Spotlight on Success: Nashville Singer/Songwriter Leslie Powell

"Spotlight on Success" is my new blog series featuring interviews with successful entertainment industry professionals.   Over the next few weeks this, "Mission Inspire" will feature singers, actors, choreographers, producers, and educators who have worked on Broadway, won Tony's, and are chasing their dreams daily.  It is my hope that this blog series will inspire and educate my students (and readers) that it is a big, big world out there and chasing your dreams is possible.  

I, almost weekly, get asked "How do I get started in the music industry?"  and to be honest, I don't always have the answers.  So I decided to ask someone who does.  I had the pleasure of meeting singer/songwriter Leslie Powell when a DVS student did a recording session at Off the Row Studios in Nashville.  I asked Leslie if she would be interested in being part of my interview series, and she graciously accepted.  Her answers and insight are below. 

Leslie Powell

JD: Tell us a little about yourself.

LP: My name is Leslie Powell. I am a singer songwriter/ artist from Austin, Texas. I spent my college years going back and forth to Nashville writing music and performing in order to lay a foundation before I moved there permanently. I am a die hard Texan and family gal. 

JD: When did you decide you wanted to be a singer/songwriter? 

 

LP: I realized I could write music during my senior year of high school when I took a creative writing class. My love began and I started writing with as many people as I could in order to learn and get better. I would try to take away at least 2 things from each session that would improve my writing or singing. 

JD: Did you study music or singing in college?  If so, was it helpful?  If not, why not?

 

LP: I didn't study singing in school because I didn't want it to be mandatory. I was scared that I would lose my drive and love of music if it became a chore to me. I studied film and intertwined the two during college. I took all sorts of entertainment law and music courses to be informed, but thought it was best to learn through real world experience. 

JD: What made you decide to move to Nashville?  How old were you?

 

LP: I think once music is in your blood, it's in there to stay. I knew I wanted to write and be a musician in high school, but I really decided to pursue it fully my sophomore year of college. I studied hard and traveled back and forth between Austin and Nashville meeting as many people as I could and getting in different writers circles. 

 

JD: How did you get started in Nashville?  Did you have contacts or an "in" before moving?

LP: When I got to Nashville, I went to every event I could find, like writers rounds or shows. I would suck up the fact that I didn't know anyone and walk up and start conversations with people. The industry is based primarily on relationships. I started making friends and writing with everyone I could. Some were great and some were horrible... It's like dating. You have to go through some terrible ones to find the ones you love!! I was ALWAYS prepared and pulled my weight in sessions. If you pull your weight, they will want to write again and/ or introduce you to their friends that they think you'd work well with. That's the ultimate goal, making sure you do your best and giving it 100% always. 

JD: How did you begin to market your music?

 

LP: Internet presence is a MUST. Build a website or have someone design one for you. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook..... Do it all and create fans. Everything is run through social media now... Labels and publishers look at that like crazy. 

 

JD:  Do you have an agent or manager?  Would you recommend someone starting out get one? 

LP:  I wouldn't try for an agent or manager at the beginning. You want to get all of your ducks in a row by yourself before you bring other people in. Figure out who you are as an artist/ writer and THEN figure out who in town will fight for you and be your champion.  The biggest lesson I have learned in the industry is to NOT RUSH. Patience is key. You only get one chance at a first impression and you don't want to pull the trigger when you're not ready.
 

JD: What is a normal day like for you? 

 

LP:  I write at least 5-6 hours a day, usually more, then the rest of my work hours are spent working on guitar and piano. It is CRUCIAL that you can play an instrument so you can accompany yourself at shows AND because you're way more valuable in a writing room. 

I co-write everyday and then play shows every month or so. Writing by yourself is very valuable because you're building skills to help you in co-writes... But co-writing is how you get known around town. I would suggest doing it. 

JD: Any other words of advice to aspiring singer/songwriters?
 

LP: DONT GIVE UP!!!  It is a 7 year town. It took me 3 years to lay my foundation and 4 years to feel like I really made a splash. It's a long long road, but the best road EVER!!!! 

 

JD: Wise words, thank you so much and best of luck! 

Check out Leslie's website: www.lesliepowellmusic.com 

                      

 'Chasing Maybe':

 

Your Brain on Practice

We all know the old adage, "Practice makes perfect," teachers (myself included) expect their students to practice everyday between lessons: 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour a day or more but rarely is the "how" of practice discussed.  In my studio we're currently preparing for our spring recital with the expectation that each singer be fully performance prepared and memorized, so needless to say, there have been tears, frustrated shouts of, "This doesn't make sense to my brain," "I can't do this," and my personal favorite, "I hate this song."  (Fyi..each student chose his/her own song to sing).

The conversation following these emotional moments usually goes something like this:

Me: Did you practice?
Student: Yes
Me: How much did you practice?
Student: Probably not as much as I should have.
Me: What did you do when you practiced?
Student: I listened through the song and/or sang along...I've been really busy...I'm always exhausted.

And here in lies the problem, one I take partial responsibility for.  No, the student didn't spend enough time on task, but I also failed to give them clear guidelines in what to do.  What should those guidelines be?  How can we best prepare our brains for practice success?

Well, I'm about to tell you.  You may say "Who are you to tell me how my brain works, you're a vocal coach, it's not like you have one of the leading researchers in cognitive neuroscience in the country in your back pocket," and I would answer politely, yet with feeling, "Oh contraire."

The following information is from The New Science of Learning: How to Learn in Harmony with Your Brain by Terry Doyle (see what I did there) and Todd Zakrajsek.  I'll put a link to the book (and highly recommend purchasing it) at the end of this post, but for now, let me just say that this book was a finalist in the USA Best Book Awards in 2013 in the category of Education/Academics and gives a clear, concise, and student friendly view of learning and the brain.

So here we go....

Establishing a connection is like blazing a train, which is a great deal of work, but every time the trail is used it becomes more established and easier to follow. 

 Neuroresearchers have shown that when you learn something new, there is a physical change in your brain.  You have approximately 86 BILLION brain cells and when you learn something new, some of those brain cells make connections to other brain cells and form new networks of cells, these new networks = learning.  Every time you practice the newly learned information or skill, the connections between the brain cells get stronger and recalling that information becomes easier. 

I should point out here that this idea of "practice" isn't solely about learning new music, it's also (and maybe mainly) about retraining the voice to find its new home base: free of constriction, clear vowels, balanced registers, volume control.  All those tongue stretches, and jaw massages, and wine corks, and straws won't do you ANY GOOD if the only time you use them is during lessons.

 BLAZE THE TRAIL, RINSE, REPEAT.

The important message for all learners is that new learning requires a considerable amount of practice and a meaningful connection to other information in order to become a more permanent part of memory.

The more ways you engage with something that you are learning (and I'll focus these on singing) - listening, watching, reading, repeating the exercises, exploring new exercises - the stronger the connections in your brain become and the more likely the new learning will become a more permanent memory.  Your teacher doesn't know everything.  Now, don't get me wrong, I have a great tool box, but is every single tool in that box?  Nope.  Should you explore other tools on your own?  Always.  Will I be upset if you find something that works better for your voice?  Never.  Will I add it to my tool box? Absolutely.  Take ownership of your goals.

THE ONE WHO DOES THE WORK DOES THE LEARNING. 

Practice typically needs to happen over extended periods.  Think how ridiculous it would be to cram in a long weight lifting session the night before a strength training competition.  Would you expect to be stronger?  Or to start training for a marathon the day before the race.  If you really wanted to become stronger or faster you would practice a little bit each day over a certain period.  To build strong areas of knowledge, distributed practice is important.  

That said, even when you have learned something, if you don't practice what you have learned the information fades.  This REALLY applies to singing.  Singing is athletic: it requires energy and stamina.  You can spend six months building up to belting the end of that hot new Adele tune, and in far less time lose all your progress by not keeping your voice in elite shape.  The muscles fade. 

USE IT OR LOSE IT. 

 

 One of the more important new insights into how the human brain learns is that it needs to be prepped for learning if it is to work at its best.

The human brain uses 25-30% of the body's energy (in the form of glucose) everyday.  This means if you do not eat a healthy, balanced diet and eat before you begin new learning you are STARVING your brain of the energy it needs to function properly and causing your brain to work much less efficiently.  A brain starved of glucose is not a brain ready to learn.

I can speak from total experience on this one.  A few years ago I was teching a show and also simultaneously trying to lose weight by eating only chicken and fat free Greek yogurt.  You did that one too?  Great, isn't it?  While I managed to pee off two or three pounds I also found myself forgetting my entrances "Was I supposed to be in 2 stage right..or..." Yeah, not great.  It makes sense now that my poor brain was starved of the very thing it needed to work properly: carbs.  And I'm not talking donuts and gummy bears (though they are delicious) I'm talking complex carbs, literally BRAIN FOOD: fruits, whole grains, and veggies. 

Your brain also needs water.  Now, I talk A LOT with my students about the importance of hydration in singing, but it's not just the voice that needs to be hydrated - it's also your brain.  Neurons (brain cells) store water in tiny balloon-like structures called vacuoles (there will be a test at the end of this blog).  Water is essential for optimal brain health and function. Water is needed for the brain's production of hormones and neurotransmitters, the KEY PLAYERS in the brain's communication system which is the HEART of LEARNING.  And no, the sugar free iced hazelnut americano I saw you guzzling pre-lesson doesn't count.  Yes, I saw you.  I have eyes everywhere.

EAT, DRINK, & BE A ROCKSTAR!

Exercise and Sleep may be the most important activities you can take part in to improve your learning. 

These are my final points.  They're so important that my dad and Todd devoted two whole chapters of their book to them.   

SLEEP

 When you're asleep you are shifting memories to more efficient storage regions within the brain.  Consequently, when you wake up, memory tasks can be performed both more quickly and accurately and with less stress and anxiety.  You can't short change your brain of sleep and still learn effectively.  Naps count.  YES!  An excellent way to consolidate memories is to take a brief 20-30 minute nap.  During this nap new learning becomes more stable and will be better available to you in its original form when you go to practice it in the future.  If you come to your lesson exhausted neither your high notes, nor your brain are going to function to their full potential.  Make getting your beauty sleep a priority. 

EXERCISE

Getting exercise is the best thing you can do to improve your learning.  30 minutes of Aerobic exercise five days a week is the gold standard for improving learning.  However, all movement is good for learning.  Walking, sitting on a balance ball instead of a chair (see I don't just think it's funny to watch you sing while bouncing), or pedaling a mini-stationary bike while studying all help learning.  When I'm learning a new show I like to take my script to the gym, get on the treadmill, and talk to myself.  Yes, I may look like a crazy lady, but I get off book faster.   

To get a little science-y on you...exercise causes brain cells to produce a protein called Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor or BDNF.  BDNF is literally, "Miracle-Gro" for your brain. When BDNF is present in your brain in greater amounts, your brain is better able to make connections between brain cells (those networks I talked about earlier) that are the physical representation of what you have learned.  I'll say it again: BDNF makes learning easier.  Did you get that?  

I LIKE TO MOVE IT MOVE IT.

My point is this: you (or your gracious parents) are spending a lot of time and hard earned cash on your voice lessons, so why not maximize your learning potential?  I know you each have goals with your singing, why not reach them faster?  Why not spend less time in your lesson with me plunking melody notes (please sweet baby Jesus lets spend less time doing this) and more time exploring your vocal potential and working on fun, challenging rep?

I know you're busy.  I spent the last 9 months commuting 3+hours a day, going to grad school full time with a GA-ship, teaching 20+ hours a week, and running this here studio, so I get it. But, lets be honest.  How hard is it to eat an apple or a banana or a PB &J before your lesson?  How hard is it to take a water bottle with you throughout the day to make sure you're hydrated?  How hard is it to turn off the Netflix and get to sleep at night...ok I know that's really damn tough.  And, again, if you're going to lay down the money for voice lessons, you owe it to yourself to carve out an hour or so a day to do your exercises, sing your songs, watch youtube videos of the pro's, or check out singing blogs (Somaticvoicework.com and Musicaltheatreresources.com are both great places to start).   It will pay off.  Trust me.

-Jessica


Here's a link to purchase the book, check it out!
http://www.amazon.com/New-Science-Learning-Learn-Harmony/dp/1620360098

I Have Confidence in Confidence Alone....Oh Help.

Confidence.  According to Webster's it's, "A feeling of self assurance arising from appreciation of one's own abilities or qualities."  Confidence is talked about a lot in performing, "Sing confidently," "Walk with confidence," "Be confident," but how do you do that?  What if you don't feel so self assured?  What if you're scared..or intimidated..or unsure? 

I had a conversation with a student yesterday that prompted this post.  She's 15, a good singer and performer, and I had previously encouraged her to audition for a summer show.  She brought in her chosen audition music, but before we had a chance to run through it she told me she wasn't sure she wanted to audition.  I asked why, and she said that another girl at her school..one who gets a lot of leads..told her how competitive the audition would be and "no offense" but "are you really ready for that?" 

Any chance my student had at feeling self assured, of feeling confident in her own abilities, went right out the window.   Clearly she just wasn't good enough.  My response was this:

1) She's correct.  There will be better singers than you.  There will always be someone better than you.  There will always be someone better than her.  There will always be someone better than me.  It isn't about being "better" it's about being "right." And the only person who has any say about how "right" you are is the one with the vision for the show, the director. 


2) The only thing you can control in this whole process is your audition. Now, I don't give meaningless praise, if I think a student isn't ready for an audition or performance I will be the first person to tell them.  But 9 out of 10 times that conversation isn't about how "good" of a singer they are, it's about how much they've prepared or haven't prepared.  Know your piece: character, context, and culture.  Know the show you're auditioning for.  Know all of the music you could POSSIBLY be asked to sing at a call back.  Michael Jackson said..and yes, I got this from The Voice..that if you're prepared you have no reason to be nervous.  So prepare. 

3) Know what you're good at.  Auditioning isn't about showing off the thing you can get right once in awhile when you're home alone and in the shower.  It's about showing off what you do best, and that's awfully hard to do if you don't know what that is.  And you are good at something.  You are "better" at something that is uniquely you than anyone else is. 

4) Every audition is a chance to get better at auditioning.  Auditioning is scary.  It's putting your self and your hard work out on the line in front of people you don't know and asking them to like you, to choose you.  It's like giving your long time crush your whole heart and then waiting to see what they'll do with it.   But the more you do it, the better you become.   Your legs start shaking less...the hives you break out in from stress happen less frequently, and yes I'm speaking from personal experience, but you can't tame the beast if you don't face it.  You also can't get cast in show if you don't audition.  Mmmhmm. 

A college professor of mine told me that you should walk into every audition room like you are the best singer in the room.  It doesn't matter if that's true.  And you might not want to tell anyone else you are thinking that.  But you need to think that way.  You need to appreciate your abilities, because if you don't, how in the world is anyone else supposed to?  

Careful the Things You Say.....

Imagine you are in choir class.  It's one of your favorite classes, a haven from math and English and science, where you don't have to sit hunched over a desk taking notes.  Imagine you love to sing.  You don't want to grow up to be a singer, or maybe you do, but you love it just the same.  The way it makes you feel to be surrounded by voices all working together, learning together, you are a part of a machine and that machine makes music.  It expresses emotions.  It's complicated..and easy..and dark..and uplifting all at the same time.  It's freeing and it's fun.

 Imagine your choir teacher, your leader, the giver of tools that make 10 or 20 or 90 voices all work together as one.  You respect them..you listen to them (most of the time)..maybe you even want to be them when you grow up.  Imagine that person pulling you aside, or holding you after class, or calling you into their office to tell you that you're not a very good singer...that maybe you should think about taking band next year..maybe just 'mouth the words.'  Now imagine you're 12 years old.

Now you're 35 and you haven't sung since.  Not in choir.  Not in the shower.  Not even in the car when you're alone.  You're not very good, so why try.  This might sound ridiculous.  How can one person..and I use choir teacher as a generalization, this could be any kind of educator or parent or authority figure..make such an impact?  Why not just tell them where they could shove their opinion and continue to do the thing that made you so happy?  How could one comment last for all those years?  Sticks and stones right?

I wanted to write this post because I feel so strongly that it is our job as educators not to tell a student what they can't do, but to teach them how they can.  Stephen Sondheim said it best, "Careful the things you say, children will listen," and it's true.  I wish I could say that the above scenario was made up to make my point, but it is true.  It's a story I've heard from numerous students, mostly adults, who come to me after years of not singing because someone told them they weren't very good.  Now they're grown, and they're wondering if maybe..just maybe..they could sing again?  "I know I'm not very good...I don't really sing..I don't have a very strong voice," I've heard them all.  And almost without fail each of these "not very good" singers, were pretty good.

Why are we so affected by negative comments?  We're hard wired to be.  In a NY Times article Clifford Nass, a communications professor at Stanford, says, "The brain handles positive and negative information in different hemispheres.  Negative emotions generally involve more thinking, and the information is processed more thoroughly than positive ones."  In the same article Roy F. Baumeister, a professor of social psychology at Florida State says, "Bad emotions, bad parents, and bad feedback have more impact than good ones.  Bad impressions and bad stereotypes are quicker to form and more resistant to disconfirmation than good ones." And the bad memories stick around.  Professor Baumeister did a series of interviews with children and adults up to 50 years old about childhood memories and found more unpleasant memories than pleasant ones, even among people who said they had a happy childhood.

So what do we do?  We criticize constructively, and sparingly.  This ties in very well to Jeannette LoVetri's method of Somatic Voicework (tm), which I study and teach.  Jeannette rarely says, "no" she says, "that's not quite working..lets try this," she doesn't tell a singer they're off pitch, she adjusts the exercise to help them find the pitch naturally.  Students are far less nervous.  Muscles stay far more relaxed.  The intimidation factor of teacher looming over student, the judgement, dissolves.  You can sing, let me show you how.

Heaping meaningless praise is not helpful either.  I am lucky enough to be the child of a world renown and respected educational consultant, Terry Doyle, who makes the point in much of his work to say that you shouldn't tell a student how smart they are.  Why?  Well..the student you're telling is most likely 1) quick to pick things up 2) hasn't come across something they can't pick up quickly...yet.  So what happens when they do?  They don't think they're smart anymore.  They give up.  They're just "not good" at whatever it is.  Instead we give meaningful praise, "Look how hard you worked on that,"  "Look how well you focused,"  "Look how much time you spent studying."

It's the same with singing.  If you tell a singer that they're "great" they're probably 1) a pretty good singer naturally and 2) they don't have to try very hard to be great...yet.  What happens when they come across more challenging repertoire or something stylistically different?  When their voice develops and changes?  When they all of a sudden can't pick it up so quickly?  They think they aren't a very good singer anymore.  Trust me.  They do.  I've been there.  So instead try focusing on the work.  "Wow..I can tell you've been working your head voice."  "Did you hear how high your belt went today, what have you been doing?"  Praise meaningfully and often.

In conclusion, words have weight, and negative words weigh more than positive ones hands down.  "Careful the things you say, children will listen," but children will also absorb, and remember.  We need to be the protectors of our students' voices, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

NY Times Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/24/your-money/why-people-remember-negative-events-more-than-positive-ones.html?_r=0

Terry Doyle, Learner Centered Teaching: https://learnercenteredteaching.wordpress.com/

Jeannette LoVetri, Somatic Voicework: www.somaticvoicework.com

Lets Talk About Vocal Health, Baby.

At this moment 6.6% of people have a voice problem, over the course of a lifetime 29.9% will have one, and 40% of those problems arise in people who are occupational voice users: customer service reps, sales reps, service industry professionals, clergy, teachers etc...  If you use your voice to bring home the bacon, it's time to start thinking about vocal health.

When I was in college studying Musical Theatre my vocal health routine consisted of drinking water before a voice lesson, audition, or performance and...well, that's about it.  I knew of students who took their vocal health more seriously, Vocal Performance majors who lived in the spotlight on the opera stage, but on the fringe of social society.  They didn't drink, the glory that was the corner party store where you could buy 3 bottles of neon colored Boone's Farm for $9, was completely lost on them.  They didn't sing wildly out of range, and quite often out of tune, karaoke on Wednesday nights and return home to eat greasy Papa John's pizza right before going to bed.  What was wrong with them?

I have since reformed..now I drink wine the color of actual grapes...and I've learned a thing or two about vocal health.  The first thing is that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him stay hydrated.  More appropriately you can tell a voice user how to care for their voice, but it doesn't mean they're going to do it.  Do I expect my college students to sit quietly at home and miss out on the wonders of $3 bottles of Wild Blue Hurricane Explosion?  No.  But I'd hope, for their sake and the sake of the person who shares their bathroom, that they'd add a chaser of good old H2O.  Do I expect the occupational voice users I see to not have a cup of coffee or 2 in the morning?  No, and if I did my Starbucks gold card status and in studio Keurig would certainly raise some eyebrows.  But I'd hope that they'd drink a glass of water for each cup of Joe, and cut it down to 1 or 2 cups a day.  In case you haven't noticed, water is key..duh..but there are some less obvious vocal health issues to be aware of.

The number one cause of vocal problems is Phonotrauma: a Repetitive Stress Injury.  Too loud for too long, and incorrect technique.  The vocal folds can take a lot of stress, a statement proven by Steven Tyler's fabulous and long career, but like any muscle if over used, or misused, there will eventually be problems.  Now you might think, "I'm a teacher/server/attorney/student..I'm not belting out 'Dream On' (ok sometimes in the shower)..I don't shoot heroine (ok only after a really hard day..kidding) so what's the problem?"  Ever bar tend or wait tables in a noisy restaurant?  Grow up in a noisy family where you had to yell to be heard?  Give a lecture or presentation without a microphone?  These are the kinds of everyday occurrences that can add up to vocal issues over time.

The vocal folds are muscles, incredible muscles, muscles the size of your thumb nail.  The actual muscle is covered by a jello-like layer with a layer of mucous on top of that.  When air passes through them they vibrate, the beginning of the sounds we make, and the louder and more aggressive the sound, the harder the vibration.  Over time, with continuous misuse, they will want to protect themselves swelling and thickening the jello-like layer, forming blisters, and eventually callouses, vocal nodules or nodes.  And if you've seen Pitch Perfect (don't deny it) you know the gravity of this situation.

The second most common vocal health issue: acid reflux.  Now I'm not talking about heartburn, the Cleveland Clinic says that 50% of the people with laryngeal/pharyngeal reflux (LPR) don't experience heartburn.  So what am I talking about? Wake up hoarse?  Need to clear your throat a lot? Chronic cough?  Difficulty swallowing?  Could be LPR.   So what do you do?  Well there's good news and bad news.  The good news is, our friends at the Cleveland Clinic say that most cases of LPR can be managed without medical intervention.  The bad news is you're going to be saying good bye to your reason for living.  Do Not..and I quote..

• Eat Acidic, Spicy, and Fatty Foods:  Goodbye French Fries.  Adios Jalapeno Poppers.  Ciao Marinara.   
• Drink Alcohol: Whhhhyyyyyy
• Smoke Tobacco: Duh. And regardless of LPR, just don't, black lungs are so unattractive.          
• Drink Caffeine-Containing Beverages: Venti hot water w. a side of Advil please 
• Eat Chocolate: I'm not even going to comment. 
• Wear Tight or Binding Clothing: Well..without the fried food, beer, and chocolate maybe I won't need the Spanx..silver lining 
• Become Overly Stressed - Learn Tools to Help Reduce and Manage Stress: But wine and chocolate were my tools....  

See, I wasn't kidding.  Joy. Sucking.  So what can you do?  Well, unless you're ready to go whole hog and become a plain rice eating..herbal tea drinking..I meditate twice a day and said goodbye to the too tight spandex top that makes my boobs/pecs look awesome and guarantees a free drink (oh wait I don't drink anymore) picture of LPR health, here are a few ideas:  

Hydration:

• 1/2 your body weight in oz. per day
• "Wet Foods" (soup, smoothies, etc..) count
• Moderate your Caffeine/Alcohol and Compensate with Water

Humidity:

• Use a Saline Rinse or Spray - I HIGHLY recommend NeilMed's sinus rinse, there's a handy squirt bottle which doesn't require the acrobatics of a Neti Pot and works just as well
• Use a Humidifier at Night and Clean it Regularly - A friend of mine swears by the AeroSwiss brand, it turns her bedroom into a rain forest, aim for 30% humidity
• Take "Steam Breaks" during the day: long, hot showers, inhale the steam while cooking your sauceless pasta, or just microwave some water and inhale the steam
• Breathe Through Your Nose - Natures Humidifier 

HHHH (as in the sound you make when you take a relaxed breath): 

• Breathe deeply and properly
• Stretch for relaxation 
• Warm Up AND Cool Down - when you're singing AND speaking.  Don't expect your voice to perform at a top level without giving it a chance to warm up.  Do you think Usain Bolt sprints without stretching first?  I think not.  *Stay Tuned for a blog onWarm Up/Cool Down Exercises for singers and speakers*

And finally, be an advocate for your own vocal health.  Avoid noisy environments when you can, and if you find yourself in one, keep in mind how loud you are speaking.  If it's dry, particularly on an airplane or in a hotel room, put a damp cloth over your face or over the heating/AC unit.  If you're sick increase hydration, and get enough sleep.  

Of course I am neither a Speech Language Pathologist nor a Laryngologist but all this information was taken from both of those sources.  I didn't make it up and I'm not claiming it as my own, except for the part about the Boone's Farm, that was me.  If you're experiencing vocal problems please contact an SLP or ENT and if you can't find one shoot me a message at doylevocalstudio@gmail.com and I'll put you in touch.  

"All I have is a voice." - W.H. Auden 

• 
  

Finding Home: A Journey

This weekend I had the great opportunity to attend the Open Mind/Open Body conference in Chicago lead by Jeannette LoVetri, creator of Somatic Voicework (tm) the method of teaching I trained in and use with my students.  I was so excited to check back in with Jeanie, I had the great pleasure of going through all three levels of SVW training at the Shenandoah Conservatory summer 2013, and I was looking forward to revisiting skills and learning new ones.  The conference did not disappoint.  In addition to Jeanie we worked with Speech Language Pathologists and Therapists from the University of Illinois Chicago hospital system, discussing the necessary relationship between singer, vocal coach, SLP, and laryngologist.

One of the things that Jeanie focused on was finding "home," for a singer: the place where your voice naturally lives, without style, pressure, or "trying."  This concept resonated with me, not only because I got to be a guinea pig for some of her exercises, but also because it's something I've struggled with for a long time.  A few of the teachers who had worked with Jeanie shared their stories, and in this blog I'd like to share mine, in the hopes that it will resonate with my students the way Jeanie's finding "home" resonated with me.

If you're reading this and have gotten this far then there's a fair chance you're a singer and I'm guessing that your story started something like mine.  I was a born singer and I was pretty good.  There are home videos of me singing whole songs in tune before I could form my "R's" and "L's" properly.  My first piano teacher, after hearing my rendition of "Oh What A Beautiful Morning," became much more interested in hearing me sing than teaching me to play..good thing my second piano teacher didn't or I would probably have never learned, thanks Mrs. Wismer.  I started voice lessons in middle school with a family friend who taught voice at a university and was impressed with my sound at 12 years old.

I went to music camp and was awarded the big scholarship given to one person in the whole voice department to come back to the camp for free the next year.  I got a supporting part in the school musical as a sophomore when I decided to audition on a whim.  And my senior year when my choir director brought in a professional singer friend to work with us he commented that he'd "see me on Broadway someday."  In other words..probably like most kids who grow up to study singing..I was pretty good.

Then I went to college, into a fledgling Musical Theatre program created within a very strong school of classical music and theatre.  I figured things would continue as they had, and at first they did, I got a pretty big role in the university musical as a sophomore and was reassured, I was pretty good.  Then I had my jury...and everything changed.  The voice faculty didn't like what I was doing.

To this day I can't remember exactly what it was I was doing so incorrectly, but the fact that for one of the first times in my life someone didn't like my voice, that I remember clear as a bell.  I worked with my vocal coach, a great teacher and mentor, to try and right my wrongs.  Though to be honest, I didn't really know what was so wrong with what I was doing.  It felt comfortable to me.  It felt like what I had always done.  This was complicated even more when I auditioned for the opera, on a whim with a song I liked to sing but hadn't practiced, only to be told afterwards by the same professor who had critiqued my jury so harshly that I was "finally starting to hear them."  What?

I finished college feeling like I was a good singer who was a better actor with really great comedic timing.  Maybe more an actor who sings rather than a singer.  When putting my resume together and filling in Voice Type as "Mezzo/Belter," I was told "You know you don't belt, right?"  Oh, ok.  I guess I don't.  I don't mean to harshly critique my alma mater, I had a great college experience, with a variety of performing experiences from Puccini to Moliere to acapella.  But I didn't leave feeling as confident about my voice as when I entered, I didn't feel special anymore as a singer.

Fast forward a few years and I'm in Los Angeles, studying with a teacher who told me, "Of course you can belt.  Here's how," and proceeded to teach me to sing in my chest register and only my chest register come hell or high water, or more appropriately come pushing, pulling, and some circque du soleil like vowel maneuvers.  I didn't question it because 1) this man worked with big name singers, people with seven figure record contracts and sold out amphitheatres 2) I liked it.  I liked having a big, loud sound.  I started thinking that this was how I should be singing and my natural voice slowly became my "other" voice, the one I used at home in the shower but never in singing lessons or at auditions.

Fast forward again and I'm back in Michigan starting my studio and beginning to perform again.  It went well on both fronts.  I got the lead in the first show I auditioned for, and I loved teaching.  The show was traditional musical theatre and I got to use my "natural" voice.  I was praised.  I felt like my singing was "pretty good" again, and I could not have been more confused.  My voice felt..weird.  I could belt a high F.  I could hit a high C.  But there were moments when Bflat 4 felt swallowed.  I could sing the D# at the top of "Here I Am" but I couldn't finish "On the Steps of the Palace."

As I mentioned before I attended the SVW training at Shenandoah and it helped, a lot.  I learned to balance my registers.  I learned what pure head register was.  I learned that my "natural" voice, a mix, actually had a lot of chest in it and I didn't need to pull full chest to make the high contemporary notes happen.  Things got better.  I sang "You Don't Know this Man" from Parade for Jeanie on the last day of the institute and was asked afterwards if I was going to give up teaching and move to NYC.  I went home and got more leading roles, mostly traditional mezzo roles, and I made them work, reverting to old habits.  I was scared of middle notes, so I laid on the belt rather than risk letting them crack.  I had this very weird conglomeration of note qualities that I configured into a somewhat smooth range, it worked, but it did it feel totally authentic?  No.  Was I still confused about what was going on with my voice?  Yes.

Today, yes just today, we were doing a master class with Jeanie and she asked for someone who had a problem they'd like to work on.  She, along with the SLP's, had spent a good deal of time talking about speaking where you want to sing: if a student comes in with a low raspy speaking voice, they're probably not going to have a great head register.  It sparked a question in me so I raised my hand.  I have been told, on numerous occasions by directors and musical directors that my voice is too bright. To "lower" my speaking voice to "bring down" my singing voice..which I can do..kind of..I think.  But then I'll catch myself singing "low" and still talking "bright" and I know it doesn't match.  Jeanie said she had similar comments when she was younger and invited me to come down and work on it.

We spent 20 minutes or so focusing on warming my tone..mostly on relaxing the back of my tongue and the muscles in my neck.  At first I went way out of tune.  Jeanie explained that the mechanism, the larynx, was so used to being in one position when it moved to another it didn't know what was going on.  We kept at it and the pitch improved, and then all of a sudden, it was easy.  It was free.  It felt like the sound I was supposed to be making.

I got in my car after the conference and immediately wanted to try this voice out.  I did some slides, starting in chest and moving up to my high notes, and there was not a speed bump to be found.  I started singing along to Pandora, Get Out & Stay Out from 9 to 5, came on.  I relaxed the base of my tongue, I lifted my chin, I opened my mouth, I didn't pull or manipulate, I didn't use overwhelming nasality, and the sound came out, even the key change at the end, easily, freely, warmly.  Then I burst into tears.

 I tell my students that the female voice doesn't get to be what it's going to be until you're about 30.  Well, I'm newly 31 and until today I didn't know what my voice was.  The concept of finding "home" makes so much sense but for me as a performer and as a teacher it got lost in the never ending cycle of preparing for auditions..fixing problems..learning new repertoire...trying new styles.  We live in an age of immediate gratification, and there are a lot of quick fixes in singing, and I'm not saying they're all bad, but if you don't have "home" first, if you don't know the authentic, unique, precious sound that you and you alone make, you can get very lost.  I learned a lot of things on my journey and I will keep learning and trying and failing and trying again.  But as they say, it's nice to go away, but it's even better to come home.

Auditions - Waiting for Your Show

Auditions are tricky things.  You prepare, sometimes for months, for those thirty seconds, those 16 magical bars that just have to make your dreams come true.  You give it everything you have.  You want it so badly.  Then you give your performance over to a director, a musical director, and a choreographer, the judge and jury who decide your fate.  It's exhilarating.  It's terrifying.  And it's necessary if you're ever going to make your way onto the stage.

I can honestly say that it's much more emotional and intense for me, as a vocal coach, to deal with the successes and failures of my students then with my own as a performer.  I want it as badly as they do, sometimes more so I think, their successes are truly my successes and their failures (if we can even call them failures) are my own.  In the audition after math, once the dust has settled and the lists have been posted and the phone calls have been made, my students come back to me looking for guidance.   Hopefully it's guidance on the solos for their new leading role, but whether it is or not I try to have something meaningful to say.  Here's what I've come up with, stolen from my time with Broadway musical director David Chase, and from my own experience:  you have to wait for your show.

David used the example of his wife.  An Indiana University voice graduate who was one hell of a tap dancer.  She was also over six feet tall.  Training, talent, connections she had it all, and she wasn't booking jobs.  She came to him and he told her this: you have to wait for your show.  What he meant was you have to realize where your strengths lie and play to them.

For an aspiring performer this can be tough.  What are your strengths?  What are you good at?  All too often we focus on the negative.  I remember my senior year of college, sitting with the rest of my BFA class in the program director's office and him asking, "What are you good at?"  After four years of learning, and improving, and receiving note after note of what to work on it was extremely easy to answer the question, "Where do I need to improve?" but rarely did I stop to think, "What am I good at?"  Whether it's your comedic timing, your balcony busting belt, or that you can out tap Gregory Hines it's valid, it has worth.  So think about it.

The other part of his message was knowing where you fit in.  This is tough as well, especially in a community theatre or school environment where the season is set and there are only X number of shows available to audition for.  If you're a light coloratura soprano and a theatre has a season of contemporary belt shows, that's tough.  It's not because you can't belt, and if you think you can't please contact me because I'll prove you wrong, but it might not be your strength.  You may find yourself discouraged after auditions where you didn't get the lead role, or any role at all, thinking that you are doing something wrong or that you aren't talented.  News flash.  Not so.  It just wasn't your show.

I'm not saying that if you find yourself unsuited to a show you shouldn't audition.  Audition experience is invaluable in conquering anxiety, learning more about the process, and getting your face and voice out there.  I'm saying that if you're X and the show is looking for Y, don't beat yourself up over it.  Don't quit.

For David's wife, after seasons and seasons of not booking roles, along came the Broadway revival of Anything Goes and what did they need?  Tall women who tap dance.  He knew it.  She knew it.  That was her show.  Now, even when your show comes along is that a guarantee that you'll be cast?  No.  But realizing your strengths, honing your skills, and nailing an audition for a role you know you're perfectly suited for, I can't say there's a better shot than that.  And when that moment comes, and you stand on the X in front of judge and jury, be thankful for all those auditions leading up to your moment.  Be grateful you put yourself out there and were open to learning.  Be grateful you conquered fears and anxiety.  And knock 'em dead.