in this thread, we have seen the extremes of one person quitting because
she couldn't remember her teacher ever saying anything she did was right and
another wondering if the complements from her teacher are financially
motivated, implying that they obviously weren't sincere. "that still sucks
but, that's the type of sucking we can build on..." doesn't seem like a very
happy medium. the problem both singers have is not knowing how they are
doing. "that's good" tells the singer nothing if "compared to what?" is
left out.
i'm still astonished at how many singers and teachers don't use tape
recorders. to me, the most difficult condition of singing is the difference
between what the singer hears and what the rest of the world hears. just
think how insane it is for a teacher to make comments to a student based on
what the teacher hears and then to have that student digest the teacher's
comments in relation to what the student hears (like selling an ugly tie to a
blind man). and when a teacher demonstrates, is the student supposed to
hear that sound in their heads when they sing or, are they to guess what
sound they need to hear in their heads in order to produce the same results?
at least with a tape recorder, both student and teacher can discuss the same
sounds rather than guessing as to what each other is hearing.
in light of this thread, using a tape recorder, a student can judge for
themselves how they are doing. they can compare their singing to
professionals' recordings and to their struggling peers. more importantly,
they can compare their current singing to tapes they made two years ago.
when one is making gradual progress, it is difficult to get a feel for how
one has progressed. part of progress is a refinement in one's judgement.
something that sounded great two years ago might now, with the refinement of
one's judgement, sound like crap.
"finding a teacher whose ears you can trust" is ridiculous! how about
trusting the ears on the sides of your own head? then, you can find a
teacher who can tell you how to do what you want to do, whether they like it
or not.
mike
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