Do you hear what I hear?

I was chatting it up with a weightlifting friend yesterday who said they happened to stumble upon my music studio instagram page. During our conversation I found out that they have a friend who enjoys singing and sings A LOT but has an issue with singing flat. This singer friend also talks about how they have taken formal voice lessons to help develop their voice. However, my friend was expressing frustration that this friend of theirs didn’t seem to realize how much of an intonation problem they had.

I thought this was a very fun and fascinating conversation to be having with a weightlifter. It’s not the environment I thought I’d be discussing the topic of intonation but here I was putting on my teacher hate as I warmed up for my lifting session. It got me thinking about how we truly do not hear ourselves as others do. I went on to explain to my frustrated friend that it takes a lot of time and practice to ignore how you sound TO YOURSELF in order to move into the next level of your vocal practices. This is why it is good to meet with a professional voice teacher so you have a set of trained ears listening to you and guiding you.

A few weeks ago I had a discussion with a choir member at my church about how you’ll never truly know how you sound. You cannot listen to yourself as you sing and except to hear all the color and richness to your sound. Also, if you do focus on listening to yourself you’ll most likely restrict the color and richness in your sound. So much of what we do as singers is based on sensations, body awareness/posture, and feedback from an instructor to help us develop the voice to its fullest potential. Even with recordings we are going to be missing parts to our sound that a live audience would hear. I discouragingly informed my choir member friend that sadly we will never truly know how our voice sounds to others.

When I was a younger singer this thought would discourage me. I can never step outside my body and do a check to see if that was the most beautiful sound. Listening back to a record may help give me a better idea of any intonation problems but it still doesn’t share all of the information my voice teacher and audience will receive. However, the older I get the more I find this to be a true blessing. My purpose of training the voice is so we can develop skills that will enhance how to share and express this art. Is beauty really captured in a perfect on pitch sound? I don’t think it is. No, the beauty is in genuinely giving away your voice so the people listening can become connected to the art you’re conveying. The practice we do to improve our vocal abilities gives us a wider canvas to paint on and more colors to paint with. It gives us more options to sing musically.

If being unable to hear myself as others hear me means that I have more to offer in my art, then I’ll take that over wishing I could blot out every funky note for the sake of perfection. In the meantime, I’ll just keep diligently chipping away at improving my vocal skills and musicality so I have more to offer in my performing.

-Laura

Revisiting Repertoire

This week I decided to revisit some repertoire as part of my morning vocal warmup each day. Initially I was going to pick randomly, but decided I would focus on the “Italian Hits”. Now, I haven’t sung all the songs in the 24 Italian Art Songs & Arias, but I’ve sung many of them. For the one’s I haven’t sung I’ve at least heard someone else sing. There may be a handful that I haven’t heard and would legitimately need to learn.

I decided to revisit this repertoire for a few reasons. First of all, I haven’t sung through any of this repertoire since I was a young singer. Some songs I haven’t looked at in almost 20 years. That is absolutely crazy for me to think about. My freshman year of college doesn’t feel all that long ago, however, it was actually almost 20 years ago (wow!). Imagine how much my voice has changed in that time. Instantly I found that what I thought was challenging when I was a young singer is no longer a hang up. However, there is still plenty for me to work on and fine tune. Phrasing, intention, and even diction still need work even if the actual intervals are no longer a struggle. The 24 “Italian Hits'“ are assigned to young singers/voice students to help develop the voice and provide technical work. They are also a great way to build the habits necessary to successfully learn a piece of vocal music. Still, revisiting these beginner appropriate works are still beneficial for more experienced singers to revisit. Either as a warm up or as repertoire for a performance.

Another reason I wanted to revisit this repertoire is because I am certain I didn’t learn it correctly. Either some of the notes and rhythms or the diction. Being some of the first solo vocal music in my repertoire, I was bound to have memories some big mistakes. Sure enough, I was correct in this assumption. Singer’s need to be ok with re-doing the groundwork on memorized repertoire. Never assume you have everything learned and memorized perfectly. It can always be improved.

Finally, I decided that if I’m going to continue to be the best voice teacher I can be, that means making sure I know common repertoire well enough to teach it to new students. How can I help someone master this repertoire if I myself am not a master? By revisiting this music I am not able to recognize the nuances each piece brings so when a student is needs guidance I know what options to present to them. This goes beyond just the accuracy of the music and diction and delves into the musicality necessary to bring each piece of music to life.

I hope to continue this process for the foreseeable future. There is plenty of other repertoire that needs to be revisited and putting them in my daily warmup practices is a really fun start to my day.

-Laura

Fasting for Singers

I apologize for the excessive time lapse between blog posts. I intended to keep up with my weekly writing, and to be honest, I have no idea what happened. I recently read the book “Atomic Habits” and the author mentions “never skip a habit twice” and well… I skipped twice and boy did that escalate. So here we are, working on getting back into the swing of things. Let’s reset the counter and mark this as our new “day 1”. Welcome back to my blog.

This year for lent I decided I would give up social media. It was a very simply decision, though it was not easy. I was literally sitting at family dinner with my brother discussing what we should give up for lent, all the while I was mindlessly scrolling through my instagram feed mid conversation. As soon as the words came out of my mouth and echoed through the room I knew instantly that I needed to quit social media. Immediately following I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach because I knew it was something I didn’t really want to do. I labeled this blog “Fasting for Singers” but really it’s just going to be a telling of my experience of fasting from social media.

Nothing really changed about my lifestyle when I first deleted my social media apps on my phone. I still got up at the same time each day, walked Max, ate breakfast, and logged into work. I thought the time I used to spend scrolling on my phone or creating instagram posts would be channeled into more productive actives like reading and singing. I did read a bit more and sing a little more as well, but mostly the time I was saving from social media turned into me playing more video games. I didn’t feel bad about it, and I still don’t. Most of the time, at the end of the day I would be too mentally tired to pick up a book or dive into music so I used video games or TV shows as a way to relax and unwind.

What I really want to get into is discussing how social media makes you feel lonely. Now, I’ve read some articles and listened to podcasts on the topic. I had reflected a lot on this for myself and never thought it actually applied to me. I didn’t feel lonely being on social media. I didn’t feel envious of other’s lifestyles or feel like I had to put up a facade to show the social media world. However, when I left social media completely I realized how alone I truly was. I didn't have access to people at the touch of a button (or touch screen really) anymore. If I wanted to contact someone I had better have their number or know where to find them in person. The longer I went without social media the more I felt cut off from the world and isolated. It was really tough on me. Still, it was the best thing for me. Since I couldn’t reach out to friends through social media I had to go find them. About half way through lent I was attending a national weightlifting meet in PA. Usually I would have touched base with some friends through social media ahead of time or while I was at the event but since I couldn’t do that I had to be able to find my friends at the meet. It was really wonderful because I couldn’t hide behind my rectangular hand device (a.k.a. my phone). I had to walk up to people and strike up a conversation with them. A skill I had let fall by the wayside to rust. Two nights in a row I went out with a variety of friends that I otherwise wouldn’t have gone out with. At other events I spent my evenings completely isolated yet I would be chatting with friends through my social media apps. I didn’t realize how lonely I had become. I was missing in-person interactions for so long,

When I finished up my time fasting from social media I joined a gym, went out with friends, bought a membership to the movie theaters (yes, that’s a thing!) and started attending my church’s coffee hour after Sunday service. These seem like completely normal things every human probably already does, but honestly, I didn’t realize how much I had been missing out simply because I was allowing social media take the role of “friendship”.

Now that I’m back participating on the inter-webs I hope I can keep up with my new habits and my new in-person relationships. I plan to let social media ENHANCE my connections, not hinder them. I’ll keep you posted.

-Laura

Opera-tunity…

If you’ve been following the Performance Space Podcast then this will be a nice supplemental read to the discussion Nan and I had for episode 6 (also titled “Opera-unity”). I wanted to write out some of the ways you can create new or different opportunities for yourself as an artist. I love the idea of taking the reins to your performance experiences for many reasons. First of all, you’ll learn so much more than just how to perform in front of people. You’ll need to network and step outside of what you already know in order to achieve your goals. You’ll also build new skills as a person in your music community. You never know who you’ll connect with, or who you’ll inspire to try their hand at building their own opportunities. In fact, you’ll most likely need to collaborate with other musicians/artists so they’ll be creating their own opportunities along side you.

Ideas to create your own performance opportunities:

1) Put on a recital
It’s simple and it’s an easy go to but yes, put on a recital. Putting on a recital outside of a collegiate setting can feel daunting (and we aren’t just talking about programing and learning your repertoire!). You’ll need some connections and resources to pull it off. However, it doesn’t have to be overly complicated. Connect with a local church that has a piano and allows outsiders to rent their space. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some church’s that didn’t charge me use their space. I may not make any money off the performance but not having to pay for the venue is a stress reliever. I recommend you be mindful of the repertoire you’re performing and that it is appropriate for the venue you’re using.

You’d be surprised what venues can be available to rent at a reasonable rate. If you’re renting a space on your own dime this is a good opportunity to charge for tickets. This takes some budget balancing for you to figure out what you can afford and how much you’d need to charge per ticket to help recoup your overhead expenses (hopefully, if you get the word out really well you might even MAKE some money…). If you’re diligent and do your research you may be surprised how much is really available for you without breaking the bank.

As for the actual recital program, this is your time to be really creative. There are no requirements for language, style, composer, or time period in your recital. You can pick whatever music you want (as long it’s suited for your voice of course…). Here’s your change to present music you’ve loved but haven’t had a chance to perform. Do a song cycle, or do a recital dedicated to only one composer. Or HEY do a recital that features a living composer! Now THAT is exciting. No says you have to only do Mozart and Beethoven (though they are great go to’s). Challenge yourself with a new language like Swedish or Russian. Create your own mini-scena with staging a compilation of songs that tie together. Let your creativity can run rampant! Recitals are the easiest to pull off and the most flexible to program.

2) 1 act or abridged opera

This may take more coordinating with other musicians but you can do it. There are a plethora of 1 act operas in English. You can do 1 act operas in any language, but if you’re audience is English speaking and you don’t have a way to provide subtitles then an English opera is your best bet. You can also do an abridged version of an opera. Your biggest consideration with choosing an opera is who needs to be involved to make it happen. The more people involved, the more there is to coordinate; so keep that in mind. Just because you’re putting on an opera doesn’t mean it needs to be elaborate. Intimate settings of performing can be very impactful and are more likely to communicate your intent to your audience.

3) Opera on Tap

This is a concept I had never heard of until Nan mentioned it on our podcast. Basically, the performance is happening at a bar or restaurant while the patrons enjoy their food and beverages. First, you should search around to see if this is something already happening in your area and then jump on board. Second, if there isn’t, how bad would it be to reach out to local restaurant and bar owners to see if you can set something up? You may be surprised at the amount of “yeses” you can get!

When I attend the NOA (National Opera Association) conferences back in January 2020, there was new opera being featured and the venue was at a restaurant. We ate our dinner and watched a beautiful performance of a new opera. During my undergraduate days the voice department would host “opera & tea”. We would put on a show of arias and opera scenes while our audience enjoyed coffee, tea, and desserts. It was a fundraising event for the program and it was so much fun. So while I have never experience Opera on Tap but imagine it’s along the lines of the experiences I've mentioned above. People love dinner and a show!

4) House parties

When I was a graduate student at Ithaca College I was asked to sing at a private party for an organization I cannot remember. Basically, the members of this organization would rotate whose house they met at for dinner parties and they would invite musicians to perform. I think I sang 2 or 3 songs and then a few other musicians performed as well. Gather a handful of your musical colleagues and put the word out there that you’re available to perform for special events or host your own special event. No one said you need to have a grand audience. Even if you host a dinner party that gathers a handful of your musician friends and you all perform for each other, you’re still gaining experience. This can also be a great opportunity to test out new repertoire before putting it on a bigger stage.

I know it can be hard to rely on other musical organizations to get your performing opportunities in. It can be especially hard if you’re trying to make a living. But don’t count out the options I’ve listed above, because you really never know what will come of it. Worst case senecio, you put on a performance and developed new skills.

-Laura

Why Singers Should Strength Train: Be Stronger

New Blog series Alert!!!
When it comes to choosing a physical activity/hobby outside of singing I am very bias towards strength training (also referred to as resistance training). Specifically Weightlifting. Not weight lifting but the actual sport, Weightlifting. I want to kick this off with expressing how important it is that singers prioritize finding a physical activity outside of singing that they find enjoying and fulfilling. This can be running, biking, yoga, boxing, martial arts, CrossFit, body building… whatever you are drawn to or want to try out, DO IT. It may take committing to a few different activities to really find what connects to you and sometimes even if you’ve been participating in an activity maybe you no longer want to put your efforts into that and decide to try something else. SO, I say all this to not only encourage you to take on other hobbies (even if you’re in a place where singing/music FEELS like your current hobby…) but also that while I am bias towards strength training, I recognize the benefits of choosing an activity you simply just love.

I understand strength training or getting into a strength sport may sway some people because of the resource availability. You need a gym or equipment, and you’ll need someone to guide you. Running and hiking you can do for free. But don’t count out strength training just because you might have to do a little research to find a facility that fits your needs and budget. If you want to learn how to pick up weights (dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells… all the bells!) investing in a personal trainer is a great idea. There are so many resources available to help you with this whether it be a local gym or online programs and coaches. I am confident you can find someone to get you started at a price point that fits your budget.

That being said, if you have not had the good fortune to be exposed to the wonderful world of strength training let me go ahead and share my experience and some of the reasons why I think you should give it a chance. As mentioned previously, I train to compete in the sport Weightlifting. My preferred method of strength training is sport specific and I’ll draw mostly from that experience. However, many of the benefits from Weightlifting can be carried over into other styles of strength training.

Why Singers Should Strength Train: Be Stronger
The reason I got into strength training to begin with was so I could be physically stronger. During graduate school at Ithaca College, I thought “If I physically want to be a stronger singer ( example, a stronger core and better breath control), I need to train to actually be stronger!” So I sought out a personal trainer that could help me with this goal. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into (in a good way!) and building muscle while developing overall strength through out my body became so beneficial in my singing and performing. Also, it feels pretty awesome to be a strong human.

Learning skills such as squat, snatch, clean and jerk not only helped build muscle and strengthen my core as I had hoped for, but it also created stability through my midsection. I believe stability in your midsection carries over directly into singing. Squatting and stabilizing a barbell over head requires you to brace your core. You can do a 100 sit ups day and it will NOT even come close to developing a stable midsection like strength training will. The sensation we strive to create in using our “appoggio” is replicated when we brace to squat and stabilize a weight on the shoulders or overhead.

Other strength has developed that carries over to singing/performing aside from just midline stability. My feet are stronger. I’ve blogged about this before, but having a connection to your feet is essential. Squatting will without a doubt connect you to your feet in a way you would not experience otherwise. Having stronger legs overall helps support the upper body. The majority of your singing is done standing so having stronger legs will only help your support. Even strengthening my arms has helped build confidence in how I MOVE my arms when singing. This is something I”m still working on but I’ve always struggled with what to do with my arms/hands while performing but strengthening the muscles also increases my mind body connection to those limbs.

If you have concerns about “getting bulky” due to strength training let me put your mind at ease. Unless your goal is to bulk up then you have nothing to worry about. People who purposefully bulk have to eat an excessive amount of calories, train obsessively (WAY MORE than an hour or so every few days a week..) and are probably also taking steroids. Are you doing those things? Ok, well then just focus on letting strength training be exactly what it is.. training for STRENGTH. This is all relative for different people so as a beginner you’re looking at 3 times a week, moving some dumbbells or a barbell for reps x sets maybe 45 minutes to an hour per session. That in no way will make you bulky, but it will get you stronger.

My last thought on being stronger for today’s post, working out is great but training is better. At the beginning stages you’re probably just going to be working out. What I mean by that is, you’re only goal is to hit the gym a couple times a week to build strength through strength (resistance) training. And that’s great. However, as you develop your skills and build muscle you will probably find that just working out for the sake of working out doesn’t satisfy your gym going motivation long term. Just like learning a song simply to learn it is hard to do without having a performance date in mind. Training means you have goals in mind and probably a deadline you want to accomplish it. Example, my next Weightlifting meet is October 15th so my current training revolves around that. My final meet for the year is in December so I know for the next few months my training will revolve around those goals. After my December meet I can re-evaluate how I want my training to look based on the upcoming meets for the following year. Just as a singer will schedule their repertoire around their performances. Maybe you started out learning an aria or an opera role because you felt drawn to it and enjoyed it, but without a performance deadline it’s hard to be constant with your practice schedule. As you build your strength training routine start setting small goals along the way to help your gym going experience from becoming stagnant.

I hope this helps you venture out to try a new activity. Until next week,

Laura

Do Work

Today is Labor Day and for the first time ever I’m actually reflecting on work and the meaning of doing work. The famous quote from Gertured B. Elion is “Don’t be afraid of hard work. Nothing worthwhile comes easily. Don’t let others discourage you or tell you that you can’t do it. In my day I was told women didn’t go into chemistry. I saw no reason why we couldn’t.”

HARD WORK
As someone who holds two master’s degrees, works in higher education, and is competitive in a strength sport, it’s easy to say I am not afraid of hard work. Yet, in the pursuit of these ambitions I don’t feel like I’m doing hard work. Yes, there are challenges but most of the time I view it as the tasks I know must be completed in order to achieve my goals. The level of difficulty does not sway me. In my early singing days I would confidently work on arias assigned to me knowing and trusting that my teacher wouldn’t assign work I wasn’t capable of completing. Once, after winning a competition, I was asked “How did you learn such a difficult aria?” To be honest, I didn’t know it was considered difficult. Yes of course it was a challenge but I didn’t approach my studies all the while thinking “gosh this is a hard aria”. No, instead, I knew that my teacher would not have assigned me repertoire that was a) not appropriate for me and b) not within my capabilities. So learning something “hard” was easy. Just do the work.

How many times have you put off completing something just because it was viewed as hard? The level of difficultly should not matter. You can’t be afraid to do hard work and you can’t be afraid to do THE work.

THE WORK
Instead of drawing attention to the level of difficultly in your work, maybe we need to address why you might be afraid or resistant to do THE work. Do you struggle to prioritize where to start? Are you concerned that once you start working you’ll realize you’ve been going in the wrong direction and need to start over? Do you lack the confidence in your ability to successfully complete your work? In all of these instances, you’ve already given up before you’ve tried. If an excuse to avoid doing work arises, ask yourself “am I giving up before I even try? or is there a reason I don’t WANT to do the work?”

PURPOSEFUL WORKS
Say you are provided with endless amounts of money and no need to ever work a day in your life ever again. Would this truly make you happy? Well, maybe. But I will venture to say that it would not make you happy if you sought to never do ANY work for the rest of your life. There is no life worth living with the void of work. I’m not saying life is not worth living if you do not have a JOB. But it is in our nature to set out to complete tasks which are meaningful to our lives and allow us to help one another. AKA: WORK. Do you WANT to do the work? If not, then why?

There are a couple of reasons I believe many people say they hate their job or do not wish to work.
1) It is trendy to complain about work. It’s not “cool” to enjoy doing work. To go with the flow you should belittle the efforts required to get the job done.

But more importantly…
2) You don’t find the work purposeful.
There is no avoiding work so make sure you find your tasks to be purposeful. NOW do not misinterpret this to say “I only want to do work I enjoy”. That’s impossible. However, if you’re not happy with the work you are doing (job/career, daily tasks etc) maybe you need to take a step back and evaluate why you’re doing this type of work and if you connect to its purpose. I’ve had countless jobs that I had no intention of turning into career pursuits but knew I needed to stick with them until it was time to move onto the next thing. That doesn’t mean I did not find purpose behind the tasks I was doing. I could still work towards my professional and personal ambitions while completing my current assigned work with meaning and intent. For example, I worked in a department store for a long time. While I knew my calling was not to work in retail the remainder of my life, I still found meaning and purpose in my job responsibilities. I viewed the customer service counter as a skill builder for answering phones, communicating with strangers, and actually being helpful to someone with concerns. I also challenged myself to learn every department so I could pick up any shift available and continue to learn new skills. Opening the store was my favorite shift because I could sit in the cash office and count money. It was a strangely satisfying task to complete at 6am. Just because I had no intention of staying in the retail world doesn’t mean my time spent working for a department store didn’t bring meaning to my life. If you’re on a career path that doesn’t suit you then venture out to find a path that brings purpose to your life. In the meantime, don’t be resistant to completing your current work load. If you simply do not want to do the work because it lacks purpose.. well then you’ll know not to take on that type of work again in the future.

I hope you continue to find purpose in your work as you approach your upcoming week. Remember, don’t be afraid to do hard work or otherwise; and no matter the trajectory of your pursuits just do work.

-Laura

Use your voice

It’s my birthday. Ok, when this post goes live it will be a few days past my birthday, but right now I’m just going to go ahead and acknowledge that it is my birthday. Every year I get a little weirder about my birthday. I think it started when I turned 30. That was 7 years ago. As I turn 37 I am amazed and in absolute disbelief that I’m not actually turning 27. I don’t feel 10 years older, I don’t think I look 10 years older. Except, the last 24 hours I’ve been in a whirlwind of emotion and frustration that I do in fact have more defined wrinkles on my face, sagging skin along my jaw line, and probably other noticeable physical features that I’m going to ignore and not look for. All of a sudden I have a strange fear that my body is simply going to disintegrate abruptly.

Look, life is short. I noticed something else today after I posted a random video to Instagram of me singing a song I heard on my YouTube playlist. I’m realizing it’s very rare that anyone posts a video to social media that isn’t a compilation of a voice over, popular music at the time, or something else that is attention getting. Certainly an a Capella video would not receive the desired amount of attention on these platforms. More importantly, it would require being vulnerable and authentic. There is no hiding behind trending social media memes or audios. Everyday I use social media, I have to remind myself the intent behind my post. Is it to make sure I get likes from my friends and the few random people who might stumble upon the post? Or is it because I genuinely want to share this content with others? If it’s the first reason, then I better not post it. Or I need to evaluate how I can make the post genuine so I feel good about sharing my content. Life goes by way too fast to be prioritizing how someone “likes” you, especially on social media.

Make sure you’re using social media in a way that aligns with your values. Use your own voice. Yes, there are many content creators that take the voice overs and trending memes to develop something more creative. But honestly, if you have the choice between posting a snippet of a song that is on your heart verses posting something that you know will get a lot of “likes”, well, I just hope you use your voice.

-Laura

The Performance Space: How to Learn an Opera Aria - Rhythm & Melody

I’ve got rhythm, I’ve got music…

The intent of today’s blog isn’t to teach you notation. Instead, we are going to go over the things you need to pay attention to and piece together your opera aria.

1) Learn the Rhythm Separate

This starting step seems very simple but can actually be very challenging to focus on. You’ve probably listened to or sung through your aria a handful of times so keeping the rhythm separate from the other elements of the aria can be difficult to focus on. While learning music by ear training is a great skill to have, don’t rely solely on that. Isolate your rhythm and make sure you’re being accurate. That doesn’t mean you have to spend a long time on this step, but thoroughly work the rhythm without the melody to ensure accuracy. You’re less likely to have complications down the line.

You can isolate and work through the rhythm however works best for you. If you count sing/chant, do that! If you just use “la la la” or “ta ta ta” then go for it! If there is a particularly challenging rhythmic spot, mark up your score as you need and narrow in on that section. You’ll probably be surprised how quickly you work through a tough spot by keeping it simple and isolated. Once you’re confident with the accuracy of the rhythm, move on to step 2!

2) Rhythm + Text

See what we are doing here? Still keeping the melody separate from the rhythm. I know, I know! It can be really challenging because you’re chomping at the bit to sing sing sing!!! All that text work you did is going to come in SUPER handing for this step and everything is going to start flying together. If the composer knows their stuff, then the rhythm and text should feel natural together. Especially if you’re singing in a foreign language you don’t have much experience with. Hopefully, the rhythm will give you a lot to work with as far as making the text fluid. One of the biggest recommendations I can give a singer when working this step is to free themselves from trying to be robotic. Let the rhythm move forward through the text. Don’t just plop down on each syllable and each beat. You may be a little robotic at first when piecing the two together, but do your best to keep it fluid. Create a legato line even if you have no melody. There is music in the text and rhythm.

3) Melody

Honestly, this is the easiest step once you’ve gotten to this point. You have the rhythm learned well, the text is flowing in rhythm, and now you just need the melody. Now, take a step back from the rest of the aria process and just focus on the melody. Don’t even worry about keeping the melody in rhythm or tempo. All you need to focus on in this step is how the notes connect to each other. Narrow in on the intervals and drill into the tricky parts.

4) Rhythm + Melody

The rhythm is accurate. The melody is accurate. Simply work them together the same way you worked putting the text and rhythm together.

5) Put it all together!

This step is pretty self explanatory, rhythm + melody+text = Sing your aria! You’re at the point where you can refine the nuances of your music and start bringing in performance specific elements.

While I believe this is the most efficient process to get your music up and running, that doesn’t mean you have to follow each step to a “T” and never deviate. There are plenty of times where you may be working through a section and it’s hard to stay focused or the challenge is becoming overwhelming. Move on! If there is a rhythmic spot that is deflating your motivation to stick with the practice session then jump over to working on the melody. You’ll feel a lot better when you come back around to that tricky spot that was bumming you out.

I hope you find this process as beneficial as I do. Opera arias are complex and can be overwhelming if you try to bite in more than you can chew. Separate the work load into manageable steps and you’ll be putting it all together in no time.

-Laura

The Performance Space: Text

Are you an iPhone user or an Android user? Just kidding, I’m not going to be talking about that kind of text. Last weeks blog discussed the character building importance and approach. This week we are going to adventure into the world of text. This is probably going to be the most challenging part of the puzzle but trust me, it will all be worth it. The text is going to inform you of character choses, in-depth context to the opera and scene, and it is the most important part of communicating your intent as an artist. The break down to approaching text is simple but once you get into the nitty gritty you’ll find it can be quiet time consuming. The focus of this series, “How do you learn an Opera Aria?” is to be as efficient as possible despite the complex nature of opera.

Step 1a: Word for word translation

This step is often skipped over because it takes a lot of work. It’s also very challenging to be accurate if you aren’t fluent in the language you’re translating. Grab a dictionary and just go to town. You can use a language translator to help if you'd like, but there is something about cracking open an Italian - English dicitonary (or whatever language you’re working on) that helps solidify the information you’re working through. It can help internalize the words you’re learning a lot better. The more word for word translations you work on the more you’ll learn about the language and you’ll start memorizing a whole lot faster. There are many already completed and accurate word for word translations available, but you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you don’t put in the ground work yourself. You can always use those resources to double check your work. This is probably the most time consuming step but it will prove to be instrumental in your success.

Step 1b: Poetic interpretation

Once you’ve completed your word - for - word go a head and write out a poetic version that is easier to understand in the context of you’re native language.

Step 2: IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet)

Well I hope you like hoppy beers.. oh way, not that kind of IPA. I really don’t recommend doing your IPA while drinking an IPA. The international phonetic alphabet is a set of symbols that helps you accurately pronounce the sound(s) within a word. If you don’t know the International Phonetic Alphabet I highly recommend you start learning it as soon as you are able. Starting with Italian is your best route because Italian is pretty darn close to already being IPA. This step may require assistance from a teacher. If you’re in need of some help well I just might know someone who can provide some direction! ;) (head to the contact page to connect with me! I’m happy to help.)

I like to take steps 1 & 2 and write/type them out like so:

Translation: I lost it, who knows where it will be
Text: L’ho perduta, me meschina! a chi sa dove sarà,
IPA: lo perduta me me me ∫ina a ki sa dove sara

Isolating the text from the music is going to build your familiarity with the language. Once you’ve completed this step, put this information directly into your practice score. I don’t recommend writing your IPA and translation into your original copy because you’ll want to have a clean copy to be able to replicate in the future. Take a photo copy of your aria so you can mark it up how you’d like.

Step 3a: Recognize the punctuation

You’ll notice in my above example that I made sure to write in the punctuation and the accents. Don’t skip out on reviewing the punctuation in the text. My above example shows an exclamation after the word “meschina” which tells me I’ll need to have some variation of an excited expression. Also, there is a comma after “sarà” which indicates the statement is not yet finished. Remember, we are still in the phase of understanding the words and language outside of musical context. Use every tool you’re given so you can make the best artist choices for your performance.

Step 3b: Walk your text

Now that you’ve combed through all the text and punctuation it’s time to get physical. Do you need this step to effectively learn and memorize your music? Of course not. However, this is a great exercise to help internalize all your hard work. What you’re going to do is give a physical action to each punctuation mark. I’m sure there is a set list of actions for this exercise somewhere out there on the internet, but I’m going to give you creative freedom on this one. Just be sure to have each action make sense to you. Here are some examples:

comma- turn
period - stomp
exclamation- jump

You’re going to aimlessly roam about your space (living room, practice room, wherever!) slowly speaking through the text and taking a step for each syllable. When you come to a punctuation mark you’re going to insert your action. This is where having a written out copy of text without the music will come in handy. After walking through the text a few times see if you can start walking it without looking at the words. And you don’t have to start beginning to end each time. Pick the most challenging memory spot and drill it a couple of times separate from the rest of the text.

(Optional) Step 4: Poetic meter

I’m mentioning this step because so far everything thing we’ve covered can be directly applied to art song as well. An opera aria has a libretto so the text is going to be more speech like; an art song, however, usually (not always) deals with poetry. Taking the time to sort out the poetic meter and structure will only improve your understanding and connection to the text. If you’re working on a well known art song then you’ll be able to find this information relatively easy. Go a head and do a little research and learn some cool stuff.

Hopefully by this point you’re pretty close to having memorized text and you haven’t even dug into the music yet! Going through this entire process is going to make putting it all together SO much easier. No one said learning an opera aria (or any vocal music at that!) would be easy but we certainly can be efficient in our practices!

-Laura

The Performance Space: Character Building

For a long time now I’ve been wanting to create a space that shares all things dealing with the vocal arts. This content sharing ranges from blogs, videos, study documents, book recommendations, podcast, performance reviews… you name it, I want to include it. The plan isn’t to randomly release content but instead have a steady stream to build upon daily, weekly and monthly. My new tab “The Performance Space” will include free material and content pertaining to the topic of the month. We are kicking off the month of August with “So you want to learn an Opera Aria?”. During the month of August we will dive into best practices for learning an Opera Aria; which can be a complex and daunting task. This weeks blog we are focusing on “Character Building”.

So you have an opera aria picked out that you’re ready to dive into. Maybe it was assigned to you or recommended by a voice teacher. Perhaps you came across your aria of choice on youtube. No matter how you arrived to said aria, here are some steps that will help ensure success (and fun!) when starting a deep dive into this complex musical endeavor.

The first thing I cannot stress enough is to do a thorough job of building a character. To do this, you need to have a good overall understanding of what is happening with the character through out the opera and not just in the moment of the particular aria you are singing. That means you are now tasked with the fun part of the process which is WATCHING the opera in which your aria comes from. Disclaimer, I will be releasing a podcast with my good friend Hannah to go over why opera is boring.. but trust me when I say, I encourage you to watch the full opera (and probably various productions of said opera) to guide you in understanding the character you’ll be portraying. If you refuse to watch the opera, well then you have to read the libretto. Honestly, it would be good practice to read the libretto anyway. To be very clear, viewing various interpretations of the opera is not meant to encourage you to try to copy a famous singer’s performance and portrayal of a character. Getting artistic ideas is great but this is your opportunity to create a character unique and specific to you and your artistry. Also, it’s impossible to replicate a performer exactly so just don’t even bother wasting your time trying.

Now that you’ve had a wonderful long weekend of watching your new favorite opera 2-3 times, and have read through the libretto along the way…the character building process begins! Hopefully you’ve taken a few notes so you can be as thorough as possible.

The below template is a great starting point. There are many specifics that will form the backbone of your character analysis. Once you’ve filled in the specifics like setting, time period (keep in mind this can easily change depending on the production), interactions with characters etc. you’ll be venturing in the realm of creativity to fill any gaps. If there is information blatantly missing from the libretto then you get to make some fun choices based on your current research. For example, do we always know what motivates a character to sing their aria? Often times there is a specific event but there can also be an internal struggle that you as the performer need to create for the performance to become real. You’ll see the below template isn’t very long but by the time you’re done turning over every stone your character has to offer, you should have a solid 2-3 pages of information.

If you want a downloadable version go check out “The Performance Space” tab and click the button “Character Sheet”. This will download as a word document and you can fill in a save directly to your own desktop.

Name of Opera:
Librettist:
Composer:

Summary of the Opera plot & production interpretation:

Character Sheet

Character’s Name:

Age:

From/hometown:                                           Current location:

Future destination(s) & why:

Personality & Background:

Motivations:

Relationships with other Characters (list specific names):

Paraphrased explanation of Arias/duets/recitatives/choruses (etc):

-Laura

Ignore the chatter

I want to stay true to my goal of blogging weekly, though I think this weeks blog will be pretty short. Over the years I have attended many auditions, and competitions (in voice and weightlifting) and there is one thing that always seems to stick out to me no matter where I am for these types of experiences; the chatter.

In 2009 I attended an audition in NYC and I was blown away by the endless chatter of the other singers waiting around for their turn. Each of them in the same boat as myself; nervous, not sure what to expect, tired from travel, concerned if their preparation was enough etc. etc. However, despite the circumstance I don’t find it necessary to dive into a conversation of chatter to get me through the awkward wait of being called into the audition room. I find it distracting. What’s wrong with sitting at peace with yourself and mentally preparing to give the best performance of your life? Even with all the nerves, the uncertainty, the doubts of your preparation; you’re at the point of no turning back so stop trying to take away from the moment.

Let me clarify a little, when I say chatter I’m not referring to casual conversation with others. I don’t want to come across as someone who won’t say a friendly hello to a fellow singer or competitor. I will converse with others. No, when I say chatter I mean that nervous habit of feeling like you must discuss every insecurity you’re currently feeling and expect everyone around you to follow suit so you can validate your feelings. I hate chatter. I see it at every audition, every vocal competition, every weightlifting competition, and I honestly don’t understand why people use this crutch to get them through an uncomfortable situation. Stop trying to seek out comfort in an uncomfortable situation. Competition is not comfortable. If you want comfort, don’t compete.

I realize this is basically turning into a rant but let me tell you, the people who are successful don’t sit around talking about how nervous they are, or how they are afraid they will fail, or talk about all the reasons they should do poorly because “excuse excuse excuse”. Instead, the people who can sit in silence during an awkward and uncomfortable moment just before they take the stage; those people win. I rarely see a person full of chatter take the gold. If you need an outlet to release your concerns and insecurities get a coach or a mentor. Discuss these issue ahead of time. Don’t walk into a competition or audition chattering with everyone around you in search of a security blanket.

I hate chatter.

-Laura

Strength Training for Singers: Sleep

I considered starting a new blog series to touch on the important habits/hacks a singer must build into their daily routine, but since these habits coincide with strength training I decided to keep it all under the same title. I don’t believe I’ve mentioned this previously, but I am dedicated to producing a weekly blog no matter how short or how long it may be. So let the record reflect that last week’s blog is my official “Blog #1” in this new weekly challenge. On to sleep…

My sleep has been an absolute train wreck the past 5-7 days. I’ve done the best I can to not let it completely derail me as a functioning human and I’ve been prioritizing sleep where I can and cutting out unnecessary tasks as needed (hence the slight delay in getting this blog written and posted). I’m sure it comes to no surprise that quality sleep is the foundation to feeling and performing at your best. Whether this means your day to day tasks, work, performance in singing, or performance in fitness endeavors. You cannot be your most optimal self with poor quality sleep. Sure, you may squeak by for a few days but nothing is sustainable without proper sleep.

I’m not going to beat myself up over the outcome of my sleep this last week. After all, it wasn’t from a lack of effort or care. Sometimes you simply cannot control the stressors in your environment that cause a disruptive sleep. I.E. waking up at 1:30am to a water leak in your apartment. These things happen despite our best efforts. Nevertheless, if these types of situations arise or maybe you’ve just fallen into poor sleep habits, know that you have options to get back on track. Here are some daily habits/hacks I’ve implemented to set myself up for success when it’s time to hit sleep mode:

1) Invest in a sleep system
Well this sounds really “hoity toity” of me, but let me elaborate. We spend half our lives sleeping. I find it ironic and unfortunate that for most people it’s easier to justify paying $1200-$1500 on a TV for their living room than it is for them to spend that amount of money on a good quality sleep system. When I say sleep system I mean everything from your mattress, sheets, pillows, to bed frame. The whole set up needed to provide the level of comfort you desire for a great nights sleep. When I moved from NY to NC I had no desire to move my old mattress and sleep system. It was time to upgrade and I decided to take the money I would have spent moving my stuff and apply it to a whole new set up. All the furniture in my apartment is cheap or free with the exception of my sleep system; which cost more than all the other items in my apartment combined (while still being in my budget of course). Since upgrading my sleep system I look forward to jumping in bed every night and resting my weary head on my quilted pillows. I spend way more time sleeping in my bed than I do sitting on the couch watching TV so it makes sense that I focused on investing in a high quality sleep system. I recommend you consider doing the same.

2) Read before bed
Ah yes, it’s so nice to unwind for the day by turning on your favorite TV before you hit the hay, or heck maybe you’re already cuddled up in bed and you’re ready to fall asleep with the TV on. But let me challenge you to consider taking a different bed time route if you feel you need entertainment to start your bedtime routine. Anyone talking about high quality sleep will be quick to harp on the problem with watching TV or electronics before going to bed or even the problem with falling asleep to the TV. It can confuse your circadian rhythm, and if you leave the TV on while you sleep the sounds and lights can wake you up abruptly. I myself will watch a couple of TV episodes each night but about 30-45 minutes before I want to close my eyes to sleep I turn everything off. So why a book? I’ll be honest, I have yet to encounter a singer that despises reading. In fact, most of my friends have expressed the frustrations that they don’t take enough time to read something from their lengthy reading list. Turning off the electronics a solid 30 minutes before you plan to close your peepers gives you a great opportunity to read for a little bit, give your brain a break from electronics, let your body acknowledge it’s time for sleep, and for many reading can be very relaxing. Now, I fully recognize some people cannot do that because reading simulates their brain more and they end up reading for HOURS. If that’s you, then don’t read before bed. Find another activity that isn’t electronics to help prep you 30-45 minutes before shut eye. Maybe pick up a magazine and read an article or two. Do sudoku or maybe just listen to some relaxing music.

3) Stretch
If you’re going to stretch, before bedtime is a great time to do it. If you’re like me and do strength training 5 days out of the week then you don’t want to be stretching prior to training. Mobility work and priming is different but as far as actual stretching, save that task to the end of the night. If the above recommendation of reading doesn’t work for you then you can use that 30 minutes of electronic free time to just listen to music and stretch. Stretching before bed is great because if gives you more time to relax and rest the muscles instead of stretching and then going to do an activity that tells your muscles to stop relaxing. Makes sense, right?

4) Sleep mode phone
Ok, I know this one kind of goes along with #2 but it’s a little different so hear me out. around 8:30-8:45pm my phone puts itself in sleep mode. That doesn’t mean I don’t ever look at my phone after that time but it certainly helps to minimize distractions when I start getting into my bedtime routine. I have my phone set so that when it’s sleep mode nothing can come through to alert me UNLESS it’s someone on my favorites list calling me (i.e. my mom, brother, sister-in-law etc). So If mom calls me at 10pm my phone still rings and can answer her no problem. Otherwise, I don’t need anything alerting me to pick up my phone. Everything can wait until tomorrow. It’s safe to say our smart phones are our biggest distractions so find a system that will allow you to prioritize something else other than triggering your fomo (fear of missing out).

5) Have a routine you can stick to
You may have noticed my sleep habits/hacks isn’t a list of what to do and when. That’s entirely up to you to figure out. I hope the above suggestions are helpful but when it comes right down to it, you’re the one who has to set up a routine you can stick to. That routine will change and develop. Somethings you used to do to get you to sleep may no longer work and you have to trouble shoot new options. In the end the most important thing is to find a routine that works for you. And don’t lie to yourself saying “Oh but staying up until midnight watching my favorite TV helps me sleep”. It doesn’t, try something else and go to bed at a decent time friends.

Let me know what habits and hacks you use to ensure a good nights sleep. And have you used any of the tactics above?

-Laura

Strength Training for Singers: Feet

Almost 2 months ago I was having pain in my right knee and hip. There was inconsistency of pain level and the pain moved around throughout the day. After 2 weeks of no relief, I finally met with a physical therapist. After completing a thorough assessment of mobility and stability in my joints we uncovered an issue with stability in my right hip. It’s unclear how long this weakness had been looming but it had gotten to the point of pain and I was unable to squat. I was also unable to balance on one foot. I struggled with both sides but my right side was the worst. Building the connection from foot to hip was an important part of correcting my issue and working on becoming pain free. I didn’t realize I was missing the connection through my feet. Turns out, you can have great body awareness but still be lacking stability without realizing it or knowing how to correct it.

When I work with a singer for the first time, 9 times out of 10 the first thing I do is ask the singer to draw attention to their feet. Beginners usually sing as if they don’t have a lower half to their body so recognizing their feet is the first step (see what I did there..) to building a full body connection when they sing. The feet are your foundation so that can be a good place to start. When singer’s start noticing their feet there is an instant change in how they stand and hold themselves up. Instead of focusing on producing a sound from their throat they are now focusing on how they are connected to the ground which in return begins the process of freeing the breath and allowing better posture.

I’ve been very diligent in completing my assigned physical therapy exercises and not only am I pain free and able to squat again, I also notice a difference in my stance while singing. Over the years I have noticed that I shift between feet while standing and singing. I always thought it was a problem with being fidgety but since strengthening the muscles in my hips and feet I am able to stand and sing with minimal shifting. The reason I titled this blog “feet” instead of “hips” is because while yes I did begin my physical therapy work to help my hip, there is a particular exercise that woke up my feet. I never felt my feet muscles until I completed the exercise I’ll be listing below (or at least, I hadn’t felt them in a very long time). I didn’t have pain while standing, but I had issues balancing while standing. I highly recommend any singer try out the following exercise as I’m confident it will improve their posture and comfort while standing for prolonged periods of time during a performance.

Single Leg RDL

Video credit to Ground to Overhead PT. If you found this video helpful I encourage you to browse the variety of free content Ground to Overhead PT provides via their YouTube channel.

Lift like an Opera Singer: Perform in the Moment

I’m sitting in my Airbnb here in Salt Lake City while I sip on coffee and watch a stream of the Masters National Championship. Since my last post I’ve had 2 concerts and I’ll be competing tomorrow for the Masters Weightlifting event. As soon as I arrive back in Raleigh I’ll be diving back into rehearsals for a concert this following Friday. Typing this out makes me sound busy but I assure you, my Animal Crossing New Horizons island on the Switch is definitely not neglected.

In my last post we discussed a little about preparation for performance and granting yourself permission to succeed. Soon after that I had a little bit of a nervous break down over a solo I was singing for the NC Master Chorale concert with Carter Roland. Everyone kept telling me it was because of the “scary high notes” but I know it was something else. The week leading up to our rehearsal with conductor and composer Roland Carter I was so riddled with anxiety, I honestly told the NCMC director I needed to quit. I didn’t think I could do it. I had serious stage fright. Somehow he talked me off the ledge and I showed up for rehearsal that following Tuesday. Roland was an absolute joy so fortunate for me I had a wonderful opportunity to work with him. Keep in mind, I was singing a solo for a song that HE COMPOSED. This isn’t something that has thrown me before, but I felt I was doing such an inadequate job of performing his work that I would be nothing but disappointment. Well, if he was disappointed he didn’t tell me, and I am grateful for that!

My preparation for this performance was so important. I knew that solo inside and out, I had it memorized (a miracle.. I know!), I worked the difficult passaggio passages and sought to find intention in each word. When Roland stood on the podium to conduct do you know what he told the chorale? “Watch me closely because music is in the moment. So it’s going to be different every time”. A wave of relief and joy washed over me. I COMPLETELY forgot about allowing the music to be in the moment. All my anxiety and fears of failure were becoming more important to me than actually living for the music in the moment. Friends, it is so hard to get to this point. You live in the nitty gritty so your performance outcome can be great. Yet STILL you find faults in your performance and seek to improve it. Yes, there is ALWAYS work to be done. But knowing that this music was going to live and that THAT was out of my control helped free my mind of a lot of worries. Don’t get me wrong, when I stood to sing my solo at rehearsal I still panicked and thought I was going to crumble to the floor. I still did not feel great about my abilities. Nonetheless, I was in it this far so no turning back now.

I’m sure you’re curious to know how the actual performance turned out that following Saturday. I’ll tell you, that Saturday was a very long and exhausting day of morning orchestra rehearsals followed by the actual performance later that afternoon. And my solo was the last piece on the program. When I walked down to the front of the stage to take my soloist seat you’ll never believe me when I tell you I had no nervous energy. It’s like that when performance time actually comes. All the time leading up to a performance is absolutely frightening and filled with anxiety. The whole process of getting to the actually performance is the scary part for me. The few hours before the performance is the absolute WORST in my opinion. There is NOTHING for you to do. The work is done and now you simply wait. The hour before this concert I took a power nap in my car. I literally didn’t know what else to do! I couldn’t afford to let anxieties take over my body again so my only option was to close my eyes and make it all go away. But when I stood up to sing in front of all those people, you’d never know the emotional agony I put myself through that week. See, when you perform IN THE MOMENT everything else goes away. I couldn’t tell you if I thought my vowel placement on this word in a particular phrase was exceptionally lovely or any of that because when you’re in the moment you’re not giving yourself a voice lesson on the side. All I remember was it felt good to sing with intention and as if I had something important to say. Because Roland Carter did not write that music for an elevator. There was something to be said. I don’t know if my high C’s were glorious. All I know is that I meant them. A handful of people told me after the performance that it was really great so you’ll have to take their word for it.

So, as I approach tomorrow’s performance I hope I have a similar experience where any anxieties melt away knowing that I did all the preparation needed to allow myself to lift in the moment.

Lift like an Opera Singer: Permission to Succeed

I have a concert tonight with the NC Master Chorale at the Meymandi theater in Raleigh. It’s my first performance (not including weekly church choir) since our December concert. I’m not nervous for this concert. I don’t get nervous for chorale concerts anymore but that doesn’t mean I don’t reflect and go through the same process and mindset work as if I’m preparing for a more nerve racking performance. It got me thinking about how my approach to performing, training, and preparation changed. So as I stand here waiting for water to boil and prepare my dinner I thought I’d spew a few things out that are heavy on my mind.

During my time at Ithaca College (master degree number 1) a professor of voice had said in her master class that she gives herself permission to forget all the words during a performance. I found that so comforting because that was my biggest fear. When you’re a singer, the words are connected to everything. Words determine how you react to the music, how you express the music, how you communicate everything to a stage partner and the audience. Knowing that she gave herself permission to let go of that fear was so empowering. I’ve used that tactic since then and trust me when I tell you I have forgotten words. Not that I WANTED to forget the words, but no matter what I would continue my performance despite fumbling over every syllable. I once forgot an entire verse to “Amor” by Strauss and Dan Sato (bless his heart) covered with his immaculate piano skills as if Strauss himself wrote it that way. Just because I give myself permission to fail during a performance doesn’t mean I plan to fail. Could I have prepared the text to “Amor” better? Oh absolutely. After failing so hard with that piece do I know what to fix? 110%. It’s essential to the learning process and to bettering that skill. For tonight’s performance I will have the music in front of me so we don’t need to be so concerned about forgetting words.

I have a string of concerts lined up from now until June that I am very excited about. I also have my first weightlifting meet of 2022 coming up. At the end of April I will be competing at Master’s Nationals in Salt Lake City. I mention this because something dawned on me today as I was making my mental check list in preparation of tonight’s performance. Just like giving myself permission to forget all the words in a performance I have always given myself permission to miss every lift at a meet. I’ve been competing since 2014, so not as long as I’ve been singing. However, the biggest fear at a meet is of course bombing out (aka missing all your lifts). Until this last summer during Virtual Master’s Worlds I hadn’t bombed out. So that approach to performance had worked for me right? Sure, but I also have never gotten 6 out of 6 lifts. So today as I thought about this I realized, in preparing for my meet in just under 5 weeks, what if I decided to give myself permission to make all the lifts? What if from tomorrow’s training to the moment I walk on stage to compete I tell myself it’s OK to make all the lifts? Furthermore, what if I tell myself it’s ok to remember all the words to “Amor” the next time I perform it? I wonder what the out come will be. Honestly, it may be no different. I still think this shift will be important for me personally because I’ve always struggled with being a perfectionist. I don’t want my desire to have a perfect performance become crippling if I DON’T actually have a perfect performance. All of a sudden, however, I don’t think this will become an issue. I’m not telling myself I HAVE to give a perfect performance, it’s just, now I’m giving myself PERMISSION to have one. Maybe that makes no difference to you as the reader. But let me know what you think. Is this view of performance expectations healthy or hindering?

Until next time,

Laura

Strength Training for Singers: Still Breathing

Strength Training for Singers? Strength Training AND Singers? I’ll let you dice it however you choose. Anyway, I wanted to do follow up to my previous post about breathing. I had mentioned that during one of my lifting sessions I found that my shoulders were rising more than usual when I initiated the jerk. This was something I saw when watching the video; not something I felt in the moment. This could be due to fatigue. I was not purposely thinking that I must raise the shoulders up as I inhaled. I wanted to revisit this because in actuality, I was trying to focus on expanding the ribs OUT as the chest remained lifted. It was challenging for me to feel the rib cage expand as I maintained hold of the barbell in the front rack position. This got me thinking about how else I can create the effect I’m working towards with my breath.

Today I decided I would use one of my vocal breathing exercises as a warmup prior to my lifting session. What I do is place my hands one on each side of my rib cage and I breath into my hands. As I sing, I brace to keep the ribs expanded as I sing. Yes, the ribs will begin to lower and draw inward as the air is released but the goal is to slow down the rate in which this happens. (Come on intercostals, keep that rib cage expanded!) The use of this exercise allowed me to better bring attention to my breath during my lifting. This time around, when I started the jerk portion of my session I honed in on keeping the lower part of my ribs expanded as I initiated the lift. Essentially, keeping the ribs buoyant as I decent into a jerk dip (tailbone straight down, knees out, chest lifted). I felt this was more successful than previously since I was able to keep my core engaged while maintaining the chest lifted and the ribs expanded through the entire lift. I’m not sure I had done that before. Or maybe I had but this time I was aware of it. I worked up to 93% for a set of 1 repetition, so I’d call that a success. Please note, I will use a weightlifting belt for heavy lifts in training and for competition, but in general I do not use that equipment and I did not use that item during this training session. All this to say, the way I was bracing for my breath was created on my own and not with aid from equipment.

I’d say overall, I think this experiment I’m conducting in regards to breathing like an opera singer is proving to be useful for my sport specific training. I am curious to know if you have taken the time to analyze your breathing. Are there areas you think you can improve? Are there exercises that have helped improve your breathing and recognition of breath? If you’re having trouble body mapping the movement of your rib cage you can try out my simple breathing warmup exercise listed above. I’ve also found that thoracic CARS (Controlled Articular Rotations) are very beneficial. Let me know if you’ve found a breathing exercise or concept that works well for you.

Until next time

-Laura

Strength Training for Singers: Breathe

I started my strength training journey in the Spring of 2009 in hopes to better my singing. At that time, I was working on my masters degree in vocal performance at Ithaca College. During this time I told myself, “Well, if I want to be a physically stronger singer then I need to be stronger physically.” I quickly learned that stronger muscles meant better posture which also meant better breath support. Body awareness and confidence moving my body through space were also enhanced when I dedicated myself to a consistent training schedule.

A few weeks ago, I was speaking with my Weightlifting coach, Sean Waxman, about how weightlifters breathe. He mentioned that he has a theory that opera singers breathe much like how a weightlifter should. I told him, “Well, I also have that theory.” I admit, it has been a while since I’ve thought about the connection between weightlifting and singing when dealing with the breath but since that conversation, I have been dwelling on the thought more and more.

A couple of weeks ago I decided to do a little experiment during my lifting and think about the “appoggio” during my jerk set up. I realize I’m mixing singer terminology with weightlifting so I’ll clarify. “Appoggio” is an Italian term we use in singing meaning “to lean on”. This describes the sensation felt in the chest cavity once you’ve drawn the breath to sing. While the breath is released during singing, the ribs are buoyant, the chest is lifted and not collapsing, and the air preassure is maintaining the “lean on” sensation. Now, the weightlifting component to this, the jerk is the second half of the lift in the “clean and jerk.” To complete a jerk, the athlete must bring the barbell from the shoulders to overhead in one fluid motion. This occurs after the clean once the athlete shows control of the barbell while in a standing position.

So, the reason behind why I thought I needed to test this experiment is because during 2021 I had a real come to Jesus moment in my jerk. It was rough. It was ROUGH ROUGH. I switched which foot I split with, I did power jerk for a few competitions, I switched my feet back.. it was a mess. So in all my trial and error of foot work and what I call “push and pray”, I became so self-conscious that I would consistently miss the lift BEHIND me. Since working with Waxman I haven’t had this problem. However, the programming he provides is significantly different from what I had been doing. I believe that helped pull me out of my mental funk.

Anyway, the issues with strength, timing, and confidence in my jerk are still present. After our conversation about understand the breath and how to breathe, I wanted to see if my confidence changed when I approached the jerk set up as if I were about to sing. Now, this isn’t easy to replicate since I have a 100+lb barbell resting on my delts in the front rack position. However, I did find that It allowed me to keep my chest high throughout the initiation of the dip. When I first tested this, I had 3 jerks in a row. By the third jerk I was pushing my shoulders up into the barbell. Now, I don’t know if this is a good or bad thing. I’m sure it all depends. I wasn’t actively thinking about pushing the bar up with my shoulders, but since I was repeating the motion 3 times and of course becoming tired, that was my body’s way of staying connected to the bar. At least, this is what I’m taking away as my experience. Nonetheless, I believe the use of the appoggio forced me to keep my chest up, therefore raising the delts into the bar, and finally allowing me to have 3 solid jerks in a row. Mind you, I did not re-rack the bar between attempts. The bar returned back to my shoulders after each lock out overhead.

Now, my jerk sets were in 3s and also less than 90%, but I did find my lock out to be fast and stable. I did not notice being off balanced (hurray) but I was so focused on creating the sensation of appoggio to the best of my ability that I didn’t catch all these other nuances in my lift. I also did find that the sensation of continuously pushing the rib cage out was challenging while stablizing a barbell on my shoulders. This isn’t something I’m concerned about since, after all, I’m not about to sing a legato musical phrase to one of Puccini’s most famed arias… I’m about to do a 1 second explosive movement for sport.

There are a number of things I did not pay attention to while I was working through this process and I still have more testing to work through with this idea of using the appoggio on the jerk initiation. It raised some questions like, how does this effect the depth of my dip? or does it effect the dip depth at all? Is my timing in the dip faster, slower, or the same? I currently have difficulty holding in the split position with the weight overhead, will this new approach help improve this?

If you’re a singer looking to weight train, you should consider adding the jerk to your fitness/strength training routine. If you are a singer who already jerks.. WELL let me know what you think about the use of appoggio in your jerk set up. If you’re on the flip side and are a weightlifter, I encourage you to explore the breath in this capacity. I could dive in to an exploration of belly breathing, clavicular breathing, and all the in between. But for now, if you’re finding your breath lacking a sense of fullness, see if you can isolate the sensation to where your lungs actually are. Reminder, your lungs are not in your belly button, they are in the rib cage. What would happen if you create a sensation of breath that is more thoracic and less abdominal? It’s true the abdomen does need to release enough to allow the diaphragm to move, BUT I think the breath settles much higher than we tell ourselves. Still, take care not to gasp for your breath in the throat. That will not serve you either.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on breathing for singing vs. breathing for weightlifting or anything else that deals with how we use our breath. There are infinite ways to approach the breath but depending on your goals I think there are specific advantages to one technique over another.

-Laura

Strength Training for Singers

Laura McCall performing a back squat at 115kg in 2018

This past week I was sent an article titled, “Fitness Training and the Singing Voice: Successful Strategies for Integration” by Chuck Chandler. As a singer and a weightlifter I was eager to find out this authors view and experience with merging these two domains: fitness training and singing. Please note, I don’t know Chuck Chandler and I have never heard of him prior to reading this article. I have no doubt he is a reputable teacher with nothing but good intentions for the singing community. I applaud his efforts in bringing the topic of utilizing fitness and strength training to the forefront. However, there are many points presented in this article that “miss the mark” for me. This article did a poor job of distinguishing the difference between training to build strength and training for aesthetics. Can the two be tied together? of course, but that doesn’t mean they are one and the same.

As I read through Chuck’s article a stream of questions began to play through my mind. Below are just a few I jotted down:

1) What is Strength training?
2) What is the difference between training to build strength vs. quality of health vs. aesthetic purposes?
3) Is there a difference between flexibility and mobility? What is Chuck’s understanding of mobility?
4) Chuck mentions body building often. Why doesn’t he mention other sport specific training? Is all sport specific training created equally?
5) Should a singer be concerned about sport specific training, such as body building, or are there other strength training options that allow for overall general wellness?

Aside from the questions above, I was confused about the audience for this article. Is this geared towards all singers in the community or perhaps a specific generation? I ask this because there is sense of assuming that the singers being address are lazy. Sorry for being blunt, but I’m not sure how else to put it. Chuck writes as if this audience doesn’t understand what it feels like to work hard and hustle. As if there isn’t enough curiosity in a singer’s DNA to want to learn more about their body, how it functions, and how they can perform the most optimally. Since our body is our instrument, aren’t we (singers, that is) always looking for ways to connect with our body, understand our body, and always analyzing (sometimes over analyzing) how we feel? Aren’t we always day in and day out learning how to confidently move our body through space and develop a hyper awareness of our surroundings? The majority of singers I know already have a physical activity they enjoy doing to supplement their singing. Furthermore, I find they are the first ones to go explore new physical activities. So, with all that being said, who is Chuck talking to? If the scope of this article actually narrowed in on strength training for the singer and how to utilize resources they didn’t know were available, then this article would be incredibly useful. Right now, this article reads as a confusing mess of ideas that don’t actually integrate fitness training and singing. I don’t think this article helped bring the singing community any closer to understanding how to explore and enjoy the benefits of physical training in any capacity.

Finally, I want to say thank you for making it this far with me. I know that I brought up a lot of questions but didn’t give you any closure on these concerns. But fret not! Writing a blog series about this exact topic has been heavy on my heart for a long time. When I say a long time I literally mean YEARS. I am grateful that Chuck Chandler’s article made its rounds to me because the fact that people are interested in engaging with this topic really helps fuel my drive to buckle down and share the information I have been gathering over the last 10 years!

Thanks again for joining me on this journey. I hope you are as intrigued and excited about my upcoming blog series as I am!

-Laura

Autumn: The Sleeping Beauty Project

Welcome to the third and final upload of The Sleeping Beauty Project! I’m so happy I was able to take on this challenge with my limited time and resource! I feel like this project just proves that if you want to create something, it IS possible to find a way! I hope that this little online project can one day turn into a live performance. I have so many more ideas of what I could do and fix so it can be a really fun and interesting in-person performance. Thank you for going on this journey with me!

This last song, I’ll be honest, I’ve wanted to sing for the past 15 years! I was always told it just didn’t fit my voice but here I am, 15 years older and I’m throwing ALL THE RULES OUT THE WINDOW. I feel like I’m honestly just barely scratching the surface with what I can do with this song, but I’m so happy I was able to finally put together a performance.

I wanted this to be the last song in the Sleeping Beauty Project for a couple of reasons. 1) This song is about the season that you go through in life and how you wake up one day and your youth is gone. 2) These fairy tale princesses aren’t portrayed to have real relatable struggles so this song gives Aurora depth. 3) Finally, it’s just powerful music. Do we need much more if an excuse than just wanting to revel in Fauré’s masterpiece?

The mirror was a last minute addition. I set up my camera angle a little funky and my first take I had this mirror image showing up in the frame. I realized that if I wanted to create something different than my usual “park and bark”, that this mirror would be a nice touch (plus it gives me something to do during the piano intro and outro which is always a singers struggle!).

Initially, Aurora was to go elsewhere in the garden and have this conversation with a tree… but I do sing these live and in the moment so finding a tree outside was a challenge I couldn’t swing (maybe next time!). However, I found using the reflection in the mirror was a much better chose and actually changed how I felt about Aurora going through the realization that youth is fleeting.

You can check out the lyrics down below. Head over to my finally blog on this project which gives full written detail about the scene, setting, and text all in one post.

Thank you again for joining me on this journey! I’m excited too see what’s next!

-Laura

Automne                                                                       Autumn

 Automne au ciel brumeux, aux horizons navrants,          Autumn of misty skies and heartbreaking horizons,
Aux rapides couchants, aux aurores pâlies,                     Of fleeting sunsets, of pale dawns
Je regarde couler, comme l’eau du torrent,                    I watch flowing by, like the waters of a torrent,
Tes jours faits de mélancolie.                                         Your days tinged with melancholy.

Sur l’aile des regrets mes esprits emportés                     My thoughts, carried away on the wings of regret,
Comme s’il se pouvait que notre âge renaisse!               --As though it were possible for our age to be reborn!
Parcourent en rêvant les coteaux enchantés,                 Travel in dreams over the enchanted hillsides,
Où jadis, sourit ma jeunesse!                                         Where once my youth had smiled!

Je sens au clair soleil du souvenir vainqueur,                  In the bright sunlight of victorious memory
Refleurir en boquets les roses déliées,                           I smell the fallen roses blooming again in bouquets
Et monter à mes yeux des larmes,                                  That in my heart
Mes vingt ans avaient oubliées!                                     At twenty had been forgotten!

Sleeping Beauty

Scene 1:

Setting: Aurora’s cold, dark bedroom; October 25th, 1808 Paris, France. Approximately 6am, just before dawn.

Aurora, (Sleeping Beauty) awakes from a 20 year curse of sleep. Expecting to be greeted by a prince’s kiss, instead, Aurora wakes abruptly to a cold dark room and she is all alone. Along with 20 years of uninterrupted sleep, Aurora had been cursed to believe that the dream she was in had been real. In her dream, Aurora believed to be in love with and married to Prince Phillipe. However, the reality is that Aurora is alone and has spent the last 20 years asleep while Prince Phillipe has lead a completely separate life.

Après un rêve                                                               After a dream

Dans un sommeil que charmait ton image                      In a sleep charmed by your image
Je rêvais le bonheur, ardent mirage;                               I dreamed of happiness, ardent mirage;
Tes yeux étaient plys doux, ta voix pure et sonore,         Your eyes were soft, your voice pure and rich,
Tu rayonnais comme un ciel éclairé par l’aurore.            You were radiant as a sky lit by the dawn.

Tu m’appelais et je guittais la terre                                 You called me, and I left the earth
Pour m’enfuir avec toi vers la lumière;                            To flee with you towards the light.
Les cieux pour nous, entr’ouvraient leurs nues,               The heavens parted their clouds for us
Splendeurs inconnues, lueurs divines entreveus…          Unknown splendors, glimpses of divine light…

Hélas, hélas, triste réveil des songes!                              Alas, alas, sad awakening from dreams!
Je t’apelle, ô nuit, rends-moi tes mensonges;                   I call to you, o night, give me back your illusions;
Reviens, reviens radieuse,                                              Return, return in radiance,
Reviens, ô nuit mystérieuse!                                           Return, o mysterious night!

Scene 2A:

Setting: Aurora’s cousin Emelie’s Garden. October 25th, 1808 Paris, France. Around 8pm just after the sun has set

A masquerade party at Emelie’s garden is being held in honor of Aurora’s waking! Since Aurora has been asleep for 20 years, everyone is a stranger to her. Aurora sits by the fountain in the moonlight observing the scene around her. She talks to the moonlight as if it were her only friend.

Clair de lune                                                                  Moonlight

Votre âme est un paysage choisi                                              Your soul is a rare landscape
Que vont charmant masques et bergamasques               Charmed by masks and bergamasks
Jouant du luth et dansant et quasi                                  Playing the lute and dancing, and almost
Tristes sous leurs déguisements fantasques.                    Sad beneath their fantastic disguises.

Tout en chantant sur le mode mineur                             While singing in the minor key
L’amour vainqueur et la vie opportune,                           Of victorious love and the good life,
Ils n’ont pas l’air de croire à leur boneur                         They do not seem to believe in their happiness,
Et leur chanson se mêle au clair de lune.                         And their song blends with the moonlight.

Au calm eclair de lune triste et beau,                              With the calm moonlight, sad and beautiful,
Qui fait rêver les oiseaux dans les arbres                               That makes the birds dream in the trees,
Et sangloter d’extase les jets d’eau,                                 And the fountains sob with rapture,
Les grands jets d’eau sveltes parmi les marbres.              The tall slender fountains among the marble statues.

Scene 2B:

Setting: Aurora’s cousin Emelie’s Garden. October 25th, 1808 Paris, France. Around 9pm

Overwhelmed with being surrounded by party goers, Aurora decides to leave the center of the party and find a room that is quiet and empty. As Aurora catches her reflection in the mirror, she is confronted with a grim reality. She has spent the past 20 years asleep, and she will never get that time back.

Automne                                                                       Autumn

Automne au ciel brumeux, aux horizons navrants,           Autumn of misty skies and heartbreaking horizons,
Aux rapides couchants, aux aurores pâlies,                      Of fleeting sunsets, of pale dawns
Je regarde couler, comme l’eau du torrent,                     I watch flowing by, like the waters of a torrent,
Tes jours faits de mélancolie.                                          Your days tinged with melancholy.

Sur l’aile des regrets mes esprits emportés                       My thoughts, carried away on the wings of regret,
Comme s’il se pouvait que notre âge renaisse!                --As though it were possible for our age to be reborn!
Parcourent en rêvant les coteaux enchantés,                  Travel in dreams over the enchanted hillsides,
Où jadis, sourit ma jeunesse!                                          Where once my youth had smiled!

 Je sens au clair soleil du souvenir vainqueur,                   In the bright sunlight of victorious memory
Refleurir en boquets les roses déliées,                            I smell the fallen roses blooming again in bouquets
Et monter à mes yeux des larmes,                                   That in my heart
Mes vingt ans avaient oubliées!                                      At twenty had been forgotten!