For a long time pedagogues have discussed the three major elements of singing as respiration, phonation, and resonance. Recent authors have added registration and articulation to the list. But the most recent addition I have read is “cognition.”
Of course, every action begins with a thought—a message sent from the brain instructing the body to behave in a certain way. Sometimes the body acts accordingly and sometimes it doesn't seem to do what we ask.
Those of you who have studied the Alexander Technique may know that it encourages a similar process called “inhibition” or “the pause.” This means that instead of doing something immediately that we instead take a few seconds to consider what it is that we're trying to do and how we should do it before we move forward with the action.
I think human beings are naturally impulsive. At least, our current cultural climate seems to encourage spontaneity or action without a lot of forethought. YOLO, dude.
In singing, however, or at least in our practicing, we may benefit from a more mindful approach. Do we just act, react, and act again, or do we stop and consider before we act? Perhaps our practice could benefit from a more conscientious approach.
Something to consider. (See what I did there?)
Take time to think.
Now go practice.
I think this also echoes the post from a few weeks ago about structured practice. Something that is continuously a challenge for me as I work to fit practice sessions into a busy schedule, is finding the specificity of task overtime I practice, especially if it is just like a 15 minute warm up in the car on my way to school or other squeezed in practice times. But I definitely agree that also working to find the time when pause the craziness and focus and think is hugely beneficial and integral in working towards mastery of any skill, especially singing.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great practice that everyone can learn from. Not only does it make you more concious of what you are doing, but it can help eliminate nuances and habits that are difficult to surpass. With singing, and any other art form/practice, we are always being critiqued from an outside being - which makes us rely on others thoughts and beliefs before our own criticism. As artists, it's important to take in other critiques, but I believe it's important to take in our own evaluation as well. We are always growing, learning and "fixing" to become a better version of ourselves. Why not take it into a more mindful practice instead of being so hard on our practices, bodies, and minds.
ReplyDeleteKellie Rae Williams
I went through Alexander technique; learning how to inhibit your natural impulses before doing a task can make that task much more efficient and healthy. We have developed a lot of terrible habits in our bodies to cope with stress that only exists because of other unhealthy habits. The cycle won't end on accident. In that respect, cognition is important to us as technical artists and teaching our bodies the best way to function. However, when push comes to shove and you get on stage to sing, all the technical work in the world is not what will make you a great artist. Meisner is an acting technique that enables one to find all of the gut impulses that we sometimes repress out of fear of looking silly or staying safe. We need that sense of impulse to be a natural and competent singer on stage. Cognition has its place, but I don't believe it is in the performance.
ReplyDeleteIn the past few weeks I have learned how water can pretty much solve any vocal problem I have. Sometimes, especially within 2 hours of waking up, I have lots of mucus/phlegm built up and once I consistently drink for 30-60 minutes it is all cleared and I have no sensation to clear my throat, which results in a clearer tone in practice sessions which results to just simply more productive practice sessions. I also found that seperating the sessions too much wasn't very productive to me. Instead I like doing 30 minutes (20 minute warm up and classical style), a 30 minute break, then another 30 minutes (10 minute warm up) and then another 30 minute break and then another 30 minutes with a 5 minute warm up. I feel like the 30 minute break gives me just enough time to vocally strengthen but not to lose the warm feeling and completely wear down the voice like i did when i did 2 45 minute sessions.
ReplyDeleteI think with the kind of art that we are doing in this program, following the whole "YOLO" approach to life could be harmful to the work that we do. We can't just jump into something without having any kind of preparation or inhibition or else the work we put out will be mediocre, it will become flat or unconnected etc. Using the technique of inhibition allows you to even take that moment just to ground yourself and prep for whatever place the song or the scene will be taking you to.
ReplyDeleteI think that there is a time and place for both completely thought-out consciousness as well as a spontaneous, in the moment reaction. I had two auditions this week... one for Pickleville Playhouse and one for PTC. The audition for Picklevillle was one of the best auditions I ever had, and it was also one in which I had very little preparation. I found out about the audition that morning, picked my audition songs in my lesson, and went for it. Because it seemed so low stakes to me, I allowed myself to live completely in the moment and simply play. The panel seemed to love me and immediately called me back to hear more. However, for my audition at PTC, I prepared a great deal. I had each moment planned and thought out. I knew what gestures I would do where and why. Once I got into the room I was focusing on what I had planned, rather than having fun. The song went fine, but Karen seemed a bit uninterested and didn't even ask for a second selection. Thus I learned, for me, I need to relax and not over-think everything when auditioning. I do still completely agree that cognition is entirely important. It is impossible to play and explore in character without first having researched and understood the character. The work must always be done. It is just the fact of letting the work go once its time.
ReplyDelete~Jessica Surprenant
I do believe both of the approaches have their place and benefits. The pause tends to trip me up because I start micromanaging my singing, acting, performance, and then 5000 other thoughts cross through my mind and then my ability to perform seriously goes down hill. I often overthink singing And I'm so nervous that my body tenses up. I believe a mindful approach to singing is really the key for me because I lose the character, the technique, etc. when I use the pause because I take too much time and second guess myself. Obviously, I need to chill and understand the inhibition for what it's for, but for now, I must relax and be mindful.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love and relate to this blog post! A lot of my former training focused on "just feeling the music and going with that," which-as I've learned this past semester-isn't particularly effective. It's been difficult for me to break old habits, and when I'm not focusing on specifics, I often find myself reverting back to old techniques. However, the more I practice, the more I notice my body responding to what my brain is telling it to do. Other than regular practice, something else I've found useful is asking questions during lessons. Obviously I'm in no way an expert, and I often find that the most useful tips come about when I notice something about my technique and ask how I can improve. This also gives me more things to work on throughout the week.
ReplyDeleteFor me cognition plays a vital role in practice and in performance, but the role it plays in each is very different. When I practice I want to be focused on my use and technique more. I want to be sure that I understand the goal of each exercise and that I am attempting to gain as much as possible from each exercise. I want to make sure that I am breathing correctly, releasing unnecessary tension, resonating, etc.
ReplyDeleteWhen I am performing I want to have just as much focus, but I want to direct it in a very different way. I would like to trust the work that I have done in practice and forget about the technical problems. I don't want to worry about whether I am singing well. But I definitely want to be cognitive of what I am doing with the song. I want to understand the words and use them effectively. I want to understand what the music is doing and feel the importance of each phrase. I am still focused, but in a very different way. Cognition is vital, but it's application should be adapted to the situation.
This week I learned a huge lesson in time management. I need to be more flexible with my practice every day and be open to the idea that practicing in different locations could perhaps be beneficial to me. I would love to be able to have a private music room to myself every single day for at least an hour, but my schedule isn't going to make that and sleep possible. From now on I'm going to take the practice time when I can get it. Even if I'm doing a different task at the same time. I don't care if my coworkers think I'm crazy. I am also starting to become more mindful of my articulators and the shape they make in my mouth. It's very fascinating to me and I hope that I continue to heighten this mindfulness. Cognitive engagement while practicing is very important. I think only when you're truly engaged with intention you make new and important discoveries. Such as the fact that your blog post that you wrote the night before didn't get saved.
ReplyDeleteI find that my head is often the largest hindrance to my abilities. Even if it is something I have done before, if my head gets in the way then I am unable to accomplish the task. This seems to be especially apparent in my practice sessions. Because of this I have really been trying hard to change my thinking and manifest what I want to accomplish and manifest that I have the ability to accomplish that. It is hard. My old thought patterns get in the way more often than not, and make my positive manifestations wither away to sulk in the corner of my mind. But I am more aware of when this happens so I can change my thoughts and work towards building a more positive thought pattern that I can access at any time in order to grow and progress in my abilities.
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ReplyDeleteThis is something that I have been struggling with in my acting. Just like you said above, my professors have been impressing upon us the idea that as human beings, we don't just speak, there is a trigger which sparks an idea from which we then utter words. My trouble is that when I go through this whole process to find my lines 'organically' (as my professors have called it) I wind up thinking more than reacting.
ReplyDeleteLike you said, I believe that as actors we need to be more mindful about the words we speak than most people are in every day life. We have to take the time to consider the impetus behind each phrase and why each word was chosen. The tricky task though, is to make the time between the thought process and the speaking as seamless and natural as possible to make it feel like real dialogue. Perhaps, this is where the importance of practice comes in.. by taking the time to deeply study the words ahead of time and consider everything behind them, we can maybe begin to speak impulsively without losing the cognitive step in the process.