Stepping Out with new branding and new website this fall!

I am thrilled to be working with digital designer Tony Howell on my re-branding and new website!

Please go to the new landing page and sign up to get updates and new information!

The blog will be available there as well!

New photography for the new site will be by JJ Ignotz Photography in NYC.


I am SO excited to be re-branding and designing the next stage in all things

  #SEYVOICE

#LIVEYOURVOICE

#AUTHENTICVOICE

Singers,  Speakers,  Actors,  Podcasters,  All things VOICE!

Join me HERE for all the updates, and information and exciting new opportunities 

Tips, Tricks, and Magic Sprinkles

Sunday morning musings...

So what are the magic tips and tricks for singing?

Lean in...
Closer...

Guess what?

There are none.

There are no tricks or magic sprinkles to immediately fix or find something vocally.

Just like the quick weight loss and quick muscle gain are hoaxes,  so are the snake oil promises in vocal technique.

There is nothing glamorous,  or bright and shiny about the WORK.  And that is what technique and voice building and vocal behavior is.  WORK.

There is nothing glamorous about getting to the gym and sweating it out.

There is nothing glamorous about bleeding feet in a ballet class.

See where I am going with this?

Creating behavior,  creating technique,  creating knowledge, is EXCITING.  It's worth the sweat equity,  it's worth the focus,  it's worth the investment - only if you believe it is.

As a teacher,  I can't believe it for you.  I am there to give you the tools,  to find you where you are,  to figure out what you need and how to get you there.  However,  YOU are the one who has to do the actual WORK.

"Methods" and "quick fixes" are usually a "one size fits all" mentality.  They never last.  It's a patch job in desperation.   Will it work for minute?  Sometimes.  Does it last?  No.

When something new is accessed in the voice studio,  it doesn't make it behavior.  It means you can ACCESS it - which means the possibility now exists to create the full behavior!  Doing it once, hoping it works,  doesn't make it work.

Your WORK and your FOCUS and your COMMITMENT will give you an opportunity to create it fully and allow you to summon it at will.

If you call yourself a singer,  then sing.  That means honing, learning, discovering, re-discovering, creating, focusing,  asking questions,  and working at it every day.

Whatever you ARE,  DO that.  It is action-oriented not hope-oriented.

Whatever you HAVE,  DEVELOP that.  Saying you have it,  isn't enough.

If all you want is glamour,  without the sweat equity,  then I suggest you take a look carefully at Mr. Sondheim's lyric from "Ah, but Underneath":

Sometimes, when the wrappings fall,
There's nothing underneath at all...


Dare to make mistakes.  Dare to ask questions.  Dare to recognize where you are.

Dare to ask for help.

Dare to ask why.

Dare to be more than a trick or a hope or a wish.

Dare to have substance, and clarity,  and focus.

My hope for you is that you find truth through your technique.  That you keep exploring MORE to allow your artistry to have a place to reside fully.  That you can access it,  summon it,  and CREATE magic.

Magic DOES happen.  It happens BECAUSE, not in spite of;  it happens in action,  not in fluke;
it happens when you have done the work,  and it has SO much more power and portent than you would even imagine - because, it's YOU.

So,  as your fairy godmother,  I do not wave a magic wand.  I see you.  I mirror what I see.  Now get sweating and find your truth & your honesty!

  Create your own magic.

Then, OWN IT.

Can't, Don't, Won't

welcome to March!

Auditions are in full swing in the Music Theatre community...
Auditions continue in the Operatic community....

It can be a very busy and overwhelming time of year.

How are you doing?


This is the time of year I often re-visit how I am talking to myself,  as I see all kinds of psyches in the studio!  I see the can't, the don't, and the won't...

As artists,  we have an incredible ability to self-doubt.  That's not a criticism, it's an observation, because I DO IT TOO.  Self-doubt doesn't have to be a negative:  it gives us permission to find more, and achieve more, and push ourselves to reveal more, if we allow the doubt to motivate us, not debilitate us.

Our "self-talk" is crucial and it also it important to acknowledge it and see if it needs tweaking or changing.  Behavior can't be "stopped",  but it can be replaced.

Deciding how we are going to self-speak without delusion  (WAAAAAY above my pay grade) is always an important discussion.

What are you saying to yourself?  What are you saying out loud?  What do others hear?

As I challenge myself,  I challenge every singer that walks in the studio with their self-language.  We often don't realize how we self-sabotage just with a word which then becomes a thought, which then becomes a behavior,  which then gets in our way.

How many of us have been told to get out of our own way?  Hmmmm.

"Can't" easily is an excuse.  Remember, this is not exclusive,  but more a way to discover HOW you speak to yourself and when it happens, and why it happens.

"I can't get out of bed to get to that audition call."

Well, unless you are sick or dying,  yes you can.  CAN'T is the excuse of something else.

Maybe you don't want to.  Maybe you're exhausted.  Maybe you're scared.  Maybe you're confused.

What would happen if you took a step away from "can't" and got to the crux?

"I can get out of bed,  but I don't want to."

Fair.

Do you HAVE to?  Is there something that relying on you to DO that task?

Each statement reveals another question that gets you to the real answer that you need to claim and then DO something with.

"I can't learn all this music."  

"I can't decide what to sing."

"I can't decide what to wear."

Unless you honestly CANNOT,  this is stress management talking.

That's okay.  We ALL DO IT.  Move past the "can't" to figure out why that word?

As you move past "can't"  we get to "don't".

"I don't wanna."

okay - that's honest enough.  But, WHY?  Never settle for the can't, don't, won't.  Figure out why the dismissal.

"I don't have time."   "I don't have the money."  "I don't have the aria/song prepared."  "I don't...xzy"

Why don't you?  And you cannot answer with "can't"!!

Do you WANT to?  If your answer is no,  then that is something you can work with to find out what you want and what you DO have time/money/energy/passion for!  If the answer is yes,  then what is in your way for that time/money/preparation/action/energy/passion?

Won't.

"I won't audition for them again."
"I won't sing that again."
"I won't use that monologue."
"I won't..."

Again,  why?  "Won't"  is beginning to claim a decision.  A decision can be unconscious but if you say it out loud, it becomes conscious.  When the conscious CHOICE allows you to create a boundary that is positive,  "won't" works if you know why.  When you know why,  you can claim the choice and create a behavior that replaces the one you aren't going to do again!

Our vocabulary reveals much about where we are.  It's not always easy to look into that particular mirror,  but if we choose to explore the artistic nature of who we are, and if we choose to embark on the passive/aggressive love affair of the business of show,  then we must DEMAND of ourselves that check in, and that honesty.  It isn't about being hard on yourself;  it is about being HONEST.  The honesty can be tough,  but it will give us direction and clarity.

That doesn't mean if you self-speak light, love and glitter bombs that you are being honest with yourself either!   Stress management and delusion live on either side of the veil.  The truth is somewhere in the middle.

I can't....why?  Answer it immediately so there's no time to meddle.  Then continue to riddle it through to a logical end for that question,  on that day.

I don't...why?

I won't...why?

These words need to be there for each of us to find our boundaries and our behaviors.

Claim them;  answer them;  laugh at them;  take a big breath and DO YOU.

Sometimes it turns into:

I can...
I do...
I will....

but can you belt that?

Happy New Year!

Here comes the audition season in full swing!

So - how's your terminology?

This is why I ask:  there is a great deal of terminology in craft, and singing is no different.  We toss around words like "belt",  "mix",  "placement",  and hear "breathe low",  "project" and on and on.

Do you REALLY know what these mean?  Or are they just getting in your way.

First thing,  you have to know your instrument.  Your physical instrument.  Where are the damn parts?  What do they actually do?  How are interconnected?  How athletic do you have to be to access what you need?

Second thing,  you have to figure out how to translate what you are being told.  Many of the words we use, or the words we hear,  are not literal,  but as singers, many of us translate literally.  At least I am guilty of that.  It got me into lots of trouble.

Then I studied anatomy and acoustics and said "DUH".

I am not saying you have to do that - but I am saying that if you say you are a singer, you better know some stuff,  not just toss around the words.

So many of the terms we use as ass-backwards anyway.  Just like stage direction.  Until you really understood "down stage right"  you went the wrong way and had to think about it!

The "terms" are thrown around by singers, teachers, coaches, casting directors, directors - everybody in the industry.  You are not going to tell me that they all have the same definitions.  They don't.  After 30 years in this business, THEY DO NOT.

So,  what's a singer to do?

You MUST find the reality of your instrument.  What happens physically?  How do I translate that?  How do I access that?

You ask questions:  of your teacher  (you DO have a voice teacher, yes?),  and then translate with your coaches and then further translate when you are in the audition room and a casting director, or music director, or director asks for something and you have to be present enough to figure out what they are asking and then what they are REALLY asking.

You have a set of vocal cords.  One larynx.  Resonators that are shaped by YOUR body structure and soft tissue.  Breath.  Physicality.

You don't have a bunch of "different" voices to "put it into".  YOU HAVE ONE VOICE.  You have numerous registers,  but ONE VOICE.  Until you fully discover how to access this,  you can be frustrated when you are asked to sing in different styles.

Style informs tone.  Your voice FIRST.  Wrap the style around that.  Don't think you have to change your voice to access a style!

Learning to find this authenticity gives you authority in your audition and in your performance.

So,  I dare you to toss out terminology that is getting in your way;  embrace terminology that allows you to access YOU fully and consistently;  Develop the physical awareness of HOW you sing;  Explore what defines a style as opposed to "putting it into an xyz voice" to sing a style.  The stylistic definition will then give you permission to still sound like YOU!

When you are given an adjustment or asked for something in the room,  be present enough to figure out what you are REALLY being asked to do.

Industry/Casting are not pedagogues.  We cannot expect them to have the detailed knowledge of how a voice functions or how it develops or how it works.  So guess what?  YOU have to have it.  You have to know how to translate casting language,  which often uses the same words pedagogy does,  into the language YOU understand to access the end result they are looking for.

An ongoing issue is being asked  "can you belt that?"

What do they really mean?  Really belt?

Not necessarily.  If you try to do what they SAID,  you will often be met with "no, that's not what I wanted."

So, guess what? YOU have to figure out how to translate what is being asked.

Often times,  "belt" is associated with a vocal INTENSITY.  If the voice is lacking energy/intensity/vibrancy,  casting or a coach will say "you gotta belt that more".  They don't know what they are asking, but they know it if they hear it.

YOU have to translate that,  figure out how to discover that intensity and vibrancy,  and adjust to show them you can translate it.

And on and on it goes...

Make a list of those "terms" or those "adjustments" you are told or being asked for;  then see if you can explain them out loud or in writing for yourself.  If you can't, take them to your teacher and riddle it out together.

You aren't in this alone!  We all want you to succeed!  Casting wants YOU to be the person they can hire - they really do.

If you aren't prepared,  if you can't translate,  if you haven't found your authenticity yet,  you need to keep discovering that.  You must learn to KNOW YOU; to DO YOU;  to BE YOU in the audition room and in the coaching studio and in the voice studio.

Learn to listen;  learn to translate;  learn to stay present;  learn to see exactly where you are, and
what you need to do in access everything you are growing into.

Your voice and where it resides is all about YOU.  It's not about mimicking a voice;  it's not about putting it into a voice;  It's about finding YOUR voice and how your voice can begin to inhabit the styles you wish to sing in.

Do you and keep committing to that while you study and discover,  while you audition and discover,  while you perform and discover.  Don't dial it in - stay present and engaged!

I'm back on stage in NYC!

Happy Fall!  The season and weather is glorious and I hope you are enjoying it, wherever you are!

I have been absent - but here's WHY!

I am currently in rehearsal for a one-woman cabaret-esque show in NYC.

It's been a long road to get here - but I AM HERE!  5 years post car accident,  and it's time to stretch back onto the stage.

Would love to see you there - and if not in NYC, maybe somewhere near you SOON!

I am thrilled and honored to be working with two wonderful men:
Direction by Trent Armand Kendall
Music Direction by Steven Ray Watkins



Let's ask some big questions, and celebrate LIFE! 
Saturday November 12th 7 p.m. in New York City, Laurie Beechman Theatre! 

tickets available NOW! 
westbankcafe.com or by calling: 212-352-3101

All the feels

happy Canada Day yesterday,  happy 4th of July coming up!

As summer moves into the lazy days - it gives time to reflect and ponder...

One of the ongoing questions I ask myself and my singers is this:

How does your voice make you FEEL?

How do you FEEL about your voice?

Sometimes we are so busy PURSUING,  so focused on DOING,  so caught up in the HAVE TO, that we forget about how it FEELS.

How does it FEEL to sing?

How do I FEEL when I sing?

Does my voice feel like me?  What is that?  Can it inhabit my physical behavior or is it faking?

Is it my voice?  Am I mimicking? Am I pretending?

Can I summon my voice at will or does it just do its own thing under pressure?  Good, bad or indifferent?

So many thoughts,  so many feelings.

Guess what?  No value judgment on feelings.  They ARE.  What you DO with them is then crucial and how you put that energy into motion.

How you feel about your voice,  reveals your psychology.  And the psychology is constantly morphing, so tapping into your feelings is crucial here.

All the stereotypes of voice come from a kernel of truth about a psychology.  Stereotypes are then over-developed and often satirized,  but the reason we laugh is because there is truth in there somewhere.

What IS that truth for you and how do you give it agency in order to develop fully and not become a stereotype or a cartoon character?

How do you feel?

Your voice might give you different feelings depending on the repertoire you are singing;  depending on the area of the voice you are singing in;  depending on the genre you are singing;

ALL ARE LEGITIMATE FEELINGS.

Discover the difference between the FEELING and the description of your voice.  Don't worry about what it is doing,  how it is behaving,  what you want to change,  excuses etc:  how does it make you FEEL?

ALL the feels.

We often forget, or don't develop the honesty and truth about how we FEEL about our voice.

Go slowly...if it's a new concept,  and I really think it's just an underdeveloped one,  you don't want to overwhelm yourself.  Go from the general to the specific.  Notice when you start to describe your voice instead of acknowledging the FEELING it evokes in you.

Feelings then will reveal the psychology that you truly have to inhabit in order to allow the behavior of your voice to become honestly authentic.

Or,  acknowledging the psychology will give your feelings an honest place to reveal themselves in order for you to accept,  relish, explore and get excited about your voice and recognize the feelings it evokes.

There is no right or wrong;  no value judgment;  just your truth - should you seek it out.

Those singers who truly touch us,  are willing and able to access the feeling,  the psychology and the behavior.  They make no excuses.  They just DO.

Start wherever you are.  Be there fully.  Feel it.  It's safe to go there because it's going to reveal YOU to YOU.  That's more important than anything else.

Feeling just has to be real.  Real is what you choose to reveal. TO YOU.

Professional IS as Professional DOES

happy Sunday!

My blogging life has dropped off considerably so apologies to those of you who have been waiting for a post!

Much has been happening and often, the same issues recur over and over again.

One of the recurring issues I have seen as ongoing,  is the lack of professionalism when it comes to social media.

But Susan,  someone is going to say,  social media isn't meant to be professional!

Ah, but APPROACH means everything!

Approaching a professional in the business is requesting a moment of their TIME.  And in that moment, you might be requesting their time to enquire about their services, or a question that will take their time.  Just because they are on Facebook or Twitter or any platform that gives you access to their profile,  does not mean you should  approach with a casual flair.

Social media is a double-edged sword.  It makes us accessible,  but it also seems to eliminate personal boundary. 

HOW you approach someone in the business reveals more about YOU than it does about them.

Before you just start messaging someone,  stop for a second and figure out exactly what you want to say and why you want to say it.

Be respectful.  If your time is valuable, so is theirs!

If you are asking a professional question,  don't assume a freebie.  Any professional's time is worth something.  They determine that worth,  not you.

Figure out how that professional wants to be contacted.  Social media?  Via their website?  Via phone?  If you aren't sure,  ask.  When in doubt,  an email is often the most respectful,  as it allows the person you are contacting to get back to you in their own time;  it also shows you have taken the time to find their website,  discover their contact information and made an initial enquiry, instead of just pm-ing them via their Facebook page.

I often get inquiries via FB and simply send the link to my website and request they email me once they have read through.   Most inquiries then come through the channels I prefer and can deal with effectively.  If they don't,  then the inquiry was not that serious.

If you are asking for a professional's time and expertise,  don't assume they are going to be your "friend" or "peer" in the asking.  Every professional I know has worked hard to develop their expertise, and that isn't for free.  They are not simply going to meet you for coffee to talk about your career when you are someone unknown to them.  You are saying "but Susan, nobody does THAT!" Oh yes, they do my sweet snowflakes,  yes they do.

A professional's time is worth whatever they decide it is worth.  If you are seeking out their TIME in relation to their expertise,  then you are approaching said professional,  with professionalism.

Many of us are more than willing to go the extra mile to help you,  if we see what you are willing to do,  how professional you are behaving,  if your talk matches your walk,  if you truly are looking to develop your knowledge, your craft,  your career.

Most of us have a fairly strong bullshit detector.  This allows us to see and discern quickly.  We have to.  This is something YOU must develop too. 

So, how do you develop this professionalism and etiquette even if you are green in your craft and/or in the business?

A few things to consider:

1.  Approach with respect,  and ask for clarification if you are unsure.
2.  Do NOT assume.  Ask.  Request. 
3.  Know who you are approaching.  Do your research. 
4.  Know what you are requesting.
5.  Follow up, follow up, follow up!


It's not rocket science,  and should be common sense,  but even that is lacking these days.

A professional in ANY business will respond more favorably to someone who approaches them WITH professionalism. 

Your behavior toward someone reveals more than you know.  That you have complete control over.  Don't feign "but I didn't know".   Find out. 

Simply treat others the way you would want to be treated.

Behavior is as behavior does.

Your professionalism is revealed through your BEHAVIOR not your resume.

Upcoming WEBINAR with Backstage University!

Want to join us?

I will be giving a WEBINAR through Backstage University:

TUESDAY OCTOBER 20th at 4 p.m. EST

You can sign up to join us online LIVE or sign up to get a recorded copy of it, if you aren't available to join us live.

We will be discussing "Finding Your Authentic Voice" - and all that might mean as you discover YOU in the audition room!

Check out the link and details HERE!

Hope to see you SOON!


Best,
Susan

A New VLOG!

happy Sunday evening all!

I want to recommend to you a new vlog series called "Notes from the Bench"  produced by Mikhail Hallak & Studio 113 Productions in New York City.

Here is the first episode in case you haven't seen it - it's going to be a great series!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymFfJ0heXiQ


ENJOY and keep watching for more content!

 

SOME NEWS!

I am thrilled to announce that I have accepted a position at Moravian College in Bethelehem, PA!

I will be teaching voice,  and will develop a course called "Song & Stagecraft" as well as direct Opera Workshop.

This will allow us,  as a faculty and college, to build a vibrant and innovative theatre program that will include both Opera AND Music Theatre.

I am very excited to be part of this college's growth,  and bring my skills to help create something uniquely special in the music department.

And of course, I cannot thank Sean O'Boyle and Suzanne Kompass enough for believing in me, and feeling I could be a good fit!  I cannot wait to work side by side with Suzanne in the voice faculty as she brings passion and humor, commitment and great knowledge and ethic to her work!!!!

I shall be continuing to work with my amazing singers in NYC of course - and travel to offer master classes and workshops - and get my feet on the boards once again this fall and start performing again!

And,  of course,  keep this blog full of musings that I hope are relevant and effective for YOU!

Happy August!

What a photo can reveal without your consent!

happy 4th of July to all American readers!

As I continue to work on physical therapy I am always amazed at breath and alignment.

Each must be so tangible and available to us just to move through our lives,  but even more so as singers and actors.

This has been an insistent and visceral theme in my world and of late,  even more so.

As singers,  we have to constantly stay in the NOW to discover how that breath and alignment is working with us,  not against us. 

One of those discoveries can be through a photograph.

Many singers and actors use photos to promote themselves - through websites, submissions, on social media and the like.   Head shots are one thing,  and "performance" shots are quite another.

These performance shots can be very revealing.  I am talking more about you in concert,  you walking onto stage,  you taking a bow,  you being YOU,  not playing a character in a production.

The importance of physical behavior is captured in that instant for all to see. 

Are you aware of what it reveals?  Are you willing to see it as it is,  and then make the adjustments necessary to improve upon it?

Many singers and actors are unaware of how they come across in a room or in a photo.  They simply put the photo up, not realizing that the subliminal response can be just as important as their head shot.

This doesn't mean you can't use the shot:  it means that you need to examine WHY and if necessary, crop the photo to exude only what you wish to be shown.

This demands a great deal of objectivity and not wishful thinking.  This requires you to ask bigger questions of yourself and the professionals you trust to give you the truth and what you need to hear,  not what you want to hear.

A photograph can reveal a professionalism that you embody - or it can reveal an amateurism that prevents you from being heard.  Wouldn't you want someone looking at a performance photo to say "I'm intrigued,  call her/him in!" 

Lately,  I have been seeing too many "amateur" looking performance photos.  You can do better than that;  you ARE better than that!

Use the photos that POP professionally and aren't just "good enough".  If you feel like they are "meh",  trust me, the business isn't going to give them more than a glance.

Energy READS.

If it's a full length photo - are your knees locked?  Is your stance too wide? Is your stance too closed in?  All these reek amateur.

What about your torso? 

Is your chest sucken?  Are you sitting on your solar plexus?  This is an apologetic stance.

Is your chest too high? Is your sternum and ribcage locked?  This often reads as bitchy and defensive.  (P.S.  This was MY M.O btw...I am not immune to these issues either!)

Are you leading with your stomach?  Completely unengaged?  This reads as you don't care. 

If you don't care,  why should they?

What are your arms doing?  What about those pesky hands?

Are you using a mic or mic-less?  If holding a mic,  are you comfortable with it? 

There is a reason to practice with your hair brush in front of you mirror you know...!!!!

Are your eyes open?  Is there something being said there?  Is there passion or fire or engagement?

The photos that encourage someone to enter are the ones that engage fully,  and create an EASE with the body, not a rigidity.

Some of you may ask for examples.  I can't use photos of people and embarrass them so if you want some feedback on yours,  ask me!  Or ask someone you trust who works with you regularly.

Don't forget,  in this day of photo shop you can crop crop crop!  Maybe your face is engaged and your hands are engaged, but your lower body is locked.  Crop it out.  Doesn't mean you can use it!  Just know HOW to use effectively!

In the meantime,  keep exploring and staying present in your body and your breath as you move through your day.  Keep integrating the two;  Sometimes practice without singing - just using the body through a song or aria.  Guide your intentions with your breath.  Make them authentic by making them conscious so they have an opportunity to find an honest spontaneity!

Let your photos reveal something about you that is more than professional or amateur.  Let it give the viewer pause;  and want to know more and HEAR more!

I Know...But...

Sunday musings...

How badly do you want to be an artist pursuing a career?

How hungry are you?

Do you know what you need to do, and how to do it, how to find it, how to evoke it, how to develop it, how to challenge it,  how to see it,  how to discover it,  how to claim it?

If you don't,  are you willing, able and ready to find out and actually DO it?

I see, too often, people who say they want a career, yet even when given the information, don't actually do anything with it, and then will say how frustrated they are.

As I get older, my shorthand gets shorter.   When I see that,  hear that,  my response is:  figure it out or do something else. 

And let me tell you a little secret:  it's okay to do something else.  Everybody isn't going to have a career.  How talented you are isn't really the issue.  Some people just cannot, will not, don't know how even if it is explained to them,  DO what I just asked above.  Period.

Not having a career doesn't mean you don't have artistic value, can't perform,  can't be involved in theatre or singing, or something creative.  It just means you don't make your money doing it.

That's okay.  Why pretend?  What's in the way?

As I have said many many times, delusion is a great protector against stress.  At some point, however, that protection is going to snap, and then what?

YOU are your product.   If you aren't honest about how you are seen,  what is seen,  what you have TO be seen, then how do you know how to sell it?

Your product needs to be known.  Honestly.  You need to be using the tools of the business in a way that gives you VISIBILITY.   Are you doing that?  Do you know how to evoke your type/your person/your product through your head shot?  Through your website?  Through your video and audio clips?

And as I ask this,  I hear:  "I know...but..."

Well,  my dear snowflakes, if you KNOW, then why aren't you DOING IT?

Procrastination,  excuses,  all the "buts",  are your way of stress management,  and preventing you for doing anything and coming to the honest truth of what you really want and why you want it.

I heard someone say last week "in the last 15 years of my career".   The absurdity of that comment as part of this person's narrative was astounding,  as there has been no career.  Pursuing a career?  Maybe, but very loosely as nothing has happened;  Actual career?  No.  That would assume making a living at it,  really knowing what you have to offer the business, and how to do it.

We all,  at different times, due to our capacity for self doubt,  make statements that aren't quite right.  It is a coping mechanism.  I get that, trust me.

HOWEVER...

Now it is time to shit, or get off the pot.

If you KNOW,  then do it.

If you KNOW,  then why aren't you doing it?

If you KNOW, then why don't you know?

If you DON'T know, then ask.

If you ASK,  expect some answers, or expect more questions that YOU and only you have to figure out.

If you ASK,  prepare to hear the truth, not what you want to hear.

If you WANT it,  you have to work for it.  Nothing is handed to you on a platter. 

If you WANT it,  how hungry are you?  What are you willing to do?  REALLY??

Where are you in the development of your craft?  How do you know?

What do you want to do with that?  Why?

Says who?

What are you passionate about?

Just because you did a BFA or a theatre degree or a BMus, or something in the arts, doesn't guarantee nor preclude you are having a career in that focus.

If you say you want a career,  why? 

Have you figured out what you NEED to begin that journey or restart that journey or get you onto the right path of that journey?

Have you started to pursue those necessary steps?

Or are you procrastinating?

Why?

Have the excuses started already?

I know...but...

But what?

YOU are the business.  If you want to be in the business,  your product has to be purchase-ready. 

You have to hone that product to make it purchase-ready.

The business of you doesn't have anything to do with the artistic you. 

This is business. 

There is an enormous difference. 

If you don't figure that out,  should you really want to pursue a career,  then the business will make a decision for you,  and will simply call   "NEXT!"

YOU have to know.  YOU have to hone.  YOU have to present it to them or you leave them making their own decisions or dismissing you.  That's up to YOU.

This means getting to work.  This means getting to nitty gritty of how you are seen;  what your energy reveals in a room;  what your voice does;  what characters you will be seen for and why;

Remember, there is ALWAYS a why.  Sometimes we have the power to change HOW,  when we learn the WHY.  However, you are never going to know the how or the why if you don't start asking questions instead of answering "I know..but..."

An excuse never got anybody anything,  except a chance to create more delusion and not move.

Free yourself to do your work - whatever that is - by dropping the excuses. 

Do the work,  or don't.  Claim it.  If you decide, you don't want to be bothered with all of this to find a career path in the business,  then find whatever you are passionate and DO THAT!!!!

Doing what you are passionate about is NEVER failure. Doing something because you think you have to prove it to someone,  or because you went to school for it you have to try,  is just going to drain you and cause you to put up more walls.  You will be miserable,  and chances are you will miss something you might really love doing.

If you have an answer for everything I have said,  as in,  an excuse of why you HAVEN'T done it,  then I would really truly consider what you are doing.  Life is short,  and you don't want to let it pass you by with excuses and "I know, buts".

If you feel motivated again;  if you KNOW where your passion lies;  if you are getting HUNGRY for that career;  if you can not only claim your fears or self-doubts, but realize what you need to do, and are willing to get on that path to do it,  then DO IT!

Start it.  One step at a time.  Create your business.  Develop goals.  Make a business plan. 

Nobody does it but you.  However, utilize the assets around you to help enhance that plan so you can hone it as expertly as you would hone your craft and artistic temperament. 

What is holding you back?

YOU.

Shhhhh.

 The answer is NOT "I know...but."


The answer is a nod, a quiet acknowledgement.  Now GET TO WORK ON YOU!

Me? Getting in my own way?

Happy Daylight Savings Time to those of us who lost an hour over night.  

There are no coffee rules today.  Who am I kidding?! There are no coffee rules any day.  Drink it til you can move things with your mind!

I am giddy because maybe, just maybe this horrible winter is over.  Although as I type, I am seeing white crap falling from the sky and 30 minutes ago it was brilliantly sunny. 

I do know it's warmer, because my weather app says so.  Let's hope that is true and spring is truly teasing us into something better.

So what about you?  How's the audition season?  How was the audition season?

Where are you at in your process?

How many times have you heard over the years: "Stop getting in your own way!"

What the hell does that mean?!?!?!

Well, in all honesty I do not know.  I cannot know since I am not you.  These things are personal, journey-driven,  craft-driven,  self-esteem driven. 

So, what I can share with you are ideas that may help you find out how to get to that elusive and universal question for yourself, in order to find the answers.

When we want something so much,  the idea of being still seems counter productive.  Yet, wanting can lead to drive, can lead to over-zealous, can lead to single-mindedness, can lead to craving, can lead to trying to do too much, can lead to frustration, can lead to desperation, can lead to anxiousness, can lead to confusion, can lead to wanting it harder, can lead to panic, can lead to...

Get the idea?  Are you breathing?

Stillness doesn't mean you aren't DOING something.  Stillness simply gives you permission to be you in the moment.  Not to say "yeah, but I have to..."  We all have to.  Wait a second.  Take a breath.  Let it out.  Take another one.

"But I have to show them I can sing, I can act, I can be what they want!"

How do you know that's what they want? 

Take a breath.  Be still.

Trying too hard often can be translated into trying to do too much at one time;  trying to reveal more than you have to;  trying, trying, trying.

So break it down:  What are you DOING to develop the TOTALITY of your craft?  Layer by layer. 

Do you study voice?  Regularly?  Do you understand your physicality?  Do you know where you are in that process?  Do you really understand how your physicality uniquely influences what your voice is as an athletic presence of sound? 

Do you study performance?  Do you study acting?  Do you know how and why and where the physicality embodies the characterization of breath, of intention, of thought, of action?  Do you find that in the lyrics of a song or aria?  Do you find that character in the phrase a composer has taken the time to craft for you to lift off a page?

Do you explore your physical athleticism outside your craft?  Do you know where you hold your tension?  Do you know your vulnerable spots? 

Do you find your trouble spots when you are completely safe? 

Do you allow yourself to find out what happens when you don't feel like you are in your element?

What changes?  Why?

How do you compensate?  Do you allow, do you try harder, do you become still,  do you just get in the way and spiral out of control?

Are you in your body during your study? During a class?  During your practice?  Are you present in your mind and spirit or are you going through the motions?  Do you mimic? Do you hide? Do you truly explore the messy, the raw and the undeveloped potential and let it be where it is or do you gloss over it hoping nobody saw, including you?

We aren't always ready to see.  We aren't always ready to acknowledge.  We aren't always ready to claim.   It's okay.  But not being ready creates panic in a pressure situation and then - we get in our own way.

If you want it badly enough,  you have to realize,  recognize and do the work to create the stillness to access it.  Period.

There isn't a formulaic plan for that, sorry.  Each of us, with guidance from someone or several someones outside ourselves,  have to find that for ourselves.

We need to know in order to see the truth.  Once we see those truths, then we don't make excuses for them:  they simply are.  There is no value judgement.  We now can pick up those truths and develop them, hone them, sculpt them to create a larger reality that we can be still in;  live in;  claim fully.

You can't get in your own way if you are living in your craft and your body and spirit in an authentic way.  You cannot get in your own way if you let go of excuses.  You cannot be intimidated if you find the desire to simply learn about YOU and what the development of your craft reveals ABOUT you.

This should allow excitement to bubble.  This should lead to possibilities.  This should lead to desire and not panic.  Possibilities lead to timelessness,  not running out of time.

Those voices that tell you "if you don't figure it out now it's over"  - need to be kicked to the curb. 

YOU have never been here before.  All of our possibilities are new.  It's not over because it hasn't been before. 

How do you get out of your own way?

Get ON your way.  Claim the journey,  warts and all.  Make no excuses.  Find everything you need to fulfill your possibility.  Make no excuses.  Make choices.  Be BOLD.  Be real.  Be still.

Do You Know?

It is March.  Thank the Universe.

Spring is now possible, even though as I type, there is light snow falling.

This post is really about the questions you need to ask in your technical and artistic development.

I am always amazed, and yet not surprised at many singers' lack of knowledge of their instrument.  This can be for many many reasons honestly, so this is a general overview.

I was asked last week if I could tell singers and developing artists one thing that could help them,  what would it be.

And here it is, without hesitation: ASK QUESTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DO NOT BE AFRAID TO ASK QUESTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(enough exclamation points for you?)

No one expects  you to have all the answers.
Nobody has all the answers.
Questions lead to answers or exploration or more questions.

That's what this is all about!

Sometimes you have to ask a question to simply find out what question to ask!  That, too, is fantastic.

From a purely technical, behavioral perspective,  do you know what building your physical instrument is going to take?

Do you know when the actual vocal mechanism reaches maturity?

Do you know what "reaching maturity" actually means?  (hint:  you aren't done when you mature!)

Do you know what the process is for YOU as you progress toward vocal maturity?

Do you know HOW you are building the instrument?

Do you know how the support mechanism works for YOUR body?

Do you understand how the basic vocal mechanism functions?

Do you know where your lungs are?

Do you know how to care for your instrument?

Do you recognize the athleticism of your vocal instrument?

Do you care?

Are you afraid to ask questions?

Are you excited to ask questions?
 

As a teacher, my job is to find the singer where she/he is.  Not to start them again.  I have to figure out where you are,  and access what you know, what you don't know, how you learn, how you respond. 

Guess what?  As a teacher, I ask LOTS of questions:  of you; of myself; of my research, of my experience, of my knowledge, of my intuition.

In asking lots of questions to discover MORE,  I expect the same of you.

It is YOUR instrument.  It is YOUR development.  It is YOUR journey.  YOU are responsible.

Development isn't passive, it's active.  It's action-filled.  It's exciting, and frustrating, and annoying, and thrilling and amazing.

Remember that person who never asks direction and thinks they can figure out how to get there and they never do or it takes all day and a tank of gas?  Remember how much EASIER it would have been to simply ask the gas attendant how to get there, cause he lives in the area and would actually know????

ASK QUESTIONS.  If you don't get the answers that help (not always the answers you are comfortable with btw) then go find someone else that can answer them.

You are never beholden to someone but rather, responsible for you.  You are responsible for your development,  and therefore, responsible to ask the questions, to find more questions, to discover more answers, and in more answers, more possibility.

So if you don't know.  ASK.

Ask some more.

Asking questions reveals a desire for truth and understanding. 

If you know WHY you can replicate the behavior.

If you don't know why,  you wander around,  and find yourself back in the same place wondering how you are still there.

So, do you know?

I think it's time to start finding out!

The many kinds of "singer" and study!

So many kinds of "singer" out there - and I am not talking about genre.

How do we define a "natural" singer vs an "organic" singer vs a "musical" singer?

Again, I hate boxes and labels so this is always difficult for to make generalizations so let me just begin to shape ideas...

I believe truly and honestly that singing by a physical definition is an athletic activity.  Some singer simply have the physical athleticism to do this.  Some do not.

Just as there are "natural" athletes and "learned" athletes there are singers in the same vein.  They both must have the physicality.  The "natural" athlete also has easier access to that physicality,  whereas the "learned" athlete has the physicality but may have issues they need to develop or overcome in order to access that physicality.

So it could be said for singers.  Some have the physicality and nothing in the way to access it.  This, to me, is the natural singer. However, this does mean that the natural singer KNOWS what they are doing.  They just simply do it.  Until they cannot. 

The "learned" singer must discover how to access their physicality.  These are the singers that might have physical issues, tensions, imbalances etc that through ongoing technical behavior can access the athleticism they can develop.

The "organic" singer seems to find what they can do within the limit of the talent, or the excess of their talent and discover the voice and the place that voice is best suited.

The "musical" singer could be an organic singer, or a natural singer, or not as natural physically singer - but has incredible color and ability to exude musicality and style in their singing while overcoming some physical issues in technique.

Before anybody gets their panties in a wad, I am oversimplifying.

Even the most "natural" voice still has to develop it.  A "natural" voice doesn't mean it is musical.  A musical voice isn't necessary a natural physicality. 

What a natural voice can do without training earlier on in development can be astounding.

What a musical voice can achieve can be moving and remarkable.

Some singers have exceptional physical gifts;  some have exceptional musical gifts;  some have exceptional interpretive gifts;  Few have all three in equal measure.

Regardless - you as the singer - need to figure out what you have and how you DEVELOP IT.

Even if you are a "natural" singer - it means nothing if you can't access what the music demands of your instrument.  The music, the craft demands you hone and develop.

If you are a "natural" athlete you have to decide what you are going to develop with that physicality and what sport best exemplifies it.

If you are a musical singer, you must find a physicality that you can rely on in order to access that musicality fully through your developed and rebalanced athleticism.

Regardless of the "voice" - it is up to you to HONE THAT CRAFT: physically, athletically, musically, dramatically, spiritually, organically. 

This is just the beginning - so let's explore this in the following days and weeks ahead!

We can want but if we cannot DO it is fruitless.  We must recognize, and simply be honest enough to develop what we have, and who we are.  Even the most "natural" of us will not be able to sustain without knowledge and development and clarity of how we do what we do.

So let's delve in shall we?

Let's find YOUR voice and make it uniquely YOURS.

A first time Master Class Collaboration in NYC!

I am thrilled to announce that Chuck Hudson, Stage Director and Master Teacher will be joining me and together we are offering a Collaborative Master Class for Opera Auditioning in March in NYC!

Here is the link to find out details:
http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=0e10ca677256a28338c9cdabf&id=e42938ec53

This will be open to only 6 singers to participate but we are also accepting auditors to observe and take in the class.

Please go to the link for more info and then email me susaneichhornstudio@gmail.com if you have questions or queries.


Hope to see you in March!

A NOVEMBER SPECIAL IN THE NYC STUDIO!

If you read the blog,  and live in the NYC area or are going to be in NYC during November...

The studio is offering a CONSULTATION SPECIAL.

This is an hour work session that will evaluate where you are vocally,  what you need next and how to go about it;  we will evaluate what is in that audition book - what is serving you well,  what needs tweaking,  and what you might want to re-think.  I will also offer some repertoire suggestions!

Interested?

This CONSULTATION SPECIAL is $30 OFF my regular hourly fee.

This is for singers who have NEVER been into the studio to consult or work with me.

Is this you?

Are you interested?

Email me  HERE,  and attach your head shot and resume  and I will send you more information and how to book a session!

How do you define SUCCESS?

The end of summer is at hand...

Next week we begin a new season.  It always feels like the "new year" to me when the fall season begins.  Many of you are ramping up,  back at school,  checking upcoming auditions,  preparing to travel to your gigs,  taking on new roles and new projects.

So how do YOU define success for yourself as you enter this new year as an artist, or as one who embodies artistic temperament?

I ask this, because each of us comes to our own definition.  That definition can have many different possibilities for any one of us,  depending on where we are, what we are working toward,  what our goals are.

The dictionary defines it as "the accomplishment of an aim or purpose".

Given that as a template,  do we give ourselves permission to succeed only in the larger goal, or do we recognize the smaller accomplishments, the smaller successes on a day to day basis that help create the path to a larger goal?

I believe that as an artist we have to be "big picture" people,  as well as "detail" people.   We cannot afford to get lost in either scenario,  so setting that large picture can often come first, in order to discover how to get there. 

Success is discovered in the planning, and then in the EXECUTION and frankly,  the fine-tuning and re-organizing of that plan.

If your big picture "success" is to perform at a well known opera house, or on Broadway,  but you never practice, or seldom get your bum out of bed to get to an audition,  or get your applications in on time,  then you are creating self-sabotage,  and the big picture success won't happen, nor will you ever locate the detailed successes along the way.

True success is found in the day to day discovery of self.  At least that is what I am finding more and more.

We are hard on ourselves.   We stress.  We fret.  We don't think we're good enough.  We get scared.  Trust me,  I get that.  I am harder on me than anybody else could possibly be!  When I don't accomplish what I set out to in a day,  I can beat on myself royally.

What does that accomplish? 

What were my goals?  Why?  Did I reach or exceed them?  Why or why not?

What DID I achieve today?

Did I bring 100% of whatever I had to bring to whatever I did?  If all I have is 30% but I bring all 30,  then I have succeeded!

And if I didn't?  Well,  if I can recognize it,  acknowledge it,  OWN it,  not make excuses for it, nor beat myself up about it,  look into the mirror and say "tomorrow is a new day and this is goal"  then I still succeed on pursuing the path.

Success triumphs in tangible ways and in intangible ways.  It is not all or nothing. 

Failure is not an option.  Living is needed, necessary and required.

Success is measured in what you have to contribute and how you use that contribution to make this place a little better than you found it.

The intangibles can suddenly find a tangibility that is uniquely yours,  should you give yourself permission to be where you are,  and discover the possibilities that exist there.

Achievement of an action

Realization of a goal

A triumph over a struggle

Being ready to take on that new task

Living without hesitation

Fearlessness

Giving of spirit

Being open to the possibility

Satisfaction

Finding your power within the spirit of you and claiming it


All these are possible definitions.  Create your own.

The beauty of success is that no one defines it for you, but you.

So what are you waiting for?  Start this season off with DAILY successes that you can acknowledge and claim.

If you feel overwhelmed, start one step at a time.  Start small.  Each step is a success!

Reach and claim that unreachable star each and every day by WHO you are,  and what you claim in your artistic life,  your personal life,  your tangible life.

Success is as much a journey as anything.  We can create a large open ended picture and let it change from day to do by what we do with each day.

The day may bring you many things, but it is up to you what you do with it,  how you greet it,  how you take it on.

Whatever you have,  bring THAT into your day;  into your studies;  into your work;  into your pursuits;  into your dreams.  Let it lead how you are perceived and want to be perceived. 

Define your success by choosing to create it and  live it,  not by wishing for  it or yearning for it.

And I leave you with the eloquence of Sondheim's brilliance - make your OWN hat.

There's a part of you always standing by
Mapping out the sky
Finishing a hat, starting on a hat
Finishing a hat, look I made a hat
Where there never was a hat

Read more at http://www.songlyrics.com/sondheim-on-sondheim/finishing-the-hat-lyrics/#Tgm8otS4ygBu2egr.99

More Voice in Different Genres!

shameless self promotion - well it IS my blog...

First, I am actually REALLY writing my book.  Whew. About time huh?

So that's why I am not making as many entries here.

Second,  one of the many ways I use my voice is for narrating audiobooks.  I am passionate about - it allows me to draw on my dramatic and acting training even further and create a narrative that I hope keeps the listener engaged and entertained!

I have a number of books via www.audible.com

My narration "page" is located HERE.

My newest release is Lorraine Kennedy's MOON DANCE: WOLVES OF OUTERLANDS Volumes 1 - 4

I am given several codes that will access the book for free and I would love to offer these codes to you my readers.

All I ask in return is that you review the book on audible for me!

Leave me a comment below about why you love audiobooks or the IDEA of audiobooks and I will send you a code to listen to my newest narration!

Or if you would rather, message me via email at susaneichhornstudio@gmail.com with "AUDIOBOOK" in the subject line.

Codes are limited so let me know!

Sing with your WHOLE voice...

happy Memorial Day in the USA (and a regular Monday for the rest of you!)

What is the second half of that sentence?

Sing with your WHOLE voice, with your WHOLE body.

Voice is not just motor/resonance  - but it is the strength, pliability,  elasticity and ATHLETICISM of the body to support it.

If your body is not strong,  you simply cannot support and carry that instrument.  CAN NOT.


Each body - no matter the size,  can be strong.  Your voice resides there - you gotta look after it.  Do not let someone else tell you that you need to "lose weight",  "change your body" - for the sake of the business.  You need to be strong, first and foremost.  You need to be powerful physically in order for your voice to respond to you.

I often tell my singers that the voice itself is always fine.  Where she/he wants to RESIDE is not always ideal.  You know how you feel after a really busy week or 2 and you finally have a day off but your apartment looks like the Good Will has blown up in it,  and the LAST place you want to be is in it, so you leave?  That's sometimes how your voice feels.  It really really REALLY wants to be there,  but dammit if it's not aligned and strong enough,  she/he just refuses to move in.

You can work all you want on "vocal technique" but if your body isn't strong,  and integrated with your breath and your support,  then all the exercises in the world will not save you. 

Your body will save you.

The WHOLE voice, YOUR voice, wants YOUR body. All of it.  Not just a portion.  ALL.

Are you willing to get strong in order to do what you say you want to do?

Strength and integration are what singing are about on a physical level.  We are asking something rather inhuman of ourselves.  We have to train the body with the same focus as those who are the top athletes in their fields.

Forget fat,  forget critics,  focus on YOU.  If you sing,  you must be strong.  If you are not,  you will notice that when you are nervous your "technique" disappears;  your "breath" disappears.

Until you can summon your technique,  your strength,  at will,  you are hoping, wishing & praying.

When your body is strong,  you have a place to reside.  Your voice has a place to reside, to trust and to THRIVE and shape itself in the uniqueness that is YOU.

Sing EVERYTHING with your wholeness - voice, spirit AND BODY!

Your authenticity DEMANDS it.