On Mon, 17 Apr 2000, Dre de Man wrote:
> Some of you have proven in their reaction they could
> very well, but many of you - especially the teachers -
> probably cannot imagine how utterly frustrating it is
> to spend a lot of time and money on lessons and
> practising, and not to be able to make progress, and
> what is even worse, not to understand why, while
> people keep telling you 'you have such an easy voice'.
> Well, if someone with an easy voice can make such
> experiences, how would it have been with a 'difficult'
> voice?
Dear Dre and Vocalist:
We all use this list to vent, heaven knows!
By the way, I think a lot of teachers on this list have probably had
experiences similar to yours. I know I have. It's all part of the journey.
Becoming a teacher doesn't erase those frustrating experiences, it just
makes for a different perspective.
Again, I encourage you to learn as much as you can about the voice. Read,
read, read, and attend as many public performances and master classes as
possible. I've always said that performing (singing) is another form of
teaching.
Here is a good quote to send you on your way:
"At a certain point in [artistic] development, an individual must become
self-reflective: he needs to address his own activities, evaluating them in
terms of his own goals as well as the values of the culture in which he
lives...the opportunity to have diverse experiences and to reflect upon them
clearly...may be important in such fields as...music. Possibly the most
profound achievements involve the whole person, an individual who has sought
to come to grips with himself: only through unsparing self-examination is
such deepening likely to come about...the individual must also display
staying power: he must have the fiber to transcend an early triumph (or
disaster) and continue to deepen."
--from "Art, Mind, and Brain," by Howard Gardner, 1982, p. 199.
I had another GREAT quote for you about making the world your teacher
(something about "auxiliary wits"), but I couldn't find it. Does anyone
else know the quote I'm talking about?
Anyway, Dre, good luck to you!
Cheers!
Jana
--
Jana Holzmeier
Dept. of Music
Nebraska Wesleyan University
5000 Saint Paul Ave.
Lincoln, NE 68504
jjh@n...
402-465-2284
Visit the Music Department website at http://music.nebrwesleyan.edu/
|
|  |
