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.

Why study?

happy weekend!

Conversations with the singers that work with me always bring me to further thought - and often it ends up here on the blog!

This one came up several times this week.

Why study?

I am always flabbergasted - and probably shouldn't be given our social climate - that so many think, in portions of our business - that their undergrad is done,  and so,  why study anymore?

Or  - there are some who have begun a professional career but don't further their studies.

The reasons why those attitudes and decisions are made aren't the point of this blog post.

More to the point,  why study?  why continue to study?  why pick up your study?  and most importantly,  why wouldn't you?

We are athletes are singers and performers.  We need to keep that physicality in the best shape.  Great athletes are constantly honing their craft,  their physicality,  working with coaches on all levels of their work.

As singers,  our physicality and metabolic life is continuing to change, morph and develop.  If we don't work with it and develop it fully,  and allow for it to be realized,  how can we call ourselves professional?

If we are asked to be part of the equipment - doing 8 shows a week - wouldn't it be the natural realization to keep working on the technical behavior so that instrument and equipment can do its job well?

If we are just at the beginning of a possible career,  wouldn't it make sense to keep exploring and studying what the physicality and technique can develop into in order to access it more fully and more specifically?

If you are in your career - wouldn't a regular tune up and 2nd set of ears be the thing you'd need to keep you aligned, balanced and healthy?

We have trainers at the gym;  we have life coaches;  we learn to eat well;  we take dance classes or yoga classes or pilates classes;  we may even take a performance class or two;  we keep getting new head shots;  we keep updating our websites;  we keep auditioning...

but do we study?

Do we learn how we do what we do?  how we need to re-approach what we thought was working and maybe isn't anymore?  do we know how we access that voice? that physicality?  with specific knowledge and action,  or just by the seat of our pants?

Finishing a program doesn't mean you know.

Being cast in a show doesn't mean you know.

You know when you know.  And the more you know the more you want to know.  Because knowing reveals how much there is to continue to learn!

Why study?  Because you must to truly reveal what you have,  what you need to hone,  what you need to develop,  in order to summon your talent at will.

If you call yourself a performer,  or an artist who performs,   then you are connected to the journey of KNOWING.  Knowing requires enquiry;  enquiry requires getting real;  getting real reveals truth; truth reveals authenticity.

Study.

It comes in many forms.

It morphs,  and it changes shape depending on what you need, when you need it.

It doesn't have to be weekly lessons,  although it can be.  It could mean intensive work in the voice studio over a short period of time and then a longer period of allowing that information to wash through you,  and for your technical behavior to catch up physically in order to access things fully.

It could be regular "check-ins".  It could be a combination of intensives and check-ins.

Nothing is in stone.  How you study is reflected on why you study.

I often ask my singers,  "why are you here?  What do you feel you need today?  What do you feel you are here to do?"

Sometimes they know,  sometimes they don't.  Sometimes they think they know,  and as we start to work,  it is revealed what they really need!

So,  why study?

Why wouldn't you?

Even if you are fully formed from a physiological perspective within the singing mechanism,  are you aware of all the micro-shifts and metabolic changes?  Do you know how to access it fully,  freely without issue?  Is your talent easily summoned without restraint,  at will,  because your technical behavior is so ingrained it needs nothing more?

 If you say you are an artist,  or a performer,  then your craft DEMANDS study, observation, changes, adjustments, tweaking, and an honest and true place to explore.

Take on the study - and commit to the lifelong exploration that allows you to access YOU!

Exploring the Consciousness of the Body

No matter the level of study or development you are, I hope you have a teacher you check in with regularly that has a strong understanding in the physical instrument.

What we all need to do, on a regular basis, is check in on that physical function of our fully body instrument. In other words, the ABCs.

We can do some of it ourselves, as we become more aware of what to watch for and observe, and then having a teacher who can diagnose or re-adjust what you cannot see or sense is crucial for keeping the physicality aware and awake for your voice to find an authentic place to reside!

Observing these tangible elements is really an ongoing and daily practice for those who are pursuing craft effectively!

1.    Body Posture

How are you moving? How are you standing or sitting while you speak? Where is there hyper-extension? Is there slumping or compression? Any locked spots? Any pressure spots?

2. Energy Centre

What position of energy do you "lead" from? High in the chest wall? Collapsed through the solar plexus? Compressed or pressed through the pelvis?

3.    Head/Neck/Jaw

We deal with what has been referred to “text neck” as a general issue in our current smart phone society. Is the head balanced on a long neck or does it push forward? Is there chin tucking or jutting forward? Is the jaw tight? Is the speaking voice in fry or is in buoyant? Is there range of motion in the complexity of the neck muscles or is there compression?

4.   Singing Posture

As you begin to vocalize, how is your posture affected? How is the breath engaged? Is there ease or are you struggling?

5.    The Breath

How are you accessing the breath? Can you find ways of engaging more elasticity in the body in order for the breath to have more buoyancy and release without adding voice or vibration to it yet?

6.    Body Basics

As you engage breath movement with the voice, how is your body responding to the athleticism of those intangibles? Is there fatigue? compression? tightness? collapse? grip?

7.     Voice Onset

What happens on the onset of the voice? Are you paying attention to that initial and crucial onset for balance?

As a teacher, I am paying attention to ALL of this with every singer when they walk in. As a singer, I am paying attention to all of this when I begin to stretch and workout my body, breath, and voice during a practice session.

In the study of voice, one size does NOT fit all. We have to learn to recognize where we are and begin there. Learning to observe without criticism (!!) gives us permission to not judge and simply recognize the habits and behaviors that are not always conscious. This can then lead to more conscious CHOICE of changing habits and behaviors to better serve us.

Consciousness.  Awareness.  Willingness.  Clarity.  Focus.  Pliability.

All of these are crucial to the singer, as well as the teacher, in order to discover what you need on any given day.

The Intensive Study

Sunday musings...

I am recovering from a birthday weekend as I enter a new decade and thought I wouldn't be offering a blog post today, but sometimes things come up and I want to share with you!

What of the Intensive Study?

What does that mean to you?  Have you done it?  Do you understand what it means?

As a young singer,  I would make several treks a year to New York City to work with my teacher and my coaches and create my own intensive.  I would be in town for several days, or a couple of weeks or longer if I could do it,  and create a course of study that allowed me to work with professionals I needed almost every day,  or several times a week.  This allowed me to immerse myself in the study of my voice, my music, my craft, language, acting, movement, and more depending on how long I could be in town,  and who was available.

I work with singers in this way regularly throughout the year. Whether it is 3 days or 3 weeks,  singers who are committed to their development commit to their study.  If they are in town for a few days, I see them EVERY day and know they are working with coaches and in an acting class or probably a movement class or at an Alexander Technique session.  I am always impressed by a singer's commitment to their studies and their success by how they study.  HOW you study reveals much about you.  How you DO NOT study, also reveals much. 

Obviously we can talk about it, we can "like" statuses, we can "share',  we can "favorite", we can "retweet" but until we DO IT,  it hasn't truly been realized.

Whether you are in the throws of your degree,  or an emerging professional or a developing professional,  your ongoing study, honing of craft and development is so crucial.  Even as a teacher, I have to keep my skills relevant and clear.

If you don't live in an area where you have access to a regular teacher,  coaches for music, acting and movement, etc - what do you do?    Where do you go?

If you are serious about your voice and pursuing it fully,  the intensive study immersion is CRUCIAL.   We all learn differently,  but often going in and being immersed and then going home to allow all that information to sift through and begin to take shape can be exhilarating and life changing. 

These trips can be exhausting and at the same time,  energizing.  You can be exposed to much information,  challenged by new ideas,  not just in the studios of teachers and coaches but also by seeing live theatre,  going to great art galleries and museums and being in an environment of STUDY that is all about you.

Often, if you create your own program of study, you can take in MONTHS of study in half the time and then take as long as you need to sift through, absorb,  adjust, discover and create more behavior when you get home.

The intensive allows it to be all about YOU.  You don't have to wait til next week,  you get more tomorrow or later in the afternoon.  You don't need to juggle study with laundry with family with chores - the intensive is giving you a focus of study that is about you, FOR you.

If you haven't done it - why not?   Don't pick up the excuses.  The excuse is creating another reason why NOT. 

So WHY do it?

If you say you are a singer, then BE one.

If you say you want to learn, then learn.

If you say you want to have a career,  then pursue what you need.

If you say you want to know,  then SEEK the knowledge.

Sometimes we don't know what we want.  Sometimes we don't know what we have.  Sometimes we need to have a consultation and an intensive to find out where we actually are,  what we actually want,  and how we need to get to the next.

There is no excuse for NOT doing an intensive.  Why?  Because it's about you and can be working into your life, your finances and your needs.  You can plan for it.  You can adjust it.  You can explore it.  You can create what you need and find the professionals that can help you discover YOU.


Read, listen, discover.  Prepare.  Don't just regurgitate - but know what you are taking in, and absorb it!

If you want it,  skimming by isn't going to get you there.

If you want it,  the demand is on you, and only you,  to find out what you need and commit to it!

Here's to you finding what you need,  instead of becoming complacent with what you have.

If you want to be taken seriously,  if you want to keep growing as an artist and performer,  you must keep on the quest of discovery!   I raise my glass to you discovering YOU,  or at least finding professionals you can stand in front of who will introduce you to what you can become should you take on that quest!