Hi everyone,
I couldn't wait to tell you about this most exciting workshop I attended
this weekend. It was simply the most informative workshop I've ever
attended.
Shirlee Emmons and Alma Thomas took several students through their songs and
arias while making points about self-awareness/self-discipline,
self-control, self-confidence, success/self-actualization, fear, practice
techniques, and much more. There were many wonderful singers, and a ton of
good advice.
The things that made the largest impressions on me were (in no order of
importance):
1) Alma talked about that as performers, we have to perform for ourselves,
not the audience, or any other reason, and we need to take ownership of our
performances by not giving anything away.
2) Teachers were encouraged to explain something in detail once and then
refer to them by one word in the future. For example, Shirlee asked one
singer to concentrate on her sideways breath and explained it in full with
examples. Then, as the student sang, she reminded the student of this by
just saying "sideways". The student responded very well.
3) It is important to know what to concentrate on at specific times in your
performance. If you know that you tend to have nervous tension at a certain
point, it is more important to think about now allowing this to show at the
point it occurs rather than anything else. If there is a certain passage
that poses particular technical problems, then it is okay to concentrate on
the technical aspects of the passage when you get there. But, it is
important to also remember that the performance needs to remain in the
"now".
4) Performance thinking only constitutes what you do well.
5) It is important to practice in performance mode.
6) One student had a bit of a challenge with trilling. Shirlee actually
asked her to gently take her larynx in hand and wiggle it to feel how much
motion needs to happen there during the trill. Another suggestion was to
sing a low note then a high note in succession to feel the large difference
in feeling. Then, apply this feeling to the trill. The results were
amazing - not instantaneous, the singer will need to work on it to get it
feeling right all the way through the trill - but I tried this on my own as
well, and I was astonished!
7) I can't explain this one very well yet - but I will definitely do a bit
more research to clear up the confusions that I have. But, there are 6
different kinds of practice: Blocked, Structured, Masked, Random,
Distributed, and Variable. The first three are good for immediate results,
and require the least amount of planning/thinking. The first three are how
we are basically taught to learn - at least I was taught this way. The
second set of three require more planning, but yield longer-lasting results
and more quality. For example, if you have one hour that you practice, you
have two quality moments of that practice, you recall what you've learned at
the beginning of the practice, and you have learned something by the end
(Blocked learning). If you instead break the hour up into six 10 minute
sessions throughout the day, you have 12 quality moments (distributed
learning).
For distributed practice:
1) Be aware of WHAT needs practice.
2) Decide HOW you will practice.
3) Set GOALS for each session.
4) EVALUATE the results of the practice.
As I said, I don't have a firm grasp on all of this yet, and initially I
feel there are various combinations of these methods that work well, but I
will continue to research and figure out what works for me.
8) Identity - know who you are as a singer vs. a person. Or if you sing
different styles of music, decide who you are for each style and make a list
of the characteristics of each identity. This is a list that is
ever-changing, but important to do to bring the appropriate things to each
style of music or part of your life.
9) There are three kinds of warm-ups:
PLAN A: IDEAL - this is a warm-up for when you have all the time in
the world and you can do everything you like to feel totally warm.
PLAN B: NORMAL - based on ideal, but take out the essentials you need
to be warm.
PLAN C: EMERGENCY - based on normal, but take out the things you KNOW
you cannot do without.
For each of these plans, know how long it takes, and what the components
are. These warm-ups can and probably will change for the event for which
you are warming-up. Warming down is also an important detail for performing
and being prepared for the next performance.
I could go on - but I'd be surprised if anyone got this far. This was an
exciting workshop, and I highly encourage anyone who an opportunity to go to
a workshop with these ladies to do so.
I was also very fortunate to have had the opportunity to have a couple
private sessions with Alma, and a private lesson with Shirlee. I feel more
encouraged than I ever have. They have changed my life.
I did see Karen Jensen and Christine Thomas at the workshop on Saturday, but
did not have an opportunity to say "hello". I hope you ladies got as much
out of this as I did!
Well, that's my report - I hope some of it might be helpful to someone.
Have a great day!
Lisa M. Nuske
Soprano and Voice Teacher
Appleton, WI
http://home.att.net/~earthbounddiva
You are the music while the music lasts.
~ T. S. Eliot ~
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