You/Sing: Make Some Noise
It is a short week and a compressed writing schedule here on the blog so I decided to combine two feature days. Whether you are training your singing voice or truly believe you can't sing -- you really should sing…
Sing: Language
I am currently working on From The Diary of Virginia Wolff by Dominic Argento. A work I have performed many times before. Besides the fact that I feel rusty still (thanks, pandemic), it feels like putting on a favorite coat.…
Sing: Ritardando
Ritardando is such a lovely direction in music. It is a gradual slowing down. Aside from the dramatic affect, it also can teach us a lot about how to work on our singing. Singers (and speakers actually) are usually more…
Sing: Listening to the Body
Singers spend a lot of time listening to our own voices. In the best of circumstances, we also mark sensation in order to determine whether we are being efficient. We sense the quality of the flow and sound wave. Perhaps,…
Sing: In Your Feelings
In the pursuit of good singing, we learn many useful things. Ideally, we learn to breathe efficiently for voice use, and the sensations of flow. We learn to phonate with gentle, complete glottal closures, and the efficiencies of onset. And, we…
Sing: Directing the Soundwave
When discussing how to send the voice into a space, we sometimes get stuck between magical thinking and nothing at all. It may help some of you to imagine a beam of light traveling away from you but I was…
Sing: With Feeling
This week there was a good amount of over-singing in the studio -- Just a lot of "efforting." In all cases, we traced it back to listening for a particular sound. Also in all cases, the singer had stopped paying…
Sing: Register This
I’m noticing a trend which I am attributing, in part, to how crazy the world has become. That is the tendency in even well-trained singers to detach from the physical sensation of singing. This is most noticeable as the voice…
Sing: Break It Down
When we are working on specific repertoire, it is tempting to start at the beginning and just run the piece. Even experienced singers can fall into this trap. Perhaps, they even isolate a difficult phrase or transition but then back…
Sing: Curiosity
I sometimes consider what I think most helps people become better singers. There is, for some, significant resistance to the play and pursuit of freedom that makes for effective vocal exploration. I wonder if we might reframe it as curiosity.…