akintsucrooner

A singer’s alphabet on the vocal health journey…….

A. All affects our throat. From parties to emotional experiences, your throat will react. Aging also makes an impact on vocal health.

B. Build strength with intentional vocalises. Don’t waste your voice.

C. Core sound endures. Pushing may work when you’re young but it doesn’t last. You will need vocal technique to rely on especially as you age.

D. Deep and free breathing is essential to healthy singing. If you sing without vibrating with breath, you may develop modules (callouses on your vocal cords.)

E. Express yourself by not overusing your speaking voice. Speaking poorly can damage your singing voice.

F. Find “your” voice. Don’t fight a losing battle with trying to mimic other singers.

G. Gauge your stamina and don’t over-sing.

H. Hydrate often.

I. Insist on rest especially before performing.

J. Just do it. Body work is very helpful for singers. Stretching, Yoga, and Alexander Technique are great tools for sound release.

K. Keep lozenges and water with you to keep throat moist.

L. Listen to recordings of yourself practicing. They are the most accurate.

M. Maintain your allergies. They can wreak havoc on the throat. (Scotto yawn)

N. Notice vocal fatigue and make adjustments. Warm up at the level of your fatigue. What exercises free your voice?

O. Objective ears are crucial. Find someone you trust to listen to you periodically. Not everyone is thinking of your best interest.

P. Practice smart. Don’t overdo. When learning music, you don’t have to sing full tilt the whole time. Mark. We all have different vocal percentage days. Know your limits. Above 90% days don’t happen too often. 80% is a typical throat day.

Q. Question if someone is asking you sing in a way that doesn’t feel good. Questions are good and should be embraced.

R. Rest well and elevate your head. Be cautious of acidic food especially before you go to sleep. Gerd is no joke.

S. Sing on your interest, not principal or pushed sound. Sing by sensation and not by what you hear in your head.

T. Take time to develop a handful of exercises that always work for you no matter how you feel. Carry them everywhere. (Ng and fee)

U. Utilize Apple cider vinegar, Neti pot, steamer, local honey, tea with lemon, and a couple Tylenol if needed when your cords are thick.

V. Vowels are helpful. Use your best one to help the others (my ee saves me.) Attach a voiced or unvoiced consonant to focus and move the air.

W. Weather affects the voice. Wear a scarf and stay warm. What would a be a worse case singing scenario? (Italian premiere)

X. X-ray (scope of cords) may be needed if you are excessively hoarse. Try not to sing sick if possible.

Y. You are unique and the best judge of how it feels when you sing. If someone wants you to sing something that doesn’t feel good, tread lightly.

Z. Zone in on what you do well and find your niche. Your authenticity will help you to sustain a long healthy career.

As a singer, I often carry various teachers on my shoulder. I’ve collected these guardian angels along the singing road and continue to meet more insightful advisors.

My Dad: his devotion, musicality, rich talent, and enthusiasm for music (and insistence on my soprano identity.)

My Mom: her beautiful natural tone that just comes out of her.

Jerry Daniels: reminds me to find my core/ng sound.

Sarah Stedman: reminds me how to align the voice from top to bottom and sing my (i) staccato that has often saved my backside.

Patricia O’Neill: my freedom sage reminds me to move the air and voice with ease.

Ruth Falcon: reminds me to lift and stretch up with onset and placement.

Paul Kreider: taught me the magic of upper register vowel modification

Mark Thomsen: reminds me to use my consonants as an asset to assist my singing.

Alfonse Anderson: reminds me to sing the vowel and find my matching chiaro.

Ben Spierman: Awesome acting coach who has helped me to bring myself all online.

David Maiullo: reminds me to bring out my personality.

Sandor Svabo: reminds me find my lightness and move my phrases.

Giovanni Longo: Italian diction, musical passion, and bel canto phrase guru who has brought me to another plane since 2017.

Charity Wicks: the lovely human on my shoulder today who has engaged my inner pulse and lives in my brain with cutoffs/teaching rhythmically challenging pieces.

Today, Charity is helping me with cutoffs as I teach the awesome “We Dance” piece from “Once on this Island.”

It takes a singing village indeed.

#grateful

(This song is awesome)

Logic, linear, and details crabby my brain makes.

Doing, creating, conceptual delighted my brain functions.

In short, my brain loves to run on right brain fuel.

This has been a good thing as a singer. My evolving essential vocal technique has come from the act of doing, body awareness, suspending disbelief, and intangible trust.

So when I teach voice students who are more left brain leading, it is a process of finding a vocabulary that suits both sides of the brain.

I have been working virtually with 14 year old Cora for the past few months.

Her left brain insights on finding right brain singing results has been enlightening as she begins to learn how to sing.

Cora’s thoughts on the process of singing:

1. I used a different amount of breath to sing that note in that range.

2. When I stop paying attention and just do it, I match pitch more easily.

3. Usually I can think my way through things, I can’t do that with singing.

(Cora summoning her inner extrovert below.)

Most singers have different degrees of “natural” talent. It’s a Kinsey type scale so to speak. Most people aren’t on the edges.

I have found that those who have little ability can usually find a limited range from their speaking voice and reinforcing voices around them.

I have also found that those who just know how to do it well innately will need to learn technique at some point as youth and aging strongly affects the voice.

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What’s your immediate response to below?

1. You either have a voice or don’t. You can’t train or improve your sound.

2. Logical thinking is essential to singing well.

3. If you take a big enough breath, you won’t run out of breath when you sing.

4. You can’t change how your voice sounds from day to day. You just have to deal with it.

5. You can train your voice to sound like your favorite singer.

6. It is easy to hear how you sing.

7. Volume, register, and range are not related.

All of the 7 above are…..



For #1-Everyone has certain ability. Though vowels, range negotiation, breath flow, and body ease, voices can grow exponentially (I’m living proof.)

For #2-Singing is a metaphysical science. Thinking too rationally will have you singing in frozen circles.

For #3-No matter how “big” of breath you take, if your breath flow isn’t fluid and free, you will run out of breath.

For #4-Our instrument case is us. We wake up with different degrees of vocal ease depending on health and environment. Building a body aware technique through breathing, ease, and register architecture, will neutralize and solidify the voice you find each day.

For #5-You can train to find your best voice but life ain’t fair, not everyone can have the Underwood belt or east Streisand croon.

For #6-It is not easy to hear how you sing. What you hear inside is not a good representation. Recording your singing and having a extra set of trusted ears is crucial.

For #7-Volume diversity will unlock many doors to an extended range and balanced head and chest voice. Don’t believe me, watch a 5 year old start to sing in their soft owl oo voice. It’s an awesome transformation.

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At the end of the day, singers have the power of word to connect. Tell your story through your most easeful release of sound.

#akintsucrooner

We were fortunate to take a refreshing 2 night, covid compliant stay in the western part of the Poconos this week. It was reviving to have a get away after the long quarantine spell. We stayed in an older but adequately maintained resort, Split Rock, which is near Lake Harmony. This area was a former resort of executive coal miners in the mid 20th century. 50 million years ago, this region was underwater. The split rock in the picture with @grrlrighter is a result of a glacier breaking the rock. We explored and swam. Food was well made American fare. Sunsets were great. We enjoyed big creek vineyard winery and record shop in Jim Thorpe during the brief monsoon. We saw the memorial and mausoleum of great Native American athlete Jim Thorpe (declared greatest athlete in the world by Swedish King at 1912 Swedish olympics.)

Observations:

1. The vibe here is fairly relaxed sans some aggressive drivers.

2. Pepsi is king in these parts. Blech.

3. Jim Thorpe is a cool town.

4. Nice diversity of people.

5. Gorgeous greenery and views.

6. Locals are definitely less aloof than NYC/NJ metro area from eye contact to conversation.

7. Indoor dining is allowed in PA and social distancing is well executed.

8. Pocono spiders are epic.

9. There was solid COVID compliance.

10. Pennsylvania pretzels are like none other. No frozen chemicals for these folk.

#splitrockresort

#piggys

#nickslakehouse

#bigbouldertavern

#lakeharmonypa

#splitrock

#jimthorpepa

#bigcreekvineyardandwinery

#summer2020

When I was a kid, the beige/peach color in my crayola box was called flesh color. I didn’t know better to think anything of it in my insular world. Flash forward 20 years later to 1996. I am enjoying a wonderful Christmas with my boyfriend at the time, @pquilljr Lionel, and his family. They gave a me a beautiful peach/beige sweater. When I opened it I exclaimed, “I love this flesh color!” We all stared at each other. Moments later Lionel abruptly fell off the coach wheezing in laughter and we all started laughing. His family was incredibly gracious. I’ve never forgotten it though. I can’t imagine what that must have felt like to a person of color; only recently changes begun to come. #crayolafleshcoloecrayon #covertracism

Today was the first time I sang a solo live outside of my home since Lent in the beginning of March. It was fitting to sing in the first church I sang at when I moved here in 2002; Glen Ridge Congregational Church.  Glen Ridge was my first singing job I got when I moved to Jersey City.  I was getting my Opera diploma from Mannes and beginning to process the sudden death of my father in 2001.  I was often on my own during the weekends exploring the garden state.  I will always be grateful for the momentum GRCC gave me with singing and fellowship.  I am not a big crier but my tears would often come during hymn singing with the wonderful GRCC choir.  My first year in NJ has some similarities to the pandemic of 2020. My future was uncertain, I wasn’t busy, I was beginning to realize my sexuality, and at 33 living in this fast paced metro area, it was truly the time to “adult.” 18 years later there’s no more Myspace or Fashion Bug but life is full.  I am supremely grateful for family, friends, various teaching/singing gigs, and most importantly, the chance to spend my life with my soulmate, Elizabeth.  Despite how it seems during this moment in time, I do believe that he, indeed, has the whole world in his hands.  #akintsucrooner

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Or something like that.

Yeah. That’s my thermometer reading during these “unprecedented times.” Man, I don’t stan that term. I like it even less than when people aspirate the T on the word “literally.” 🤢

So I present to you my trip home laundry list of “flying during the 21st century plague.”

1. These days I am finding little gray area with fellow humans. Nuance? Come again? People are either fully downloaded asshats or their kindnesses bring a tear to me eyeball.

2. TSA folks clearly didn’t get the covid kindness memo. I was strongly called out as I was minding my own business in line. I was asked with great curtness if a bright pink head cushion was mine. I retorted “It is not”, still shocked by the loud “M’AM” I received. Honestly, I may be more annoyed that they thought a cutesy pink headpiece was mine. Time to up my 80s goth.

3. Non essential creature comforts I miss: those damn airplane pretzels or even better, stroopwafels.

4. They are only allowing people to check luggage up to one hour before the flight no matter if you paid or not. They are cracking down big time. You get there 59 min before said flight? EPIC FAIL. I must have looked sweaty and pathetic because I was allowed to take my suitcase though security.

(My mom and I differ greatly on household temperature. She is quite content with an 80 degree thermostat where anything above 75 makes me a human sprinkler.)

So, side bar over. As a result of bringing my suitcase through security, I only lost a few tresemmes aerosols. I ran to the plane. A very kind gate attendant let me board last minute. Luckily, the nice people outnumbered the douche nozzles today so that’s good.

5. I decided to take my my junior high confirmation bible home. It set off security and was thoroughly checked. I’ll admit, I was glad security didn’t coincidentally open to revelation 11. 😳

6. I don’t believe the airlines are doing the right thing with letting people sit right next to each other. My flight was full too. I think it’s mercenary. One lady must have had 3 different facial protective coverings on. I was impressed. Picture below.

7. Baggage claim had one full carousel of people and most of the rest empty.

8. One scantily clad baby doll didn’t quite make the trip. Picture below.

9. Only Hudson news type places are open for nosh but some companies will deliver hot food to the gate. Picture below.

10. I’m a supremely lucky wife. I was picked up by Elizabeth with a taro smoothie bubble tea waiting for me.

11. Do you like fans? Do you want one that you can travel with and is user friendly? If yes, google description below and purchase. It is a tremendous cooling gadget. Highly recommend.

(Treva 5 inch Battery Operated Clip Fan with Multi-directional Rotating Head)

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Treva-5-inch-Battery-Operated-Clip-Fan-with-Multi-directional-Rotating-Head/171699263

FLYING THE COVID SKIES:

TOP TEN PLAIN PLANE PERSPECTIVES

DURING THE PLAGUE

6.22.2029

By E. Perryman

#akintsucrooner

1. Everyone is masked and the styles are as diverse as the United States.

2. I am seeing masks with a round plastic protrusion on the side. I’m wondering if that is an extra oxygen doohickey.

3. Masks make traveling more physically challenging however they are a GREAT pungency avoider when someone less than fresh passes by.

4. It feels like the 1990s pulling up to the departure curb: you can get both feet out of the car without being accosted by angry reflective vest traffic controllers.

5. The plane seems supremely clean. The initial cabin waft was a blend of Lysol and hand sanitizer.

6. The Hudson news bodega is one of the few businesses open by the gate. They are now selling $500 coach “pocketbooks” next to the sandwiches and vitamin water. What the what.

7. Curmudgeonly Rosa and the American airline flight attendant crew shan’t be distributing nary a pretzel or pop any hungry passengers. There’s no overpriced box ala fromage for sale neither. You’re on your own.

8. The clouds seem whiter and fluffier than usual.

9. I blame quarancarbs for the tray table going down less easily over my omentum.

10. My seat mate this trip out is especially nice. My annoyed Karen demeanor melted away with her kind and unobtrusive dynamic.