From March 2015
My singing satchel is filled with various tools that I have collected along the long and windy voice lesson path. Some tools were temporary and have worn away. Some tools have worked since undergrad regardless of my progress and help me out even today when the going gets tough. No teacher gave me everything, but everyone gave me something. Some teachers however were more well suited to my viscerally vulnerable self.
One of the most enduring overall approaches came from the body and emotional work that I did at LSU with Patricia O’Neill. I was fortunate to take her performance craft class twice. By the time I was at LSU, I was a doctoral student with many insistent voices in my head telling me how it should be done. If I could, I would hereby declare that her performance craft class become part of the applied college music curriculum and implemented into all schools of performing arts, regardless of instrument.
In this class, we studied the book “A Soprano On Her Head” by Eloise Ristad. This is not a book for just one voice type. It has insights for all performers. One of the chapters of the book that stands out for me is the book of judges. What goes on in our head while we sing? What voices interfere with production or in my case, keep you safe from really stretching? This work has been ongoing for me; I am making progress. I was told that I am not a safe singer this past year and it gave me great joy.
Today, my voice student and I discussed her book of judges and we named them. We delved into reasons why the judges are needed and why we create them in the first place. She is a tremendous musician and I am grateful to have crossed paths with her. Doing work like this with her is humbling. And, she implements so quickly. It a joy to witness.
Ristad Book Insights:
—Ways to avoid the chatter of internal judges that help singer nervousness
—The connection between music and movement
—Practicing with quality rather than quantity (especially in singing imho)
—Achieving performance goals surround the journey not the end result
—Envisioning the staff as vertical to visualize the up and down concept of singing
—Using visualization
—The importance of incorporating various techniques to achieve your own custom approach
akintsucrooner 