Saying Yes Or No To Practice

This blog post is an excerpt of my most recent post in the Vocal Edu series for Vocal Blog.

Here I share some thoughts on how to make sure you get the most out of your practice session by becoming clear about your intentions and what it is that you want: practice or make music? Satisfy your inner ‘technician’ or your inner ‘singer/artist’?

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

Vary practice sessions with making music

This is how I like to think about it: singers have a split personality of some sorts!

There is a singer or an ‘artist’ in us, that wants to sing and make music because we have something to express, because it makes us feel good, because we love music, and so on. There is also another part in us – let’s call it the ‘technician’. The technician wants to practice, learn new skills and develop. It is focused on details like technique, sound, timing, intonation, and so on. These two parts need to co-exist, but they cannot be equally present all the time. Can you identify yourself in the “split personality description” of inner artist versus inner technician?

We need to make sure to satisfy the needs of both the inner ‘artist’ and the inner ‘technician’. This is why I find it important to vary practice sessions with making music.

Do you want to practice or make music?

A common reason for ineffective practice, next to not having clear enough goals, is mixing the desire to practice with the desire to make music.

It might help to make a deal with yourself, and choose to say either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to practice. Being focused when you practice means saying ‘yes’ to practice, and telling the ‘singer inside ourselves’ that it needs to step aside and allow the ‘technician’ to operate for a while.

On the other hand, give yourself permission to sometimes say a clear ‘no’ to practice. Saying ‘no’ to practice means you allow yourself to sing and make music without focusing on technique or other details. It means singing songs because you feel like singing, singing for the sake of expression. Saying ‘no’ to practice means telling the ‘technician’ inside ourselves that it has to step to the side for a while.

Yes? No? …Maybe??

Also, be aware that you sometimes might actually be saying ‘maybe’ to practice. It might happen more often than you think. ‘Maybe’ is when you are not quite clear about our intentions. It is an in-between state where a part of you ‘just wants to sing’, and a part of you wants to practice. ‘Maybe’ results in an unhappy singer, an unhappy ‘technician’, and ineffective practice.

So satisfy your inner ‘technician’ with focused practice, and make your inner singer happy by making music and regularly singing your heart out!

A Week of Many Shoes

In my very first blog post I was writing about the many shoes I wear and the boxes I have tried to fit myself in. The past week has been a week of changing shoes frequently indeed!

Performing

Esther and I gave a performance with Tom Waits in a New Coat of Paint in the cozy Schiller Theater Place Royale in Utrecht,  surprised the winner of our name competition, and have a (first version of a) website online: www.marymary.nl

Teaching

I have been keeping nicely busy on the teaching front too. I enjoy the variety of singers I meet through my work, and have the opportunity to coach some fantastic people – singer-songwriters, singing teachers, some singers preparing for auditions for the conservatory and for musicals. Though most of my lessons are taught in my studio outside of Rotterdam, an increasing amount of singers from different corners of the world – from Berlin to Singapore – are having lessons online through Skype.

Meeting up with colleagues

As the secretary of CVT Docenten NL, the Dutch Authorised CVT Teachers association, I was busy making preparations for the meeting we had last weekend. Future plans and study days with professional development possibilities for our members were presented, and we celebrated the 2-year anniversary of the association with some sparkling wine. It is always nice to catch up with colleagues. I am also very much looking forward to the next Authorised CVT Teacher update seminar at Complete Vocal Institute in Copenhagen in September! During the update seminars we hear all about the latest research by Cathrine Sadolin and get the chance to catch up with our international colleagues.

Buitenkunst

Today I am getting ready for a new season at Buitenkunst (‘Outdoor Arts’). This summer I will teach some workshops in singing technique, solo and ensemble singing, and work with a variety of music styles from Scandinavian folk music to Brazilian music and songs of contemporary singer-songwriters. At the end of July I teach a special singing workshop week where we will explore the universal themes of melancholy and home-sickness in different music styles, work on sound, expression and interpretation.

Off to pack my bags! I will spend my weekend singing, teaching and enjoying a variety of performances at Buitenkunst Randmeer. How will you spend yours?

Ongoing Learning

This weekend, a tweet by Gerald Marko at The Voice Gym in Australia caught my eye:

He who dares to teach must never cease to learn.

- Unknown source

Wise words, and thank you for sharing them on Twitter, Gerald! Reading them made me think a bit closely about what ‘ongoing learning’ means.

Teachers and coaches are students too. Just because someone has a degree in singing and a teaching certificate, is certified in a certain method, has been teaching for an X amount of years, has an impressive singing career, or is teaching at a prestigious school, does not mean they are done with learning.

Why is ongoing learning important?

The obvious answer that comes to my mind is: because science, research and pedagogy keep evolving – and so does the industry. In order for teaching to make any sense, teachers and coaches need to keep up to date with the major issues and trends in the industry and field in which they are specialized. But there is more to learning than just staying up to date.

Learning does not only deepen our knowledge and give us an opportunity to develop our skills, it also gives us a possibility to reflect on our own pedagogy and teaching philosophy.

Perhaps we will get confirmation on things we find important. Perhaps we will discover a new angle for approaching a certain teaching challenge. It might be that we learn a new way to explain something. It does not mean the ‘new’ things have to replace everything we did until now, neither does discovering new things automatically mean we were ‘wrong’ before.

Perhaps we will encounter theories, approaches and thoughts that we disagree with. That gives us again the opportunity to reflect on our own teaching, and why we approach certain things in a certain way. Ongoing reflection is needed in order to form our own teaching philosophies.

Ongoing learning helps us understand our strengths and weaknesses. Professional strengths and weaknesses, including knowledge and mastery of subject that is being taught, pedagogical skills, ability to adapt in teaching situations (for example one-on-one versus teaching groups), and so on. But also personal strengths and weaknesses, including listening, thinking and communication skills, empathic skills, and awareness of how our own beliefs, attitudes, and acts affect others. Because in teaching, our personal skills count as much as our professional skills.

Image: jannoon028 | FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How do we keep learning?

• By reading, attending workshops, and studying. Ongoing learning requires being interested in new ideas and approaches, and staying in dialogue with teachers of other methods and techniques than the one we teach.
• By staying in dialogue with other singing teachers, and with other teachers and coaches in general. A singing teacher can, for example, learn a great deal about performance from a teacher in another field of music or performing arts. But we can also learn a great deal about the creative process from other creative artists, about pedagogy from teachers and educators in completely different fields, or about communication from for example an NLP coach.
• By seeking feedback from our clients, students, colleagues and mentors. This includes feedback and evaluation on our work and services, supervision and intervision.
• By doing, reflecting, adjusting, and doing again. Every teaching situation is a new learning situation.

I will wrap up my thoughts for today by returning to Gerald and his tweets. For me, communicating with other teachers, coaches and singers (on Twitter and outside of it) is one way of learning. Gerald’s tweet about ongoing learning released a whole trail of thoughts in me. Now, I am curious to hear what kind of thoughts you have on ongoing learning, and what kind of additions you have to my trail of thoughts!

A Little Weekend Update

Weekend is here with lots of nice things to look forward to. Tomorrow, as a start in my resolution to continue developing myself, I will participate in a workshop on Alexander Technique and Voice with Geórgia Dias in Amsterdam.

I recently became a guest-blogger for Vocal Blog, an international website / network for vocal and acappella music. I will contribute with a bi-weekly post in the Vocal Edu Series. In my posts, I will partly be sharing tips and information on vocal technique and vocal health, and partly write about other topics related to vocal education. Check out my introductory blog post for Vocal Blog here.

 

There are exciting things happening with Tom Waits in a New Coat of Paint as well. Yesterday we worked on the theatrical aspects of our show with choreographer Jaakko Toivonen. Jaakko’s advise was very helpful. I can warmly recommend Jaakko to every singer or band who wants to work on their stage performance or choreo! If you are curious to see parts of our show, you are welcome to join us in the Schiller Theater Place Royale in Utrecht next week Thursday 10th of May.

Have a nice weekend!

Living Room / House Concerts

Last Thursday Esther and I played another living room concert with our project ‘Tom Waits in a New Coat of Paint’. The concert was an initiative by people who were in the audience of one of our previous living room concerts, and got inspired to host a concert themselves. This is exactly what we are hoping for the house concerts – to get the ball rolling from one living room to the other. So…who wants to host the next concert?

What is ‘Tom Waits in a New Coat of Paint’?

Two female singers with a shared love for the songs and stories of American songwriter icon Tom Waits, that was the starting point for this project. We set out to explore the songs in our own way, and this resulted in beautiful and surprising arrangements  for two voices, piano, and small instruments including cavaquinho, accordion, glockenspiel, kazoo, and music boxes. A music performance with theatrical influences, that will take you through a big range of emotions. At times small, fragile and romantic, at other times humorous and absurd – or in the words of someone who saw the show: “like the Andrews Sisters on drugs”. For an impression of the program and a living-room concert, you can watch the video compilation below.

What is a living room / house concert?

House concerts have long traditions. Generations of musicians have played concerts in people’s homes, living rooms, and back yards. A house concert is a chance for you to hear our new program ‘Tom Waits in a New Coats of Paint’ in an intimate, listener friendly environment. Also, your guests get to experience a memorable and unique concert in your home – and perhaps enjoy some food and drinks after the concert.

What is expected from a host?

As a concert host, you open up your home and invite friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors to share in our performance of 45-60 minutes. If you happen to have a piano or grand piano in your living room, we would of course love to use it for our performance. In this case, the piano has to be recently tuned (a couple of days before the performance). If you don’t have a piano in your home, we can bring an electric piano and a small amplifier.

How many people should I invite?

You will be surprised how many people can be seated comfortably in a living room. We have played living room concerts for audiences between 20 and 60 people. With some creative re-arranging of furniture and some extra (garden) chairs or benches, you can create space for people to sit in a concert-style setting. Some people even put big pillows on the floor for extra sitting space.

Should I provide refreshments or food?

Most living room concert hosts provide coffee and tea, soft drinks or wine. It’s completely up to you as a host how little or how much you want to do. Some people enjoy the combination of a living room concert with dinner, others serve some simple salty snacks to go with the drinks. You can also invite your guests to bring food or drinks to share.

How do I schedule a house concert?

Have more questions? Interested in hosting a living room concert? Please contact us for more information and available dates. We will talk through all the details you need to know. Thank you for your support!

Book Wish-List: Want to Help Me With My Research Project?

Dear readers,

I have exciting news and a request for help. I am about to embark on a research project, and have just recently started collecting materials and putting together a list of wanna-read books. Before I go ahead and start ordering all the titles on my wanna-read list, I thought I would share my list with you. Because who knows, perhaps you happen to have a copy of one of these books gathering dust in your book shelve –  to sell, lend, give away, or trade? Or perhaps you know someone who does? You never know. Like the Dutch saying goes, “Nee heb je, ja kun je krijgen” (translates literally into: “You have a ‘no’ and can get a ‘yes’).

• The Singer’s Voice (Michael S. Benninger and Thomas Murry)
• Vocal Health and Pedagogy – vol. 1 & 2 (Robert Sataloff)
• The Disciplines of Vocal Pedagogy: Towards an Holistic Approach (Karen Sell)
• The Human Nature of the Singing Voice: Exploring a Sound Basis for Sound Teaching and Learning (Peter T. Harrison)
• Bodymind and Voice – Foundations of Voice Education (Leon Thurman, Graham Welch)
• The Inner Game of Music (Barry Green and W. Timothy Gallwey)
• Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice (Matthew Syed)
• What Every Singer Needs to Know About the Body (Melissa Malde, MaryJean Allen, Kurt-Alexander Zeller)
• The Diagnosis and Correction of Vocal Faults (James C. McKinney)
• Great Singers on Great Singing (Jerome Hines)
• Freeing the Natural Voice: Imagery and Art in the Practice of Voice and Language (Kristin Linklater)

Please contact me if you happen to have a used copy to sell or lend, or would like to donate me a book for my research project. We can even see if a trade of some sorts is possible.

 

I have a lot of reading, studying, interviewing, and writing ahead of me, so every little act of help and kindness will be appreciated! Feel free to share my book wish-list with anyone you think might be able to help me.

 

I will tell you more about my project very soon. Right now I feel excited, inspired, curious, and filled with questions, thought and ideas. I look forward to locking myself up in a room with all the books, reading and studying the subjects that interest me.

 

Thank you for your help and for stopping by my blog!

Image: Surachai | FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Creating Space

If I were to give the past months a theme, that would be ‘work and career’. January through March were extremely busy months with teaching, workshops, and performing. It was all nice, but my busy work schedule was paired with ‘fierce career planning’ and thinking ‘what should be my next step(s)’? And by the end of March I could literally feel how drained I was from energy.

Then, I came down with a terrible flu that lasted for weeks. And not only my body was tired. I noticed that I was starting to get stress symptoms, like waking up in the middle of the night thinking I forgot something. It was time to stop and create some space. Around the same time I happened to read Nancy Harder’s blog post ‘When You Need Space‘. A beautiful reminder of sometimes stopping and letting go.

Image: Graur Codrin | Freedigitalphotos.net

I started creating space in my daily life. Turning off my mobile phone. Sitting down on the sofa with a big cup of tea. Deciding, this is enough for today. I spent a long weekend in Spain with friends. Creating space was good for me. Some new insights popped up. I felt, right now, I was up for another theme for the upcoming 4 months. I decided to focus on the following things:

• Self-development: taking new classes, attending workshops, reading books, and studying

• Creativity: writing, singing and developing my own music projects

It doesn’t mean I will stop with working. It’s just a shift of focus. Knowing that I take care of myself and honoring my own needs of self-development and creativity, makes me feel balanced when it comes to teaching. It means I am not just taking out water from my well, but I make sure I keep filling it too.

And what about the ‘fierce career planning’? The funny thing is, the moment I decided not to think about what my next step or decision should be, I started feeling what the next step(s) should be. I was also reminded of these simple words of wisdom:

Right now is all we have

 

Sometimes I have the tendency to live in the future, obsess about my decisions, wondering what’s the right choice to make. A or B?  I realized the right choice is the one that feels good right now. I might sound like I have become enlightened. I’m not. I’m just writing this now so that I can remind myself of it later!

So what kind of actions will the ‘shift of focus’ lead to? First up, in the area of self-development is an Alexander Technique workshop in Amsterdam with Géorgia Dias from Voice and Alexander Technique. Wanna join me?

I have also scheduled myself a writing and singing retreat away from home in June. A week of no daily disturbances, just working on my own projects and being out in the nature!

How are you creating space?

What are you doing to develop yourself?

Become A Confident Singer By Working On Your Listening Skills

Why is it often easier for us to say what we don’t like about our (singing) voice, than saying what we do like about it? Why is it easier for some to accept negative feedback than to genuinely take in positive feedback?

Some time back, I decided to ask all the singers I worked with what they like (or think is beautiful) about their voice. Most of them could not answer the question. Instead, they started laughing or blushing and became all uncomfortable even thinking about the possibility that they could think or say something positive about their own voice. They said they had never even thought about it.

I used to be like that. I did not even think there existed such a possibility as me having my own positive opinion about my own voice. That would have felt arrogant. I allowed other people to have an opinion about my voice, be it negative or positive. But not myself…unless it was a negative opinion.

Suffering From Selective Hearing

I find a positive learning environment extremely important, but I also do believe the teacher is not the only one responsible. The singer is responsible too, for their own reactions, thoughts – and for their hearing!

I used to think I was being ‘realistic’ if I thought negative things about my singing. But boy was it confronting to find out I was actually a negative listener!  I realized I suffered from selective hearing, meaning I had a difficulty hearing the positive things being said to me because my mind decided to only listen for negative things.

I found out I was paying lip service to ‘accepting positive feedback’, while actually constantly fishing for negative remarks. If there were no negative remarks, I’d ASK for one (“for the sake of getting it even better” of “for the sake of my development”). Can you believe it?! That’s like asking someone to slap you in the face, just because you have heard it ‘helps build character’!

If you are suffering from selective hearing, like I did, it can be a hard habit to break. It will require some serious training, and thought-stopping. But it is possible. Do yourself a favor and stop slapping yourself in the face. You deserve so much better.

Image: photostock | FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Becoming a Positive Listener

In their book ‘Power Performance for Singers: Transcending the Barriers’ Shirlee Emmons and Alma Thomas write about the importance of becoming a positive listener.

Very often, because of the nature of their training, singers may have an inclination to hear only the negative things that are spoken to them. The ability to hear the positive things that are being said is an important skill to learn.

Does “Inclination to hear only the negative things” sound familiar to you? Here are some tips for developing positive listening skills (Emmons & Thomas 1998, p. 105):

• Listen for the positive things that are said to you. No matter how small they seem, they are important to you.

• Set yourself this goal before you go to your lesson or coaching: to listen for and hear the positive things that are said to you

• Try to practice this skill in all areas of your life […] so that you become accustomed to what it feels like.

• Always acknowledge any compliments that are paid to you, no matter how small or who has said them. Get used to saying, “Thank you,” without feeling embarrassed. […] Do not fall into the trap of saying, “Thank you, but my —- wasn’t very good today.” Take the positive compliment for what it is worth and feel good.

Giving An A

Recently I started re-reading ‘The Art Of Possibility‘ by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander. It is one of those books I would recommend everyone to read: teachers and students, bosses and employees, leaders and members of an organization, choir conductors and singers, band leaders and musicians…

Rather than living in a world of measurement, where we know things by comparing and contrasting them, the Zanders invite us to step into a “universe of possibility”. The book presents twelve practices that will shift our view of life, and open up new possibilities and opportunities where we thought there were none.

Image: Photography by BJWOK | FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The challenge of ‘giving an A’

One of the practices in the book, and the one I would like to challenge you to try out this coming week (or month), is the practice of ‘Giving an A’.

When you give an A, you find yourself speaking to people not from a place of measuring how they stack up against your standards, but from a place of respect that gives them room to realize themselves. Your eye is on the statue within the roughness of the uncut stone. This A is not an expectation to live up to, but a possibility to live into.

In essence, the practice of ‘Giving an A’ means the following: when we assume that people will do well, and teach them how they can do this, they will. The Zanders remind us that practicing “giving an A” will not only transform the person receiving the figurative or literal A, it will transform the person giving the A as well.

Possibilities to live into. Reading these words made me think about how much faster people learn in a positive learning environment. And about how important it is to ‘reset’ and have a ‘clean slate’ every time we go into a teaching situation, and not to bring in any expectations or judgements based on previous experiences or on what we have read or heard about someone.

To whom could you give an A today?

 

Six Reasons Singers Should Know How Their Instrument Works

Why is (basic) understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the voice important for singers?

1.If you know how the voice works, you can work with it instead of against it.

This will speed up your learning process. The voice responds directly to what you do. If an exercise is done the right way, you will notice the effect of it immediately and you can be sure you are on the right track.

2. It makes it easier for you to understand singing technique.

This will help you become faster at recognizing and solving vocal issues and problems, like reaching high or low notes, solving unintentional vocal breaks, wobbly notes, not enough air, vocal strain, and so on.

Some singers and teachers are afraid of ‘thinking too much’ about what is happening in the body during singing. Sometimes singers looking for solutions to their vocal issues are given advise like “just let the voice do what it naturally wants to do”.

But just like we cannot learn to play the piano, flute, or any other musical instrument by “letting the instrument do what it naturally wants to do”, we cannot learn to sing just by “letting the voice do what it naturally wants to do”. And we definitely cannot solve vocal issues without looking into the functions of the instrument, our voice.

3. It will help you understand what singing in tune is and what to do about pitch problems.

When talking about singing skills, many people focus firstly on singing in tune. Unfortunately, still today a lot of singers with pitch problems are told that there is something wrong with their ears. Others are being told they are tone-deaf and should better just shut up.

Singing in tune is a coordination between hearing the pitch and being able to reproduce it. Being able to produce the right pitch has often more to do with singing technique than it has to do with our ears. If you know how the voice works, you can actually do something about not singing in tune.

Image from Wikimedia Commons

4. It ensures us that what we do is healthy.

Singing should always feel comfortable. If it itches, scratches or hurts, this is a sign you are doing something wrong.

All sounds can be produced in a healthy way. Even sounds that sound loud, sharp, metallic, rough or ‘unhealthy’. But only teachers with extensive knowledge of the voice can teach you how to produce these sounds in a healthy manner.

5. It helps you separate fact from fiction. 

Singers are bombarded with (well-meant) vague advice like “sing from your diaphragm”, “sing in the mask”, and so on. It does not mean all the advice is bad. Sometimes pictures and mental images can be wonderful tools for learning. However, some of the advice given to singers is plain fiction, and there exist a lot of myths and misconceptions about the voice.

Understanding how the voice works and how different sounds are produced in the body helps you distinguish between good, well-intended but vaguely presented, and plain bad advice.

6. It protects you from people in the industry who do not have (sufficient) knowledge of the voice.

Just because somebody is a teacher, coach, producer, or has worked with famous people, it does not automatically make them experts on the voice. These people might be good teachers and have some good advise and tools to share with you, but it does not mean they have sufficient knowledge or are updated in the latest developments in voice research and vocal pedagogy.

Research is constantly developing and we keep learning new things about how the voice works. Be aware that even some coaches and teachers can be lazy and look for the easy way out, or for quick solutions to success. Other teachers think that they know everything they should know, and are unwilling to learn about new developments. Make sure you check the backgrounds of your teachers to find how they have trained, what kind of teaching experience they have, and find out what kind of work they are doing to improve themselves and stay updated on the latest research and pedagogy.

Also be aware that lot of products are sold based on pseudo science or wrong information about the voice. Always make sure there has been research done to back up whatever  method you might be interested in learning more about. And remember that famous people being associated with a method does not equal research.