“The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain,
the sound of wind in a primeval wood,
and the sound of outer ocean on a beach.”
– Henry Beston

Here is a short(ish) excerpt of the 2 hour singing circle we held in Puerto de la Cruz on New Year’s day. I picked the part where I solo because — hey — it’ s my blog. *grin*

Midway through, I invite Alessandro (Switzerland) to join me. We’re replaced by Johanna (Germany). Right before this video ends, Rhiannon moves back to the center to move us into the next transition, which isn’t shown here.

(If you’ve got time, you can find the remaining 3 videos on youtube. *smile*).

I’ve started my second semester teaching voice and I am enjoying meeting my new students. (I also enjoyed the day off to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr Day. Is it still jet lag if you’ve been off a plane for over a week? *smile*). Out of my work with them, demonstrating exercises and beginning to sing, a theme is emerging. Many are afraid to sing.

Or, more accurately, they’re afraid someone will hear them. *smile*

Oh yeah, I remember that.

…

In my own singing journey, I learned that a BIG part of being a singer is a willingness to look silly and sound funny a lot of the time. You make funny faces, you make funny noises, you wear scarves when it’s 70 degrees outside and bathe in hand santizer in the winter.

YOU are the instrument.  You use — and therefore have to exercise — your entire voice. Even the parts that aren’t so pretty or that you’ll likely never use in performance. (Although, the opportunity to use my whole voice is one of the things I love about improvising.)

To be a singer, you have to be willing to take up space.

If you can’t practice in an “as if no one is listening” kind of way, you’ll stifle your progress.

(And if I can’t perform in a “let ‘er rip” kind of way, I kind of feel like “what’s the point?” That might just be me. *grin*)

…

I remember deciding to become singer.

Deciding to sing and be heard.

It was finding the courage to do the goofy parts of singing and stop worrying about if anyone might hear them. The warming up (yes, even at gigs!), the stretches, the loud siren noises and squeaky high notes. (My mom often jokes that it’s a good thing my neighbors know I sing or they might call somebody!)

It’s also about being prepared to sing “in the moment,” which usually means you’ve spent some time learning some songs, learning your keys and working on your voice. Even if you improvise, it helps to have done this prep work.

…

I like this video of Bobby McFerrin (well, because it’s Bobby and) because he tunes his instrument as the quartet players tune theirs. Even done playfully, it drives home the point — for a vocalist, the voice IS the instrument.

(I also like that he bridges the gap between being a novice violinist (5:20) and expert vocalist with such grace and good humor.)