Hello List!
Some of you might remember that though I aspire to be a classical singer one
day, I make my living as a piano player, mostly in Gospel or jazz groups. I
have a very delicate problem to deal with. I'm playing for a French singer
of about 55 years who hasn't really sung anything else than what the French
call "variété". Being the proud owner of a husky - or rather: croaky -
voice, she likes to think that she sings "black". So mixing her repertoire
with a few gospel songs seemed a splendid idea to her. The only problem is
that she has no sense of rhythm, let alone of swing.
Thus, the songs are constantly "rearranged". Even very simple songs like
"Amazing Grace" get the shock treatment.
In general, she doesn't seem very much aware of what her body does when she
sings. In fact, she relies almost entirely on the monitor (i.e. the
loudspeakers) but not on her sensations. Unfortunately, this is France and
good sound engineers are rare, which means that she's in trouble... And if
by chance we work with an excellent sound engineer, something else is wrong
("My back hurts, I didn't sleep well, I'm old...") but she'll blame it on
the sound system anyway.
What puzzles me most: there were a few evenings when she sang almost
perfectly in time. I'd like to know what went on in her head and in her body
when everything was alright? My personal belief is that taking regular voice
lessons would give her more confidence and make her more independent from
the sound system, and let her focus on the music instead. I also believe
that her age shouldn't be a problem (55 seems rather young to me), but she
is a very stubborn person and not exactly a notorious workaholic. Have you
ever had rhythm problems, or do you know somebody who has and do you know
any solutions?
Please help!
Jan
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