Author: akintsucrooner

The years are 1986-1990. I am a voice and music education major in central Illinois. The world is pre-mainstream computer and internet. It is now 2018. I have been singing and teaching in NJ for 16 years. The whole world is online and connected with its own set of problems. Below are a few of the enduring lessons I have carried with me through my travels.

1. RESOURCES

IN 1986-1990, I was encouraged to:

Build your repertoire library, feed your ear with records and cassettes, invest in foreign language dictionaries, and acquire word by word translation resources.

32 YEARS LATER :

I am still pulling out my water logged books from over 8 moves to check pitches, IPA, and translations.

2. FIND YOUR SHOE SIZE

IN 1986-1990, I was instructed that:

Just because a piece has certain pitches doesn’t mean it is the correct repertoire for your voice type.

26 YEARS LATER :

A wonderful voice student came to me a few years ago as a high and light voice who lost her top and was singing mezzo. We have rebuilt and found her ease and height throughout the range. She asked why can’t she sing a high C in a certain song since she can vocalise to a high G6 with me. And I am reminded that no matter what the pitches are, if a piece is out of your fach and doesn’t sit where your voice lives, notes that should be easy won’t be. Example: I can sing the pitches of Violetta’s Traviata act one aria but ain’t no one hankering to cast my thickly fortified and non consumptive sounding throat as this damsel in distress. (The picture enclosed are mutual admiring 2 fellow coloraturas)

3. GET THAT MOTOR RUNNING

IN 1986-1990, I was instructed that:

3. You may sing Wagner in the future but you always need to be able to sing art song, melismas, and mozart.

28 YEARS LATER :

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am no fast moving note expert. I like me juicy one beat plus notes where I can gently stroll. But scoring the medium buck gigs in the regional church music circuit means ya gotta be able to move that vocal tuchus. Hey Liz! Here’s some Handel, Rossini, Baroque snappy sacred music du jour, and boy soprano forehead bright renaissance motets! And my Germanic throat, pulls up her Seglinda pants, pops a singer Prozac, and gets her light soprano groove in gear.

#akintsucrooner

LITTLE BLACK DRESS SERENADE

By E. Perryman

4.4.18

#akintsucrooner

As a classical singer, you don’t always get to sing pieces that come easily. Many of us have keys, languages, tempos, time periods, and approaches that fit our voices really well. Singing these tailor suited pieces aren’t always the norm. When you are in the ranks and singing various gigs, you do what you need to fit the square peg into the round hole.

The little black dress that I often need to squeeze into includes finding my straight tone, releasing my float, using less active vibrato, lifting into a high position, accessing bright and forward placement, and avoiding my ax murderer upper register that works well in “In Questia Reggia.”

I worked on a Mozart piece today that definitely showcases my lesser fit technical areas. So the following insights shared with me by a talented Chicago singer and musical director, Ryan Cox, were very helpful and ones I intend to continue implementing. ‘Cuz as a soprano and impresario once told me, you aren’t finished learning until you are below ground. Indeed.

These insights below were diagnosed for a meaty and evenly resonated voice with a mezzo quality who doesn’t live as a mezzo; one who loves to over-darken and get chesty whenever possible, and one who could benefit from some WD-40 on fast musical passages. So these directives are definitely not one size fits all and contingent on the individual singer.

1. Find your sister words to help raise the position of over-darkened vowels. For example, on the Latin e-sing more as “bait” without the diphthong rather than “bet” or “happy” not “hoppy” on ah vowels.

2. When singing a couple fachs lighter as a big girl soprano, think Freni not Tebaldi.

3. Get out of the throat and jaw. Bring it up. Find your high and cheeky soprano swag.

4. Sing fluid vowel between intervals. Find your croon. It’s all about gender vowel fluidity in singing, baby.

5. Don’t micromanage vowels in runs. In my case, “splatting” the ah was helpful to homogenize.

6. If a run has a tied note prior to the melisma, add a breath articulation on the tied note before the run to engage the breath; whatever works to get the engine purring.

7. Get your valley girl going and perhaps add even a bit of Cher when you need to connect and smooth out a phrase.

8. Find your inner baroque “ha” and when in doubt, sigh and reset.

BEL CANTO BIBLE

(A Singer’s Shants)

By E. Perryman

3.12.18

I have been filling my singing toolbox since my first voice lesson in 1981. My reliable throat, high C, and melismas are grateful for the variety of tools I have acquired over the years. Working with my vocal coach Giovanni Longo this past year has helped me to streamline many of the crucial components of the Bel Canto style. He uses humor which is much appreciated as I continue to refine my technique.

So, I have created a Longo list of what a singer shan’t do, in the spirit of Moses and the Bible’s big ten.

1. Italian Vowels are the God of the throat, who brought you out of the murky land of language impurity, and out of the house of diction bondage. You shall have no other gods before the five perfect, Italianate ones.

2. You shall not chew vowels into a carved image—any likeness that is not gathered well into thy embouchure is an abomination and may perhaps send you to eternal hell fire (or at least to the DMV when at capacity.)

3. You shall not take thy double consonants in vain, for the consonant police will not hold guiltless all who forgets the double nn in “anni.”

4. Remember the legato, and keep it holy. Any interruption of this heavenly thread which results in sausage singing and necessary de-constipation will blaspheme the canto core.

5. Honor your L and R. They may linger and lounge in your jaw and the back of the throat, depending on where you live in proximity to the Mason Dixon line, but your days may be long upon the land of singing if you properly nurture and articulate them out, front, and center.

6. You shall not murder the rests. They are an equal part of the piece and deserve compassion. Use them to breathe and express but never deny their value. Your attention to rest animation is next to Godliness.

7. You shall not commit composer adultery. Singing Mozart like Wagner will not end well. Composers are control freaks. You cannot hide anything from them. They know, oh they know. Before you can even get to the allegro, phrases will die and high notes will crack.

8. You shall not steal breath like a thief. There is enough for everyone. Socialism is alive and well in our diaphragm. There is no need to punch the notes out of anger because you haven’t properly moved your breath. Your melismas will exercise collective bargaining and protest your oppression. Free your breath, and the rest will follow.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your oo vowel. It is the middle child of the vowels and will be heard. This vowel is cut no slack and easily annoys the aurally sensitive. Be warned, you may spend half of a coaching on this vowel if you don’t produce it well.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s one holy note. Sing the one note of your voice, regardless of range, with space and energy, and you shall dwell and phonate as long as you are above ground.

#akintsucrooner

Soprano, Danielle Davis

Pianist, Giovanni Longo

Getting older isn’t such a bad deal. Yeah, I do creak a little more, burn off that donut a little slower, and happily sport laugh lines that were surely acquired at those bathroom emergency outings with friends. Indeed, getting older is better than the alternative.

A special treat of getting older is a new view of competition in the world of singers. Anymore, some of my best opportunities have come from fellow singers who sing the same repertoire as me. I find singers to be supportive and giving. We are all just trying to keep our head above water in this crazy business. One of the perks is a wonderful singer network.

This brings me to launch a huge shout out to a wonderful singer I met last year. I am so grateful to have met soprano Danielle Davis. We were cast as Suor Angelica together last June. It was a joy to meet her and witness her talent. She is a very gifted singer and performer.

There is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to talented opera singers. I believe many of these singers should be working far more than they are currently. The road to emerald city has many twists and turns. Very few people carve out a performance career in the same way. It takes a lot of tenacity, patience, faith, and creativity to keep singing.

I look forward to hearing Danielle’s beautiful tones many times in the future.

Brava, Diva Davis. ❤️

#akintsucrooner

The word “natural” can be defined as:

1. Existing in or caused by nature; not made or caused by humankind.

2.  A skill, quality, or ability coming instinctively to a person; innate.

3. A person or their behavior relaxed and unaffected; spontaneous.

Natural doesn’t necessarily mean effortless or easeful.  Often someone’s natural is awkward and unwieldy.

Such is the case of learning how to sing well.  Some people open their mouth and glorious sounds pour out.  This is the exception.  Most of us mortals have to work continuously to sound free and easy.

I learn alot about singing by working with others. I have had the privilege to work with singers of all ages and levels.  There are some singers who come to me making healthy sounds.  I assist the singer with preserving what easily functions and we work on expresssion and artistry. This is the minority however, no matter how talented someone may be.

The majority of singers, including the young folk, work on finding a free, unencumbered sound.  We work to find a reliable approach (technique) that a singer can employ regardless the state of their throat.

Over time, the body carries our feelings and experiences.  We tote around these roadblocks throughout our lives.  These blockages manifest physically; how we walk, speak, sing, dance, and even sleep.  In my singing experience, these stored emotional experiences result in physical blockages eg lack of breath support, unclear vowels, unsteady vibrato, tight tongue, locked jaw, and legato difficulty.

So, today I had a chance to work with a lovely singer who like, myself, works on freeing the voice.  His goal is to be able to sing runs fluidly.  I find that movement in my voice only came when I released and unlocked. It was when I was able to move my sounds more freely, that my largnx and diaphragm cooperated and I was able to sing runs.

Our voice is an audio mirror of the inside.  It is easy to eclipse experiences that have been stowed away for self preservation, but our voice will reveal when we open our mouth to make music.

“Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

#akintsucrooner

2.18.18

By E. Perryman

Since I started singing at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Newark, it had been a long time since college choir where I worked to wedge my unwieldy, veristic voice into revealing and ethereal motets and madrigals.

In short, it ain’t easy to sing choral music especially music written before the 1600s.

Big girls britches are scarce and vibrato is the devil’s work. So…..not my forte.

But, by George, it is getting easier each year to access this singing approach and dare I say, it has made me a better musician.

So, as I listened to the first sopranos waft above the staff to that magical land above Bb5, it occurred to me that the voices in my head were not what was for dinner later. Nope, Allegri performance practices, clearly and patiently articulated by our gifted director, came to me in the form of a laundry list. I like lists a lot.

1. Music should live and breathe.

No matter how cold you know the score, you never quite find music where you left it. Music takes on a life of its own and shares a new pulse each season. My ears and brain get a worthy workout at each rehearsal.

2. Not unlike dogs, notes need a good walk.

Move those notes, no time to park. Especially over a measure and on the same pitch, use space and energy to stroll through the score. And keep that rhythmic ticker ticking. Once I lag, vowels, phrasing, and clear tone follows suit. Must keep on, keeping on.

3. Vowels are drama queens.

“Mommee Dearest” Joan Crawford ain’t got nothing on vowels. They vary day to day and need a lot of TLC. Barometric pressure has been known to bully the throat. Mother Nature does not always comply with bright, clear, in tune, and immediate vowels. And we all have our own individual sounds that need to merge, so taming the vowel vixen is an ongoing work in progress.

4. EF Hutton is speaking so ya better listen.

I’m dating myself here but knowing how much you need to listen in a choir reminds me of the 70s commercial that claimed when insurance brokerage EF Hutton speaks, everybody listens. Singing in tune is one entity as a soloist. Singing in tune doesn’t always play well with others. After a few years in the choir, I now get why the veteran singers are acutely affected by car and horn sounds from outside. And early composers seem to be 2 piece bathing suit kinda folk. A singer is tres exposed in this repertoire. No hiding behind big lush chords and the mellifluous middle voice.

5. Socialist singing can be good.

Finding a homogenized sound with your choir pals is a communal one. At our best, we are indeed all one. There is no finish line for individual winners. To be the most successful, we need to coexist under the same conditions and infrastructure. Now when it comes to communicating the text from your core, GO democracy. Bring all your varied experiences to the text to minister to all types of listeners.

And that’s all the choral music pontificating for now. As you were.

#akintsucrooner

Today, I was given these treasures by elementary students I teach. I was privileged to witness a non English speaking 8 year old play her recorder proficiently with others around her exclaiming “she’s better than me!” And I share these blessings with a lump in my throat after today’s shooting tragedy of at least 17 souls at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

The young killer was this tender young age at one point. Somehow he got to a pathological point where he could commit such heinous acts. As important as common sense gun control may be, I believe that it isn’t enough to think that this will in itself end these tragedies.

It makes me think of what I miss from my students daily. It makes me shudder about the times I have gotten so angry at youngsters perhaps without all of the information.

I don’t believe there is an easy answer to any of these tragedies, homegrown or worldwide.

I think the only way we can begin to heal is by having the uncomfortable conversation, accepting that people may not see our viewpoint, and assuming that everyone is truly fighting their own battle.

#blessusall

#akintsucrooner

SAVING FOR A RAINY DAY

https://kintsucrooner.wordpress.com/

(From 2015)

If I am being completely candid, I can be pretty blunt, intense, touchy, and demanding when I am teaching. Well, maybe in general too. The last 25 years have mellowed me somewhat with difficult life lessons but I am still a choir and voice sergeant occasionally. It all started at the upright piano in Riverside, Illinois.

My Dad didn’t have the word “quit” in his vocabulary. This was powerful to witness as a shy but deeply feeling child. As a 5 year old, I could barely sing 2 pitches without breathing but I had a good ear and a musical soul. “My County Tis Of Me” is one of earliest solo moments. My Grandpa said to my Dad, probably without realizing the future impact, she sounds so breathy. This is probably one of my earliest memories; lol. An insecure diva already in training…. My dad paid no mind and kept at it with me. He transposed songs to cater to my very strong extreme high and low; bypassing my weaker middle. We would sing marathon lessons on weekends. In the early years, my dad had me sing everything from “cherry ripe,” “my mother bid me bind my hair” to “all things bright and beautiful” and “one tin soldier.” As I got older and my dramatic voice was less than compliant, I sang pieces from each end of the spectrum; the contralto key of Vilia, Mein Herr Marquis, Let The Bright Seraphim, pieces from my Mom’s Lily Pons book (my Dad loved coloraturas,) to Porgy and Bess and Voi Che Sapete. It was so much fun to sing with my Dad. When I got into college, I “wisely” sang for a shorter period of time so I didn’t get vocally fatigued. No more 2 hour lessons. What I would give for a two hour lesson with my Dad now.

When I was preparing for college, he would thoroughly and demandingly (but always with care) work with me as I prepared for college auditions. In these days my voice was usually not ready to before noon and it was very inconsistent. I also was not always the most happy or pleasing voice student. It wasn’t always easy. He insisted that I choose a college that “wanted me.” Never go to a college who doesn’t give you a scholarship he would bellow. He was right about that one. He was relentless about making sure I had all the music ready to go and I was as organized as possible. Some of this ocd that I inherited can be pretty daunting today.

Nevertheless, he prepared me to sing in French, German and Italian and chose time period appropriate repertoire which gave me a very well prepared freshman audition. Even though it would be quite awhile before my voice would settle, the high level of preparation and potential that the colleges heard in my voice got me into solid music schools. I still use many of the skills today that I acquired during these years.

My voice student received this very encouraging email below from one of the 2 auditions he has done so far. I am so proud of him for his tireless dedication. I can only think how fortunate I have been to have been the apple (or pear in his case) from the Bruce Perryman tree. Lucky am I for my Dad’s loving and tireless example he set even when I didn’t deserve it; that which I have had the privilege to learn and apply. I am saving this email for a rainy day and a reminder of my father’s legacy. #kintsucrooner

Email to my voice student:

I’m writing to thank you for the care you took to prepare your repertoire and performance for your recent New York City audition for the School of Music at Ithaca College. Your singing was elegant and refined and your musical choices tasteful.

I was quite moved by your artistry. You demonstrated high passion and potential – My compliments to you and your teacher for a well prepared audition.