Break a leg!

A quick message to wish all those who are participating in the Sale Eisteddfod this Saturday.  They have all worked very hard, preparing their repertoire and are sounding fantastic.

The main thing I would remind you all is to BREATHE!

 

Also this weekend is the last performances of The Little Mermaid by the Latrobe Theatre Company.

This is a lovely performance and would highly recommend attending if you are able.

To book tickets click here.

 

The Latrobe Chorale is also performing this weekend:

Saturday 21st May 2pm Presbyterian Church, Morwell.

Sunday 22nd May 2pm, St Michaels Church, Traralgon.

I will be conducting the program:  Rutter’s Gloria and Faure’s Requiem.

Here is a taste:

 

 

The Passaggio

All singers are challenged with working through the ‘passaggio’ –  the transition through vocal registers.  The main registers are sometimes described as chest voice, middle or mixed voice and head voice as this is the physical feeling singers have as they move from a lower register to a higher register.

You cannot remove the passaggi, but you can train yourself to even out  the passaggio so that you maintain ‘one voice’ through your whole vocal range.

That is something your voice teacher should be working on with you.

 

Here are some examples of voices where they are singing confidently through their vocal range and really nailing their high voice:

Male:

 

 

Female:

 

 

Here is a brief video for any men who are wanting to move through the passaggio – developing a mix voice:

 

 

 

Purposeful Practice

There is no such thing as a ‘gifted’ musician.  A person may have a desire to be a great musician, but the greatness only comes from hours and hours and hours of practice.World class performances comes by striving for a target just out of reach – but with a vivid awareness of how the gap might be breached.

Purposeful practice is about striving for what is just and out of reach and not quite making it.  It is about grappling with tasks beyond current limitations and falling short again and again.

Excellence is about stepping outside the comfort zone, training with a spirit of endeavour and accepting the trials and tribulations that will definitely come along.  Progress is built upon the foundations of necessary failure. Failure is a part of any learning. If you are not failing, you are not learning and growing as a musician and a person.

Success and failure is found in motivation.  Thousands of hours in purposeful practice will help to achieve excellence.

But it is only those who care about the destination, who are motivated that will get there.

 

The following video is about Lang Lang, a pianist from China.  His story is incredible.

He obviously has the desire to be a musician, but you can also see the dedication and sacrifice he and his family have made for him to succeed.

 

Why have a singing teacher?

I have been visiting various singing websites lately and have found many of them to have great ideas and ways to help singers.

One thing I have noticed on a couple of the websites is their claim that you don’t need to have face to face lessons to sing well, just watch my videos and you can become the greatest singer.  For me this is a one way street.

My comment to this is if you don’t know what you are doing wrong, you can never know what you are doing right.

Feedback is integral to good progress.  Feedback is the rocket fuel that propels the acquisition of knowledge and without it, no amount of practice or watching videos is going to get you there.

A singing teacher is not merely there to offer encouragement and assessing levels of concentration, they are also on the lookout for small technical glitches that may have escaped the attention of their student.

You can get the basics from reading material or watching videos, but I would highly recommend you seek out a singing teacher or at least a mentor who can give you appropriate feedback and guide you on your musical journey.

teaching singing