Mid-year resolutions: recharge for a purpose

There was a rogue bottle cap on my counter this morning.  On the way to the trash can, I noticed something was printed on the bottom:

"To the UNDO button"

As July 1st approaches, the mid-point in the calendar year provides a much needed reset for many of our energies.  As artists, the "charge" we must have to continue a pursuit of heroic proportions oftentimes begs to be plugged back in.

Prompted by both the calendar and the fortunate bottle cap, I am using this week as my fill-up.

What specifically do I need an UNDO button for?

For most of my upbringing, and into my college and graduate school studies, my schedule was regimented and planned to the minute.  Classes from 8 to 3, rehearsal from 4 to 9, homework and studying until 11, interspersed with social meal breaks and, if I was lucky (or experiencing a panty crisis), laundry.

These schedules were made by someone else.  I agreed to them when I entered each class or auditioned for each show, but I did not ever sit down and imagine which scenes would be worked on when, or consider what units to test in the first exam.

I realize now that since I was five, I never had to plan my life because I had someone else doing that for me: be it a director, a teacher, or my mother.

As a married, self-employed adult still actively pursing a professional artistic career, I have found adhering to my own idea of a schedule long-term difficult.  Is this because I am so conditioned to stick to a project for six to fifteen weeks and then move to the next, just like I did from show to show growing up?  Or is it because this "freedom" from someone else's idea of time management is so frighteningly liberating, I cannot seem to make a decision on what I should spend all of this unplanned time on (and the perfectionist / OCD'er in me that wants to make it the best or most efficient plan possible)?

I am slowly learning, through my own meditation and growing comfort with myself as a human being, that it is less about how or when I do it and more about if.  When I think of the time I have wasted trying NOT to waste any time, the irony is souring.

My number one mid-year resolution is to quit feeling like I need to plan everything so precisely to be successful, and to just take action instead.  The course will show itself and important things will always get done if I just roll with it.  Giving up the appearance of being busy (my mac calendar sure looks colorful - I must be getting things done) will be liberating.

What is your UNDO button undoing this July 1st?

Professor Harold Hill had it right -- The THINK system works?

Amazing -- Watching a baby learn to make sound, cooing and articulating any and all strange noises from their surrounding world.  How do they eventually learn to speak?  By mimicking, of course.

Amazing -- Hearing a child put together words and pitches with absolute accuracy while singing along with an after-school kids' show on television.  Did we have to teach them how to move their voices and sing pitches in tune?  No, they just follow along.

Amazing -- How we forget the simplicity of the voice, and the natural capabilities of the instrument within. Do we continually need to "tune" our own voices, like we seem to do day after day in the studio?  No -- we just need to "think" it.

In Meredith Willson's musical The Music Man, quirky salesman "Professor Harold Hill", who carries with him only musical instruments and not the knowledge to teach or play them, lures a small town into believing that children will learn to play their instruments simply by "thinking" the melodies.  Hill has the young players hum and sing along, never even picking up their tubas or trombones -- until the day of the concert.  Miraculously, the kids recreate the piece by tuning their instruments with their ears, saving the salesman's reputation (and sales career!).

Obviously, this is a romanticized and fictionalized situation, but rooted in truth.

We know instinctually how to sing and make musical sound.

So how did we get so far away from the natural production of our own sound?  Same way we got so far away from our natural breath cycle, and our natural sleeping patterns, and our natural way of movement.

Years and years of conditioning, spiced with a not-so-healthy dose of judgement.

I'm sure you remember times when singing with friends or to the radio, or along with your favorite band live at their concert, when you've felt absolute connection and ease in your vocal production, with much success and little to no throat sensation.

You were not concentrated on every pitch.  You were simply DOING.  You were simply recreating.  You were allowing your brain to hear the pitches and melody line, and your vocal chords were taking care of the rest.

The actual vocal mechanism houses an incredible independence, if we stay out of its way and allow it to stretch and lean and "rock" the way it was meant to.

Experiment on your own with this:
(audio record if you can - quality is not important)

Sing your favorite Christmas or Holiday carol, or another such song that you've known since grade school.  You might find that you are "making" your voice jump from pitch to pitch, and judging the "placement" of each as you go.

Now, sing it again, and allow your mind to think 2-3 notes ahead.  Notice the ease of the voice when you THINK the pitches before you actually phonate.  It's almost like the voice already knows how to sing it.

And it does.

Now, try the same process with a newer song, or a difficult passage in a challenging piece.

First, singing through it as you usually would...

...and second, simply thinking 2-3 notes ahead, allowing the voice to go wherever and do whatever it pleases.


When you listen back (if you're able), you'll notice a difference in the quality and ease of the sounds you made.  You'll also notice how accurate your tuning is when you think the pitches and allow the voice to do its job.

Enjoy singing like a child again!

Holiday Concerts - Get Your Yule On the Cheap.

The holiday season would not be complete without carols and chorales.  Where can you hear some great singing in the Austin Metro without the great price?  Here are a few unique suggestions:

1) Friday, 12/10, 8PM
Convergence - a quartet of (fantastic) professional choral singers come together for a special concert at St. Louis Catholic Church on Burnet Road.  $20, $15 for seniors, student discount (all a steal considering the caliber of these artists).   Check out their FB page for more information.

2) Visit your neighborhood high school choir department's webpage and plan to attend their Holiday Concerts.  Bonus - these concerts are almost always free (!!!), at convenient times, and casual.  Always arrive at least 15 minutes early to ensure you get a good seat.

3) Of course, local churches present lovely music each Sunday during Advent, and sometimes present special services which include larger classical works with orchestra / wind ensembles.  I suggest hearing the choirs at St. Martin's Lutheran, Central Presbyterian, First Presbyterian, and St. Michael's Episcopal Churches.  To show your appreciation, place a few bucks in the offering tray when it's passed.  Making music isn't cheap!

Reminder -- most of these concerts are recorded, and the performances require great concentration.  Please consider this before you bring small children.  Nothing destroys ambience like a restless child.  Check to see if the venue offers child care or employs any age restrictions before you pack up your little ones.  Oftentimes, children under age 6 are not permitted.

Do you have suggestions?  Have a concert you'd like to share?  Feel free to add your thoughts below!

Blessings on a beautiful Holiday Season!
-Jules

Metal's Greatest Singers vs. Pavarotti?

I found this article extremely enlightening and entertaining. As a voice teacher with a diverse studio of unique instruments and musical tastes, I do believe that great singing is universal -- regardless of the genre. Just wanted to share!

Vocal Styles: Classic Metal Singers - The Liberated Voice

Key of the Universe? Music is for the Dogs.

After reading the article linked above (and below), I remembered a similar experience with my own canine pal.

First, the story:

    I once had an opera coaching and had to bring along my pup, Liza Jane.  She and I had slowly crawled through another Denver blizzard, tires slipping around corners and sliding through intersections, for this all-important prep rehearsal before a big audition.  Just in case I got stuck somewhere in the snow, at least I knew poor Liza wouldn't be home alone!

Miss Liza Jane, Puppyhead.

    Thirty minutes into rehearsal, Liza slept curled up on a make-shift "bed" (my heavy winter coat and oversized scarf piled on the floor), and my coach and I continued our intense work.  One would forget the spotty mutt was even there, except for the occasional puppy snore.
    My coach Ruth and I moved on to Donizetti.  Cavatina down, cabaletta to go.  Ruth struck the first chord, and I took in air to sing.  Suddenly, Liza sits straight up and beats me to it -- she let out a noise unlike any I've ever heard from her before (or since), pointing her little muzzle to the sky.  Ruth started laughing so hysterically, she almost fell off the piano bench.  She then explained how she'd just played in the "key of the universe", and that's why Liza was howling.
  
Key of the Universe?

    Apparently, when wolves howl, they do so following the harmonic series of the key of Eb.  Some believe that the earth "vibrates" in the key of Eb.  Liza was just responding to these instinctually, I suppose.
   Regardless of the reason, dogs seem to enjoy music.  Or sounds.  Especially in the Key of the Universe.  Or maybe they just dislike Donizetti.  Or really really love him.  Who knows?

Now, the article.

Here's the blurb that sparked this retelling.  PS -- Austin Pets Alive! -- possible fundraising idea?  Just saying...I have experience with this sort of thing. ;) :

BBC News - Sydney Opera House holds concert for canines

Patrice Pike LIVE FREE tonight!

Had to share.

Suggested listening for this evening:

Patrice Pike (and her band) at Scholz's Beer Garden. Internet info shows a discrepancy in start times -- it's either 7:00 (PP website) or 7:30 (Scholz's website). Either way, get there early! A great historic Austin venue and one of Austin's favorite songstresses. That and a cold Shiner make for a perfect Austin evening!

Christening the Open Score

Making that first pencil mark.  Scribbling the first note from the conductor.  Circling the first tempo change.  Highlighting the first entrance.

Composing the first blog post.

And here it is.  Welcome, all!