Of course, I read many posts that take a look back on the year that has passed, questioning past accomplishments, and failures, and obviously, new year’s resolutions.

To start off the new year, here are some thoughts and suggestions given by Mister Tim for VoiceCouncil Magazine:

• Difficulty is the fertilizer of the bonsai tree of achievement
• Don’t mistake movement for progress
• Don’t mistake confidence for knowledge, or talent, or expertise
• Embrace the things you can control as well as the things you cannot
• Never pass up the opportunity to use a trebuchet to hurl a piano

Not sure about that last one, but hey, may be worth a try!

If you are a music theatre student, here are some great reading suggestions by Susan Eichhorn Young, a voice teacher in New York: Click to view list.

Speaking of readings, here is a reading I recommend to all singers and musicians/artists in general: “The Mastery of Music; Ten Pathways To True Artistry” – By Barry Green

Barry Green is also the author of “The Inner Game Of Music” with Timothy Gallwey and provides great inspiration and vision without forgetting the very important practical side needed to take ones skills to higher levels.

The last post I read was by Jennifer Hamady, another voice coach I admire and respect. It was not a new years post at all. In fact, it was dated December 20th, 2011 and titled “Overcoming Paralysis by Analysis”.

This is a subject that I have read about on and off in the last year and so I was quite curious to know what Jennifer had to say.

As I read through each short paragraph, a feeling of familiarity became stronger and stronger.

Jennifer writes:

“We’ve been conditioned to believe that knowledge is the key to progress and success. The more we have of it, the better we are. And this is true. But knowledge and information are two very different things.”

I like where this is going… so I read on…

“Information is what makes us sound better at dinner parties. Knowledge is information- and inspiration- that is actionable.”

AHA!! I knew that. I completely agree with what Jennifer is stating here…

“The next time you’re browsing the internet- particularly your industry’s websites and blogs- ask whether you’re doing so to inspire and empower yourself to achieve your goals or to avoid doing what you’ve said you’d do.

Is it to support you in stepping into your own power, or to resist it?

Is it because you have a real need for the content, or simply because a new message is staring back at you from your inbox?”

Mhmm! Exactly! Just as I thought and… wait,… um… so……… yeah. That’s right.

Ok.

… and that was the last post I read that day.

Happy New Year Songbirds. Stay focused, and remember, actions speak louder than words, … so let’s stop talking and get singing! ;D

A few years ago, when I was doing research for the section on vowels and consonants for my online training program, I fell upon a flash animation project which was a collaborative effort of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, German, Speech Pathology and Audiology, and Academic Technologies at The University of Iowa.

Intended for students of phonetics, linguistics, and foreign languages, the site contains animated libraries of the phonetic sounds of English, German, and Spanish and is an excellent tool for all singers. What is truly amazing is that for each consonant and vowel, there is an animated articulatory diagram, a step-by-step description, and video-audio of the sound spoken in context.

Sloppy enunciation is the culprit in many voices lacking vitality and dynamics and every client that passes through my voice studio, is asked to rethink their ABC’s all over again. It may seem silly to spend hours and hours learning how consonants and vowels are properly produced at first, but believe me, it is so worth it in the end.

I only wish they had the French language as well (hint hint).

Until next time songbirds, take time to notice if your ABC’s are really as easy as 1, 2, 3….

A while ago, I sent out a tweet on the topic of left brain vs right brain. Most of us have a natural inclination toward one of these, and so my question to you was, which is yours?

One quick way to find out, is with the famous right brain vs left brain test with the turning dancer (yes, the one that pops up in advertisements all over the web!):

Do you see the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise?

So what does this all mean? Well, if you see the dancer turning clockwise, it is said that you tend to use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa. One side may be more dominant for you than the other. Some can see the dancer switch from side to side but in most cases, one side still leads the race.

Both the left and right brains have their strengths and weaknesses and so there is no right or wrong here. Both sides of the brain can reason, but by different strategies.

Dancer Rotating Anti-Clockwise:

Your left brain is likely more dominant and you may prefer a more “analytical” style of learning and performing.

Dancer Rotating Clockwise:

Your right brain is likely more dominant and you may prefer a more “global” style of learning and performing.

We all think and learn in different ways and as Barry Green states in his book “The Inner Game of Music”:

“The more we come to understand about these two approaches, the easier it will be for us to recognize where our music is out of balance and to draw on the appropriate mode, whether analytical or global, to handle the situation and arrive at a successful integration of both.”

How To Find Balance

Here are some suggestions given by M. Green (p. 186-187), which I have modified ever so slightly to be more “singer friendly”:

If you tend to favor the analytical approach (left brain), you can make a point of emphasizing the global side of yourself during your practice for a day, a week, or more. Here are some suggestions:

1. If you normally keep a journal or goal notebook for practicing, give your journal a break for this period.
2. When you have rehearsed a piece, respond only to your feelings, intuitions, and physical insights.
3. Let your practice time pass without monitoring a watch or clock. Forget about time, and practice until you feel you have accomplished enough for the day rather than until a given time period is up.
4. Do not use a metronome or any other time-beating device while practicing. Notice whether you learn as well this way as you do when you’re using a metronome.
5. Be creative with the song or music; set yourself positive experience goals for your practice period and give yourself room to play and enjoy.
6. Experiment with imagery to enhance your sense of the feeling and meaning of what you are playing. Practice letting go.
7. If you make mistakes while you’re practicing, simply continue with your singing without stopping to correct every last detail.
8. Allow yourself to follow the interests and explorations of the moment; don’t feel obliged to limit yourself to the goals you have set for yourself, but allow yourself to develop new musical goals as you go along.

If you tend to favor the global approach (right brain), you can make a point of emphasizing your analytical side during your practice for a day, a week, or more.

1. Set yourself specific goals, list them, and cross each item off your list when you’ve accomplished it.
2. Plan the order of your practice session, beginning with the simplest tasks and progressing to more complex ones.
3. Set yourself a specific time limit for accomplishing each goal.
4. Observe the proper rhythm, pitch, articulations, and dynamics.
5. Use a metronome and tape recorder to help you analyze your singing and control inaccuracies.
6. If you make a mistake, stop and correct your error before moving on.
7. Play in a logical and orderly manner, and be aware of how each measure fits into the complete structure of the piece.
8. Maintain a critical and analytical attitude to what goes on during your practice session, noticing the order and efficiency with which you do things.”

Do not be concerned with trying to get a perfect balance of both left and right brain functions. Having a dominant side is not a negative thing and these suggestions are simply to help observe which areas of your practice need to be reinforced.

Some singers are known and well respected for their strong technical abilities while others are loved for their strong emotional connection to the music. Some have 50% technical focus and 50% emotional focus at the same time. It is all very personal. The importance, is that you are indeed, using 100% of a relaxed focus during practices and performances. Just think of this exercise as personal challenge and just run with it; or just sing with it…

Tension often shows up in the singer’s instrument due to old habits, lack of understanding of the singing mechanism, fear, poor alignment in the body, and most often, because of a lack of self awareness and self observation.

This is exactly why one of the main objectives in the voice studio is to get my clients to become more aware of how their muscles are reacting to the commands of the mind.  One way is to pay attention to how the body feels when singing, and another is to actually observe the body while singing.

Sometimes, what we think we are doing, is not what we are actually doing.  This is why I have a full length mirror in my studio for students to monitor themselves from time to time, and see what I see while I teach and offer suggestions.

But my oh my, do they despise the mirror! I know it feels egotistic to pay so much attention to the mirror or worse, it can make us feel self conscious and uncomfortable.  This goes far back in our ways of judging ourselves in society, and I have yet to see a client that does not cringe when I ask them to look in the mirror.  Still , this is a challenge worth facing and it is an extremely helpful tool for all singers.

It is equally important to use the mirror as a reference during practices at home.  You do not want to become overly dependent on it, but the mirror will help to make sure we you are headed in the right direction.

Here are a few elements to observe when performing a mirror check while singing:

1) Posture alignment

• Are you standing comfortably tall? Are the knees flexible and soft?

2) Abdomen

• Are the lower abdominals relaxed during inhalation?

3) Shoulders and Chest

• Are the shoulders back and relaxed? Is the chest open and relaxed? Pay close attention especially during inhalation and towards the end of each phrase.

4) Neck, Jaw, Tongue and Lips

• Is the neck free to move, the jaw free to open, the tongue relaxed forward and free to pronounce with ease and the lips loose without exaggerated forward motion?

5) Facial Expressions

• Are the facial muscles energized yet relaxed? Are your able to pronounce the each word from the song effortlessly? Do your facial expressions go well with the song’s lyrics? Do they go well with the emotions of what you are singing?

Many other useful checkpoints can be found in the Singg.tv Singing Program.

I can’t possibly count the amount of times in my voice studio that I have suggested more relaxation in the jaw, shoulders, neck,… and the singers failed to make any adjustments until actually seeing themselves in the mirror. After they get past the weird feelings and shyness associated with looking at themselves in the mirror, there is a flash bulb moment response. The reaction is: “Oh! That’s what you meant!”.

Sometimes, seeing is believing.

Being a vocal coach for over 12 years has helped me realize how passionate I really am when it comes to learning about vocal performance and sharing my knowledge and experience with others, helping my clients attain their goals and objectives. It is always a great feeling to see my voice students leave my studio smiling with excitement at the discovery of their true voice which keeps expanding.

Wanting to continue to immerse myself more and more into the subject, I have read many books and articles over the past years. There are so many great readings to find – some with a more scientific approach to singing, others with a more creative approach, and some with both.

My latest reading has been one that I would like to share with my clients and with the singing community in general (singers and singing instructors alike):

“The Art of Singing” is a book about the psychology of performance and self-expression by Jennifer Hamady. A renowned coach and workshop facilitator, Jennifer explores how we all- musicians and non-musicians alike- allow fear, preconceived notions, poor learning habits, and unhealthy mindsets to get in the way of our musical and personal performance and potential.

What Fear Can Do: Manifestations in Singing
“What do these conscious and unconscious fears have to do with singing? Everything! Fear, by its very nature, is a call for self-protection and inhibition. As such, it ensures that the transition to the intuitive mode never fully occurs. The ability to be open, vulnerable, and brave; to take chances, explore, and play… fear prevents us from fully experiencing these things. Great singing requires a confidence that unmanaged fears will never allow, and no amount of technique – no matter how sound and solid – will be beneficial in combating tensions that exist because of fear and insecurity. Therefore, an integrated approach, one that addresses both the voice and the mind, is required for optimal vocal development.”

… and I couldn’t agree more.

The list looked something like this:

• Drink enough water throughout the day
• Pay close attention to the speaking voice as much as the singing voice
• Exercise regularly
• Eat a balanced diet
• Reduce consumption of dairy and products that dry out the throat (alcohol, coffee, soft drinks,…)
• Quit smoking
• Get enough rest
• Use healthy vocal technique
• Warm up before singing repertoire
• Practice every day
• …

Although all of these elements are important for the singer to consider, I felt that there was one far more important point that I had not mentioned, and so I decided to revisit my message to include a suggestion that could benefit all things related to singing and performance… and life in general!

You may already have a worthy new years resolutions in play right now and if so, I commend you for your initiative.

Sometimes, new years resolutions and the singers list of do’s and don’ts can seem quite daunting and intimidating.

If I were asked to choose just one resolution for singers, my answer would be:

Instead of starring at a never ending list of dos and don’ts, simply start noticing the words you choose before, during, and after singing sessions.

Are they positive or negative? Do they make you feel good or bad? What is your state of mind when you are about to sing?

In her book called “The Art of Singing” Jennifer Hamady addresses the role of NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming) in Singing.

“The words that we use to describe our voices, explain the way we sing, and approach learning have a tremendous influence on our physical methodology of sound production.”

Jennifer goes on to say that the body hears and believes the mind, and prepares to defend itself against an onslaught of potential negative results and imaginary judgement. Muscles tighten, breathing becomes affected, and the performance suffers.

Do you sometimes find yourself thinking or saying the following type of responses?:

• I’m not prepared.
• I’m not in good voice today.
• I am unable to sing this song well.
• What if I don’t sound good?
• What if I crack, or mess up?
• Will people like the way I sound?
• I’m going to make a fool of myself.
• I am so nervous.

The body hears and believes the mind and reacts accordingly.

Whether you think you can, or think you can’t. You’re right.

- Henry Ford

When you notice you are using this type of speech pattern and mindset, try replacing the negative internal or verbal responses with the following:

• My voice is powerful.
• My voice is beautiful.
• My voice and I have a great relationship.
• My voice works effortlessly and on command.
• My voice is comfortable and healthy.
• My voice is a gift that I want to share with others.
• All ranges are easy for me.
• All styles of singing are easy.

As Jennifer states in her book, “Habitually filling your speech with positive thoughts will affect not only your self-perception, but your life as well. … Positive language will instruct the body and mind to trust and relax, and the voice will at last have a fighting chance.” www.theartofsinging.com

In all of my years as a teacher/vocal coach and as an eternal student of the voice, this has been the most important lesson of all. I have witnessed the very powerful effect that positive thoughts and speech patterns have on the voice and on the singer in general.

Newly Revised Resolution:

Strive for a positive attitude and think good thoughts about my voice.

Yes indeed songbird, we are off to a great year.

This passage I read just last night before dozing off:

Expanding Your Understanding of Stress (p. 126-127)

Most Western music is based on a harmonic system of creating and resolving dissonance. Effectively, this means that the music gains much of its power from setting up musical tensions and stresses, and then resolving them. Mahler’s superb crafting of movements full of chaos, warlike sonorities, and dramatic dissonance is essential to build the tension that he ultimately resolves in his serene and harmonious endings. This creation and resolution of tension is what brings the performer and listener a real feeling of beauty and satisfaction in the music.

It’s not as though music is alone in this, either. A gripping movie, play, or novel is one that builds tension and suspense – and then releases it. This is one of those places where the arts can teach us about life, for life, too, contains its times of discord and tension, and its moments of relaxation and repose.

When we realize that what at first looks like a stressful or negative experience can be understood as a “dissonance” that can lead to resolution, we can begin to accept the stressful moments and flow with them instead of resisting them. The times that we look back on with the greatest pleasure are often those when we experienced a full measure of obstacles and stresses and were able to bring them to a harmonious resolution. Our goal is to be able to “experience our experience” fully, without classifying it as either bad or good.

Solving a musical problem means facing the problem and finding a resolution to it. It’s another example of the way in which seeming dissonance leads to harmony and growth. As psychiatrist M. Scott Peck observed in his book The Road Less Travelled, “It is in this whole process of meeting and solving problems that life has its meaning… Problems call for the our courage and our wisdom; indeed they create our courage and our wisdom. It is only because of problems that we grow… It is for this reason that wise people learn not to dread but actually welcome problems.”

Here again, the secret is to value all your feelings ad all your experiences – the down times along with the up, the rough with the smooth. It’s your life that’s made up of all those moments, and the more you allow yourself to actually feel and experience, the more alive you’ll be. And that sense of aliveness will translate directly in to lively, deeply felt music.

Coincidently, yesterday I woke up to find an article in the Voice Council Magazine which happens to feature another singer who also sings in the same show.

I thought the article, which talks about what it is like to work for such a unique company such as Cirque, would be of interest to all of you songbirds:

Read “A day in the life of a singer at Cirque”

While many still believe that great talents such as Beethoven or Mozart were born with a gift and simply “woke up” with exceptional abilities, the truth is that these 2 examples, along with most successful individuals, worked very hard at perfecting their craft and developing their talent. It has been said that Beethoven would sometimes run through as many as sixty or seventy different drafts of a phrase before settling on the final one!

The same goes for any other field of study. Ted Williams, for example, did not show any signs of exceptional talent on the field before he decided to make his whole life about baseball.

There is an old saying that still applies: Practice makes perfect.

What do the worlds’ best violinists, composers, writers, surgeons, The Beatles, and Bill Gates have in common (ok, aside from possible fame and fortune)? They have all used the “10,000 hour rule to success.” These are people who have spent hours practicing, starting from a young age, and by the time they hit their early twenties, they have accumulated an incredible amount of practice hours, more than others ever come even close to.

That said, there are different degrees of practice and so essentially, the focus should go towards developing the most productive attitudes and identifying magnificent external resources.

So what steps can we take to instill positive and productive attitudes in our children?

In his book called “The Genius in All of Us”, David Shenk reminds parents that although they do not have complete control and should not blame themselves when things to do not turn out well for their children, parenting does matter.

Shenk goes on to name 4 key guideposts to excellence when it comes to impacting the goals, strategies, and personal philosophies of their children:

1. BELIEVE

“It begins with a simple faith that each child has enormous potential and that it is up to us to muster whatever resources we can to exploit that potential. Rather than wonder if their child is among the “gifted” chosen few, parents should believe deeply in the extraordinary potential of their children.”

2. SUPPORT, DON’T SMOTHER

“Early exposure to resources is wonderful, as is setting high expectations and demonstrating persistence and resilience when it comes to life challenges. But a parent must not use affection as a reward for success or a punishment for failure. The parent must show faith in the child’s ability to seek achievement for his or her own inner satisfaction.”

3. PACE AND PERSIST

“The key is intermittent reinforcement,” says Robert Cloninger, a Washington University Biologist. “A person who grows up getting too frequent rewards will not have persistence, because they’ll quit when the rewards disappear”.

4. EMBRACE FAILURE

“In the sometimes counter-intuitive world of success and achievement, weaknesses are opportunities; failures are wide-open doors. The only true failure is to give up or sell your children short”.

Remember the marshmallow study originated by Stanford psychologist Walter Mischel with the group of four-year-olds?

Now here’s an update:

Quite surprising so find out that so many young children have the self-discipline to wait for the larger reward don’t you think? The interesting part is how delayed gratification is a practice that can affect the child later in life and in so many positive ways.

“It’s the kids job to push against the limits, it’s our job as parents to set the limit” says Dr David Walsh, parenting expert and author.

“Parents are not supposed to make things easier for kids. Instead, they are supposed to present, monitor, and modulate challenges. The great success stories in our world come about when parents and their children learn to turn straight into the wind and gain satisfaction from marching against its ever-increasing force. “Set high expectations, but also show compassion, creativity, and patience.”

David Shenk also writes “intelligence is not fixed but waiting to be developed. Our brains and bodies are primed for plasticity; they were built for challenge and adaptation. Musical ability lies dormant in all of us, calling for early and sustained incantation. It is important to engage this process early on.”

So many factors can influence a child and although parenting is far from the only thing, there is no question that the role of the parent is a great one and as a parent, you also act as a role model for your children.

Here are some guiding principles given by Shenks to help you on your journey to your own greatness.

• FIND YOUR MOTIVATION
• BE YOUR OWN TOUGHEST CRITIC
• BEWARE OF THE DARK SIDE (BITTERNESS AND BLAME)
• IDENTIFY YOUR LIMITATIONS – AND THEN IGNORE THEM
• DELAY GRATIFICATION AND RESIST CONTENTEDNESS
• HAVE HEROES
• FIND A MENTOR

Of course, there is also the 10,000-hour rule to achieve success. Read the article here.

And so, if you were thinking that you had to be born with talent in order to sing well, think again.

It is always optimal to start at a young age, but it is NEVER too late to take on what you owe to yourself.

Now get back to practice songbirds!

Why all the myths?

Well, the old schools of singing relied mostly on sensory identification and then made up visual imagery to teach young students how to sing. Many myths date back to the mid 1800s and still linger on today, as they have been transmitted form teacher to student throughout many generations of singers.

However, just as in many other fields, science has sharpened its tools to find out more about what is actually happening in the singing instrument when we sing. Slowly, the process of busting of all those lingering myths continues.

In the last 2 postings, I have focused on some breathings myths that are all too common, but there are so many others that are out there.

Here are a few other myths I have come across during the last 12 years of teaching and researching:

• “If you learn the classical approach, you will be able to sing anything.”
• “If you practice lip rolls and tongue trills, you will sing great”
• “If you sing off key, you must be toned deaf.”
• “Great singing is all about breath support.”
• “If you swallow something oily (like greasy potato chips), hot tea, lemon, apple cider vinegar, honey,… it will help you sing better, especially when your throat is sore.”
• “A good singer never sings from the throat.”
• “If you place half a cork between your molars, as in the “dumb jaw” approach, you will get a nice opened throat.”
• “If you squeeze your butt muscles, you will get those high notes.”
• “If you imagine you have an orange in your throat when you sing, it will stay nice and open.”
• “If you sing constantly, you will become a great vocalist.”
• “It is ok if you voice hurts or feels tired, it means you are training your muscles.”
• … and the list goes on!

Now I will surely be criticized for this one as many of today’s voice schools have based themselves on it, but no, singing is NOT like speaking!

As said by renowned instructor, performer and author, the late Richard Miller in his book “The Art of Singing”, “The position of the abdominal wall remains in the inspiratory gesture for a longer period of time than is the case in normal speech patterns. This is the basis of the “Appoggio” technique of breath management.

There is a set up that requires a great amount of coordination in singing and although the goal can be to get a certain tone that is vey close to that of the speaking voice, especially for many contemporary styles of singing, the two are not exactly the same. So voice teachers may ask their students to keep certain elements of speech in singing, but the two are not completely the same.

We are now in the age of information. Vocal teachers and coaches have the responsibility to find out what is really takes place within the vocal instrument as their students rely on this information. It can be a difficult task to keep up to date, I know, but that is not a reason to give out faulty information and potentially damage a singer’s voice.

As a singer or student of the voice, you also have this responsibility towards your own vocal instrument. If you take the study of singing seriously, then find out all you can about it and surround yourself with the positive support and knowledge you need to take your singing to the next level.

… and have fun while your at it!