- Jeanie to be Guest Clinician at Oberlin Vocal Symposium November 11, 2013
Symposium for Voice Performance and Pedagogy An intensive weekend program and conversation about current issues of vocal health, pedagogy, and musical style, including contemporary commercial music JANUARY 31 to FEBRUARY 2, 2014 Oberlin Conservatory of Music 39 W. College St., Oberlin, Ohio 44074 Master classes intended for teachers and students Lectures covering current issues of contemporary commercial music (CCM), vocal wellness, ...
- Each Person Right Now November 11, 2013
When I attended the lectures of Eckhardt Tolle last year one of the questions he was asked was “how can we make the world a better place”? The answer Tolle gave was for each of us to be as present as possible, one moment at a time. Simple, but profound, advice. If you think about it, ...
- Letting Go of Holding On November 9, 2013
Some systems of teaching singing are based upon holding onto the muscles in the throat deliberately while singing. This makes people feel in control and gives them a sense that they can “make” their throats do what they want. Why anyone would want to sing this way is a mystery to me, but I think ...
- Rigidity and Flexibility November 4, 2013
It is necessary to have a system of teaching that is both clear and fluid. (Chiarofluido?) Rigid systems or methods have a set way of teaching and individuals are not allowed to vary from the set principles in any way. There is “one right way” and that way is the “best”. Things have to fall in ...
- The Students Get “Hung Up” November 1, 2013
If you were being stared at, scrutinized, and told to do things you either had never done or were new to doing, would you feel really safe? Would you wonder if maybe, you might be “doing it wrong” or “not be good enough”? Would you think that maybe the person looking at you and listening ...
- Progress October 17, 2013
It seems that the world has not been stopped by the publication of my article in Karen Hall’s NATS Journal of Singing “Independent Studio” column wherein I stated that “there is no such thing as classical training”. I expected backlash (which is perhaps yet to come) because I haven’t yet been so bold, although I ...
- The Mindset of Styles October 10, 2013
Each style has its own group consensus about what it perceives itself to be. It has its own lingo, its own professionalism, its own protocol. The people who inhabit the world of a particular style develop a perspective about it and about how it relates to the outside musical world and the world at large ...
- The Bottom Line October 9, 2013
Either you have control over your body and its functions when you sing or you don’t. If the control is fluid and the sound free, that’s all you need. Some people have that with almost no training, some work hard to get there, but either you get there or you don’t. There are so many people ...
- Sophisticated Singing October 4, 2013
Do you think the average person knows what sophisticated singing is? Since many people thought that Obamacare was different than the Affordable Care Act, I guess not. The folks who think of boxing as a cultural experience are not probably the same ones who enjoy refined vocalism…….although, perhaps, there are a few who have very ...
- The Fear Factor October 2, 2013
“I can’t make that sound, I will hurt my technique.” “I can’t make that sound, I will hurt my voice.” “I can’t make that sound, it will damage my singing.” “If I make that sound, I will sound too different. I will lose myself.” “If I sound like that, no one will like my singing.” On and on. All of ...
- A Singer’s Wake-Up Call October 1, 2013
Have you studied singing only to be completely frustrated? Perhaps several times? Have you had teachers who left you confused with funny terms and ideas? Have you left a lesson tired, hoarse or demoralized? Have you been blamed for failing to improve in a lesson? Have you been told that your “breath support” and “resonance” were at fault? Have you ...
- The Human Condition September 29, 2013
It is nearly impossible to ignore an accident. Even if you don’t want to stare, it is hard to take your eyes off something dramatic, unusual, powerful. Someone screaming on the street, a car crumpled in a heap, a powerful explosion’s leftover debris, a swirling mass of flood waters hurtling past, taking things along with ...
- In Love With Singing September 26, 2013
When I was a small child, my parents both sang at home for fun, mostly, as I recall, while cooking. Both had nice voices and I remember the sounds of my dad singing as he made his homemade spaghetti sauce (legendary!) with a combination of fond sensory memories – music and food. When I sang as ...
- Functional Thinking September 24, 2013
What kind of a sound is this person singing? What does the sound tell me about what is going on in the throat of the singer during that sound? What is going on in the body? That is all you can work with. The vocal production has to be adjusted after it is over, so the ...
- Breathing September 19, 2013
I have encountered many many students with degrees in voice performance of various kinds who do not understand the process of breathing for singing. It is RARE to find someone who both understands and executes a way of breathing that makes sense within their own body, and who can also explain that behavior in clear ...