Teaching one on one is a specialized gift. I have naturally gravitated towards working with bigger groups in my teaching. One on one instruction isn’t my first choice but I do enjoy the work I do with my private students and have learned a lot. So much of private voice teaching involves semantics, approach, and energy before quantitative content can be accessed. It is a process of peeling back layers of interference and side stepping self created road blocks. And in that vulnerable space, we can easily be trampled and discouraged in the wrong setting. With tenacity and grit, vocal progress will result from a constructive and nurturing environment. With this challenging work, involuntary technique will emerge. Vocal pedagogy is an intricate fine art. To achieve the best result, we have to throw caution to the wind.
We seek to become proprioceptive. I began to learn about this concept in graduate school from my gifted LSU and Mannes Alexander Technique teachers. It has been a real gift over the years in my vocal journey. Proprioceptive meaning: the sense of the relative position of one’s own parts of the body and strength of effort being employed in movement.
This body work is essential to finding an integrated, free sound on the breath. And it is a lifelong process; no finish line to reach. The physical knowing sustains and informs a healthy singing life.
I learn well with a tactile approach but often encounter students who approach singing in a more cerebral manner.
I am fortunate to work with a talented adult singer who is also a colleague. She is very bright and conscientious. My personal “monkey see monkey do” approach (which has actually worked pretty well for me in my vocal journey,) hasn’t always been her forte. Anymore, she is embracing a more felt technique; not an easy feat. As we work on ease and less inhibiting, she continues to make strides. Tonight we had some epic chuckles as we communicated in the vocalizes sans words; just by making strange sounds. She was able sing with more clarity and register blend. It was exhilarating for us both. Her most common observation after the fact have been “it just came out.”
Throwing caution to the wind and becoming proprioceptive in the singing process is daunting. And as a singer, WE are our instrument so it can be impossible not to take challenges and critiques personally.
Finding ease wherever it lives in your throat, (originally for me it was extreme high and low,) will help to capture the Romanian spirit in your vocal production. I have witnessed firsthand the tears and joy the freedom brings. It’s worth the risk.
#akintsucrooner
akintsucrooner 