Sing the Process

Barbara Honn was my teacher's teacher. She was on the faculty at the Cincinnati Conservatory, where she taught Bill Lavonis when he was a doctoral student. Bill was my voice teacher as I worked toward my master's degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Honn was widely revered as one of the great teachers of her generation right up until her death in 2023 at age 79. 

The latest Journal of Singing published an article of remembrance, including statements about Honn from her students and colleagues. One of the comments that caught my attention was by Alison Acord, one of Honn's former students who is now a professor of voice at Miami University in Ohio: 

"Another favored expression of Barbara's was 'sing the process, not the product.' She understood that most singers try to create an 'impressive' sound that is not possible because the sound in the room is so different from the sound inside the singer, even for experienced professionals. The phrase has now taken on another meaning. It's a lot like hearing 'enjoy the journey of life rather than the destination.'" 

    Alison Acord in "Remembering Barbara Honn: Reflections from Her Students and                 Colleagues," ed. Matthew Hoch, Journal of Singing 81, No. 3 (Jan/Feb 2025): 296.

I've blogged before about process vs. product, so I appreciate Prof. Acord's perspective. 

The performing arts are unique among the creative arts. For those who write novels, paint pictures, or create sculptures, their finished works can live on and be observed in exactly the same way as when they were created. A statue can be placed on a shelf or in a museum where observers today can see essentially the same piece that other people saw generations earlier. We can change the way it is displayed, but the piece itself remains pretty much the same. 

The performing arts don't work that way. A script, a score, or choreography, once written, all need interpreters to bring them to audiences. Since every interpreter has different skills and capabilities, all performances of that work will be different. So, even though something like Beethoven's 5th Symphony has been performed thousands of times over the centuries, no two performances have ever been (or will ever be) exactly alike. 

As performers, that means we should think differently about our "product" than sculptors or painters do. Our products don't go into museums. They occur in time, happening once before they're gone forever. They are, as I sometimes say, snapshots in time, reflecting all we have to give in a specific moment, which (we hope) will grow, evolve, and change over time. Our later performances of certain works will certainly differ from earlier performances of those same works as we gain skill and experience and a deeper sense of how our skills and experiences inform our artistry. 

Besides that, we are all imperfect human beings (AI hasn't replaced us...yet). Therefore, even when we lock in our choices when preparing for a performance, each performance will always be a bit different. Try as we might, we can never give exactly the same performance two nights in a row. So, if we're being honest, even our product is a process. It never goes on a shelf, unaltered for the rest of time. It is always something just a bit different and new. 

The one exception, I suppose, would be when a performance is recorded. That's the only case I can think of where a performance can be viewed multiple times without ever changing. More on that in the next blog. 

What does all this mean for us? First, we should acknowledge that our performances are experiences, not objects. Therefore, as artists, we are in the business of providing audiences something to feel in a moment rather than something they can hang on the wall and look at for years to come. This understanding can hopefully relieve some of the pressure we might feel to create perfect performances. Even if we get it completely "right" once, we'll never be able to recreate it in exactly the same way. Maybe, instead, we can focus on the process of creating something that will still feel new each time, even if it is really familiar.

For now, consider how your performing might change if you sing the process. In other words, how would your singing be different if, instead of trying to make a perfect product, you focused on sharing a meaningful, unique experience with your audience? 

How might that change your performing? How might that impact your practicing? 

How has your practicing been this week? 

Now go practice. 

Everything old is new again

One of the trends that's been around for a few years now is for younger people to wear band shirts from their parents' eras. I'll admit to being a little shocked when my students started wearing the same Metallica, Def Leppard, and Poison shirts that I owned in high school. I have an 11-year-old private student who came to her last lesson with a Bon Jovi shirt on. I said, somewhat excitedly, "Oh, you're a fan of Bon Jovi?" And she said, "A fan of what?" Her mother chimed in, saying, "She doesn't know who that is." Too bad. Even if this trend is only a retro fashion statement, it still shows that everything that goes around comes around again. And that's not at all a bad thing. 

I find that, sometimes, we can be so focused on what's new and exciting that we ignore what is more traditional, tried, and true. Like the '80s band shirts, rediscovering something can help us re-appreciate its value. Think about Broadway revivals. Sunset Boulevard is suddenly one of the hot tickets in New York, even though it first opened on Broadway more than 30 years ago. 

These trends happen in voice pedagogy, as well. Last semester, I blogged about the benefit of 10-minute practice sessions. Current research highlights the benefits of "distributed practice" or "spaced learning" over "massed practice" or "massed learning." The research indicates that we tend to get more out of our practice if we do it in multiple short sessions spread throughout the day rather than in one session of an hour or longer. It turns out, even though these recommendations are based on research studies from the 21st century, this isn't a new idea, either. 

I recently read the new edition of The Vocal Athlete by Wendy D. LeBorgne and Marci Rosenberg. They cite a vocal treatise by the famous Spanish voice teacher Manuel García II (1805-1906) that was written in 1841. Those of you who have taken my vocal pedagogy class may remember García as the inventor of the first laryngoscope—he used two dental mirrors to reflect sunlight in a way that allowed him to see his own vocal folds in motion. According to LeBorgne and Rosenberg: 

"García also advocated for a distributed practice schedule beginning with 5 minutes and slowly progressing to a consecutive 30 minutes over time as stamina increased. He encouraged his students to practice for no more than 30 minutes in one session up to four times daily." (p.179) 

It's worth noting that, even when García's students had developed significant vocal stamina, he still advocated only practicing for 30 minutes at a time. And he suggested engaging in multiple practice sessions that were spread throughout the day. So, maybe this research isn't as cutting-edge as some of us thought. It just confirms practices that have been around for a long time. 

Of course, none of us needs to wait around for a research study to tell us what to do. There are some things that we know work because our experience tells us so. Naturally, when we have better information, we can change our behavior accordingly. But, in the meantime, like putting on our favorite old shirt, we should keep following the practices that lead to the best results. This holds true whether they come from Manuel García II, from 21st-century research studies, or even from Bon Jovi. ("Take my hand and we'll make it. I swear.")

How has your practice been this week? Have you been able to find a routine and solidify your practice habits? 

Now go practice. 

 

Resolutions

Have you set your New Year's resolutions yet? Do you have any resolutions related to vocal practice this year? 

Actually, maybe it's OK if you haven't made any resolutions. According to a Columbia University study featured in an article from CBS News, half of Americans make New Year's resolutions, but only 25% of us stick with them past 30 days. So, really, they should probably be called "January Resolutions," since that's all the longer they tend to last. 

According to the article, there are a couple of reasons so many of us fail in our resolutions. When we dig into the details, these reasons can be turned into guidelines for how we can actually stay committed to our resolutions—perhaps especially so if they relate to vocal practice. 

First, we need to turn our resolutions into habits. According to author Justin Hale, "Research shows that 40% of what we do day in and day out are habits. Habits are things that you do without even thinking. You do those things like a routine, habitually, almost automatic." Our lives during the school year are often tightly dictated by routine: get up at a designated time, go to class at a designated time, do your homework in that short window between class and rehearsal or work, etc. If we want to make our practice resolutions successful, we have to make them habits by scheduling regular practice sessions and then sticking to those times the same way we do for all of the other important events on our schedules. We have to make those sessions part of our daily routines. 

A second reason people fail in keeping their resolutions is they are not specific enough. The article uses the example of "I want to run more in the new year" compared to "I'm going to run 30 minutes each day." As Hale says, "It's really specific and really clear—really measurable." 

I've talked about this before with many of you (and I blogged about it in 2019). If your resolution is "I want to sing higher," that's less specific than "I want to extend my range by two half steps beyond my current highest note." When a resolution is less measurable, it is harder to know if you are making progress, which demotivates you to keep practicing. As it turns out, the more specific your goals, the more likely you will be to keep working toward them. 

The last thing Hale says is something I don't entirely agree with: "Building new habits in the new year is less about grit and willpower, and it's more about having the right plan to make that new behavior habitual." Yes, the whole point of this blog is that we need to make resolutions habitual and we need to have specific plans for what we are working toward. But I also believe that grit and willpower are important. 

According to Vocabulary.com, the word "resolution" and the word "resolve" come from the same Latin word: resolvere. And, according to Dictionary.com, when resolve is used as a noun, its definitions include “firmness of purpose or intent; determination.” 

So, the first thing you might consider in setting a new resolution and working to make it a habit is to establish your resolve. Whether you call it grit, willpower, resolve, or something else, you can choose in each practice session to take on an attitude of determination. Combined with routine and specificity, resolve may also help you stick with your resolutions—long past 30 days. 

What are your goals/resolutions for this semester? 

Now go practice.