Seeking success

With graduation season right around the corner, social media will soon be swimming with videos of people in robes and funny hats pontificating about the secrets to success, doling out advice, and quoting Dr. Seuss's "Oh, the places you'll go!"

I actually really enjoy most commencement addresses. I love to hear people talk about what they feel is most important in life. Amidst the daily barrage of brainless blather, it's refreshing to hear sincere stories that are borne out of personal experiences.

I also appreciate good graduation speeches because I imagine they are immensely difficult to write. How do you put together words of inspiration without being trite or cliché? How do you give advice without sounding preachy or like you’re telling people how to live their lives? And how do you compose a speech that is entirely original and deliver it in a way that strikes just the right balance between engaging, funny, and profound?

The irony is that while we look to these speakers as templates of success, hoping they may give us something to emulate, they tend to emphasize the need to forge our own paths and to seek the answers within. In this regard, success is different for each of us and depends on how we define it.

One definition of success was made clear at a commencement ceremony I attended where the head of the faculty spoke at length about the need to "accomplish" and to "do great things in your field." Near the end of his speech, he told the graduates, "Stay in touch and let us know about all your successes...so we can brag about them!" He never once mentioned the importance of character, the need to build community, or how crucial it is to live a life of honesty and integrity.

A different definition was presented by the student speaker at my own college commencement ceremony. He reminded us that, while many people were hoping for our success, he was hoping for something else. "When you are faced with the opportunity to commit injustice that may result in your own financial or career success," he said, "I hope you fail. Gloriously!"

Here's one more definition:

"Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it." ~Maya Angelou

Wishing you all success (especially you graduates). Thanks for a great year.

Now go practice.

Mythbusters

For the last four years I've been involved in the Performance Voice Conference sponsored by the University of Utah Voice Disorders Center. Twice I sat on a panel called "Vocal Health Mythbusters" with Ingo Titze, PhD, Marshall Smith, MD, and Kristine Tanner, PhD. The purpose of the panel was to discuss the many ideas surrounding vocal health and singing that may not exactly be based on fact.

Many of these ideas seem to make sense when you hear them. Since most of the physical mechanisms involved in singing are hidden inside our bodies, we can find ourselves assuming something is true just because it feels a certain way. While sensation is an important tool for singers, it's also important to understand what's really going on.

Here are some of the more common myths or misconceptions I have heard over the years (along with my responses). Most of them are things I believed at one point or another until I learned otherwise. And as Oprah says (via Maya Angelou), "Once you know better, do better!"

You must breathe into your diaphragm. 
When you inhale, your diaphragm engages and lowers, drawing air into your lungs, not your diaphragm. Your diaphragm is a muscle. You cannot breathe into it.

You must breathe into your stomach. 
When the diaphragm lowers, it presses on the contents of the abdominal cavity which can give a sensation of outward expansion along your waist. But, again, since the air is going into your lungs you are not breathing "into" your stomach.

You must stand up straight to sing.
Efficient alignment will generally benefit your singing. But the spine has natural curvature. If you straighten that out...ouch!

You should always sing with enough space to fit three fingers vertically into the front of your mouth.
Again, ouch! This may be true for certain notes in your range (I'm thinking specifically of your extreme top notes) but if you don't have a particularly large mouth, three fingers of space may make your jaw feel hyper extended.

Raise your eyebrows to keep from singing flat. 
Pitch goes up when the cricothyroid muscle engages and the vocal folds are lengthened. Your eyebrows are not connected to your CT muscle. [Disclaimer: There are elements of breath flow and resonance that contribute to pitch as well, but your eyebrows don't impact these either.]

Drinking water will help wash phlegm off of your vocal folds.
Only if your epiglottis fails you. Your epiglottis closes over the larynx when you swallow so that food and liquids are directed into your esophagus, where they head to your stomach, and not into the trachea where they would pass your vocal folds on their way to the lungs. If water is passing by your vocal folds, you are probably drowning.

Lift your upper jaw when you sing. 

Myth: Eventually you're going to have to grow up.

You only have one jaw, which connects to the skull at the temporomandibular joint and can move up and down when speaking, singing, and chewing. If you are moving your upper teeth, you are moving your skull, not an upper jaw.

Let the sound resonate throughout your head.
Please don't. That's where your brain should be.

Always sing with a lowered larynx and a high soft palate.
That depends on what sound you are trying to make. Some singing may call for a higher laryngeal position and/or a lowered soft palate.

What other vocal myths have you heard? What vocal myths did you once believe? (be honest!)

What are your practice goals for the last month of the semester?

Now go practice.

The more you know

Earlier this year, I was reading an opinion article in the New York Times by Lisa Pryor about the prevalence of pseudoscience in popular culture. Pryor, a medical doctor, described a phenomenon of cognitive bias called the Dunning-Kruger Effect. As she explains,

"In short, the less you know, the less able you are to recognize how little you know, so the less likely you are to recognize your errors and shortcomings."

Essentially, once we know a little bit about a topic, we tend to assume we know more about that topic than we actually do. I refer to this as knowing just enough to be dangerous.

This seems especially prevalent in our field. Since everyone enjoys music of some kind, many believe themselves to be experts on identifying "good" singing and "bad" singing, even if they can't articulate the qualities that cause them to make those assessments.

Intriguingly, the Dunning-Kruger Effect also accounts for the converse of assuming we know more than we do. As Pryor describes,

"For the highly skilled, like trained scientists, the opposite is true: The more you know, the more likely you are to see how little you know."

This makes sense, when you think about it. The more you learn about a topic, the more you begin to see its depth and the intricacies that require deeper understanding. In music theater, most people can enjoy COMPANY as an entertaining show. But you may have a more intense appreciation for its impact if you know Sondheim's work up to that point and can track his development as a lyricist and composer.

Pryor sums up what may be the take-away message of the article by saying,

"Most doctors, especially the good ones, are acutely aware of the limits of their knowledge. I have learned from those much more experienced and qualified than me that humility is something to be cultivated over time, not lost."

When I went to college, coming from a small high school in a small town, I was stunned to realize how much I had to learn about music and singing, which were the two things I supposedly knew more about than any other subject.

Back then, and still today, I find I learn the most when I accept and embrace that fact I can never know everything. This keeps me hungry and curious without being frustrated that I don't already know more than I do.

How has your singing been this week?

Now go practice.

Something's afoot

Maybe high heels and kinky boots look fabulous, but can they impact your singing?

To help find out, Dr. Amelia Rollings of Western Kentucky University conducted a study that has been published in the Journal of Voice called "The Effects of Heel Height on Head Position, Long-Term Average Spectra, and Perceptions of Female Singers." (Available free at this link until March 31st.)

For her study, she asked 30 university voice students to sing an excerpt of “Climb Ev'ry Mountain” from THE SOUND OF MUSIC while barefoot and again while wearing 3.8 to 4 inch high heels (Mossimo Vivian Pointy Stiletto heels from Target, if you must know). Dr. Rollings then measured their head angle, analyzed the acoustic output of their sound, and had the students fill out a questionnaire about what they felt while singing.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the results show that every single participant significantly changed the angle of her head when singing in high heels compared to singing barefoot. The acoustic data indicated "significant spectral energy differences" between barefoot and high-heeled singing (meaning there was a notable change in tone quality). And the questionnaire revealed that 70% of the singers were most comfortable—and felt they sang their best—while barefoot.

So, does this mean that singers should never wear heels while singing? Not necessarily.

Dr. Kurt-Alexander Zeller, co-author of What Every Singer Needs to Know About the Body, believes singers can perform in high heels, but to do so requires some extra attention and practice. He writes:

Luckily, snowshoes are pretty flat.

"Adding height to the heel of a shoe will change the arc of the arch through which the weight of the body is delivered to the floor; the heel of the shoe becomes an extension of the heel of the foot. The ankle joint must rebalance so that it still remains the fulcrum at the apex of the arch, which will of course be taller and narrower. (The higher the heel of the shoe, the taller and narrower the arch.) The ankle joint must adjust so that weight is still being delivered equally back through the heel of the foot and subsequently the heel of the shoe to the ground, and also forward through the ball of the foot to the ground. (If too much weight is thrown onto the balls of the feet, the toes often grip in compensation, which is counterproductive.)" (What Every Singer Needs to Know About the Body, p.256)

There are many performance factors that may interfere with our best singing, like staging, choreography, and even costuming. The point of a "dress" rehearsal is to allow actors to get used to moving and singing in costume (shoes included) to work out any peculiarities before being put in front of an audience. It takes practice and experimentation to find out how to keep vocal efforts balanced and expressive within these potential limitations.

Being aware of how high heels may unconsciously impact your singing can help you make appropriate adjustments to your approach. Then you're better able to get your performance off on the right foot.

How has your singing been this week?

Now go practice.

Vocal load

This week I had an appointment at the University of Utah's Voice Disorders Center. For the last year I had been noticing that my top notes were not as clear as they used to be and that it would often take a lot more effort to create those sounds than it had previously. After dragging my feet for a year, I finally made an appointment to get seen by an otolaryngologist (also known as an ENT—an ear, nose, and throat doctor).

It turns out, I have two things going on with my voice.

1) I have been experiencing laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (LPRD). If you don't know what this is, check out my blog from last February. It is quite common among singers and can cause many of the vocal symptoms I have been experiencing. To help combat this problem, the doctor prescribed some medication and we outlined ways I can adjust my diet and lifestyle to reduce the occurrence of reflux.

2) The other issue I have been experiencing is significant vocal load or vocal dose. Essentially, it means I have been using my voice more than is good for me.

As a professional voice user (which, as actors and singers, all of you are, as well), we have to constantly be conscious of how much we are asking of our vocal muscles. Even athletes who are using their muscles efficiently will run into occasional issues or injuries from overuse. It is the same for singers.

The speech-language pathologist at the clinic helped me outline some areas in my daily routine where I can reduce my vocal load.

Sometimes you just gotta go see the doc.

• Demonstrate less while teaching (if the students know what I'm asking, I don't have to sing it for them first).
• Don't practice to the point of being vocally fatigued. Stop singing or transition to cool-down exercises before getting to the point of fatigue. 
• Be aware of loudness in conversation. Louder sounds require more vocal fold collision. Use only as much volume as is needed for the situation (this includes loud laughing).
• Be aware of loudness levels while singing. Vocal practice should not always be at ff. Balance in dynamics is key. 
• Encourage a CT-dominant (head-voice) sound in singing whenever possible. Limit TA-dominant (chest voice) singing. 
• Use more airflow while speaking and singing, especially if the voice is tired.
• Take time throughout the day for vocal rest and for straw phonation to reduce vocal fold swelling. 

We may discover that my previous vocal load levels would have been fine if I had not also been experiencing reflux. Regardless, it has made me aware of some of the ways I have been needlessly asking more of my voice than is necessary.

Examine your own daily vocal load. Do you have any habits that could be adjusted to make sure you aren't overtaxing your instrument?

And how has your practice been going?

Now go practice.

Distributed Practice vs. Massed Practice

In the last blog, I referenced an article by Prof. John Nix about incorporating the principles of exercise physiology into vocal practice.

There was another concept discussed in that same article that I also want to highlight. As you all know from your syllabus and from our discussions about setting up a practice schedule, I am an advocate of dividing your practice time into different sessions. In fact, I just wrote about this topic for a book that is about to be published (*hair toss*).

In Nix's article, he also discusses divided practice sessions, making a distinction between "distributed practice" and "massed practice."

An example of distributed practice would be six 10-minute sessions done at different times throughout a single day. Each session could be spent on just one aspect of your vocal technique. At 10 minutes, the sessions are generally short enough that your voice won't get tired and you won't get too bored from focusing on just one technique.

To contrast, an example of massed practice would be one 60-minute practice session per day. This kind of practice can help build endurance for longer performances, like a demanding stage role or an hour-long recital. Massed practice could be several distributed practice sessions strung together or it could be more varied in order to include work on repertoire.

In both cases, you are getting 60 minutes of practice time per day but you will obviously build different skills.

In fact, for students working up stamina for a senior recital (some of you this semester!), Nix suggests a combination of distributed and massed practice over a period of months:

• 3 months prior to the performance: distributed practice.
• 1 month prior to performance: 4 days per week distributed practice, 2 days per week massed practice (similar to performance conditions), 1 day per week rest (post massed practice).
• 2 weeks prior to performance: alternate 1 day distributed, 1 day massed (with all aspects as similar to actual performance as possible, including time of day, location, room acoustics, wearing performance-related articles of clothing, etc.), saving 1 day per week for rest following a massed practice day.
• Performance day: massed, blocked, constant warm-up of skills needed in recital; sing the recital; brief warm down afterward. 

It's not mentioned in the article but logic would dictate that you could also gradually lengthen each of your distributed sessions, from six 10-minute sessions to four 15-minute sessions to three 20-minute sessions to two 30-minute sessions. This could be another way to gradually build endurance for longer singing sessions. 

As you get settled into your practice schedules for the semester, you may consider some adjustments along the way that allow for a combination of distributed and massed practice. See how your voice responds. It's good to have consistency in your routine but it's also good to throw some variation in from time to time as well. 

How has your practice been so far this semester?

Now go practice. 

We're more than halfway to summer!

Exercise physiology

Welcome back! Let's get right to it.

Since singing is a physical activity, voice researchers are constantly looking for connections between vocal training and exercise physiology. The big question is: Do the same training principles used by athletes to become bigger, faster, and stronger work in building voices as well? The short answer seems to be: maybe.

While more research needs to be done, many voice pedagogues are encouraging structuring practices around the four basic principles of physical training. These principles were outlined by Professor John Nix in a recent article in the Journal of Singing called "Best Practices: Using Exercise Physiology and Motor Learning Principles in the Teaching Studio and Practice Room."

Exercise physiology at work.

Principle #1: Overloading is what happens when you ask a muscle to do more than it normally does, like in weight training when you use heavier weights with fewer reps. In singing, Nix says overloading would be like taking a difficult passage of music and singing it slower than you would in a performance. This would tax your breath management and how you handle the range in a way that, if you could master it, would make the normal tempo seem much easier.

Principle #2: Specificity means that your training regimen should match the skills you are trying to develop. For instance, if you're learning Amy's part in "Not getting married today" from COMPANY, you would want to practice vocal exercises that encourage freedom at the articulators (lips, tongue, jaw, etc.). If you're learning Paul's part in that same song, you'd want exercises that help build legato phrases.

Principle #3: Individuality calls for setting a training regimen that fits your unique capabilities and journey, which, as Nix says, can include your age, physical development, experience, health, and skill level. If you want to sing shimmering high Cs but right now you struggle with the G below it, it would be better if you worked to gradually increase your range rather than pushing for that C when it is beyond your current capabilities.

Principle #4: Reversibility is what some of you may be experiencing right now coming off break. It is essentially the "use it or lose it" principle that says the benefits you have gained through training are lost over time if you don't continue to train. In other words, be mindful when you are on a break that you aren't taking so much time off that you lose skills you have built.

As you are setting up your practice schedule for the semester, think about all the ways we train our bodies physically (dance, cardio, yoga, weight training, Pilates, etc.). Since the voice is a part of the body, there may be principles from this training that can be applicable to your vocal practice. Play around and see what you discover.

Let's have a great semester!

Now go practice.

All exercise must include periods of rest.