Awwww........

My May/June 2012 issue of Journal of Singing arrived. This journal offers articles on vocal pedagogy on topics ranging from scientific analyses of the vocal mechanism to pragmatic points of view on studio development to reviews of books, scores and recordings.

The regular recordings column, "The Listener's Gallery" is written by Carthage voice teacher and baritone Gregory Berg. This month, Greg opens the column with a review of a website, "The 50 Best Blogs for Opera Students" and profiles some of the great websites out there. One in particular is Susan Eichhorn-Young's Once More with Feeling, which offers great tips for the singer/actor, especially ones based in NYC.

Greg also discusses a few blogs not on the list. I was pleasantly surprised was when I got to the fourth page of the article, and found these words:

A teacher in Milwaukee, Wisconsin named Christine O'Meally shares some excellent writing in her blog Why I Sing, including thoughtful posts on performance anxiety, how to effectively practice, and a hard hitting essay on the evils of illegal copying that is well worth reading and sharing.

Again I say, "Awww." And it makes me realize that I start being more consistent with my writing.

Thank you, Greg!

MUSIC MARATHON & MUSIC SALE

I have been a member of the MacDowell Club Board for the last two years. The Club has been around for 102 years, and its mission is:

 To further musical interests in Milwaukee, provide performing opportunities for professional and amateur musicians, and acquaint the general public with the number and excellence of local artists.

One of these performing opportunities will take place this Sunday, April 29 at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Wauwatosa. Eight performances between the ages of 14 and 19 will be performing for cash awards. The money was provided by the Argosy Foundation, and a stipulation of the competition is that the selections performed must include a piece composed in the last 20 years.

Four of my current students will be singing on this program. They are:

Anna Aiuppa - Vittoria, mio core; Till there was you; American anthem*
Stephanie Kritzell - Vergebliches Ständchen; V'adoro pupille; The lake isle of Innisfree
Siena Muehlfeld - Gia il sole dal Gange; Take, o take those lips away; On music*
Eileen Peterson - Silent noon; An die musik; This heart that flutters*

*post-1992

Donations of $5 are suggested and will go toward the Club's scholarship fund.

Please come and support them! And while you're at it, we'll have a lot of PRE-1992 music for sale in the lobby. Prices will range from 50¢ to $3.

The music sale will begin at 1:30 and the competition will begin at 3:00. Awards will be given out sometime between 4:30 and 5:00pm.

Back to Basics

This year got off to a rather jolting start. I decided to listen to my CD from my September 23 recital.

My overall reaction?

I. Hated. It.

Now, I usually hate listening to recordings, at least initially, and then when I've had some distance, I listen and say, "Oh, that's actually quite good." And with a few years distance, I'll say, "Damn. That's good singing!" (I have the same reaction to papers and articles I've written - I read them a few years later and think, "Geez, I can write!)

But this was different. This was an "OH MY G*D WHAT HAVE I DONE?" kind of response.

I like to think I'm self-aware, and that I know when I'm off-track vocally. I'm not, at least right now, and I didn't. And then I thought, "Have I ever been? Was I really as good as I thought?"

So I went back to listen to some of those older recordings and realized that yes, yes, I was. Correction: Yes, I am.

So I've figured out that I've fallen off the track because of my explorations into musical theater and cabaret. While I love those genres, especially the creativity of cabaret, I don't think they're benefiting my voice right now. And they're not benefiting what I've been trained to do and what I have done, quite well, for many years. And they are not representing me as a singer. This is one of the reasons that I think I have fallen through the cracks in the last 9 years - I have not presented myself as a classical singer. People don't know what I am and they're not all that willing to find out. I need to re-present myself as the singer that I really am so that people will want to come hear me sing and will want to work with me because I'm really good at that style. I'm a great classical singer (speaking in the present tense, because I will fix this) and I'm just an okay MT singer. It's time for people to know this. Again.

So effective immediately, although I will still continue to love cabaret and musical theater, and to teach it and to explore the best technical methods of doing so, in my own life, I am returning to my roots and going back to basics. I am going to practice the way I encourage my students to practice, focusing on getting my technical skills where they were when I got distracted by A Cudahy Carolers Christmas in 2003 (which, while it was fun, was probably the biggest career error I made).

Like Chris Mann said on The Voice the other night, “I’ve tried to shrink my voice down to fit in.... I decided for this show I was just going to sing like myself.”

Yeah. Me too.

Why do singers think they're more broke than any OTHER artist??

I count myself in that subject line. Or at least I used to. I came from a mindset of poverty - do without, you can't afford that, you can buy something cheaper instead, even if it's not as good.

You get what you pay for. You need to invest in your craft, have the supplies you need.

These are the requirements for a Concordia University (WI) art class, "Drawing for Art Majors."

Nearly $70 in very specific supplies for one class.  Of stuff that will be used up and have to be replaced with more stuff at the same price.

I'm asking that my students buy books. At least one, maybe two books. Books that will cost $20 each  at the most. Books that can be used for more than just one semester, books that won't wear out or get used up.

Photocopies rip off so many people.

1. The composer/arranger
2. The performer (if it's a different person)
3. The printers
4. The office staff
5. The warehouse
6. The music store and all their assorted personnel

So I'm asking people to bite the bullet and buy some music next semester. Yes, we might still use copies, if I think of a song that's not in your book that I think would really suit you. But if you're a music major, or a musical theater major, you need to own music. You need to have a library of music that you can draw upon.

So if someone says, "What do you want for Christmas, dear?"

Music.

Not new socks.

Not new underwear.

But music.

You need these supplies to hone your craft, just like you'd need good brushes or canvas. I'm not saying spend a fortune. Go to Half Price Books. Buy things on sale at Amazon. Come to the MacDowell Club's used music sale on April 29 (more info on that later).

This is what you need. 

Making Music: The Magic of Handel's Messiah

Making Music: The Magic of Handel's Messiah

Passing this on from John Paradowski, music director at St. Matthew's in Wauwatosa.

RESOLVE TO PRACTICE

[From my Sept/Oct 1999 newsletter - thought I was done with all of these! I have tweaked this one quite a bit to incorporate some of the newer ideas I have on vocal technique.]

I've asked a lot of people how much time they put in on practicing each day. These are some of the answers I've received:

1. Oh, I sing in choir every day so I don't need to practice.
2. I can't remember what I'm supposed to practice.
3. I'm too embarrassed to practice where people can hear me/my neighbors complain when I practice/I don't have anywhere to practice.
4. I get so busy I forget.
5. I practice for hours, till I lose my voice.
6. Never.

Okay, folks. Let's address each of these in turn.

1. Your choir director is preparing you for the art of choral singing. He/she is teaching you to blend as part of an ensemble. I am teaching you to develop your voice as a soloist. These are very different goals. You need to practice the exercises that you have been given in lessons in addition  to the vocalises that you do in choir.
2. A lot of vocalises are done every week. A lot of them are done on the spot to correct your individual vocal concerns(s). During your lessons, I ask you how things feel while you're doing them ... this is so that you will do them with care and thought of what is going on in your body. Mindful of their function, rather than just throwing them off. If you really can't remember your exercises, I invite you to take time during your lesson to write them down OR to bring a flash drive to insert into my piano and record the exercises. You can also do this on your iPod or iPhone (there's an app for that!) Also, all of you were given my BRAAP sheets at your second lesson, which is an overview of a variety of exercises and their function (Breath, Resonance, Alignment, Articulation & Phonation).
3. Oh come on.*
4. Oh come on.**
5. I'm so glad you're so enthusiastic, but don't practice more than an hour at a time. Your vocal folds are delicate folds of tissue and overuse can be damaging. Practice intelligently and efficiently.
6. So why are you taking lessons? (See final paragraph of this blog.)

You should set up a regular time to practice. This is exercise, just like running or Zumba is exercise. You need to practice your vocal exercises (including, but not limited to, your repertoire) at least 30 minutes per day in order to make improvement. An hour  would be better. If you need to break this up into 10 minute increments, hey, whatever works for you.

So, how to structure your practice time:

• Physically warm up. This means get into the appropriate physical place for singing. Rotate your shoulders, lift your arms up over your head and back down, gentle neck rolls, rag doll down and back. Stretch. 2 minutes.
• Do some breathwork. Pant like a puppy, inhale on a K, exhale on a slow "sss." 1 minute
• Warm up the voice/isolate registers. Slides and sirens in your head voice on [u], lip trills, tongue trills, tongue between the teeth on "th." Go to your chest voice and do simple short exercises on "no" or "ho" (Santa!) or "nyah." 2 minutes.
• Scales and vocalises/mix. Refer to the exercise sheets or your notes or recordings. 10 minutes.
• Repertoire (The Music). Don't just run through it. Take your time and do it right. "Practice doesn't make perfect, it makes permanent." (Marianna Busching, although I suspect others have said it as well.) If something is new, work through it on different syllables before you put in the words. Take it apart and work on it in sections. 20-30 minutes.

So there you have it.  30+ minutes worth of practice time, structured for your convenience. If you need to break this up or condense it, do it however and wherever you need to. You can do lip trills and sirens anywhere... people will look at you funny, but you can do them anywhere. (I know, I have!)

I can hear you now -- 

"But I was sick last week. I couldn't sing a note. It hurt." 

- OR -

"We had houseguests over the weekend and they were in the room I usually practice in."

Okay, but you can still do some preparation. You can:

• Go through the rhythms. Clap them out, write in the beats if you are having any problems.
• Go through the text. Make it mean something to you. Write it out for yourself. Take a sheet of paper and write out three columns:
• The original text to be sung
• The literal translation (if foreign).
• Your "inner monologue." What this text means to you. Create a character if you can't find a meaning for yourself.
• Go through the diction. Say it slowly. If you need to write in pronunciation cues for yourself, whether through IPA (international phonetic alphabet) or your own personal shorthand, do so.
• Do some research. Find out about the poet. Where did the poem come from? What's the historical significance? What was going on when this song was written? What was the composer's story? Use the Internet - that's why Al Gore created it. :)
• Listen to recordings, not to imitate it but to hear how everything fits together: the text and melody, the harmonies, the instrumentation/orchestration, the texture. But really listen: don't just use it as background music.

If you don't practice, you aren't going to improve. That's all there is to it. If you want to sing better, you need to practice. If you can't or won't, you won't get better and you're wasting your money and both of our time. I don't want to take your money just to hear someone who is the same week after week; I want you to improve and find your voice. Then we can have real fun!

Facing Fears and Performance Anxiety

[From October 8, 2001]


The recital is Sunday. You are going to get up and sing one or two songs in front of at least 23 people (the number of people who have signed up to sing) and, assuming they each bring two people, the total swells to 69. Maybe more. You have been working on your song(s) for the appropriate amount of time to learn the text, the melody, the rhythm, how it fits with the accompaniment, and to be able to find some nuances and subtleties with the text and music so that you are really giving a performance and not just spouting notes. In a word, you are prepared.

Yet you're nervous and you're afraid something will go terribly wrong. What are you afraid of?

1. I'll crack.
2. I'll forget the words.
3. I'll miss a note/make a musical error.
4. People won't like my voice.
5. I'll trip.
6. I'll wet my pants.

Let's answer each of these in turn.

1. Often a crack is only heard by yourself and those really close to you. It rarely travels into the audience. Keep yourself hydrated the day before and morning of, and eat an apple or chew something (your tongue?) right before you go on. If you crack, keep going!
2. Put the words on an index card and speak them to yourself in the days before the performance. If you still miss a word, say something else. No one will have the words in front of them.
3. You miss a note, you make a mistake, you go on. Just have the "I meant that" look on your face and beat yourself up later. Nine times out of ten, no one will know unless you tell them.
4. Not everyone will like your voice. You aren't going to like other people's voices, either. (After all, Britney Spears has had a career for over 10 years now, despite what I think.) I'm sure there are people who don't like my voice. (Those people are called morons.) As the late Rick Nelson said, "You can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself."
5. In 1989, I sang my first Messiah. My dress was too long and I had to climb steps to get onstage, while holding music. I dropped my hem just a fraction of a second too soon, walked UP my skirt and fell face first into the first violinist, knocking over his music stand. This was not a subtle "oops." I was sprawled on the stage. I had to fight the temptation to cry, to run off the stage, and even, for a split second, to say, "Live from New York, it's SATURDAY NIGHT!" Instead, I had to get up, compose myself, look at the audience, and nod to the conductor to let him know I could go on. The music began and I sang, "Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened." (Not kidding. I thought the tenor was going to wet himself laughing by the time I got to the line, "Then shall the lame man leap as an hart.") If anything would have stopped me from performing for the rest of my life, it would have been this moment. It didn't.
6. Remember what I said about staying hydrated in #1? Stop in the bathroom before you sing, please.

So now I've addressed your fears. If you need any other coping devices, talk to me in your lesson (or read Shirlee Emmons'/Alma Thomas' Power Performance for Singers or any other wonderful books on performance anxiety).

Toi toi toi.