Sunday, May 21, 2006
NEWSLETTER MAY 2006
SINGING PROFESSIONALLY
Is your goal in life to land a recording contract? Is your goal to sing on Broadway? Is your goal to sing locally and be paid for your performances? Is your goal to sing in Carnegie Hall?
There is an old joke that goes something like this:
"How do you get to Carnegie Hall?"
The answer: "Practice!"
Being a joke, it still has some truth in it. A great teacher of brass instruments, Dr. Donald S. Reinhardt of Philadelphia, PA, told me that 20% of my improvement was based on what he taught me but the other 80% was my using it. "Using it" means diligent disciplined practice with a great positive attitude AND also understanding it very well and doing EXACTLY and PRECISELY as I was taught.
The lips and the mouthpiece of a brass player are in many ways analagous to the vocal apparatus of a singer, even though there are very distinct anatomical differences. Practicing regularly, consistently, diligently, and correctly can all help prepare a person for success.
Practicing the wrong thing, the ineffective thing, or even the right thing done the wrong way (or in the wrong sequence) can all help contribute to failure or at best, a mediocre result that is simply not good enough to be considered at a professional level. This might sound harsh but it is a harsh reality and there is no replacing knowledge or competency. The instant perfect singer is only a fantasy.
The more a singer knows about the voice and music and the accuracy and legitimacy of that information, the more there will be strong contributing factors to a singer's success and longevity. The world is full of people who haven't taken the time to study music, vocal technique, anatomy, acoustics and other subjects germane to singing. The phrases they use expose their ignorance: "sing from your diaphragm", "place your tone", and a myriad of other fallacious silly insanities which are nothing more than a waste of time, money and attention. It's not just WHO you know. It's also WHAT you know and what you can DO!
Music is a vital part of singing and musicianship is one of the "yardsticks". You can measure a singer's current level of professionalism, or the lack thereof, by their depth and breadth of knowledge and skill of music. Additionally, technique which allows the singer to artistically execute stylistically correct singing is a make-break factor in a singer's career, both short term and long term.
"If you're not growing, you are dying", when it comes to the arts.
Is your goal in life to land a recording contract? Is your goal to sing on Broadway? Is your goal to sing locally and be paid for your performances? Is your goal to sing in Carnegie Hall?
There is an old joke that goes something like this:
"How do you get to Carnegie Hall?"
The answer: "Practice!"
Being a joke, it still has some truth in it. A great teacher of brass instruments, Dr. Donald S. Reinhardt of Philadelphia, PA, told me that 20% of my improvement was based on what he taught me but the other 80% was my using it. "Using it" means diligent disciplined practice with a great positive attitude AND also understanding it very well and doing EXACTLY and PRECISELY as I was taught.
The lips and the mouthpiece of a brass player are in many ways analagous to the vocal apparatus of a singer, even though there are very distinct anatomical differences. Practicing regularly, consistently, diligently, and correctly can all help prepare a person for success.
Practicing the wrong thing, the ineffective thing, or even the right thing done the wrong way (or in the wrong sequence) can all help contribute to failure or at best, a mediocre result that is simply not good enough to be considered at a professional level. This might sound harsh but it is a harsh reality and there is no replacing knowledge or competency. The instant perfect singer is only a fantasy.
The more a singer knows about the voice and music and the accuracy and legitimacy of that information, the more there will be strong contributing factors to a singer's success and longevity. The world is full of people who haven't taken the time to study music, vocal technique, anatomy, acoustics and other subjects germane to singing. The phrases they use expose their ignorance: "sing from your diaphragm", "place your tone", and a myriad of other fallacious silly insanities which are nothing more than a waste of time, money and attention. It's not just WHO you know. It's also WHAT you know and what you can DO!
Music is a vital part of singing and musicianship is one of the "yardsticks". You can measure a singer's current level of professionalism, or the lack thereof, by their depth and breadth of knowledge and skill of music. Additionally, technique which allows the singer to artistically execute stylistically correct singing is a make-break factor in a singer's career, both short term and long term.
"If you're not growing, you are dying", when it comes to the arts.
Monday, April 17, 2006
Headshot
Yes, I wear glasses sometimes...sometimes contacts.
The tux has been the standard attire for me
since the Las Vegas showroom days.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Video Email And Instant Messaging
Think about promoting yourself with a video of your performing that you can email to agents, venues, and others. Click on the link to the right and check it out. If you like sharing such things with others such as friends, family, or business associates, you can earn residual income but check out the details by clicking on the link to the right or below here: www.vmdirect.com/videovideo
Thursday, February 23, 2006
NEWSLETTER - MARCH 2006
WHY A NEWSLETTER?
I have had so many requests to write a newsletter again that I've broken down and started. Well, maybe it's not a breakdown. Maybe it's more like a break through. We, who are in the arts, are a peculiar people. We see things differently than those who are not artists. We may see things in more depth and breadth than those who take things for granted, mostly ignoring certain things around themselves. Let's put that to a test. Print out this page. Look around the room and notice everything that is brown. (You can't cheat on this one or it won't work) Put this page in front of your eyes and then close your eyes for a second and then open them with this sheet in front of your face. DO NOT READ BEYOND THIS POINT YET! If you didn't cheat, you are now staring at this paper in front of your face and you have made a mental note of the things that are brown in the room. Without moving this sheet...What did you see that was blue? DON'T LOOK. JUST USE YOUR MEMORY. What can we learn from this? People tend to ignore a lot of what is around themselves but we, as artists, as singers, cannot do that if we expect to be excellent at what we do. Did you remember anything that is blue where you are without peeking? Does it make sense that since singing usually happens with music and since singing IS music that we should try to learn more about music so that we can be better singers? Most professions have to keep up with new things and they call it "continuing education". Can you know too much about a subject? No, not if you are wanting to the best that you can be. What do you know about rhythm, pitch, tone, scales,chords, dynamics, voicings, accompaniment patterns, styles, forms,improvising, writing music, writing or doing vocal harmony? Is there still more to learn?
I have had so many requests to write a newsletter again that I've broken down and started. Well, maybe it's not a breakdown. Maybe it's more like a break through. We, who are in the arts, are a peculiar people. We see things differently than those who are not artists. We may see things in more depth and breadth than those who take things for granted, mostly ignoring certain things around themselves. Let's put that to a test. Print out this page. Look around the room and notice everything that is brown. (You can't cheat on this one or it won't work) Put this page in front of your eyes and then close your eyes for a second and then open them with this sheet in front of your face. DO NOT READ BEYOND THIS POINT YET! If you didn't cheat, you are now staring at this paper in front of your face and you have made a mental note of the things that are brown in the room. Without moving this sheet...What did you see that was blue? DON'T LOOK. JUST USE YOUR MEMORY. What can we learn from this? People tend to ignore a lot of what is around themselves but we, as artists, as singers, cannot do that if we expect to be excellent at what we do. Did you remember anything that is blue where you are without peeking? Does it make sense that since singing usually happens with music and since singing IS music that we should try to learn more about music so that we can be better singers? Most professions have to keep up with new things and they call it "continuing education". Can you know too much about a subject? No, not if you are wanting to the best that you can be. What do you know about rhythm, pitch, tone, scales,chords, dynamics, voicings, accompaniment patterns, styles, forms,improvising, writing music, writing or doing vocal harmony? Is there still more to learn?
Thursday, February 09, 2006
ONLINE VOICE LESSONS
I am now set up to do vocal instruction via the internet and... it will be a private lesson and we would both see and hear each other in streaming video and audio and in real time. It isn't just copies of exercises for your voice; this is a real live lesson!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)