At an early age, my parents encouraged me to take piano lessons, join the band at school, and sing in the childrens' choir at church. I believe my Alfred piano books are still somewhere around my parents' house. My beautiful, twice-repaired, silver Bach Stradivarius trumpet is there somewhere, too. My voice, thankfully, stayed with me.
I officially began to study singing at age 16. I entered The Junior Miss Scholarship Program (do NOT call it a pageant, please!) and needed the help of a voice teacher to perfect my Talent for the competition. Rebecca Grimes, a lovely soprano herself, helped me choose a piece that was impressive enough, yet short enough to fit into the 90 second time constraint. Up until then, my repertoire included everything from Madrigals to Mariah Carey, from Gilbert and Sullivan to Andrew Lloyd Webber. But never any honest-to-goodness opera arias. [aside: There is much debate over when, as a classical voice teacher, to give your students arias as opposed to art songs and show tunes. Of course, I didn't know what was what then, so I didn't know it was supposed to be hard. As a result, I thought it was pretty easy!] My teacher chose "O mio babbino caro" from Gianni Schicchi.
Check it out for yourself. My Dad is pretty good at archiving most everything I've ever recorded. This was recorded in Mobile, Alabama. I have to admit, it is pretty hilarious to listen to myself from 10 years ago!
Now that I have been practicing how to sing for 10 years, you would think I would know exactly what to expect when I open my mouth. Most of the time, I feel like the opposite is true. I have had three different full time voice teachers, and other influences from teachers and coaches along the way. As a result, my vocal technique has grown and changed as my voice has, which is a good thing. The challenge lies in the fact that a human voice changes with age, time of day, mood, diet, exercise, you name it. Practicing becomes a time when I have to determine how to negotiate around different issues, instead of focusing on the communicative power of the music and language. The effort of practice, then, is more about reducing the negative than reinforcing the positive. After a while, mental exhaustion sets in, and it is very easy to either push too hard or just give up.
Today, I experimented with a different approach to my practice time. I began the day fairly early, up at 7:30, singing by 8:30am! I got my creative juices flowing alongside my glass of regular juice, writing lyrics to a partially written "pop" song (as opposed to classical) I've been working on. As I wrote, I picked up my guitar and sang. I let whatever was going to come out, just come out. Nobody was there to listen and critique. But I have to say, it was pretty darn good. Without warming up. Without nit-picking. Without thinking, really.
After about an hour and a half, and finishing that song, I went right into practicing my opera audition repertoire. I was amazed at how free I felt to express, both physically and vocally, the aria I worked on. All of a sudden, I felt more in character, and the aria was more a part of me. I let the vibe of Rossini become incorporated with my own intuitive creative vibe.
What it comes down to is Trust, Faith, and Love: Trust that all the PRACTICE hours I have put in thus far has added up and made me the singer I am today; Faith that my attention to detail and to my own artistic soul will eventually help me reach my goals; and finally, Love, extreme passion for the craft of expression through musical performance, and complete willingness to approach new and old pieces alike with wild abandon.
Oh, did I mention I was crowned Jackson County Junior Miss that year? Yep.
Today, I experimented with a different approach to my practice time. I began the day fairly early, up at 7:30, singing by 8:30am! I got my creative juices flowing alongside my glass of regular juice, writing lyrics to a partially written "pop" song (as opposed to classical) I've been working on. As I wrote, I picked up my guitar and sang. I let whatever was going to come out, just come out. Nobody was there to listen and critique. But I have to say, it was pretty darn good. Without warming up. Without nit-picking. Without thinking, really.
After about an hour and a half, and finishing that song, I went right into practicing my opera audition repertoire. I was amazed at how free I felt to express, both physically and vocally, the aria I worked on. All of a sudden, I felt more in character, and the aria was more a part of me. I let the vibe of Rossini become incorporated with my own intuitive creative vibe.
What it comes down to is Trust, Faith, and Love: Trust that all the PRACTICE hours I have put in thus far has added up and made me the singer I am today; Faith that my attention to detail and to my own artistic soul will eventually help me reach my goals; and finally, Love, extreme passion for the craft of expression through musical performance, and complete willingness to approach new and old pieces alike with wild abandon.
Oh, did I mention I was crowned Jackson County Junior Miss that year? Yep.
And let the people say "Amen". As a coach, I feel that often what I do is help singers get out of their own way. There's a place for "thinking" in singing but when it comes to performing "feeling" always produces a better result. Spread the word sister and keep on keepin' on.
ReplyDeletea lovely, poignant portrait of a day in the life of a songbird
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