What are you trying to prove?

In the last blog, I shared some ideas from So You Want to Sing Cabaret about how the role of the voice is to be in service to the text of the songs we are singing. This shifts our goal from making the most beautiful sounds possible to making the sounds that most appropriately express the lyrics. 

In the book, authors David Sabella and Sue Matsuki also identify what they consider to be the main objective for technical voice study when it comes to singing cabaret: "...to enhance the singer's vocal ability and options safely and effectively, giving them a greater facility with which to complete the storytelling while at the same time never calling attention to that technical ability while performing." They provide an example of an inappropriate use of the voice if, for instance, a soft, intimate song is sung with a fully resonant vocal quality. In this case, as they say, "we are taken out of the story and confronted with a use of voice that tells us more about the singer's vocal training than the story being told."  

They believe there are two primary reasons singers often make these choices. The first is that decades of pop and rock music has conditioned society's vocal performance tastes to a "higher, louder, longer" mentality. "Even in classical music," they say, "holding a note higher, louder, and longer—as if it were a test of endurance—is applauded." In these times, listeners are practically forced to pay attention to the skills of the singer rather than the meaning of the text.

A second reason singers make these technique-first performance choices, according to the authors, is that they feel they have to prove to everyone that they have a good voice or a solid technique. Sabella and Matsuki remind readers that, at the level of professional performance, we all assume that the singers onstage can, in fact, sing. They shouldn't need to prove that. As they write, this attitude sometimes has the opposite effect: "Very often it is the singer's own need to prove that they can sing that unfortunately backfires and results in highlighting a technical deficit, which might otherwise have gone unnoticed." 

Now, maybe the goals of a performance within a university theatre department are different from a performance on a professional stage. Maybe, in this program, you feel like you have to put your vocal skills on display because that is how you believe you are being evaluated and graded. Naturally, one of the goals of vocal study is to build technique, which is something we hope to see in your performances. But, as we discussed in the last blog, the reason we build vocal technique is so that we have as wide a range of vocal colors as possible so that we are better equipped to express the full gamut of emotional states our characters experience. So we're not just looking for a demonstration of ability. We want to see how you use your technique to tell a compelling story.

As Sabella and Matsuki put it, "the singer must continue to work on the mastery of vocal technique to complete the vocal gesture without the anxiety of needing to prove their own merit." 

We're all works in progress. None of us have an absolutely flawless technique. But when we get to performance time, it's no longer about building technique. It's about using our current capabilities to create dynamic characters. Coming into the final performances of the semester, you may entertain this question from So You Want to Sing Cabaret: 

"Are you willing to trust that the vocal training you have had resides within you and does not need to be proven to your audience?" 

Thanks for a wonderful semester. I'm grateful for all of you. Let's finish strong. 

Now go practice.

The Beauty Isn't

For a long time, the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), which is the largest organization of singing teachers in the world, only encouraged classical and operatic styles of singing. There were many members who were convinced that singing in any other genre (jazz, pop, and *gasp* musical theatre!) was inherently unhealthy and anyone undertaking such risky behavior was on the path to vocal ruin. 

Although there are some folks who still believe this, their numbers are diminishing, in part because organizations like NATS have done an about face. NATS now wholeheartedly embraces the fact that all genres of music can be performed in healthy and expressive ways when appropriate, style-specific techniques are taught. 

To help lead the charge of change, NATS has sponsored the So You Want to Sing series of books dedicated to promoting the styles and techniques of non-classical genres. The first book in the series is So You Want to Sing Music Theater. The last book—the twentieth—is called So You Want to Sing Cabaret, which I'm currently reading. I'm learning quite a bit about what distinguishes true cabaret from other genres and how it can be performed authentically. For instance, a cabaret is NOT just standing on stage and singing through a list of your favorite musical theatre songs. Even so, there is still a lot of crossover between cabaret singing and musical theatre singing. Many of the best-known composers of the songs in The Great American Songbook, which are often used in cabaret performances, are also musical theatre composers (Cole Porter, the Gershwins, Rodgers and Hart, etc.). 

One distinguishing factor of cabaret, however, is the primacy of text. As stated by authors David Sabella and Sue Matsuki:  

"The voice must remain in service to the lyric at all costs. At all costs!...Professional use of the voice dictates that there is no correct sound. The right sound is simply the best sound for the story you are telling, which is not necessarily the prettiest sound you can make... It is not a dangerous or unsafe sound, to be sure. It is simply the sound that best communicates the lyric and aids in storytelling." (p.121)

We could argue that this should hold true in musical theatre, as well, and I think that most of the time it does. But there are some realities of the genre that may prevent a truly lyric-driven performance 100% of the time. For instance, cabaret performance venues are generally small and intimate. Even so, the singers perform with a hand-held microphone, not so much to be heard but to allow for a wider variety of vocal sounds and dynamics. Musical theatre venues are often much larger and can involve large orchestras instead of small combos. Although actors in musicals also sing with microphones, the mics are usually taped to the singers' faces at a fixed distance. This helps amplify the sound but doesn't allow individual actors to get closer or farther away from the mic for expressive purposes. 

That being said, we often spend so much time trying to create beautiful vocal sounds that we sometimes forget that, in a text-first genre like theatre, the most expressive and appropriate sound may not always be the most beautiful sound. Characters who are emotionally devastated or who are infuriated are probably unlikely to express themselves with perfectly balanced chiaroscuro tones. As Sabella and Matsuki say, that doesn't mean you should aim to make unhealthy or unsustainable sounds. But the reason we build vocal technique is so that we have as wide a range of vocal colors as possible so that we are better equipped to express the full gamut of emotional states our characters experience. If we only build the "pretty" sounds, we're limiting our options. 

In summarizing their thoughts on the topic, the authors pose this question: 

"Are you willing to sacrifice that which, through ardent vocal training, you have previously perceived as 'correct,' such as beauty of tone or range, in favor of lyric delivery and believability should the storytelling warrant it?" (p.121) 

As we prepare for vocal juries and class finals, you may start taking a deeper look at your tonal goals. While staying within the bounds of good vocal health, see if there are places in your songs where beautiful sounds may actually detract from the story or the character. And then dare to be more beast than beauty. 

Now go practice.

Creative outlets

What are some of the media you use to express yourself? Obviously, you're all theatre artists. But what are your other creative outlets? 

Of course, there are lots of creative skills that fall under the umbrella of theatre skills. You could say, "My main thing is singing, but I also like to dance." Or, "I'm primarily an actor, but I also really enjoy scenography." That's great—the more knowledge you have about how all elements of theatre work, the more informed theatre performer and consumer of theatre you will be. But that's not what I'm asking about here. 

What else do you do as a creative outlet? Do you draw? Are you interested in photography? Do you play an instrument? Do you keep a journal? Write poetry? Knit? 

I suspect that most of us have some hobbies that are just hobbies. We enjoy them but are quick to walk away once they stop being fun. But I would imagine most of us also have other interests we are more committed to. These are activities we make time for, learn more about, and pursue more seriously. 

For instance, I am a casual home brewer. Once or twice a year, we buy a kit of pre-selected ingredients and then brew and bottle a five-gallon batch of beer. Lots of our beer turns out pretty well. Some of it is just so-so. Other batches have been pretty bad. But even when the product isn't great, it's still OK because we just enjoy the time spent hanging out with our friends making beer (and usually drinking some of our previous product while we're making the next one). 

I have some friends, however, who are much more serious brewers. Instead of buying pre-made kits, they select their own ingredients and make their own recipes. They take notes on what goes well with each batch and what they plan to do differently the next time they brew. They enjoy the creative process and take pride in doing a good job. 

Besides singing and teaching singing (and other activities peripheral to singing), my other most serious creative outlet is writing. As many of you know, I write regularly for two different publications and I frequently submit articles to various voice-related journals. Sometimes I write formal academic research papers, sometimes I write book reviews, sometimes I interview people for feature articles, and other times I just write essays on things that fascinate me. Merging two of my interests, I even spent five years as a columnist for the Rocky Mountain Brewing News. Oh, and I keep a blog that I force all of my students to read. I enjoy the challenge of looking for just the right way to state something. I like being able to adjust my tone depending on who my target audience is. And I appreciate the opportunity to deeply explore a subject and to share that with others. 

Regardless of what your non-theatre-related creative outlet is (or will become if you aren't sure you have one yet), I believe these outlets have theatre-related value. First of all, even though we all love theatre, success in this art form requires discipline, which can sometimes make our practice of theatre (and theatre-related skills) more tedious than enjoyable. When it does become tedious, you have nowhere else to turn for creative expression if theatre is the only creative outlet you have. 

Second, I believe that discipline begets discipline. I'm convinced that if you can be disciplined enough to, for example, learn to play the guitar, or experiment with different styles of cooking, or stick with a knitting project long enough to finish a sweater, you can use that experience of discipline to reignite the discipline you need for your theatre skills. 

Third, creative people need to practice creativity, and the more ways we can do this, the better. By engaging in multiple creative practices, you learn how to be creative in new and different ways. This exercising of the "creativity muscles" can boost all of your creative applications. 

So what do you do to practice creativity in non-theatre areas? What would you like to do that is creative that you haven't been able to pursue yet? 

How has your singing been this week?

Now go practice. 

The Four Areas of Focus

Earlier this semester, we looked at the phrases "paying attention" and "spending time." Giving consideration to how we invest our time and attention can hopefully inspire us to use those resources wisely, especially when we have big goals and ambitions. 

Let's zero in on attention here. What do you think about when you're singing? Whether you're warming up, practicing, or performing, what you give your attention to can impact how you sing. It seems to me there are four primary areas of focus from which to choose. 

The first area is the nuts and bolts of the music: the notes, rhythms, text, dynamics, tempo markings, etc. If you don't know the basics of the music, it can be difficult to focus on any other performance element. In fact, I know of some pedagogues who say you should never attempt to sing a note unless it is absolutely clear in your head what that note is. That's because if you start to produce a pitch, and then your ear hears a different pitch from the piano, the quick adjustment you have to make can wreak havoc on your larynx. 

Memorization factors into this first area of focus, as well. As you have probably experienced, until you are comfortably memorized, you won't be able to truly dedicate your full focus to other elements of a performance. 

The second area of focus is technique. Once you know the nuts and bolts of the music, you may be able to allow your technical focus to go on autopilot if a song sits comfortably within your skill level. But when songs are more challenging, you may have to keep a significant portion of your attention on technique to make sure you are creating even resonance, transitioning registers smoothly, and avoiding any unnecessary tension. 

In the motor learning world, there is an ongoing debate about "locus of attention" as it relates to vocal technique. The discussion centers around whether singers are better off focusing on internal, biomechanical cues (Is my soft palate raised? How much am I opening my mouth?) or focusing on external cues that come about as the result of how they are making sound (Where in my body do I notice vibrations? What does my voice sound like in this room?). I'll save a more in-depth exploration of that topic for another blog. Regardless, it's unlikely you'll be able to focus on either the internal or external aspects of your technique if you keep messing up the notes and rhythms of your song. 

The third area of focus is expression and emotion. This is ideally where we want to be by performance time. Once you are on stage or in front of an audience, you want to give as much of your focus as possible to the story you are telling. This can only be done, however, once the first two areas of focus have reached the automatic stage of learning. If you still have to think about notes and rhythms, or if you haven't worked out the song in your technique, that may be a good indication that the song is not yet performance ready. 

Of course, there is one more area of focus: distraction. Sometimes this happens with songs we know really well, especially if we have already performed them multiple times. Instead of engaging with the character, our minds start to wander. Where should I grab dinner after the performance? Did I leave my bedroom light on? How did Luke not even suspect that Darth Vader was his father when "Vater" is literally the German word for "father"? Did Luke never have to learn German growing up on Tatooine? German had to be one of the six million forms of communication C3PO knew, right? Shouldn't he have at least mentioned that to Luke before the lightsaber fight on Cloud City? Obi-wan Kenobi was really banking on the fact that Luke wouldn't know any German when he lied to him and said that Darth Vader killed his father. But, I guess, with all the time Obi-wan spent on Tatooine, he must have known that German wasn't part of the curriculum Luke would have received at Mos Eisley Middle School or at Two Suns High School. 

Anyway, as you can see, we can easily fall prey to distraction. The advice for working through it is similar to what is recommended in meditation or yoga practices. Notice and acknowledge that your attention has wandered, allow the distraction to pass away, then refocus on the task at hand. 

Now, if I'm being completely honest, there may be times when the music is so difficult that you have to divide your attention. If you are singing a Sondheim patter song, you may be able to keep your focus on expression for most of the song, but there may be times when you have to shift your attention more consciously to the rhythm to make sure you don't miss an entrance. Or if you are singing something by Adam Guettel that is really tonally challenging (so...everything Guettel ever wrote), you may have to shift your focus to pitch accuracy in certain places to make sure you sing all the right notes. There may be similar spots in songs where you need to give enough attention to your technique to make sure you get through a challenging section smoothly. Then you can get your focus back to expression as quickly as possible. 

The benefit of identifying the four areas of focus is that it can help you systematically structure your practice. You can't truly give yourself over to full expression of a piece until it is technically "in your voice." And you can't really get the technique down until you are confident on all the notes and rhythms of the song. 

So start at the very beginning (a very good place to start) and don't skip these necessary steps. 

What goals do you have for the second half of this semester? Has your initial practice schedule worked out for you thus far? If not, what adjustments can you make to ensure you are practicing regularly and effectively? 

Now go practice. 

Desirable difficulties

As we continue exploring what helps and what hinders learning, and how we can structure our practices in a way that leads to actual improvements, we'll look here at the concept of desirable difficulties. 

I discussed desirable difficulties a bit in the first blog of the semester. As a reminder, cognitive psychologist Robert Bjork coined the phrase to describe tasks that require a considerable but desirable amount of effort, which improves long-term performance. (Lynn Helding has further explored the concept and applied it to the work musicians do.) In voice, we may consider desirable difficulties as exercises that take you just beyond what you are capable of doing. If we only practice the skills that we have already mastered (those skills which, for us, are in the "automatic stage" of motor learning) then we are not building skill. We are just solidifying those skills, which is also important. 

So, what could desirable difficulties look like in our practice sessions? Here is one example: 

Let's say you are trying to increase your vocal agility in order to sing passages of fast-moving notes, like riffs. First, remove any distractions that may compete for your attention. As discussed in the first two blogs of the semester, effort and undivided attention are needed for learning to occur. 

Second, decide on a pattern and a vowel, like singing a 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 scale on an "ah." Sing through it a few times while giving specific attention to what you feel, noticing where you are physically engaged and where you are released. 

Third, sing the exercise again but following along with a metronome set to a comfortable pace (there are lots of free metronome apps you can download). Gradually, increase the tempo. Sing five or six repetitions at each new tempo. Continue checking in with where you feel engaged and where you feel released. Be intentional about maintaining freedom at the places where you are prone to adding unnecessary tension (the jaw, the neck, etc.). 

Lastly, continue increasing the speed until you get to a point where you can get through some of the repetitions cleanly but others are not as clean. Or maybe some of the passage is clean (maybe just the ascending part) but the whole thing is not yet spot on. Notice the metronome marking where this happens. This is just beyond the edge of your capabilities and is your new "desirable difficulty." 

As you come back to agility work in successive practice sessions, make sure that you work back up to that same metronome marking. If you practice this regularly, with focus and attention, you should start to see some improvement. Once you do, you can increase the speed again to the point where you are sometimes clean and sometimes not. That will then become your new desirable difficulty to work toward. 

Of course, then you can try the same thing on different vowels or on a different pattern (a nine-note scale, a riff pattern like 1-2-3-5-6-5-3-2-1, etc.). Keep a record of how far you get each time so that you can continue to measure your progress. If you do this consistently for a couple of weeks and don't see progress, bring that exercise to your lesson or to class and we can troubleshoot together. 

Since our bodies naturally fluctuate from day to day (and at different times throughout the day), you may feel progress on some days and not feel any progress on other days. By using an external device like a metronome, however, you will get consistent, objective feedback and will be working toward a set standard. This will take the guesswork out of the process since you will know exactly what progress you are making. 

A little creative thought can help you develop your own exercises designed to increase your range, develop greater dynamic capabilities, expand your ability to sustain long breath phrases, or any of the other vocal goals you set for yourselves in week one of the semester. 

For your comments this week, look back at one of your week one goals and discuss how you can introduce systematic desirable difficulties into your practice. 

Now go practice.

Paying attention and spending time

It feels like everyone and everything is vying for our attention these days. Our eyes and ears are constantly barraged with competing signs, signals, and advertisements trying to pull our focus off of what we're intending to do so that we'll engage with something else. Most of the time, it's because a company wants us to notice their product so that we'll throw our hard-earned cash their way. In many ways, then, it can be financially costly to allow our attention to wander. But it may cost us even more than that. 

Professor Lynn Helding reminds us in her book that there is a reason we use the phrase "pay attention." It costs us our focus, our brain space, our time, and our emotional capital. When we "spend" our time paying attention to something, we are essentially investing in that thing. Therefore, when we are attempting to focus on a task and then find ourselves being distracted, we may be inadvertently and complacently investing our attention in something we don't actually value. 

The good news is that the ability to focus our attention is something we can train through practice. And it is crucial that we all practice this skill. One reason is that distractions hinder our ability to learn. Another reason is that we are in a profession that is built on the assumption that people will pay money to sit in a dark room for a few hours at a time in order to watch a play or a musical. If our society loses its collective ability to do this, we're all out of jobs! 

Even though we can train our ability to pay attention, the bad news (once again, a la Lynn Helding) is that our attention is easily hijacked. And guess what tool is able to hijack our attention more than any other? Our phones (big surprise). Those brightly-colored apps, the way the phone is just slightly too big to fit in our pockets (so we have to keep it in our hands), the Pavlovian notification sounds that cause us to unconsciously reach for the device—they're all designed to attract and keep our attention. 

So how on earth are you supposed to get serious practicing done when you have such a distracting little machine on your person at all times? 

Turn it off. 

Don't just silence it. Don't just set it to airplane mode. Turn. It. Off. Give yourself a fighting chance by eliminating the temptation entirely. In the last blog, we identified cognitive effort as one of the prerequisites for learning. Another word for cognitive effort is concentration. Concentration is easily broken by distraction. You will have greater concentration (i.e., greater ability for sustained cognitive effort) (i.e., greater opportunity for true learning to occur) when you eliminate distractions. 

Your attention is valuable. It's not just valuable because lots of people, products, and companies want it. It's valuable because what you choose to give your attention to is an indication of what YOU value. Spend it wisely. 

Now go practice. 

Prerequisites for Learning

Welcome (back)! Here we go...

Last year, I wrote a blog about the Prerequisites for Advanced Singing, where I identified four elements that I feel are necessary for moving past the beginning levels of singing. 

In this blog, we'll explore what may be considered the prerequisites for learning, as outlined by Prof. Lynn Helding of the University of Southern California. Helding is a pioneer in bringing cognitive research and motor learning theories into the way we teach singing. She has written a hugely influential book, called The Musician's Mind, that I have quoted in previous blogs. In her estimation, there are four components that should be present if true learning is to occur: volition, desire, effort, and sleep. 

Volition essentially means that it is your choice to participate. You are the one choosing to take voice lessons, you are choosing to practice, you are choosing to do what is necessary to improve. If you are only studying singing because it's a requirement of your major or because some authority figure is making you do it, you are not likely to learn much. 

Desire means that you truly want to improve. That may seem obvious—who doesn't want to be a better singer? But, do you want it enough to actually practice? If not, then you have a dream, not a desire. I dream of being a great pianist, but I don't desire to sit my butt on a piano bench to practice for hours a day. The famously witty Oscar Wilde once said, “To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable.” I wouldn't exactly call that desire. 

Effort is also a necessary component. To put it bluntly, if something is easy, you’re probably not learning. Going through the motions of vocal exercises may keep your voice conditioned, but it is not going to lead to added skill. Let me be clear, we're talking here about mental effort, not about extraneous muscle engagement. Helding builds on cognitive psychologist Robert Bjork's idea of "desirable difficulties," which are described as tasks that require a considerable but desirable amount of effort, thereby improving long-term performance. Your singing regimen should include some tasks that you already perform well (the repetition of which will continue to solidify those skills) and lots of other tasks that you are just on the edge of being able to perform, or perform consistently (which will keep you stretching your abilities). 

Sleep is the last prerequisite necessary in order for learning to occur. In a previous blog about the importance of sleep, I admitted that it may not be helpful to lecture students about getting enough sleep when many of you have class all day, rehearsals or work all evening, and THEN you're expected to do homework, write papers, oh, and just live your life! Still, sleep is crucial for both health and for learning. In her book, Helding presents various theories that suggest sleep makes us more able to pay attention, encourages "synaptic pruning" (essentially cleaning the brain of weak neuronal connections so the stronger connections can thrive), and helps short-term memories become long-term memories (also called "memory consolidation," which is the cognitive term for actual learning). (The Musician's Mind, p.84-86)

As we kick off the semester, you may consider briefly going through this checklist each time you practice. Remind yourself that you are choosing to sing, that you genuinely want to get better, and that you are willing to challenge yourself in order to improve. Then commit to giving your body, mind, and voice the proper sleep needed to flourish and excel. 

In the comments below, type two or three goals you have for your singing this semester and this school year. You may want to consult this blog and this blog as reminders of what to keep in mind when establishing effective goals.

I'm so happy to be back at it and am looking forward to working with all of you. Let's have a great year!

Now go practice.