Usually when I’m out in my kayak I find aquatic-themed song snippets pop into my head. “The River” by Garth Brooks comes up a lot. So does “Come Sail Away” by Styx.
One day this summer, though, I starting singing a one-line excerpt from IN THE HEIGHTS: “…with my eyes on the horizon.” Naturally, as I sang I found myself lifting my focus up from the water and gazing further into the distance toward the shore.
I gradually came to recognize parallels between kayaking across a lake and the process of setting goals for a new semester.
First, get into a rhythm. Steady progress in a kayak occurs when each stroke of the paddle is smooth and efficient. Establishing a regular rhythm, devoid of erratic motions, will consistently propel the boat forward. But if I get distracted and lose my focus, my paddling gets sloppy, and I stop making progress.
Look up frequently to see what is in the not-too-distant future. Once I have set a routine and a rhythm, I have to remind myself to look up and see what’s ahead. Maybe there is a log or an outcropping of rocks coming up that I’ll need to maneuver around. If I catch these obstacles when they are still a ways off, I can make subtle adjustments to get around them. If I don’t look up often enough, I sometimes have to take evasive action to avoid an obstacle that I otherwise could have avoided.Every so often, look toward the shoreline to make sure you’re headed in the right overall direction. It doesn’t take much to get off track. When my head is down and all I'm focusing on is the water immediately in front of me, I don't always notice if I start heading somewhere other than where I intended. Again, the sooner I catch this change of course, the easier it is to make slight adjustments to get pointed in the right direction again.
Periodically, look back and appreciate how far you’ve come. A few times I’ve been paddling hard for what felt like a long time only to look up and find the far shoreline seemingly just as far away as it was when I had started out. It was only when I looked back over my shoulder to where I launched the kayak that I realized just how much distance I had actually covered. I had been too focused on the far-off destination to realize that I was, in fact, making significant progress.
Now that we are starting a new semester, what are your vocal goals for your daily routine? What are your short-term goals for the not-too-distant future? What are your long-term goals?
And how can you remind yourself to check in periodically to appreciate your progress and to make sure you are still enjoying the process?
Let’s have a great year.
Now go practice.
Selah McKenna
ReplyDeleteAs I enter into my first semester at the University of Utah and after this first week of classes, I feel both eager and overwhelmed. So the first thing that comes to my mind as far as vocal goals for my daily routine is to be patient with myself. In the past, the main reason why I don’t practice as often as I should, is ironically because I am not seeing/feeling results fast enough. This reasoning is clearly not effective and I look forward to breaking this habit.
My short term goals would be to build on the ability to emote through song. Too often I get caught up in thinking “am I placing this correctly?” or “I better make adjustments so I can hit that note coming up” and judging my every move. At the end of this semester, one of my goals is to be able to be in character and remain connected throughout the song. I want to let go of the “me” in the performance. I want to trust my voice and my preparation to be able to support the story of the character through song and have the tools to do so.
A long-term goal of mine is to be able to sing any song without hesitation or fear that my voice isn’t strong enough to do so. I had an experience with an extremely talented vocal coach and after about 30 minutes of working my voice out with a method that was new and groundbreaking for me, she said, “Now why don’t you go ahead and sing anything you’d like.” So to challenge what she had just taught me, I sang a song that I never thought I’d be able to. My voice felt completely foreign to me as I was able to sing that entire song. I think back on that moment and it was so empowering. The idea that I could sing whatever I wanted and be able to trust that my voice can handle anything is the most relieving thought. Though this goal may take some time to achieve, I want to continue to work for that freedom.
A way that I like to check in with the progress I am making, is to film myself. I often record myself singing a song, then I attend a voice lesson or conduct my own practice session. I record that song again, either later that day or after a few days have past. Often, the song becomes easier to sing as I have navigated through the challenging areas in practice and I feel more confident in my abilities. It is always satisfying to look back through the videos after months have past and witness the changes and progresses made.
Over the summer I started to really enjoy the sounds I was able to create with my voice and the range of noises I was capable of making. For this semester, my day to day goal is to continue to nurture this curiosity and challenge myself to move through my range for at least a few minutes to remind myself of its elasticity. Short term goal is to just really begin implementing my practice schedule in the upcoming weeks as I become more busy. My long term goals actually align incredibly well with our coursework; I am hoping get more comfortable with auditioning and creating an book. This year I am living and dying by my planner, and I think maybe an opportunity to reflect on my progress is to schedule weekly check-ins with myself. It sounds really type A, but I’m hopeful that if it’s plotted out I’ll make it a part of my regular practice.
ReplyDeleteMy vocal goals for my daily routine are simply to practice everyday and not fall off track. Of the whole kayaking anecdote, the first section on getting into a rhythm is probably the most relevant to me (which is worrisome considering that none of the other really can develop meaningfully without it). I have always had trouble putting my nose to the grindstone and keeping it there. Hopefully I can improve in this respect during the semester.
ReplyDeleteMy short term goal is to set up my life in a way that I can make sure to have time to give adequate attention to everything. My long term goal would be to maintain that set-up.
If I want to check in on my progress, I'll probably look at the calendar and say "Wow, that went by fast" and then get back to it. I don't know how I'll make sure I'm enjoying things. Hopefully I'll notice it every now and then.
Now I'll go practice.
My daily goals are to make sure I'm always using my voice in a healthy way. A big part of achieving that is by warming up and using my falsetto and thinking of placement through every note. My long term goals are to be able to not have to think about specific placements in songs I have worked on, and just knowing where to go and having it in my body and muscles. I also am trying to keep up my stamina and be conscious of how I treat my voice even when not in rehearsals or class. I think the way I am going to keep things fun and fresh and interesting, is by not pushing. I enjoy singing so much, and I don't want it to become a painful experience mentally or physically.
ReplyDeleteLindsie Kongsore
Harrison Lind
ReplyDeleteI am anticipating being able to finally sing again in an educational setting. I sang all through high school in advanced choirs, but didn't bother continuing voice lessons or anything through freshman year. It became less and less of a priority for me (i.e. I lost sight of where I had come from. I started singing before I started acting). At one point during last year, in the middle of an audition, I opened my mouth and didn't recognize the voice that came out, and that scared me a little bit. After that, when I would sing by myself, I would be cautious and careful because I was now afraid of what might come out. And when I did sing, it was scared and nervous and muted, even when I was by myself because I put a mental blockade on my own abilities. After a while though, I was able to start experimenting again with my own voice and acknowledged goals that I had for myself. I hope to re-develop practical singing technique for healthy voice work so that I don't risk getting to the point where I practice singing in such a way that it hinders my ability or, even worse, doesn't allow me to sing at the level of which I know I am capable. I think another goal that I can set for myself is to diversify the kind of music that I listen to when I drive or when I study so that I can eventually just experiment with different singing styles, doing more self-discovery (aided and supported by techniques that I reacquire in the classroom) about how my voice works and in what capacities I’m able to manipulate my singing style for different styles of songs.
I started making connections with the second point that you had made. I find that I am constantly losing track of what my schedule is going to be like for the following semester since everything can be so sporadic and ever changing. I forget constantly to change my practice time to where I can actually fit it in when life gets crazy. This forces me to be a bit unprepared, but also puts me behind in where I want to be in the progress if my voice. In essence, my day to day goal is going to make sure that I have 45 minutes set aside in my schedule to warm up and work on my songs, even if that means that it is not a full 45 minute section. My long term goal is to be patient, but also be mindful. I want my voice to be at a certain level right now that I know isn't quite achievable yet and not pushing myself to be a certain way is going to be challenging. So, I'll push myself to be patient instead and trust in the work that I am doing now to bring me to where I want to be in the end. Being mindful will help me keep track of everything that I need to do for short term and long term goals. I want to be a more organized person who can keep track of all the things on my plate as a music/dance/ acting student and not lose track of any of the responsibilities that I have. I refuse to let another semester course full take dominate what I can and can't do in a certain amount of time. I will always ensure to practice and know my music inside and out this year.
ReplyDeleteThis semester I would like to choose rep for my vocal jury that really challenges me. Along with that, in my daily practice and lessons I would like to perfect the hard parts of those songs in order to feel extremely confident singing them in my jury, and potentially using them as rep/audition songs in the future.
ReplyDeleteI would really appreciate it if we could do a teacher-student check-in--just a short check-in every few lessons or so to confirm that I'm on track and have been improving in the areas we've been working on. It sounds petty, but it really helps me to have someone else confirm my progress as well. Otherwise I doubt myself. ;) :P
I love how you started off with "getting into the rhythm" and ending with "enjoying the ride" I'm in the process of getting into the rhythm with not only singing, but also with school in general. I want to make sure that I'm balanced and do a better job at managing my time. I'm taking a lot of classes this semester, and also need to remember to just enjoy the ride and enjoy my journey. I'm going to school and doing what I love and that's important. Life is too short so I need to live it up and work hard this year. AMIRIGHT!??
ReplyDeleteThis summer I had the liberating experience of singing mainly through worship. I counseled kids K-6th grade, so singing was brought back to a place where any sound coming from your vocal chords was celebrated. I actually got myself to let go of chasing “perfection” in some aspect. My long term goal for myself would be to hold onto that state of being, as well as to continue understanding and strengthening my voice. For, without love of my own voice and my own sound, what use is any knowledge of music theory or any practice exercise? That is not to say, however, that this knowledge is not important! Short term, I hope to absorb as much knowledge on the subject of voice as possible, which hopefully will stick with me for years to come! I hope to gain confidence in building an audition book and my repertoire. I also want to use the relationship I currently have with my voice to fuel my creative experimentation with my voice, to more wholly understand my capabilities. I look forward to growing as an artist this semester, as always!
ReplyDeleteMorgan Werder
I love how you analyzed a Kayak trip into a lesson on goals. I would love to sight read and understand the notes that I am singing. Along with the technicality of music, I want to understand my body. In Choir when I would sing really high or really low my voice sounded different and my body got all tense. I want to know the reason behind my body so next time I hit those notes, my body is relaxed and controlled.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, my short-term goals would be to understand my breathing, spine alignment, and control over my bodies tension. My long term-goals would be to sight read music and understand each note on a staff.
I often look back and realized how far I have come. It still shocks me today that I am in the ATP my sophomore year. I have accomplished so much in what seems like a blink of an eye. Everything is going so fast and I have no control over it. At times when I feel like the world is punishing me (I think everyone has felt something like this) I will take a minute (after all the tears are wiped away) and reflect back and see what I have done to get here and what will be if I continue this. I believe that when the mind is set of a forward pace it is working harder than it needs too. Your putting too much stress on the mind to work faster and harder. (I’m known for doing this) This last year, I have been taught to breath and remember why I am here and how did I get here. This puts my mind at ease. I also remember those that helped me get here and my mind just calms down in a sense.
I am excited to continue working on my voice and understanding my instrument.
I love analogy, and sailing is often one that I've used to describe taking risks or effecting change in my life.
ReplyDeleteMy voice has always been an inconsistency in my self confidence; at times it brings me pride, and at others I remind myself why I'm not in the MTP. My short team goal and my goal for my daily are both to become comfortable with the instrument I've been given, and to accept it's strengths and limitations.
Long term, I hope to build a repertoire built around my range, and one which best accents my sound and capabilities. Through journaling and self evaluation I'll do my best to remind myself of where I was, and where I still need to be.
Nathan A. Vaughn
Also, I love that Stewart is your background photo. Lovely girl.
As a person who appreciates analogies to help create a visual for a concept that we are learning, especially when nature is involved, seeing that you were able to make the connections from kayaking to goal setting sparks excitement for me. Being able to connect a thought to a visual keeps the motivation alive when I need that extra push to get me there. Especially with the goals I’ve set for myself. With vocal goals for my daily routine I want to be able to commit to practicing each day. I often find myself losing all motivation on almost all tasks lately, so I want to be able to stay consistent to hopefully find my own rhythm. Shot-term wise, I would like to better understand the ‘mechanics’ behind the voice. Like reading a piece of work appropriately and understanding the pitches. I think an overall understanding of music will better help me to appreciate the work I will need to put into class work, and furthering my skills. Overall, my long-term goal would to be able to hold myself with enough confidence that my natural response to singing in front of an audience is not to have a panic attack, or at least not as severe. The best part about the position I am in with singing, is I’m at the far end of the lake and my goal is on the other side. So, I can easily track my progress by glancing back from where I once was, but still looking forward to the steps I need to take to get to the other side. Each day I need to enter class with a positive attitude to really take in the experience and not just paddle through like I would want to since the attitude I usually associate with singing. I’m excited yet equally terrified, but I’m looking forward to enjoying the ride.
ReplyDelete-Camie Jones
First I enjoy the analogy you used with the kayaking. I always find when I am kayaking it can be easy at times and very challenging at others, much like when I practice. My daily routine is going to be to keep up my practice schedule and make sure I take care of my voice as well (by warming up, which I need to get better at doing). My short term goals are to just get back into the swing of things and reading music more again. I haven't taken a music class in a few years so I need to get myself back into it. My long term goal is to be able to sightread music. Right now if you give me a sheet of music I could tell you the notes but I would have no idea what they would sound like. I would like to be able to sing without having to play it on the piano first. And finally to check in on myself I think I will pull out some random music or old songs I've sung in the past and just sit down at my piano and play and sing along. Its something that I enjoy doing for fun, but I also can use it to see how much I've been able to grow as a singer and try maybe a different method or approach to the song. In conclusions I am very excited for what is in store for this semester and I can't wait to see what I can accomplish.
ReplyDelete-Jessica Weyman
I've been telling myself that I can't sing for years now, but I've never tried it, and I've never taken lessons or sought the knowledge on my own. SO... I am so excited to see what happens this semester!
ReplyDeleteA goal for my daily routine is to DO IT! I can foresee myself resisting practice outside of class just because I am scared. Stupid reason! I want to practice hard, and I want to practice often. See where I can get.
Short term goal for me is to learn as much as I can about music theory. Where I stand now, it is all essentially a different language to me. I feel that if I become more knowledgable in music theory, this will give me the practical skills AND the confidence to take the next step in my singing learning journey!
Long term goal! To develop a repertoire of songs I feel comfortable using for auditions, and to have the know-how to be able to add new songs within my range to that repertoire.
Personally, I tend to be a grateful person. It's already a habit for me, when I feel overwhelmed and like the end goal is too far, to look back to where I've started. That's always been a really useful tool for me. But I think it would be helpful to me to journal more. That way I have actual accounts in writing from where I have been.
When I first saw that I had to take a singing class for theater, I was excited because I've been singing in choirs for about 7 years now. I am excited that I am to build a better foundation for my voice. Sure it's gonna be a little annoying to relearn the basics, but it's never a bad idea to do that. So I'm gonna practice and do my best in class.
ReplyDeleteLooking to the future for this semester I want to get in touch with my body more. With movement, voice and speech, singing, and my acting class I look forward to fully using my body as canvas for art. I want to better understand how I can use my voice to keep people's attention.
Something that I would like to do rather soon is that I would like to better learn key signatures, I've always been a little fuzzy at identifying which is which. Especially on the Treble clef, I learned music from reading Bass Clef and I have hardly had to use Treble in my music experience. Being as Baritone, but I need to be able to understand everything I can about music in order to learn more about my voice and how to use it properly.
COME SAIL AWAY, COME SAIL AWAY, COME SAIL AWAY WITH ME
ReplyDeleteMy goals for the semester will be revolving around consistency. I am in the terrible habit for preparing for auditions in the immediate future and I never have time to do anything beyond just rehabilitating my voice into being audition ready. Scheduling out my life at first until it becomes a life style that revolves around who I want to be as a person and an artist is my number one goal, I want to be smart in the way I go about achieving my goals this time around instead of characteristically stumbling around chaotically until something good happens. I really like the idea of enjoying the ride. As I've gotten older and theatre has become less of a fun thing I just do and it has become the cards I'm playing for a livelihood, the pressure of being good has made me worse as an artist and this year I want to burn the pressure away while staying motivated.
Call
I can super appreciate the "look up frequently to see what's in the not-too-distant-future" kayaking analogy, especially with this being my senior year. I think in the years past I have often found myself looking down, focusing on the present task at hand and then getting panicky and surprised when things I'd known about for a long time seemed to sneak up on me. I think now, more than ever, I need to keep looking up so I don't miss out on or struggle too much with things that can very much affect my life and career post BFA.
ReplyDeleteThis year my main goals include differentiating between/creating my working song book and my clean, ready for auditions song book, defining my go-to audition songs and maintaining/improving those, and adding the heart/honesty/story back into all those scary pieces I tend to focus too much on technique and sound with. (...Which would be most of my pieces :] .)
I really enjoyed your analogy about kayaking especially the part about taking a step back and looking at how far you've come, I think it can be hard to take pause and recognize your progress.
ReplyDeleteAs far as daily goals go, I want to fit practicing in everyday. I am excited to be able to improve in my music theory, especially sight singing.
After taking a year off from studying voice, I am excited to get back into it. I really missed it! I hope that throughout the semester I can return to the level of technique I had before stopping. I know that by not studying or practicing voice, I have lost a lot of my former ability. I hope I can expand my range this semester.
I also want to come of out of the semester with a stronger repertoire and a few solid audition pieces.
Sorry! The above comment is Allison Billmeyer
ReplyDeleteHey, this is Emily Smiley. I really appreciate how you tied your experience with kayaking to entering a new semester, and really just life as a whole.
ReplyDeleteMy daily routine vocal goals are to really listen to what my voice needs at the present moment, and to be patient with my voice. I'm probably not going to have a few notes in my healthy range if I woke up half an hour prior. My short term goal is to find two songs (from musicals) that are somewhat difficult for me to sing, practice them, get coaching on them from my voice teachers, so I can then add them to my repertoire. My long term goal is to get those songs to a point where they are no longer challenging for me to sing.
To check in with myself, appreciate my progress and the rate of it, and to make sure I'm enjoying the process, I'm starting a personal singing journal, which I will write in every other day. I'm excited for singing this semester. Thanks.
One of my goals for my daily routine is to get in a rhythm, like you said. I find that practicing is much easier for me once I fall into a good rhythm. I also want to follow a pattern of focusing on notes and rhythms of new songs for the first little while and then slowly being able to get more picky with things like dynamics, time, and performance aspects.
ReplyDeleteA short term goal for my current music, as well as for music in the future, is to get really familiar with notes, rhythms, and words .
A few long term goals for the semester are to improve my sight singing, and extend and strengthen my range.
My main goal is just go get back into the rhythm of the semester. I think this is important for any class and necessary for finding the practice time I need to improve myself on a sort and long term basis. One of my short terns goals in to find more pieces from my repertoire to use for practice and auditions. I really don't have a lot of pics under my belt and I want to find more variety in genre as well. My long term goal is to improve my sight singing and theory skills, and those are always things i can monitor and improve.
ReplyDeleteMy daily goal is to simply just sing. I have a practice schedule but I so easily get caught up in my job, other homework, and probably just being lazy. I need to make the time and get in the habit of having practice time every day and sticking to it. My short term goal is to really find the consistency within my voice. I feel like I have made a lot of progress over the summer but I really need to find the right balance. For a long term goal, I really would like to find comfort in the far ends of my range and definitely work on strengthening it. It is super easy for me to get stuck in what I am doing and get frustrated if I don't see the progress I am making. I am very guilty of that. Sometimes I need to look back and see the difference from when I started to where I am now in order to understand the work I am doing is actually getting me somewhere.
ReplyDeleteSince I have zero experience with any kind of singing, and only a minimal amount of experience with any kind of music at all, my short term singing goal is to just gain a familiarity with my voice. I’d like to explore its ranges, and see what I can do with it. I don’t even know into what category of singer I fit into (soprano, tenor, etc.). I simply want to explore it in my daily routing and become more comfortable and familiar with it.
ReplyDeleteFor the not so distant future (but still relatively short term) I would like to grow comfortable enough with my voice to be able to sing in front of people. At the very least, my short term goal is to become knowledgeable and confident enough with my singing voice to be able to bring it to auditions. I currently never audition for musicals, or anything that involves singing; this is something I would like to change.
For the long term, I would love to be cast in a musical (particularly one of the U’s musicals). I don’t even have to be a lead. I want to be skilled enough with my voice to be considered for musicals, and hopefully have the experience of being a cast member in one. I think it would be a great opportunity, and that it would open a previously unexplored realm of theatre for me.
My goals for this first year of college is to work as hard as I can and try to improve as much as possible. I have set a schedule to keep me on track and so far it's been working. It includes time to practice, work out, and stretch. I am trying to work my hardest because I know my training in the areas of theatre is very limited. I have also set a goal to not let little things such as insecurities, emotions, and doubts distract me from why I'm here. Which is to learn. I have also been taking all the precautions I can to stay healthy so that way I don't end up missing classes and sessions. Basically I just used the talent of others and where I want to be in the future motivate me to be the best I can be.
ReplyDeleteMy goals for the semester are to release my eyebrow tension so that it's not such an uncontrollable tic, and to fatten up my audition book. I want to work on applying my technique to a piece of music quickly so that I can better approach callback sides and feel confident that I can manipulate my instrument on a deadline. Long-term goals are to strengthen my head voice and gain better control over my instrument.
ReplyDeleteEvery semester I find myself ready to hit the ground running, but after the first few feet I flop on my face. I haven't been moving as fast as I would like to be during these past two weeks, but I'm still proud of the hard work I've put in and am ready to keep progressing. I'm trying to remind myself that we're only two weeks, and it's not too late for me to really push myself! I don't need the excuse of a brand new school year to do so.
ReplyDeleteWhat I specifically want to work on this semester is just dropping my goddamn jaw when I sing. I've been taking voice lessons with Cristin for a year now, and she made it pretty clear that I have to be able to fully drop it before we can move onto bigger and better things for my voice. Really the main thing I need to do for this is to just practice. I only just bought access to the practice rooms again, so I am ready to lock myself in the practice rooms every day after school and just PRACTICE!
This year, I'm looking forward to having a more technical approach to singing. I have a strict practice schedule and a routine for my body to keep myself healthy and ready to go.
ReplyDeleteShort term, I'd like to work on expanding my vocal range safely and without straining my voice. I'd also like to have better breath control so that I can sustain a note for a longer period of time
Long term I'd like to begin acting in musicals again. With this increased knowledge and skill with my voice, I'd eventually like to earn bigger roles and be able to do them well!
-Alexis Barnett
My goals are to work on improving my voice and my breathing technique specifically. It's a little difficult for me to interchange between breathing techniques, so I want to improve my ability to interchange between the different ways of breathing and how they affect my vocal output. My long term goal is to be able to control my upper and lower registers with more ease. I would like to think that my rage is somewhat adequate, but I don't necessarily have as much control as I would like to have. As for checking in, I have recordings of my singing and to check in, I would most likely listen to my old self sing and then base what I can do now with what I previously could and couldn't do.
ReplyDelete- Jace Von App
My daily vocal routine goals are: always warm up before singing, even if it's just singing in the shower or the car. Actively TRY to sing by myself, and not along with recordings. Drink more tea.
ReplyDeleteShort-term goals: keep smoothing out my passagio. Keep working on new music. Become stronger in my sight reading. Don't be afraid to make mistakes or sound bad.
Long-term goals: enjoy the sound of my voice more. Be ahead of schedule with my vocal juries to give me time to work other music.
How I'm personally going to remind myself to check-in and appreciate the progress I'm making is by singing to some Whitney Houston, because OBVIOUSLY. Also know and remember that just because I may not be where I want to be vocally, that this is a continuous process and I plan to always keep learning and trying new things until my voice gives out.
Aaron Eskelson
I really want to stay focussed this semester on my short term goals and tasks. I feel like last year I often became to tuned into my long term goals for the semester or year, that I often forgot about the little important things along the way. I have already started holding myself more accountable to a daily and weekly routine to accomplish all of my short term goals, and plan to continue that progress. I witnessed a lot of growth in my voice over the summer, and I'm excited to continue that.
ReplyDeleteJacob Weitlauf
This year specifically, I really want to be keen on taking small steps. I have realized that it is a lot harder to obtain a larger goal, easier to get off task and forget the reasoning as to why your trying to evolve as a person in the first place. So with that being said, I want to learn all of the theory behind music. I want to be knowledgable on all the logistics and information that goes in to being a decent singer. Long term however, like more... end of the three semesters type goal, is to leave your class a distinguished singer who could be cast in musicals. By the way, this is Ireland. My computer is missing so I am using Jacobs computer:)
ReplyDeleteOver the summer, while studying in London, I had a teacher tell me to stop focusing on the past and old mistakes because we simply can't change it. If I mess up, I can't keep harping on myself for previously bad technique; the only thing I can do is influence the future.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I want to change about how I rehearse is getting the music off the page quicly. In the past I've spent way too much time reading the music off the page to make sure I have everything correct in terms of rhythm and pitch and etc. but that really restricts how much I can use my craft and artistic ability to sing the piece. Instead I will test my future self to remember the music and instead focus more on interpretation and Acting so I can grow more as a musician.
My goals for this semester are to keep up the habits that I formed this summer as far as getting my voice moving before using it, whether that be in acting class or in my voice lesson. I notice a really significant difference when I allow my voice the time it needs to vocalize, even before an orchestrated "warmup". In the not-too-distant future, I want to find a song that challenges my voice- particularly my range- instead of picking songs that I find to immediately fit my voice type. I find that I don't feel super confident in my upper range when it comes to singing in front of people, so I'd like to exercise that muscle more and get used to that. My long term (if by the end of this school year is long-term?) goals are to solidify my audition book so that I can pull out anything should I need something else during an audition.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading about your love and passion for kayaking as well as the analogy you've tied along with it. It makes sense and it's easy to put singing into perspective along with it.
ReplyDeleteEntering the University of Utah Actor Training Program is an opportunity I've waited my entire life for however I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous or reluctant for this class particularly. I was raised around humans that were so musically inclined, my brother has a beautiful singing voice and right now he is pursuing a career becoming a music producer and rapper. I'm not a jealous person, but my mom makes me feel so envious of her voice, she's a jazz singer and mostly self taught, but she has a beautiful soulful voice. I always compared myself to her growing up and stupidly if I didn't sound like her, I didn't want to sing. She offered voice lessons, musical theatre opportunities and I turned it all down because I thought my voice was so ugly, it didn't deserve to be heard.
What are my vocal goals for my daily routine? Well, I have no experience and I'm terrified but I'd love to focus and work on my breathing and training my diaphragm and body to be in the best physical as possible. I'd love to play with my voice without hurting it. I'd also really love to learn what my register is. I know that by doing vocal warm ups and practicing everyday I'll be able to learn more about all of that.
My short term goals consist of wanting to step outside of my insecurity and work on the voice I've been given. I want to work on my confidence and possible range. I want to know and see what my voice is capable of at this moment and hopefully expand on that.
My long term goals consist of practicing every single day and pushing myself to really learn from the class. I'm hoping to continue to push my confidence and release insecurity when it comes to voice. Because I deserve to be heard, we all do.
I hope this doesn't sound too generic, I don't know technical terms, but I'm excited to learn all of those as well!
-Paulina Lovato
I love this blog post.
ReplyDeleteI find it's really easy for me to get bogged down in the here and now, and I don't always look to the horizon. I often think "I'm not doing enough" while simultaneously thinking "I'll never get all of this done". Sometimes I overcommit myself, and then I need to prioritize to figure out what's going to help me the most in the long run. Here are some things I'm currently working towards:
Daily Routine:
-Establish a bedtime, and a wake up time. I haven't been sleeping very well, and I hope this helps.
-Take 15 minutes/ day to sit and do something for myself. Whether that's simply sitting, listening to music, etc. If I have a busy day, it helps to take time to calm down.
-Exercise?? (This is still in the process of formation)
Short Term Goals:
-Memorize all lines and blocking for Curious Incident
-Be a good leader for SAC (fulfill all necessary responsibilities, plan fun events for the department)
-Finish Business Minor classes
-Graduate in May
Long Term Goals
-Move to New York City
-Attend Graduate School
-Continue acting
If I keep reminding myself of my goals, hopefully all the every day struggle won't seem so difficult.
Getting into a rhythm for me is the hardest. I spend more time making a schedule for myself to adhere to than I actually spend adhering to it. I think with various things in my life that make me stressed or scared, I tend to rely on spontaneity to offer myself a relief from these things. I tend to thing that while I'm young I need to live life a little wilder without being so rigid... not necessarily a good philosophy when it comes to voice practice. I'll need to keep my eyes on the horizon a little more and apply your kayaking metaphor to my life.
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