How We Think or Feel is How We Will Sing

I cannot stress enough the importance of maintaining a positive attitude when singing and, especially when teaching. If you can't say something nice, don't just say nothing, FIND SOMETHING nice to say.

Let's face facts, this career is about ego. Our fragile egos are all wrapped up in it. We try to get our egos out of it but sometimes that is easier said than done. That is why we must find ways to make it about the work, the process. If it becomes an internal fight, it gets harder than it needs to be. And I speak from experience.

As a teacher, while it is my job to find those things which make a singer's voice unattractive and call attention to them, I realize I must do this while taking into account that the person in front of me wants to work but also is shielding him or herself from tiny blows to their ego. I must deliver the bad news of their "flaws" with optimism. I am always optimistic that they can overcome whatever technical difficulty they may be having. That puts a student in the mindset of "yes, I can" rather than "I can't do this".

My recent discovery regarding vocal sensations

I am, above all, a very honest person. In this business honesty isn't always rewarded, but in the studio I believe it is crucial. I have not done any professional performing in a little over a year. In part because of many changes in my personal life and, in part, because I wanted to take time off to rethink and rework my own technique. What I've found has made me laugh out loud. I found something I've only been told, and have been telling my students, for years. FEEL!! Feeling your voice is the most important tool in your arsenal. And while it's easy to dole out the advice, I'm finding that taking sometimes takes more patience than one might have.

So, I bring to my teaching my own discoveries about vocal sensations. I believe that most teachers teach from their own perspective. That is fine, but sometimes that gets in the way of their teaching. Just because when Teacher A was a singer she felt her support "as if it was a still lake at the bottom of her pelvis" doesn't mean that this will make any sense whatsover to Student X. You cannot expect students to make sense of YOUR sensations. Everyone feels things differently. This is why telling someone to "place forward" is almost always a mistake. What each person will feel as "forward" is likely to be different and in many cases, wrong.

For this reason, I do my best to suggest directions and images that may help bring out the free voice and then, when I hear a good, free, well supported sound, I immediately ask the student to describe what they felt. This way it is the student who is taking the sensations and making sense of them for themselves! :)

Singing for joy's sake

Above all else, I advocate singing at least a few minutes each day with unfettered joy and abandon. Do this sometime after you've vocalized and done whatever exercises you're currently working on. Once you've gone over that song for all the nuances and practiced your pianissimo. When all that is done, just sing!!

Keep your spirit and vocal approach fresh by giving yourself 5 to 15 minutes each day, or at the very least, each week. Sing like you're on a deserted island where you are beyond judgment and reproach. It's healthy to allow yourself to sing without the judgments - particularly your own.