. 

I want you to understand who you are as a singer and as a person, to find the distinctive voice that is yours alone.

Join me. Turn on that flashlight.

 

***

Billy Collins' poetry

Money Notes

Wikipedia's definition:

A money note is a music industry slang term which refers to a part of a live or recorded singing performance which is subjectively judged to be very dramatic or emotionally stirring.

Mezzoid's definition:

A note you sing that is so fantastic, that sits in just the right place, that you've infused with so much emotion and strength and power, that people will throw money at you to keep doing it (and is hopefully not the opposite, where they'll throw money at you to make you stop).

Perfection is not attainable. In Power Performance for Singers by Shirlee Emmons and Alma Thomas, the authors liken preparation for singing to the preparation done by athletes. An athlete prepares by practicing, by knowing the field on which they're going to play, by mentally rehearsing the game, by packing their gear. They do not expect to make every shot, hit every ball, catch every ball, but they are going to create the conditions that will facilitate this so that they're going to miss every shot or every ball that comes their way.

Let's look at baseball. Mike Trout plays for the Oakland As and is considered the best player right now. His lifetime batting average is .308 and he has been up to bat 3902 times. This means that he has actually hit the ball almost 1,202 times, or 3 times out of every 10 times he's been up at bat. (Math is not my strong suit - feel free to recheck my numbers).

This doesn't seem all that impressive. But of those 1,200+ hits, 245 have been home runs (money notes) and 660 have been runs batted in.

As a performer, I think we'd all like to hit more than 3 out of every 10 notes right in order to consider ourselves successful. And all notes matter, not just the money notes.

Idina Menzel said in an interview, "There are about 
3 million notes in a two-and-a-half-hour musical; being a perfectionist, it took me a long time 
to realize that if I'm hitting 75 percent of them, 
I'm succeeding. "

That is true. And I think if we're batting .750 as singers, we're doing great.

BUT.

• If Mike Trout comes up to the plate at the bottom of the 9th inning and the other team is ahead one run, and the bases are loaded and he strikes out; OR
• If the note that people are paying you to sing (i.e., the money note and subject of the blog) is not among the 75%;

Both of you might as well have stayed home.

I submit for your consideration:

New Resource for Choosing Repertoire!!

Last week, I added yet another item to my list of things-to-spend-money-on-so-that-all-our-lives-can-be-better!

This resource is MusicalTheaterSongs.com and offers thousands of songs from 1850 to the present day (with the purchase of a subscription - and my NATS membership gets me 50% off of the annual subscription price).

For example - are you looking for a song for an audition for a girl under 13, written between 2010-2016? Just plug those things into the search engine, and voila! Thirty-five songs come up. Click on one of them to find out - let's look at this obscure one:

It's short (1 page?); it has an octave range; it's not too difficult to play; and it's pretty obscure. In fact, it's only available if you subscribe to contemporarymusicaltheatre.com (sigh, another one to check out), which you find if you go to the "find the sheet music" link.

AND you can create a song list of songs that you're saving. Right now, I have one saved for a project I'm going to propose for a conference next year for musical theater songs for women of a ... ahem... certain age.

This is offering so many possibilities! I can't tell you how excited I am. But I'll show you:

HIMYM Barney GIF from Himym GIFs

Spring Forward!

UGH, it's Daylight Savings Time. I hate the transitions both in and out of DST. I feel like I gain nothing in the fall because I wake up too early, and I definitely feel the loss of the hour in the spring. (Spring? It's spring?)

But I do like the idea of "spring forward." Of finding some new things to do and thinking outside the box.

For example, at my church job today, I decided that I was going to put the emphasis on all the prepositions in the hymns and responses. At first, it was a source of amusement (which pretty much sums up how I approach almost anything new), and then I realized it was a way to be really aware of the words I was saying. Too often, responses are on autopilot, and so are hymns (if you're just singing the melody to something you've known for years). But if you put the emphasis on a different word, you have to think about all the words before and after it.

"And also with you."
"Our Father, who art in Heaven."
"Make you to shine like the sun."

I did something like that recently in a cabaret performance of the song, "As if we never said goodbye" from Sunset Boulevard. I have always sung the lyric, "Has there ever been a moment?" with the emphasis on "ever." But in my last performance, it just felt right to put it on "been."

Now, I realize that emphasis is kind of Chandler Bing-esque, but it felt right to me in that moment. It seemed like it made all the other words in the line even more important.

There's an acting game to take a phrase and change the emphasis to get a different point across:

"I didn't say she stole my money."
"I didn't say she stole my money."
"I didn't say she stole my money."
"I didn't say she stole my money."
"I didn't say she stole my money."
"I didn't say she stole my money."
"I didn't say she stole my money."

How would you interpret each of this lines with the different emphasis? Which one might be defensive? Sad? Evasive?

How could you apply this to a song you're working on? Or a song you've known for years? How would it change the interpretation? What works? What doesn't?

Try this and see what happens. And remember....

Exploring Online Lessons

Oh, the weather outside is frightful -
But the fire is so delightful -
And since we've no place to go -
Let's do an online voice lesson! (With apologies to Sammy Cahn)

****

Yesterday, the college where I teach opened two hours late. And then 4 hours late. At which point I said, "I'll bet you they're going to close early. And no one is going to come in during the time they are open.... do I really want to drive in for maybe one student?" The answer was no. So I elected to cancel people; and within minutes, people who hadn't read my email -- what is with kids and not reading emails? -- were cancelling. And mid-afternoon, I received the text message I expected to get: The school was closing at 5, which would've sent me back home in a driving sleet at rush hour. This would've made me cranky.

So today, I elected not to go in either. It was icy in the morning, and projected to rain all day with temperatures just hovering above freezing. And I had students to teach at home. One of whom asked for a Skype lesson.

And I gave her a Skype lesson, and it wasn't perfect - I still have some technical challenges ahead of me, and I'm going to explore Zoom as a platform - but man, was it valuable.

I couldn't play for her while she was singing. There's a delay. Not a big deal for vocalises, but more of a snafu for repertoire. And the sound is still a work in progress. But because I wasn't playing, I was watching. And I was seeing things that I can't see while I'm playing because, well, I'm busy playing. I can't see that your mouth position isn't the same on your /oʊ/ vowel as it is on /aʊ/.* It was invaluable.

Until I get a handle on the platform, I'm not going to start making online lessons a regular part of my services. BUT - if you can't make your lesson one week because your ride has fallen through, we can do a lesson online. And who knows what we'll see. Hopefully it will be something we can address when you are standing in front of me. And maybe we need to bring in a pianist from time to time to play while I watch. Or maybe I need to do more with Appcompanist (once you know your pieces cold) so that I can just sit back and really look at you.

We need not cancel - we have so many options available to us now!

*International Phonetic Alphabet - coming to a studio page Facebook Live near you this summer.