I really must agree with Alleson about the benefits of performing during
your singing education. My (now ex-)teacher offers her students a lot of
possibilities to perform on student concerts in the protected environment of
our school. Singing on a stage is so different from singing in a small
classroom with only your teacher to watch you. I know a lot of people who
can sing everything in that intimate situation but once they are on stage
they loose everything. And I know others who suddenly sing a lot better than
they could in their lessons. Most of the students have to learn how to
perform, how to handle the nerves, what to do with their body – for instance
with their arms – on a stage. And I think you really have to start very soon
with that so you can build it up gradually. I know students who never sang
one concert before their examination and then they were disappointed that
they lost so much on that examination!
I find it also easier to keep focused on your study when you know you have a
concert coming. You can build up to it. And of course you learn so much by
listening to the performances of the other students! Not only you learn to
see the things they do good but – even more important – you learn also by
their mistakes! And suddenly you believe more what your teachers says
because you see and hear what she means! One of the most important things of
an education is to learn to hear what is good and what is wrong because when
you are just starting you haven’t got an idea of that. And of course hearing
a more advanced student can be very motivating to study yourself!
I don’t think you can learn how to sing only by singing arias. I think both
aria and lied should be in a good balance in an education. And that balance
has to be achieved very individually, each voice and each singer is
different. Out of my own experience I can say that in my first year I was
really reluctantly about singing pianissimo because I couldn’t manage it
technically. So in my voice lessons I never had to sing piano from my
teacher. She wanted it technically correct. But in my chamber music lessons,
where they interpretation is more important than the technique, they really
stimulated me to try it. And I’m very glad they did. Ok, at first I cheated
on my technique but it was only by trying it that I mastered it and that my
fear of singing piano went away. As you can learn a lot with technical
exercises, you can also by trying and failing, and trying it again!
So speaking for myself, I learned an awful lot with performing and with
singing both arias and lieder! Balance is everything in life!
Greetings,
Annelies
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