Singing Warm-Ups

For all of you interested in a quick singing warm-up check out Donya Metzger's website for several links. I met Donya years ago when we were teaching at a musical theatre camp at the Richmond Gateway Theatre and I am so glad that her work is accessible on-line.

http//www.donyametzger.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=92:whats-true-now&catid=1:blog&Itemid=1

Pondering an Echo

You know that saying, "If my first child was like this I never would have had a second." Sometimes, in the wee hours of the night, my husband and I admit this to ourselves. Yet, like every parent, the next words out of our mouths are, "But thank goodness we did because, had we been deterred by the behavior of our first child, we wouldn't have been blessed with our Miss Grace." Gracie is almost three and full of a vibrancy of sound I thought I would enjoy, but I find myself appreciating her freedom of expression and moods mostly in her absence. She is our firecracker with a misleading porcelain doll exterior, and our princess with an affinity for pink and sparkles but with a lion inside. She marches with the confidence of a world leader and I hope she never loses any of it. What astonishes me professionally, however, is how keenly she is aware of her environment.

While leading a private voice session this morning a faculty member and I were discussing acoustics. She remarked that her young daughter is quick to notice every space that holds the potential for an echo. I was immediately reminded of my Gracie. Not only does she NEED to physically explore every object and surface in a new room she explores the acoustics as well, throwing her voice here and there and waiting for its reaction. She literally plays with the sound in the room.

It leads me to ponder when we stop paying attention to our aural environment. I still vividly remember playing the silence game as a child. My camp councilor asked everyone to be absolutely silent for three minutes. When the time was up we were supposed to name all of the sounds we heard. It was a huge "aha moment" to hear the sounds we often don't pay attention to. Yet, Gracie's attention is even more keen than that, she has the ears of an opera singer attuned to the vibrations of air between matter. When does the excitement of an echo, or the potential of how sound moves through a room leave us? Is it when we begin to define play as something organized, outside of our everyday living. Spurred on by Stuart Brown's book play I'm curious whether we would have the projection issues I so often see if we gave ourselves permission to vocally play in every new space.

Tongue work unveiled

For all of you out there who have been diligently doing your tongue work, you will be pleased to see the exercise in action. A new documentary film about Kristin Linklater's work has been released and on her website there are now a few excerpts. If you click on the final video you will witness the tongue exercise and soft palate work in action.

Go to Media Gallery, Workshop Videos:

http://www.kristinlinklater.com/linklater.htm

Linklater Voices

From my old stomping grounds comes an interview that beautifully articulates the benefits of Linklater training. Kristin Linklater is the author of "Freeing the Natural Voice", one of the first books I recommend to students who are looking at exploring their voices. If you are at all interested, read this interview first, as it gives examples of some of the tangible results Linklater trained actors experience and the underlying reasons behind many vocal issues.

http://newsinfo.iu.edu/web/page/normal/3320.html

From the Heart

Heading into last week I had a sinus infection, a sick child and husband, and a completely full schedule of workshops. The thought of making it through the week in one piece was unfathomable. Then on Tuesday afternoon, in the midst of my racing around like a crazy person, I walked into a beautiful classroom in downtown Vancouver with gorgeous windows looking out on the first sunny days in weeks and met such an extraordinary group of individuals I was literally brought to tears.

Jo Lemay and I had met in a similar classroom about a year ago for a private session and little did we both know that that was the beginning of a new journey for each of us. Hers was that of exploring voice, giving herself permission to command attention and mine was connecting with her inspiring students. The Certificate in Community Capacity Building guides participants in the process of creating a community program that will help make their community stronger. The stories that people shared were heart-breaking testimonials to the strength of the human spirit and the necessity of both community and service in the role of healing. Each participant brought an honesty, passion and vulnerability to their presentations that was truly riveting. Half way through the program it hit me that in voicing their vulnerability I was able to comprehend what incredible strength each person possesses. These individuals were living proof of Emerson's observation that, "Our strengths grow out of our weakness." They were also clear reminders of what Kahil Gilbran noted, "It is better...to have a heart without words than words without a heart." He was referring to prayer but I recognized that it is just as appropriate for communication.

The Certificate in Community Capacity Building is designed specially for individuals "who experience systemic barriers to post-secondary education." Yet, it was here, in this unique space that I heard the most rich sounds I have ever heard in a classroom. As we experimented with different tones, harmonies of exquisite beauty filled the room.

I am a firm advocate of technique, but without the heart it means nothing.

So the question I pose for you is, "How do you add heart to your presentations or your practice?"

Sustained Practice

My husband is passionate about music. Due to the fact that our children go to bed early his ability to practice the piano in the evening is encountering a brief hiatus. Fortunately for all of us, he has rediscovered his love of the guitar and has jumped into his training with his usual zeal and determination. Once he sets his mind on something, his commitment to practicing that skill can only be deterred by births or deaths, and his guitar playing is no exception. Every night he spends at least an hour and a half practicing and then another half-an-hour doing music research. I count myself as being a fairly committed individual but he puts me to shame every time!

A friend once told me that if a person spent five-minutes every day exploring a subject, by the end of the year they would be deemed an expert on that particular topic. I think that is probably a gross overstatement and am more in line with Malcolm Gladwell's ("Outliers") idea that it takes at least 10,000 hours to develop a skill to the point of mastery.

On the other hand, five minutes is better than no time at all, and at the moment it is about all the extra time I have, which is why I am drawn to Craig Valentine's "52 Speaking Tips" audio postcards. If you sign up, each week you will receive a five minute tip that you can spend the week experimenting with. Craig Valentine is Toastmaster's 1999 world champion and after listening to the first session I feel like I have something concrete to focus on this week. The first lesson is on finding a foundational phrase and using it to structure your entire message. His belief in creating this program is that sustained practice leads to real growth. I have seen it in my husband and countless others and look forward to giving these exercises five-minutes of my time each day.

Check them out and let me know if you give them a try:

http://www.52speakingtips.com/

Lost and Found

How fortunate I am to have had a vacation and better yet an opportunity for a working vacation where the work was as stimulating and as uplifting as a journey to a tropical island. (Well, maybe that is a slight exaggeration). I spent my holiday this year on Vancouver Island, on a bluff overlooking the most stunning vista: ocean, island and mountains for as far as the eye can see; deer practically eating out of my hands and hummingbirds resting just inches from my nose.

Now several years ago, while shopping for a present my son's second birthday, I met a woman who is a poet, facilitator, social worker and much much more. Upon meeting we found we shared a mutual interest in and passion for the concept of "Women's Voices". For years we had contemplated merging our two specialties, writing and voice work, into a workshop designed to explore these two areas simultaneously. Thus was "Lost and Found" born two weeks ago on Vancouver Island. While I warmed us all up vocally and physically, the wonderful JS Nahani guided us through a series of thought provoking writing exercises. I was impressed by the amount of clarity that was gained, the quickness by which we were able to open up and reveal unvoiced truths and the confidence I left with, having made contact with these truths. The combination of opening the physical voice and the written voice was indeed as profound as we had expected and at every turn in the facilitation I could visualize further methods of integrating the work. It makes me question how I can integrate more written work into my sessions and how the use of the physical body and voice can enhance and deepen written material for many.

The workshop was help in a wonderful gallery of which I have included the link.

Mariner's Lookout
http://www.flipkey.com/comox-vacation-rentals/p164733/

Thank you Henry of Mariner's Lookout for the perfect space and beautiful art and to all of the amazing participants I look forward to hooking up in the future. If you have further ideas on the connection between writing and voice send them my way. I will keep you update as "Lost and Found" continues to grow... Next workshop will be held in Vancouver this fall.