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....

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

Social Media plugs

I am now on SoundCloud - some of the tracks from my album "Taking My Turn" are available there to listen to!

https://soundcloud.com/susan-eichhorn-young

You can download the complete album via iTunes or CDBaby

If you want a physical CD - email me!

More blog posts coming soon!