Choosing a Vocal Method

Yesterday I gave two workshops  for the singing students of the Jazz & Pop department at ArtEZ Conservatory. The workshop was an introduction to the techniques in CVT (Complete Vocal Technique), I gave a presentation about the philosophy behind CVT, an overview of the techniques, and worked with a couple of singers individually in a masterclass. I enjoyed working with the students a lot. They were eager to try out different sounds and techniques, and asked me a lot of good questions. One of the questions that I got yesterday inspired me to write this blog post.

What made you choose to study Complete Vocal Technique instead of some other vocal method?

What a great question. Before I go ahead and answer, here is an important thing we talked about with the students yesterday:

Techniques and methods are not important, singing is!

Let’s not forget that singing technique is not a goal in itself. What is important in singing? Vocal performance is. Vocal performance is dependent on the message we deliver and the expression we use to deliver our message. Without a message and without expression, there is no vocal performance (at least no performance worth while listening to!). Tools that help us deliver our message include: interpretation, sound, rhythm, melody, and text. Vocal technique is merely a tool that helps us create the sound we want, to sing the melodies we want (or need) to sing with more ease, and so on. Vocal technique also exists to helps us keep healthy while doing this. Whenever we talk about vocal technique, it’s good to remember what its role is in the big picture.

So why all this need for vocal methods?  Why do I have to know about CVT of EVTS or [singing method name here] in order to sing? I have news for you: you don’t have to!! If you want to sing, just go ahead and sing! You only need vocal technique if you are not able to sing the way you want to. Or if the way you sing brings you trouble and hoarseness and strain. Those are the only reasons you need technique. If you can produce all the sounds you want, reach all the notes you want, and you never get hoarse, you don’t have to study singing technique. You are DISMISSED!!

Different people, different approaches

Luckily there are (and have been) pedagogues and researchers who are passionate about the voice and want to find out how it works, in order to help singers solve problems that they encounter. This is a good thing. The reason there are different methods is that different researchers have been focusing on different aspects of the voice, and different pedagogues have had different philosophies about the voice and vocal pedagogy. And how great is that, because that way you can choose the approach that suits you and your personality the best. Every method also keeps developing, because research is ongoing and because teachers are all individuals that come from different backgrounds. This also means, not every teacher of a certain vocal method will be exactly the same.

Every singer and teacher has a path

After my MMus degree I still had lots of unanswered questions about the voice. I decided to go look for more answers. I found an approach that provided me with answers, helped me develop my voice further, suited my personality and style of learning, with a pedagogy and philosophy that I liked. That approach happened to be Complete Vocal Technique. It is not called ‘Complete’ because of some ‘we know it all’-thought, by the way, but because it contains techniques for every style of singing and also for the speaking voice. I learned so much more than just technique in the 3-year CVT singer/teacher course. But CVT is just one part of the ‘package’ that creates the teacher-me. Yes, I am an Authorized CVT Teacher, but I am most of all a vocal pedagogue. I have other things in my ‘teaching backpack’ too, like belcanto, Estill Voice Training, music teacher training, music education approaches like Orff-Schulwerk, Kodàly and Dalcroze eurhythmics, the various music styles I have studied, my own experience as a singer/musician, aspects I have learned through creativity coaching and career coaching, from body-work, theater, etc, etc… And I keep adding new knowledge and experience to this package, by working in music, staying updated on vocal pedagogy and research, communicating with teachers of other methods, working with logopedists, ENT doctors, producers, choir directors, and countless singers. I don’t really see being certified in a specific method as the only defining factor in how I teach singing. It’s just one of the things that crossed my own teaching path.

Choosing a vocal method

What method should you choose then? The answer is very simple: choose what works for you. Ask questions until you get answers that you are satisfied with, and find solutions to your vocal problems. If something doesn’t work for you move on and find something that does! If you feel you want to pick and mix from different methods, go ahead and do that. And don’t waste your energy on trying to figure out (or prove) why one method is better than the other one, focus your energy on more important things such as singing!

This goes for singing teachers too. Focus on helping singers, teaching, sharing your knowledge and building bridges. Spend less time criticizing, comparing, trying to prove who is right and who is wrong, who was there first and who wasn’t. That’s waste of energy. Focus on dialogue. Share your experiences with your colleagues, communicate with teachers of other methods than the one you teach. We don’t have to agree on every detail or all the terminology. The world would be a boring place if everyone would think the same way and speak the same language. What we can agree on is that we all just want what is best for the singer. Remember that every teacher has a path, and we all share a passion for the voice and a passion for teaching. Try and share those things, instead of focusing on method names and differences. Open doors instead of closing them because of fear of the unknown or fear of competition. There is room for all of us, and we can all learn so much from each other.

Writing For Focus & Clarity

I am just back from Helsinki where I had a gig together with lovely Maija Ruuskanen, singing some songs that she has composed.

Maija is currently composing the music for the new stage production of Eduard Uspensky’s ‘Fedja Setä, kissa ja koira’ (Uncle Fedya, His Dog and His Cat) at the Finnish National Theatre (Suomen Kansallisteatteri). She also has a new album out with her compositions: Samassa Unessa.

Helsinki was fun and freezing cold, with temperatures between -20 and -26 degrees Celsius!! Too cold even for a Finnish person… Here’s how you have to dress when you go outside:

Flights are excellent opportunities for reading and reflecting. When in an airplane, you’ll most often find me either with my nose stuck in a book, writing in my journal, or just gazing out in deep thoughts.

So I mentioned my journal. Here’s a thing I like to do during flights: free writing – also called stream of consciousness writing. This is a writing exercise, in which you write continuously for a set period of time without paying any attention to grammar, spelling, or even the topic. Julia Cameron presents a free-writing exercise as one of the basic tools in her book The Artist’s Way. She calls it the “Morning Pages”, 3 pages of stream of consciousness writing.

I like to think of it as a writing meditation where I connect to the voice inside of me. A lot of insights pop up. Worries pass by on the pages. Fears show their ugly heads, and once they are out in the open (on the pages of my journal), it’s easier to look at them than when they are hidden somewhere in the corners of my mind. Writing helps to detect self-critique and nasty internal self-talk, and gives me the opportunity to turn these negative blurts with positive affirmations. Questions pop up and answers are found. New directions are pointed out. Focus and clarity is found.

Sometimes I read what I wrote, sometimes I just turn the page and never look back. Sometimes I find myself having written a line or two that I might end up using in a song. Sometimes I start writing by asking a question, or guidance for a decision I need to make, and I find the answers unfolding on the pages.

Whether you do it first thing in the morning, or during flights and train rides, I recommend you give free writing a try sometimes.

You can use this tool to clear your head and get focused about your goals or about the next steps in a specific project. You can also use it as an exercise for songwriting.

And remember: there is no wrong way to do it!

 

 

 

A Little Project Update

Esther and I are getting more requests to perform our program ‘Tom Waits in a New Coat of Paint’. We have had enthusiastic reactions from people who saw our concerts during Cult Royale. People have enjoyed our show and the songs and stories of Tom Waits. They are telling us it makes them laugh, cry, and touches them deep in their hearts. That is so nice to hear. Because that’s what Tom Waits’ music is doing to us as well. That’s the reason to this whole project. And that’s what music is about: stories and emotions.

Here are some of the reactions and messages we have received:

We hebben genoten van jullie optreden en van veel anderen heb ik hetzelfde gehoord. Ik zou het dolgraag nog eens horen en aan anderen laten horen en laten zien.

Jullie zang raakt me en neemt me mee naar waar ik zelf naartoe wil! Fantastisch! Ik heb genoten. 

Dank je wel. Geraakt in mijn hart door jullie stemmen. 

Wat zijn jullie goed zeg! Wow, zulke mooie liedjes en een leuke, verrassende performance, heel tof!

At the moment we are busy planning more concerts, and have a couple of exciting co-operations coming up. If you are interested in a living room concert at your location, contact us for more information on hosting a concert. In March we will be in the studio and will allow our creativity to take us wherever it wants to.

Honesty (is Hardly Ever Heard?) in Singing Teaching

I had teaching role models when I grew up, and when I studied music. I have been thinking about some general characteristics these teachers shared.

I teach quite a lot of professional singers who also teach singing themselves. From time to time, we share interesting conversations about teaching. These conversations have made me think about what I find important in teaching situations. They have also made me think of how we as (singing) teachers can become the best we are, and thereby help the singer / student even better.

These thoughts will result in many blog posts. Here is number one.

#1: HONESTY

Be honest. Towards yourself and towards the singer (the student).

Do not teach things that you do not have any (sufficient) knowledge of. 

This might sound too obvious. But still, it happens surprisingly often. I had lessons from many teachers that had little (or no) knowledge about the physiology of the voice. And from teacher who gave me advise on what to do, but failed to explain the ‘how’, and/or the ‘why’.

Some teachers would not teach me certain sounds because they did not like these sounds, or thought they were bad for my voice. I wish they would have learned a bit more about the voice, or have been honest about the options available. As in: ‘I personally don’t like this sound and/or I personally cannot produce / teach you this sound, but I can help you get in contact with someone who perhaps can’.  Perhaps they did not know of other options.

These were not necessarily bad teachers, they all taught me something useful. But some of them could (or would) not teach me certain things, or they gave me answers that were not physiologically/anatomically correct (I found out later). And so I had certain misinterpreted ideas about my singing voice, for example when it came to volume. Things could have been learned faster, and a lot of confusion and misinterpreted (or plain wrong) ideas about the (singing) voice could have been avoided. Again, I am not blaming any teachers. I am sure they all did the best they could. But it does make me think.

Being honest about what you can and cannot do / teach is actually very empowering.

I think most of us have at least once been in a situation where the singer asks a question that we do not have the answer for, or comes with a (technical) issue that we cannot solve right away. It can happen. It does happen. But it’s not the end of the world.

If we go ahead and answer questions or try to solve singing technique issues without actually knowing how, we can make it pretty difficult for ourselves. Insecurity kicks in. It is common for human beings not to want to show insecurity. So what do we do?

Some might change the subject, and thereby avoid answering the question. Some assume a behavior that suggests the opposite of insecurity. Authority. Perhaps they answer with a complicated, vague answer wrapped up in a lot of jargon (that will make the singer feel insecure, think the teacher really must now what they are talking about, and hopefully eventually ‘believe’ the teacher). The more we try to cover up that we do not have sufficient knowledge of the subject / matter at hand, the more insecure we become. Because (the Ego inside us thinks): what if we get caught? This doesn’t necessarily have to result in bad things, but just in more confusion for the singer.

Q: What might happen if you admit that you don’t know (enough about) something?

A: You might actually learn something new!

I used to be in situations like that (feeling insecure and wanting to change the subject) quite a lot, not being able to help singers with certain issues, and it made me enjoy teaching (which I love) a bit less. The whole breath support thing was something that I (secretly) did not REALLY understand. That was the reason I decided to really deepen my knowledge in singing technique and the anatomy of the voice. Now I know much more, and knowing what I know has made it much easier for me to be honest about the things I don’t know.

 

In my conversations with singers and singing teachers I actually find out pretty often that people don’t quite understand the whole subject of breath support. It makes them feel lousy and insecure, possibly even stupid, because come on, a singer / singing teacher is supposed to know what that is and how to apply it (and why)!? Instead of admitting that they don’t know (enough) about this subject, they just go on teaching like they have always done. And they go on feeling lousy (and insecure) about it.

When someone tells me ‘I have a confession to make….I actually don’t really understand this breath support thing…’ I am SO HAPPY. It means the person is taking a step ‘away from the darkness’ and ‘into the light’, so to speak. So you don’t understand it? Great!! Neither did I. And if I could learn to understand it, then so can you!

So what should you do in a situation where the student asks a question that you can not answer? Or when the student has an issue that you cannot solve? 

You can say:

• ‘I don’t know, but I can (try to) find out’
• ‘I am learning more about it right now. Let’s get back to this another time.’
• ‘This is how I have understood it, but I also find it a tricky subject to understand.’ And perhaps continue with ‘I can (try to) find out more’ or ‘Why don’t we try to learn more about it together!’ After all, that’s what the teaching situation is about: it’s a journey that you, the teacher, makes together with the singer, the student.
• ‘I’m not sure I can help you, but I can try / I will try my best’. And who knows, maybe you actually CAN help the singer! By being honest about it you take some pressure off yourself.

Or, perhaps you know of a colleague / another teacher, who does know how to answer this question or who can help. Let the student see this colleague. Remember it’s the student’s gain, not your loss, if your colleague should be the one who points the student towards the right tools to solve the problem at hand. Besides, your student will be grateful that you pointed them to your colleague and that they got help (and that you were honest)!

But don’t be afraid to try out teaching things that you are currently learning (more) about either. Every teacher has a path. Nobody starts out as a ‘master’ or ‘knowing it all’. Actually, I would like to argue that nobody really does know it all. The only thing a dedicated teacher can do is to do their best based on their training, knowledge and experience, and keep learning more.

And naturally, this doesn’t apply only to singing technique, but to all aspects of teaching singing.

This blog post has been focusing on being honest about your knowledge, about what you can and cannot do / teach as a teacher. But the topic ‘honesty’ brings up more thoughts, for example about being honest towards your student about their progress, and more. So there is more to write about another time!

© Katja Maria Slotte 2012

I would like to hear from you regarding this blog post! What are your experiences? What kind of characteristics did your teaching role models have? What do you find is important?

Cult Royale 2012 and a Wicked Show!

Saturday Esther and I played our new program ‘Tom Waits in a New Coat of Paint’ on Festival Cult Royale. This annual festival is a wonderful cultural initiative, with concerts, (music) theater performances, poetry readings and more, taking place in living rooms, barns, cafés….even at the hairdresser’s (!) in the picturesque Dutch village of Schipluiden.

I have never seen so many people in a living room! We played 4 concerts and each time it was full house, with 60-80 people in the audience. We alternated sets with singer-songwriter Channah. She has a beautiful own sound and I think you should check out her music.

We are receiving a lot of enthusiastic messages from people that saw our performance on Saturday. Thank you so much, dear people! It warms our hearts to read these messages. We hope to have a website up and running for this project very soon, so that we can share more pictures, sounds, tour dates, and some of your reactions. Talking about a website… The duo-name contest is still on! We think ‘Esther van Es and Katja Maria’ is a bit long and unpractical (especially for a domain name), so we’re looking for a good duo name for the two of us. Whoever invents a good duo name for us will win a ‘Tom Waits in a New Coat of Paint’ concert in their own living room! (Please note that the duo name doesn’t necessarily have to be connected with this specific project).

We will continue from here with a living room concert tour, and adding even more songs to our performance. If you are interested in hosting a living room concert, please contact us for more information.

Sunday I saw the musical Wicked in Circustheater The Hague, that I got tickets for as a Christmas present. What a great show it was! Especially Willemijn Verkaik rocks the show as Elphaba! I’d say even a person who isn’t into musicals will enjoy this show. But I think you should go and watch it and decide for yourself!

Unfortunately, today the flu that had been creeping up on me during the weekend knocked me out of business. I’m taking it easy today, drinking lots of tea and powered by all the beautiful messages we have received about our performances on Saturday, I hope to get well very soon!

Tom Waits in a New Coat of Paint

Last night Esther van Es and I played the first try-out concert of our new program Tom Waits in a New Coat of Paint. It was a nice evening in the cozy living room of Jaakko and Mathijs in Rotterdam. 

Esther and I met two years ago. We had both auditioned for a new vocal group. Though the group made some beautiful music together, it didn’t stay together for a very long time. It turned out that us members were musically longing to go in very different directions. I’m thinking the vocal group experience was like our five creative souls arriving at a train station, looking for the right train to catch and the right people to travel with. We got on the same train, enjoyed some beautiful scenery, but understood our direction had to be a different one than we had expected. Getting on that train together was good though, because it gave us confirmation on some things that we perhaps already knew somewhere deep inside.

The reason I want to share these train station thoughts with you, is to say that next time a project doesn’t work out like you thought it would, perhaps try this approach: Instead of mourning over things that didn’t work out (and perhaps be frustrated over the time and energy you invested into it), try to look for what those things and experiences are trying to tell you. In what direction are they pointing you?

Alright… Back from my philosophical cloud to the real world and to our project!

In the meantime, Esther and I had found out our voices really liked to sing together, and we had figured out that we had shared passions musically. We started making appointments for singing together. No strings attached, no big plans, that was the deal. Let’s just see what’s going on here. Together we began to explore the music of Tom Waits, making our own arrangements of some his songs, based on the various moods we experience in them. And this is where we have come to at this point. We are enjoying every bit of it!

Tomorrow, we will play 4 shows on the Festival Cult Royale in Schipluiden. After that, we will set out for a living room concert tour. Perhaps in your living room too?

There will be more media and a website dedicated especially for this project coming up soon. We are brainstorming for a good duo name too. I will keep you posted on the updates!

 

Everything In-Between

Today I wanted to write about a DVD that inspires me. Everything In-Between: The Story of Ellipse. It’s the story behind the scenes of the making of Imogen Heap’s Grammy Award winning album Ellipse. Imogen Heap is one of the artists whose work inspires me a lot. If you have never heard of her before, you might want to check out her website or read her biography (written and inspired by fans via Twitter). Perhaps your taste in music is different. That’s perfectly fine. Perhaps you’re not a musician. I still want to recommend the DVD to you, because it gives wonderful insight about the creative process. It is a very personal story of one woman and her music, about the process of songwriting and album-making with all its beautiful and tricky moments. Here is a little preview:

Watching the DVD made me think about a lot of things (well, I sort of always think about a lot of things, hence the blog…). Here are some things that I have come to think of after watching it:

The need to create comes from the inside and cannot be directed by outside things like the market.

An artist creates because of an inner need. If you worry about what people would like to hear or what kind of songs make it to the charts, before actually listening to what’s inside of you, you’re on the wrong track. If a song becomes a hit, is actually not in your power. Focus on the things that are in your power and the reason why you create (because it makes you happy, fills you with enthusiasm, and so on).

An artist needs time and space to create.

In order to tap into the creative ideas inside of us, we need to tune in to our inner voice / the space where these ideas come from.

When I watched the DVD together with students of mine, I got the reaction ‘yeah but she has the money to do whatever she wants’. Remember, this kind of talk is actually just your fear talking to you. That voice wants to tell you that ‘everyone else can do it but I can’t, because….’. It’s true that not everybody’s circumstances allow them to make extended songwriting trips to faraway countries, or to own a fancy home studio. Much too often though, we focus on these kinds of ‘outside things’ first. Then, concluding that we don’t have the money / possibilities etc. etc. to buy a certain item, or to take a big block of time and dedicate it on our creative process, we end up doing nothing at all. Does that sound familiar to you?

The fearful voice wants to create the perfect circumstances first. Why? Because if you’re busy trying to create the perfect circumstances, you actually don’t have the time to really get your hands dirty on your creative project / dream / idea. Getting your hands dirty, or actually getting started (even if it’s just a baby step) can be very scary. So it feels safer  to look for reasons why other people can do it and you cannot, than to actually get started.

Creating the (minimum amount of) time and space that allows you to create, in your daily life as it is here and now, comes first. The bigger things (like for example an extended songwriting trip to some faraway destination, or some new gear, and so on) come later.

If I take myself as an example, I used to think of ‘creative time’ as big amounts of time. Preferably I would have a week, or a month, time to just focus on one creative idea / project. Drop everything else and just have time for me, myself and my ideas. This constant ‘looking for a big amount of time’ became like a block for me. I have learned that instead of looking for a big amount of time, I need to block a certain amount of time every week (if every day is not possible) for my own creative projects. I have also learned (and I am still learning) that I really need to guard that time. Otherwise I tend to deal out my time to everyone else, and find out that I left myself with the smallest bit (or in the worst case: no time at all).

I love my vocal coaching job. I have actually concluded that I love it so much that I would teach even if I wouldn’t get paid for it, because when I teach I lose track of time, and that is for me a sign of being in my Element. But I also love being a singer and musician, because making and creating music is another way for me to access my Element. (Obviously, I do need to get paid for my work because otherwise I can’t pay my bills…but you perhaps you get the idea. I’ll get back to those thoughts about being ‘in your Element’ in another post…)  I need to take care of both sides, otherwise I become unhappy. As a freelancer, it can sometimes be tricky to ‘guard your time’, because very often there can be a fear that ‘if I now say no I will end up losing this (possible) client / contact’. But as some wise person once said, sometimes we have to say no to other people in order to say yes to ourselves. Because if we don’t say yes to ourselves, how can we expect our own dreams or creative ideas to grow at all? Find out what the minimum amount of time that you need for yourself is, and then learn to block that time in your weekly schedule.

Your ‘inner artist’ needs to be fed with whatever s/he loves and finds beautiful or inspiring. (Even if some of it might seem a bit silly to the outside).

Julia Cameron refers in her book The Artist’s Way to your ‘inner artist’ as a child that we need to take care of. We need to feed that inner artist with inspiration. Watching Imogen Heap in the DVD and in her video blogs, I get reminded of how true this is. The whole renovation of her house is based on making it an inspiring working environment. Here again, remember the baby steps. You don’t have to rebuild your whole house in order to be able to create. But try to surround yourself with objects – or taking the time to visit places – that you find beautiful and inspiring. It can mean small things, like having flowers in a vase. Or a silly little object that inspires you or reminds you of something. I bought a totally unnecessary thing last summer at the airport in Helsinki. A snowball. It’s a rubber ball filled with some crunchy material. You can shape it, and it feels and sounds like snow in your hands. This silly little thing made me think of building snowmen, and winters in Finland, and other things that make me happy and inspired. Places that I like to visit for inspiration include the beach and the bookstore. Or sitting in a café drinking a good cup of coffee and observing people (I don’t mean that in a creepy way )I found long train drives to be inspiring (provided that I have a window seat and can look at the places that I drive through). Anything related to traveling inspires me, really. Airports. Walking through the streets in a town I’ve never visited before. Going to the theater or an art exhibition. Doing something in your own town / country that usually only tourists do. These are just some of the things on my inspiration list.

In every creative process, there comes a point when you doubt everything.

This happens to Imogen too during the making of her album. This part of the movie is actually one of my favorites, because it’s so honest. It’s good to remember that it’s part of the process and that it happens to everyone.

Every artist needs a network of people who supports them and believes in them.

You cannot do it just by yourself. Because remember those doubts will get to you at some point. Your support network should consist of people that bring out the best in you. It doesn’t have to consist of a big amount of people. It might consist of family members, but it doesn’t have to. Sometimes family members (although they love you and believe in you and support you) are not the right people to brainstorm your creative ideas or share your creative doubts and fears with. You might find support in a mentor, a coach, a colleague, or a friend.

What are your experiences with creating time and space for your creative projects? What works for you and what doesn’t? What kind of things are on your inspiration list? I’d love to hear from you!

Cheers,

Katja

The Ultimate Chocolate Cake

One of the things I enjoy the most besides music is food. I love cooking, reading about food, listen to people passionate about food talk about food…and of course I love to eat good food. Food is just one of those things that can make you so happy. We need it every day, so why not make the best of each food experience?

Also, there’s something about cooking (and baking) that relaxes and inspires. It’s one of the best ways to empty your head and enter some kind of a ‘creative meditative state’. Next time you’re stuck with a song/lyric/other creative idea, try bake a cake or chop some vegetables!

I admit I too have lazy periods when it comes to cooking. That happens when I get so caught up with work and all kinds of ideas that I tell my self “I don’t have the time” to think about food. Last year I was pretty lazy with food at many times, and I noticed that the less attention I invest into it, the crankier I become. Food that ‘just fills your stomach’ does not make you a happy person. And that’s just a fact.

So here’s one of my promises towards myself for this year: cook and bake more often. And promise number two: preferably (as often as possible) for / together with other people. I think food connects people, just like music, or any other art form. The best combination is to cook and eat together, listen to good music or play music together. So more food parties for me this year, please!

Last October I discovered the Ultimate Chocolate Cake. It was such a delicious cake, I ended up baking it even for the participants of my Complete Vocal Technique workshop. One bit of this gooey chocolatey cake, and you’re in (chocolate) heaven. All your worries are gone. I’m trying to find out if eating this chocolate cake could actually make people sing better too. Well, perhaps that thought is (a bit…) far fetched…but at least it makes them happier people.

My take on the Ultimate Chocolate Cake

I was so excited about this cake that I sort of ended talking about it a lot…. I had lots of people asking for the recipe. So I thought I’d share it here with you, because shared (chocolate cake) joy is double joy. And also, I want to give the credits (and a big thank-you!) to the person who invented this awesome cake. The recipe is by Angela Nilsen, and I found it on the BBC Good Food Magazine website (which is by the way a great website for foodies).

Here’s what you need for the best chocolate cake ever – it is really easy to make and tastes sinfully delicious!

INGREDIENTS:

200 g good quality dark chocolate with about 60% cocoa solids (I use Swiss Noir dark chocolate with 72% cocoa solids)

200 g butter, cut in pieces

1 tbsp instant coffee granules

85 g self-raising flour

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

200 g light muscovado sugar

200 g golden caster sugar

25 g cocoa powder

3 medium eggs

75 ml (5 tbsp) buttermilk

grated chocolate or curls, to decorate

FOR THE GANACHE:

200 g good quality dark chocolate (as above)

284 ml carton double cream (pouring type)

2 tbsp golden caster sugar

You’ll find the method written in detail on the BBC Good Food website.

I have substituted the golden caster sugar with cane sugar, because that was what I had in my cupboard, and the cake turned out just fine. Also, in Holland you can (to my knowledge) not buy double cream, so I have used regular cream instead. I used sewing thread to cut the cake in layers, works better than a knife for me.

My first take on this cake I decorated with chocolate shavings. But you could decorate it with chocolate curls too. On the Tasty Kitchen blog you find detailed instructions (with photos) on how to make those fancy looking curls. It’s not really that difficult, and it makes the cake look really good!

Hope you enjoy the cake as much as I do! Do you have other great recipes you think I should try out this year? I’d love to hear from you!

Preparation is Everything – performance tips from Izaline Calister

In each edition of my newsletter, a special guest shares their ‘lessons from the road’: things they have learned and experiences they have had in their music careers. The guest is a singer/songwriter/musician whose work inspires me in some way, or I think deserves special attention. I think these ‘lessons’ can be an inspiration to many of us, so I thought I would share them here on my blog too. In this blog you will find the ‘Lessons from the Road’ from the guest in my December 2011 newsletter.

Composer and lyricist Izaline Calister inspires me because of her ability to have remained true to her musical roots while she has developed her own distinctive personal musical style. Her work also proves how important it is for a singer to first and foremost express themselves through their music. Even if it means you will end up singing in a language that most of the people in the world don’t understand! Izaline discovered that the language in which she could express herself the best was her own mother tongue, Papiamentu.

Now Izaline can even be considered an ambassador for the Papiamentu language, as she has brought this widely unknown language to the world in her music that weaves together Afro-Antillean and Caribbean music with Jazz. Everything that she does has a connection to her cultural heritage and her musical roots. Izaline is a charismatic performer and her songs have reached the hearts of audiences around the world.

Izaline Calister

Izaline’s Lessons From The Road:

I meet a lot of singers during concerts, coaching, and so on. Singers often ask me how to deal with stage fright. I don’t have an immediate remedy (I don’t think that exists) but I know some things that might help:

Jogging:
“My experience with jogging is that when you jog regularly (I guess any kind of tiring sport will do) your body releases endorphins that make you able to handle stress much better. It worked great for me during my final exams at the conservatory However, please don’t start jogging for the first time ever on the day of an important gig…”

Know your stuff:
“I meet a lot of singers that get very nervous before their gigs. And then I find out it’s because they are insecure about the lyrics, the form or the melody of a song. These insecurities make them more nervous than they would normally be. So guys…prepare your stuff in advance. If you know you are not good with lyrics…don’t wait till the last minute to learn them. Start weeks in advance and know them so well they’ll be there even if you’re nervous!”

Surround yourself with musicians that give you confidence:
“If you are really nervous about performing, it does not exactly help if the musicians you play with become more nervous than you. Make sure you band consists of people that are better, more confident and experienced than you. You’ll learn a lot, be confident and know they will save your ass when push comes to shove….”

Take time to create the best circumstances for your best achievement.
“Make sure you have the time and opportunity to soundcheck. It really helps your performance if you feel good about the sound. Aim for the best location, the best schedule, take time to work on the best setlist you can think of, and keep trying to perfect that setlist-making skill for future gigs.”

Last but not least, prepare yourself mentally right before the gig.
“If that means you have to be alone in a closet for 5 minutes, just do it! Get on that stage as the focused, well prepared, confident and fabulous singer you are! And go get them!!!”

Visit Izaline’s website to read more about her projects and stay updated on her tour schedule: www.izalinecalister.com

In April 2011 Izaline and I gave a workshop/masterclass together on vocal technique and interpretation in The Hague. We hope to do a second edition of the workshop in 2012!

On thoughts and fears and practicing

Today, in one of my vocal coaching sessions, I worked with a classical singer who is preparing for a series of concerts. One of the songs she is singing is Norma’s aria Casta Diva (by Bellini). We had been working on fine-tuning some technical aspects of the song already before Christmas break. She is a trained singer and technically skilled. Still, she felt that some of the passages were heavy to sing and some of the high notes felt, in her own words, like she “didn’t own them”.

We had worked on economizing her breath support (as she had been using active breath support in parts of the song where she did not need to support). She had discovered the twang to be a very useful tool for her. By twanging (more) she could access the center of the mode with more ease. The notes became crystal clear, her pitching was wonderful and it seemed all so much easier.

In today’s session things were going much better thanks to her previous work. The singer was very happy about her progress. Her sound was better. The higher notes were flying out with more ease than before. But everything was not easy all the time. I asked her what it felt like. “It’s so much work!”

The problem was not that she wasn’t working enough. The problem was that she was working too much. Perhaps not even physically. But mentally. I had looked at her face while she was singing. I could see the technical concentration on her face. Not only her facial muscles, but her whole body was ‘seriously singing’. This was beautiful music. But was she enjoying herself? A thought came into my head. Maybe it was all too serious? “Smile!” I said.

Smiling is one of the tricks to access the (necessary) twang we need in order to sing the notes in the center of the mode and with more ease. She needed to be reminded of the tool she had discovered in our last session, because the technique had not become part of her muscle memory yet. But there’s more to smiling than just technical benefits. I believe smiling (whether it’s physical and can be seen to the outside, or just a thought, a mental picture / state of mind) has a huge impact on the psychology of singing.

A lot of thoughts can cross our mind while we sing a (challenging) piece of music.“There’s that high note again! That tiring passage. That place where I feel like I almost run out of breath every time I sing it. That rhythm that doesn’t just ‘sit’ quite right. And of course: I should have learned it by now!! How can I be that stupid and untalented that I’m till struggling with this…”

Have you ever caught yourself thinking or saying these kind of things to yourself while singing or practicing? I have. God knows how many times. That’s not exactly kind talk towards yourself!

Your thoughts matter!

I am not suggesting that we can magically solve technical difficulties by ‘thinking happy thoughts’. Naturally, we need to work on the correct technique. I will write more about technique in future blog posts. But for now, let’s say we have been practicing on the technical aspects like the singer I worked with today. It’s getting better and we are noticing results, and that way, we know we are doing the right things and we are on the right path. But it is still difficult.

Here are two things worth while checking:

1) Ask yourself, hand on your heart, how do I practice? 

Are you experiencing difficulty because the (new) technique has not become part of your muscle memory yet? If you are practicing the right things but not noticing results, you might be rushing through the exercises.

Kenny Werner writes in his book “Effortless Mastery” about Fear-based practicing. Fear can ruin our practicing by

…rushing you through the material, rendering you unable to absorb anything. You try to cover too much ground every time you practice, barely skimming the surface of each item, then moving on. You ignore the fact that you can barely execute the material, because you have no time to notice that. After all, there’s so much to practice and so little time!

Allow yourself time to grow. (Re)-building muscle memory does not happen overnight. Yes, when performed correctly, a technique should have the desired effect right away, that way we know we are doing the right things. But it takes time to work a (new) technique into a habit. 

Fear-based practicing can sabotage not only technique practice, but all other kinds of practice as well. We might rush through our runs, not being quite sure about every note we have to sing. So that one particular run will always feel a bit difficult. Or we might be rushing through rhythmically difficult passages. Every time we have to sing that specific rhythm it’s not quite right, because we have not worked it into a habit. And every time we experience the difficulty again, we end up sabotaging ourselves with more negative thoughts.

2) Are you making it (more) difficult because you think it (has to be) difficult? 

Like I mentioned earlier, sometimes we are ‘beating ourselves up’ as we sing, constantly internally commenting on the things we do (technically, sound-wise, and so on). This is self-sabotage and not leading us anywhere (except to frustration).

Some singers I have worked with are beating themselves up already before they even make a sound. They imagine what the sound should come out like, and by doing this they create pressure on ‘sounding perfect’. Even if it’s just an exercise they are singing! I used to be like that myself. For every ‘not perfect sound’ that came out of my mouth, I was internally beating my head against the wall like Dobby the house elf from Harry Potter. Did that for instance make it easier to give the exercise another shot? No.

So be kind to yourself! Learn to say and think “This is unfamiliar – not difficult”. And so what if you miss a note, or if the sound that comes out of your mouth is not perfect. It’s just a note! You are still alive and well. Try to be a bit kinder towards yourself when you make ‘mistakes’, and you might find that learning becomes easier.

To quote Kenny Werner again:

Mastery is available to everyone.

It’s true that it comes to some people more easily, but mastery comes to all who wait for it. The ego may taunt you with thoughts like, “You should have learned that by now”, or “You should be playing better by now”, but focused work habits, determination, and a positive outlook will compensate for talent to a surprising degree. 

I can sing sounds that my Ego finds beautiful, or I can produce sounds that it’s not satisfied with. By no means am I an enlightened singer who is never tormented by negative self-talk. But I am learning one thing. The kinder I am to myself, the easier it seems to get.

Let’s return to the singer from today’s session. What happened when she smiled?

Suddenly the problems were gone. The smile might have added that necessary twang to her singing. But one thing was for sure. When she started smiling and thought about the beautiful music and lyrics she was singing, she was enjoying herself. Out went the difficult thoughts, and perhaps they were replaced by the joy of making music and some kindness towards herself. At least the difference could both be seen and heard.

What are your experiences on these things? How important do you think the role of ‘positive thoughts’ is to practicing / making music? Have you experienced getting stuck in fear-based practicing? Have you been sabotaging yourself with negative thoughts? What helped you get on another track?

I would love to hear your thoughts!

Now, have a listen to the beautiful music I was hearing today!

Katja Maria Slotte