What Did I Do Wrong?

Friday musings...

Often after an audition (when you actually got SEEN!),  or a callback, or after you get that delightful PFO letter (please don't make me spell that out for you), the first question we ask is "what did I do wrong? why don't they want me?"

Wrong question.  Wrong direction.

It is easy to get sucked into the vacuum of negativity.  Trust me.  The problem with it is that if you go down that particular rabbit hole Alice,  it takes a great deal of excavation to find your way back.

What if you didn't do anything wrong?  Then what?  How do you answer THAT?

Here are the numbers - roughly of course.  95% of us who say we are in the business, are never working.  1 in 11,000 performers make it to Broadway.  And I could go on.  I think you get it.  There are lots of us. 

You have CHOSEN a profession where "rejection" is the commonplace.  You will be told "thanks but no" much more than a resounding "yes" for an actual job. 

This is the crux:  The yes/no is for a JOB.  It isn't about whether you did something wrong.

Casting, as my colleague Paul Russell will say, is glorified HR.  They decide whether you are "qualified". 

So let's start changing the question, shall we?  We need to begin to ask the questions BEFORE we walk into casting, BEFORE we walk into an audition, BEFORE we decide to audition at all.

The questions need to be ACTION ORIENTED.  Am I ready?  Do I know what I can do?  Do I know what I will reveal about my talent/ability today?  Do I have what it takes to say yes to a job and actually sustain what the character, the score, the lifestyle DEMANDS?

As artists, we have a grand capacity for self-doubt.  This is part of the journey.  We question in order to discover.  We question process in order to find it;  we question who we are and why we are in order for the larger truths of communication and life to emerge.

However, business is business.  It doesn't walk a journey of spirit or self-reflection.  It plows ahead,  looks for the bottom line,  and sometimes in spite of it,  real art is created!  It is there to create money through product. 

Of course,  there are exceptions, but for argument's sake, let's take the bottom line in order to make the point.

There is great emotional commitment and integrity in being an artist.  Not so much in business.  It isn't personal in that regard. 

Being an artist IN the business is a constant juggling act and constant reminder of what IS and what IS NOT.

Forget the questions and queries and mind games we play with ourselves AFTER the disappointment.  What about BEFORE?

Are you prepared? Truly?  Is your technique in order?  Are you singing the best material for the audition - that shows what you CAN do, not what you wish to do.

Do you know HOW to audition professionally? Have you actually PRACTICED it?

Are you looking at the call like a job interview?  Are you aware of what they are asking for?  Do you fit the requirements?

Then all you can do it prepare and hit it.  The person who can do YOU the best - is YOU. 

If you achieve that,  you didn't do anything wrong.   You weren't what they were looking for - this time.  They couldn't use you - this time.   They couldn't see you - this time.

What did you do wrong?  You wasted TIME on something you simply can't control or change.  Hold your head high and release it.  Claim your time and your preparation and move to the next.

An Artist in Waiting...

Wednesday musings...

A couple of singers have asked me to address the difference between artist and superstar (for lack of a better term).

May I suggest there is a great deal of difference between BEING an artist and being an artist trying to make a living in the business. I have addressed this before, but it needs repeating from time to time for all of us.

As I deal with many different and diverse clientele,  I often ask a potential student "why are you here? what brings you to this studio?"

If I were to narrow it down - the true artist - developing, emerging, achieving - says something about their craft:  wanting to discover more in order to do xyz;  wanting to simply find out what they can find about their voice;  wanting to learn, wanting to find more ways to express etc.

The performer who is not motivated by artistry but rather by business will answer "I need to work, I want a job, I have to be working before the end of the summer, I need to book a gig".

Now, don't get me wrong, artists that are in the business, must need to think from a business perspective, but it is not the first thing that enters their minds.  The artistic spirit has difficulty entering the business mind.  They simply do not function in their day to day with that "hire me NOW" mentality.  They want to make beautiful music.  They want to show a journey.  They want to discover a way to LIVE that has depth, meaning and beauty.

Business ain't that way.

Being an artist in the business of show is an odd and bizarre dance.

Often, we look at who IS working and even though there might be talent there (or sometimes not so much),  we are puzzled by WHY such mediocre talent/ability works and the true artist is often passed over.  This is the million dollar question.

If you want to be a superstar, you don't need talent, you need a gimmick.  The old saying never gets old.

So, if you are an artistic soul, it is simply how you live your life.  Your artistry is not just about the craft of your talent, but how you approach your day to day life in every way: what motivates you;  what inspires you;  what gives you meaning;  what you desire.

How do you reconcile this with the business?  You want that business to recognize that artistry, that possibility, that "IT" factor that is often unspoken.  Yet, somehow you come up short, or someone with less ability, less training, less passion, less something, gets the nod.  WHY?!

Well, sadly there are as many reasons as grains of sand ultimately.  Trying to riddle this enigma out will drive you nuts.  Truly.

So how can we simplify???  What is the reality of the artist IN the business?

Marketing.

How do you MARKET yourself as commodity?  What are you selling?  How do you sell it?

Okay, those of you who are artists just threw up in your mouth a little - and I shuddered at it too.  But guess what,  this is balance beam we walk each day, if we choose to allow our artistic nature/spirit to inhabit our craft in order to pursue a career possibility.

Nothing is guaranteed.  Nothing is promised.  BE that artist.  Then acknowledge you are going to have to shift your THINKING to allow that artist to try to make a living in the business of show.  It is NOT the business of artistry.

So what do you need to SHOW?  This is where the marketing comes in.

When asked "what do you want to DO? " an artistic soul will speak from that - a better singer, a better self,  to discover what I can sing well etc etc.  Now we take that artistic desire to SEEK and put on the marketing business hat:

What do you need to SHOW in order to DO?  How do you reconcile artist/performer/business and still sleep at night?

You do not need to sacrifice your artistic spirit.  Ever.   You simply need to recognize, understand and develop the tools that aren't as accessible to marketing.  The product is YOU.  What does the business need to see? to hear?  to acknowledge immediately about YOU?

Business hat is not the same as artistic hat.  Learning how to wear both,  and when to wear one over the other, is key.  Understanding, and taking charge of when the artistic hat is needed and understood then recognizing when the business hat needs to be fully apparent is part of your marketing as an artist in the business of show.

Show them what they need to see in order to get the job, the opportunity,  the foot in the door.  THEN, your artistry can expand its wings and encompass the craft and journey you are meant to be a part of.

Craft is part of business.  If you have none, or have limited access to it,  the business will only offer you a moment and then simply replace you if you cannot follow through.

Artistry is revealed when craft is built and talent can be summoned at will to inhabit the space the business has invited you to enter.

Without the business, and the marketing of YOU,  you are still an artist. You wake up an artist, and you fall asleep an artist.  This gives you power, a sense of self, of purpose, of truth.

If you are simply about marketing/business with no craft, and no artistry, you rely only on what the business acknowledges.

Where are you?  Where do you want to be?  Where do you NEED to be?

Believe, reconcile, and recognize what you are capable of doing,  what you are actually doing,  how to do, and why you do it.

Superstar?  Honestly, who cares if you are hiding in plain sight with little craft!


edited to add the brilliance of John Malkovich on World Theater Day:

From JOHN MALKOVICH for World Theatre Day

"I'm honored to have been asked by the International Theatre Institute ITI at UNESCO to give this greeting commemorating the 50th anniversary of World Theatre Day. I will address my brief remarks to my fellow theatre workers, peers and comrades.

May your work be compelling and original. May it be profound, touching, contemplative, and unique. May it help us to reflect on the question of what it means to be human, and may that reflection be blessed with heart, sincerity, candor, and grace. May you overcome adversity, censorship, poverty and nihilism, as many of you will most certainly be obliged to do. May you be blessed with the talent and rigor to teach us about the beating of the human heart in all its complexity, and the humility and curiosity to make it your life's work. And may the best of you - for it will only be the best of you, and even then only in the rarest and briefest moments - succeed in framing that most basic of questions, "how do we live?" Godspeed."

- John Malkovich

So what do you want to DO?

Tuesday musings...

It's spring - time to clear out,  dig out, and air out!

What about YOU?  What do you need to DO what you want to DO?

Time for a self-business meeting.  Go take yourself to a coffee shop or tea room with your laptop, iPad or a good old fashioned notebook and pen and begin to take stock of your spring.

We all work differently.  We all work things out differently.  This is simply an idea or template that you can perhaps adjust to how you process and work through you details.

Looking too far ahead is exhausting, frightening and unsure.  So don't.  Why not start from the largest block of time you can.  Why not start with a 3 month plan?

The 3 month plan should include two main columns: business AND craft.

Do you know what you need?  Preparation is needed on EVERY level,  and if someone has actually told you what's holding you back,  then you simply have to DO that.  If you are a dancer who is told "if you sang better you'd get the callback or the job"  then why aren't you studying voice?  If you are a singer and there's something about your voice that isn't developed enough, or if your audition book is lacking then DO it.

So - what do you want to DO?
What do you NEED to do?

How do you prepare yourself to do the necessities?  Yes it takes guts, work, discipline, practice, sacrifice and focus and commitment.  Are you ready for that?

So, figure out what you NEED to do. 

Make a list of what you want:  to perform - fine, where/what level? 

 to have better technique - great, what specifically could you work toward in a 3 month period? 
to build an audition book - fabulous,  how can you integrate that into your technical work?
to get into better physical shape  - wonderful!   what is it that you can do daily?
to audition more - what are you suited for?  RIGHT NOW?? Are you being seen? Are you trying to be seen? Do you know how to be seen?

Is your technique solid?  If not, you should be studying.

If your audition book ready at the drop of a hat?  Could you sing ANYTHING in it in an hour?  If not, you need to work with your coach to have it ready.

Do you have what is required in that audition book?  If you don't, you aren't ready. You need to have what you NEED in order to DO it. Get with a coach. 

If your technique is not solid, or building, then it will limit what you could sing. Take away the limitations and open up the possibilities.

Are you healthy physically? emotionally?  what else can you do to make sure you are centered and strong?

How can you create more performance opportunities for yourself?

What classes can you explore to get you closer to the ability to do what you want to do?

Is your 3 month plan goal larger than what you can accomplish in that time or what you are ready for?  Then change it!  Make it accessible!  Make it YOURS!

Your plan has to be do-able and yours.

What is available to you in this 3 month period?  What is not?  What is realistic?  What is not?

Time to get busy - and make your life work for you, or it simply goes by.  Dream? absolutely!  But dreams only become reality through hard work and focus.  The difference between real dreams and delusional dreams is whether you act on them fully or not.   The more you act upon pursuing a dream,  the more real your life becomes.  Perhaps the dream will morph as your reality reveals itself. 

The craft and the business begin to parallel because to truly be a working artist, you need both.  Craft is never completed.  Study is ongoing in one form or another.  The beauty of a 3 month plan is that it can be fluid and the focus can shift when necessary.  Do you need more coaching time or more voice discovery time?  Do you need both?  How can you share?  Do you need classes or seminars in the business of show?  They are out there! Find them!  Do you need a career consultation to have your goals assessed?  This exists.  You can even find seminars to help you FIND a business and craft plan!! However, it's up to you.  No teacher, coach, class or seminar is going to chase you down - you have to decide to do it. 

Are you going to figure out what your voice will do in one lesson? No.  Are you going to build a new audition book in one session? No.  Are you going get everything sung in and ready for auditions dramatically and musically in a week? No.  

Sit with yourself and discover what you want, what you need, what you dream and what you can realize.  It isn't going to all happen in 3 months.  That's okay.  What CAN you do in 3 months?  What can you give yourself permission to discover, explore and realize in 3 months?

Spring is the perfect time to clear out and find out!  Open your daytimer and make a business date with yourself.  Don't wait - do it now. 

What do I want to do?
What could I achieve in a 3 month umbrella?
What is POSSIBLE realistically?
What is required of me to achieve this?
Is it asking too much?  how do I reshape it to make it do-able in this 3 month umbrella?

You can do it.  You simply have to commit to yourself and follow through.

Why the Fear?

Sunday musings...

I have seen this via facebook statuses/stati,  heard it in emails enquiring about voice lessons,  listened to it in the studio...

It hides in excuses, true ignorance,  avoidance,  and more excuses. It is simply fear.

Why are we afraid to pursue what we know we need?

What can we waste energy making excuses about why we don't have the training,  the knowledge, the accessibility into a discipline , and not just use that energy to CLAIM IT fully?

If you want to sing, NEED to sing and would be a better artist if you learned HOW to sing - why are you not doing it?  Why are you not committing to it fully?

As with every discipline,  singing takes time, focus and development.  It takes physicality, athleticism, practice.  It takes study, realization, understanding,  gestation.  Just like the discipline and craft of dance, just like the discipline and craft of acting.

If you call yourself a singer,  why aren't you studying?  Why do you make excuses?  Why do you blame everybody else?

Study isn't simply going to one lesson, or several lessons.  You aren't going to learn how to sing in 4 lessons,  you are not going to learn the craft of voice nor the pedagogy of technical behavior overnight.  You aren't going to learn ANY craft by wandering in once in a while.  It isn't just the time in the studio with a teacher that understands the voice.  It is about what you do between those lessons.  Development is ongoing.  Development comes from a desire and passion to KNOW; TO LEARN;  TO EXPERIMENT;  TO STEP AWAY FROM THE WALL and actually DO what you say you want, or DO what you say you do.

Do not give me the excuse that you've had horrible teachers. We all have.  We survive or we don't.  That is a choice.

Do not give me the excuse that you haven't had the training.  Then train.

Do not give me the excuse you didn't know.  Now you do.

All of these excuses and all the energy it takes to make them could easily be put into positive motion by one simple choice to DO it.  What stops it?  Fear.  Fear of what?  Learning something?  Being a better you?  A better artist?  Or is it fear of making a mistake?  Fear of not being good enough?

So I ask, why would you decide through fear to NOT study and still pursue a career?  What do you have to say to yourself to walk into an audition knowing you are not truly prepared?  Knowing that you really don't know what you are doing?  What do you say then?

Is the fear partially afraid of being found out?  The delusion of excuses may persuade your psyche that you are fine the way you are for YOU, but it becomes evident very quickly that you are not fine to everybody else. 

If the desire to learn, to be a better self,  to be a better artist simply doesn't motivate you, then why are you doing what you are doing?  Why are you hiding in plain sight? 

Saying "well I don't need to study" reveals your ignorance and your arrogance.  It won't be forgotten.

If you are in a discipline where voice is crucial to your ongoing development in the business, you are responsible to develop it.  The business isn't.  A teacher isn't.  A coach isn't.  YOU ARE. 

The first question is "why am I not studying?"  Answer it honestly.  Recognize what the answers reveal about you and what they prevent you from doing.

Do you know what the business requires of you?  Are you meeting those requirements?  The competition of self, and the pursuit of getting a job is exhausting.  If you aren't in fighting shape to bring the best you,  why are you doing it?  Is an excuse going to get you a job?  Is potential going to get you a job?  Will you be able to keep that job or get subsequent jobs if you cannot DO it?  Who is responsible for that?  You are.  You and only you. 

If you need to find a teacher, find one.
If you need to find a new teacher, find a new teacher.
If you need to build audition material,  find a class, find a coach, find a teacher,  that will do that with you.

You cannot build audition material if you don't know your voice.  You can't know your instrument if you haven't studied to discover what it is.  You don't know what it is til you claim it.

There is no room for fear.  Fear find us when we linger in ambiguity.  If we focus,  and make a commitment to SELF and follow through,  the ignorance of fear is shaken off because we have claimed knowledge and a journey that leads to more.

Are you going to commit yourself to fear?  Or are you going to commit to YOU and do whatever it takes to discover that artistic journey that leads you into a discipline you need to develop?

No excuses.  Fear or forward.  You decide.

Wouldn't it be better if it was bigger?

Voice "size" is often confused by singers.  So is it better if it's bigger?  The short answer is "no".

As far as voice goes,  actual "size" of the instrument doesn't matter.

Often,  so-called "large" voices can sound impressive in a smaller space, but if it's not balanced, it simply won't cut it - figuratively or literally - in a larger spaces.

Guess what?  So-called "small" voices are exactly the same.

One of the hardest things singers have to deal with, is themselves.  What is unique about your voice?  What does your voice do well right now?  What else does it need?  Size has simply NOTHING to do with it.  You can't BUILD or develop size.  It is irrelevant if you want to be honest and develop your instrument honestly, truthfully and completely.

If you are an 'ina' you aren't going to sing Isolde.

However, if you are Isolde, you aren't singing Despina either.

Bigger is not better.  It is different.  Smaller is not weaker,  it is different.

Voice is about weight, timbre, balance of resonance and true acoustic balance that cuts through an orchestra and can be heard.  What you hear in your head is NOT what is heard in the house.  Period.  Every day of my teaching life, I repeat my mentor and teacher,  Ted Baerg's words to me: "Could you sing for the people who bought the seats please".

Ultimately,  you aren't in competition with a larger voice.  You are in competition with your previous self.  What can you do to not just accept the size of your voice,  but actually make it better, more balanced, more true?  What happens if you develop it to its best possibility and then sing the repertoire that was written for your voice type in mind?

If you want to sing well,  you need to discover what you have,  and how you develop that.  Wishing, wanting, whining isn't helping you.  In fact, it hinders you.  What is stopping you from not just accepting what you have, but developing it to its fullest potential?

Every voice type, and every voice individually has its own issues, its own hurdles, its own rewards.  Why not find out what yours are, embrace them and DO something about them?  Why are you fixating on someone else's issues and ignoring your own possibilities?

What we as singers need to discover is how the physicality of our instrument needs development, accessibility and do-ability.  Voices need balance, and the ability to cut through and project without pressure.  Volume isn't projection.  Nor is size.  These are acoustic properties that  develop with study,  physical and technical behavior and absolute resilience and dedication to discovering it.

You have to be tenacious enough to WANT to sing well with YOUR voice.  Wishing you had a bigger instrument doesn't allow you to develop what you already have. 

Each voice needs to find freedom, physicality, projection, balance, and the ability to discover what repertoire you can wear with ease and accessibility!

If you are constantly comparing yourself to what others have, how can you truthfully develop what YOU have?  Your focus is elsewhere.  It needs to be on YOU.  You need to believe in what YOU can do,  and do it well.  Do it uniquely brilliantly.

You need to find a teacher that knows how to help you build YOUR instrument into the balance that is YOURS.  You need coaches that reinforce YOUR voice.  You need a team that challenges your thinking to not just accept yourself, but embrace it, and develop it, not people who feed your delusions or frustrations.

If your voice isn't balanced yet, or can't project evenly,  then you need more time.  Release the idea of volume and size, and work for balance and projection or CUT. 

Singing pianissimo can find the seats in the nose bleed section if it is buoyant, balanced and projected.  Volume has nothing to do with it. 

Singing the correct repertoire for your voice with a well-balanced voice has EVERYTHING to do with it.  Big is not better.  Small it not wrong.  REAL choices,  REAL acceptance, REAL development is what makes it just right.

Do you know what you want?

What do you want?

What do you need to DO to get what you want?

Sometimes we think we know what we want, but we don't understand what it truly means to get there.  We often dream about a finished product, not recognizing the journey that leads and that path we must walk.

So, nobody is listening, nobody is watching, nobody is judging: what do you want?

Write it down.  Be bold.  Dream a little.

Now, what do you DO to get there?  To get the POSSIBILITY to get there?

The dream may feel intangible, but the I assure you, the journey is not.  The journey is tangible, frustrating, exhilarating, confusing, rejuvenating, inspiring and MORE!

We, as artists, as performers, as entertainers,  do not have a direct path.  Each path is uniquely ours.  Each path leads to a very unique and individualized goal that may be shared or not.  We do not have a logical chain of reaction and logical and pre-determined outcome.  Unlike becoming a doctor, or a lawyer or something that has a tangible "end",  we simply do not have a path that works that way.

Our responsibility to ourselves is to believe in the dream,  but quit day-dreaming.  Our responsibility is to pursue the dream into reality by DOING it.

If you want to be a singer - you need to sing.  You need to study.  You need to find your voice, literally and figuratively.  You need to discover what you want to sing, where you want to sing, why you want to sing.  You need to put into ACTION what it takes to DO those things to the best of your ability.

You need to recognize what your goals truly are; What your dreams reveal about your development as a human being, as an artist.  Our goals and dreams change and morph and develop, as we develop and grow.  Dreams can often be shallow or immature,  only because we do not have the life vocabulary nor the craft development and understanding to know any different.

As our craft grows, as our artistic voice and spirit discovers, so do our dreams develop height, depth and breadth.  Our dreams begin to reveal a reality we may not have seen before.

Dare to dream.  However, that is simply the first step.  Dare to discover what that dream reveals about YOU and where you are.  Dare to be real to discover what you need pursue to discover the reality of MORE dreams. 

The pursuit of truth is part of the artistic pulse.  We simply cannot exist without it.  If your dream seems to be in one direction and your life seems elsewhere,  marvel at where you ARE.  You are there for a reason.  Do not abandon it, or dismiss it without examining it closely.  You are there to learn something in order to move through it.  These are probably some of the most difficult growing pains we go through.  Wanting, wishing, waiting and forgetting to BE where we are.

I am just as guilty of this as you are.

The complexity of discovering what to DO to pursue and what to DO to be where you are is the ongoing reality of an artistic spirit and the journey to the dream.

Discover what you want.  Discover what you need to get there.  Put into action what you need to do in order to facilitate that movement.  Recognize where you are.  Explore why you are there.  Embrace that present.  BE present.  Learn, acknowledge and never dismiss BEING.

As we claim our present, the illumination of self reveals we are precisely where we need to be.  Each step toward, becomes a state of being NOW. 

Want, live and cherish your NOW.  Give it a purpose as you discover your next.  Dreams then develop reason.  Reason then develops clarity, and the path reveals itself. 

Seize the opportunity of YOU.  The dream simply resides there first. You are tangible. 

Singers, what about SPEAKING?

Any of us who use our voices professionally, or want to - why are we so careless about how we SPEAK?

I am amazed at how many singers (and actors) I know and see, and hear who simply do not use their speaking voices well.  It astonishes me actually.

A healthy instrument STARTS with the every day use of the voice.

Poor habitual development of the speaking voice is purely that - habit.  Habits need to be acknowledged, and new, stronger and healthier behaviors must be implemented.

Singers work on their singing.  Actors work on the acting.  But what about the VOICE???  When do we work on that?  A voice and speech class in theatre school?  Some voice therapy when the ENT diagnoses reflux?

Poor daily speaking habits eventually can cause havoc with the instrument as singer and as actor.  We have all been taught about the 'shoulds' and 'should-nots' but what about the actual ability to DO?

Often the assumption is said..."we all know how to breathe every day..."  as a way into the breath of a singer.  I am questioning that.  Do we really know how to breathe?  Yes, we breathe to stay alive, but do we actually know how to breathe to keep our regular every day voice supported?

As singers,  what tends to be your vocal "issues"?  Are you dealing with them in your every day life too or are you disassociating?  Could your singing vocal issues be the same issues you haven't been paying attention to in your every day life?

As an actor, your vocal issues on set, on stage are often your day to day issues.  Are you addressing them?

Why do we wait and work so diligently on the CRAFT of voice as it pertains to our artistic endeavors, yet completely ignore the craft of voice in our day to day?

I challenge you, as singer, as actor,  to become more aware of your day to day, your moment to moment. 

How do you speak?  Monitor yourself.  How large is your vocal speaking range?  Do you know the difference between speaking "on the cords" and speaking "on the breath"?  Do you project?  Do you fatigue?  Are muscles tired after speaking?  Which ones?  Do you know the difference between projection and yelling?  Do you know the difference between engaging and squeezing?  Do you know how your speaking voice resonates?  Does it resonate at all?  If your voice tight? squeezed? breathy? edgy? squeaky? dull? raspy? high? low? monotone?

Do you actually BREATHE before you speak?  Do you use run on sentences and never breathe?  Is your breath audible?  silent? 

Do you support your speaking voice?  From where?

Does your voice respond to your emotions?  Does your emotional state affect your breath? Your pitch? your support?  Your physical tension or release?

We tend to work on,  and pay attention to many of these things in our studies, but rarely do we discover them in a tangible way in our day to day.  These day to day behaviors will always affect the use of the voice in singing, or in the craft of acting.  The behaviors will either continue to limit what our instruments are asked to do,  or will help to free up the voice to find what it needs more fully.

When I hear a spoken voice that is naturally resonant and free and then hear that same voice try to sing without that resonance - that actor/singer has simply not found the connection between what might be organic to what needs to conscious. 

When I hear a difficulty in the singing voice and then hear that singer speak - it can reveal much. Often, it shows there is a disconnect between their understanding of what VOICE as a total instrument, truly is.

The singing voice,  and the stage speaking voice (or film voice for that matter) could be so much more accessible,  if we begin to access the truth about our DAILY SPEAKING VOICE.  How we warm up that daily voice,  how we discover resonance, support, breath, projection, pitch, range, dynamic - could help us create so much more in the instrument we are trying to develop.

So singers,  please consider working on your VOICE.  The ENTIRE voice, not just the part you think needs work.  Chances are, you speak more in a day than sing.  If your singing can influence how you speak then wouldn't it make sense that your speaking will influence your singing?  Wouldn't it be a grand thing if that was a knowledgeable and positive thing?