The only right thing to say to people who come to see your show

Last evening I attended, as an invited guest, the dress rehearsal of one of my private voice students in her high school musical. She did an extraordinary job and the rest of what I saw, was what you would generally expect to see at a dress rehearsal, not a final dress, with a collection of enthusiastic teens of various abilities working together to make a show happen. It was a truly enjoyable evening.

Before the run-through, I met and shook hands with the director who commented rather nervously about her appearance and mine, letting me know, in a not too subtle way, that I was overdressed. I didn't think too much about it.  I dress for what I am doing and where I am going the whole day. I am aware that I can have a bit of a 'diva' presence. I am what I am and I didn't think much of it.

After the show, I congratulated my student, and the other kiddies in proximity for a job well done. I then approached the director to thank her for permitting my student to invite me to attend and to convey a couple nice comments about the rehearsal going well and also  about the enthusiam it noticed in the young performers. Instead of simply thanking me for coming, the director seemed embarrassed and talked about how far the show needed to go. When I assured her that I knew all about dress rehearsals and how shows always come together and that everyone was doing a good job,  she responded with  "We'll  you know better but you HAVE to say stuff like that to me that don't you? You are a GUEST".  I was very shocked. The woman had basically called me a liar! I  responded  directly with "I sincerely meant what I said to you", which I did!

A long time ago, one of my very first voice teachers told me and my fellow students that after a performance, when someone congratulates you or compliments you, there is ONLY one proper response "thank you".  Say "thank you" when you think you have done a good job. Say "thank you" when you think you have not done a good job. Say "thank you" when you think the person doesn't know any better. Say "thank you" when you think the person does know better. If you argue "no,  the performance really wasn't good" you are either calling the person insincere or ignorant.  Neither is a gracious response to someone who has attended your performace.

When my student's high school director said "You have to say that" she wasn't right.  I could have chosen to not come up to her.  I could have (BUT NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS WOULD HAVE) chosen to give constuctive criticism, or any number of inapropriate responses.  What I did was give her thanks for the invitation and a few positive and honest comments,  and I left feeling angry because my sincerilty was called into question.

I understand that in the moment, the director was dealing with her own issues, insecurities, perhaps her own difficulty with having a dress rehearsal observed by a professional. Maybe she should not have permitted  or encouraged my student to have guests attend a rehearsal.  Maybe she was unconfortable or intimidated by my presence.  It does not matter.

"Thank you.  "Thank you for coming" "Thank you for your kind words" "I am glad you enjoyed it and thank you for coming".  "Nice to meet you, thank you".  "Good to see you, thank you".

"Thank you". It is he only right thing to say to people who come to see your show.

Sing For The Love Of It, Because Singing to Win Makes You Lose.

What a joy it was to see Carolina Kostner skate an entirely clean program at this past Winter Olympics after falling over and over during her performance at the last one. 
The difference? She was skating for the joy of it, not under the pressure to win.

Sports psychology and performance psychology for singers is identical. When you sing for the love of the music and for the desire to communicate you will sing your best. If you focus on "winning, by which I mean impressing people such as your colleagues, the judges, the audience, the casting director, your family,  your teacher etc, before you sing as wellas during the act of singing, you will never sing your best.

By focusing on the love of singing , you will be increase your chance of “winning”.The ability to do your best is the gift you get for taking your mental focus off of yourself.
Singers and musical performers have a lot to learn from Carolina Kostner's triumph at this past Olympics, as well as the performances of the other skaters. Kim Yuna, the superstar reigning queen and gold metal winner at the last olympics was the favorite and was in the position of defending her title. She was in a position that she had little to gain but a lot to loose in terms of her legacy. She skated a safe program,lovely,but entirely lacking in excitement to maintain her position.

Along came Adelina Sotnikova a teenager who had recently been left off the Russian team and had to fight her way back. She had everything to win and she delivered a thrilling performance that won her the gold.  This "underdog advantage" is what every up and coming singer has on their side, but sadly many times big ambition robs aspiring singers of this psychological advantage.

There is a story about how a then superstar Judy Garland,  and a young and upcoming Barbra Streisand were speaking back stage before a live TV show when Garland confessed she had terrible stage fright.  The expectations on her as the greatest singing star of the day, were not just to sing well, but to be great and this was crippling her. Streisand an unknown had no expectations on her, and could only gain from the broadcast performance. Streisand confessed to Garland that she never felt performance anxiety. Garland, recognizing Streisand's great talent and the probability of her becoming a great star told her "some day you will". Sadly,  it did come to pass that after Streisand became one of the most celebrated and respected singers of her generation, she developed crippling stage fright and could not perform live for many,many years. Finally,interestingly long after her prime, when she was, in reality, no longer the singer she once was, Streisand's desire to perform overcame her anxiety and she was once again able to perform before the public.

My grad school roommate was an elite level concert pianist who had crippling performance anxiety and required beta-blocker medication in order to perform in competitions concerts, degree recitals and even for her teacher and other students in her studio class. She placed and even won in competitions but she never performed at the level she could in the practice room. Never the less, she beat out literally thousands of other young pianists when her artistry gained  her an offer from a top level agent who wanted to take her on his roster.  But my roommate,who happened to be an orthodox Jew, had to make the decision to not accept this position, that she had worked all her life to achieve, because it would have required her to perform on the sabbath. Although she would keep performing and working professionally as a pianist, the decision to tern down the top agent meant she would never make it big as a pianist. After she turned down this offer and nothing was "riding" on her performances, she suddenly lost all of her performance anxiety. She no longer needed medication to calm her nerves when she performed.  She felt her new ability to play was a gift from g-d because she chose to keep the sabbath. I see, though,  that when she had nothing to loose or gain from making a mistake, she could not be distracted from the music by her ambition, but she could have chosen to perform just for the love of it all along.

How do you, as a singer, put your head into the best place possible in order to perform?  First, prepare to the best of your ability, because not being prepared is a source of very rational of performance anxiety. Then, whether you are a great star or want to be one sing ONLY for the love of singing and the desire to share the music, and you will free yourself from irrational performance anxiety.

Click the link below to watch a video about Carolina's journeyhttp://screen.yahoo.com/carolina-kostner-love-rao-141623602.html

Happy New Year!

May all my students, and students of the great art of singing, along with those who aspire to a life of the stage, enjoy the journey. Enjoy every bit of it because there is never an arrival point or destination, only the start of a different journey. When you do arrive at the start of a new journey, open your eyes and recognize where you are! You are the captain of your ship, your wind fuels your sails if you are a sailboat and if you are a motor boat, you provide the fuel.  You are at the helm and you navigate your own journeys. A singing teacher can only teach you how to catch the wind in your sails or advise what kind of fuel will keep you going on your journey.
May your travels this year bring you joy!

Singers: Is it your teacher’s fault?

Those who know me, know well that one of my big and continuing concerns is the multitude of un-qualified and under-qualified, singing teachers and singers who teach voice for the wrong reasons and do a lot of harm to aspiring singers. There is, however, the flip side of the coin. When is a lack of progress/improvement/ success in singing the responsibility of the singer/student?

Case Study# 1 Recently I had a conversation with a classical singer, with whom I worked very briefly long ago when I was a student teacher.  When we spoke she talked about all of her various singing teachers over the years and outlined their problems.  These were all teachers who helped a multitude of other students learn how to sing well, but nevertheless, she related that learning from each of the various teachers did not work for her. 

I had attended one of this particular singer’s performances in the 1990s when she was working with an excellent teacher in New York City and I recollect that she had made great improvements in her tone and various aspects of her technique. I remember thinking that the teacher with whom she was working at the time helped her a lot.  I asked the singer why she left that teacher and she told me that she had attended several grad school auditions and that she kept getting comments that she was “under pitch”.   Now, having personally taught this voice, although very briefly, before leaving the area to attend grad school myself, I was very familiar with the fact that she previously sang quite flat as well as the exact cause of the intonation problem. Along with other technique difficulties, she was singing heavily and did not have enough head voice in the upper middle as well as lacked an “open throat” therefore notes in the upper middle and in seconda passaggio were consistently flat. In laymen's terms she was singing to heavily in the upper part of her voice and it was weighing the pitch down.

The teacher in New York had lessened her nasality problem, got her air moving and also help get some good support going in her body.  He also had her singing much less flat, although the problem was not entirely eliminated. Yet when this singer received comments about the fact that she was singing flat, she blamed the teacher that had helped her so much!

She didn’t think for a moment that it was HER responsibility to sing in tune! She didn’t bother to ask others whether she had previously had that problem! She received some comments and BANG! Fired her teacher!  She went on to study with a string of teachers ‘who didn’t work for her’ and, without self-examination, blamed her career difficulties squarely on their shoulders.

Case Study #2 An aspiring musical theater actress came to me because she felt that study with her present teacher was not working, because she was not getting hired!  It did not enter her mind that the teacher she was leaving was teaching half of Broadway (ok a slight exaggeration).  The fact that she was not getting hired for “straight”  non-musical productions as well, which had nothing to do with her voice training,  did not enter her consciousness when she was analyzing her lack of success. She was paying BIG money to the teacher and she was not getting the parts she wanted.  From my perspective, with the negativity she brought into the room, I could never imagine anyone hiring her, in fact, I made sure that our schedules did not match in order to avoid being her next teacher and suffering the bad word of mouth that eventually would ensue because she might continue to be frustrated with her career progress and  need a new scapegoat.

Case Study #3  An extremely talented and very successful teen-aged legit musical theater singer, with whom I worked a few years ago in London, attended a pop singing contest. The judges told the singer publically that “her musical theater training was working against her.  As her teacher, and knowing full well, how important being able to function in contemporary styles is these days to employability in musical theater,  and being able to both sing and teach these styles, I many times assigned repertoire and attempted to coach her in the principles of pop-styling. This young singer, however, was entirely disinterested in the subject, never did the assigned practice and so my thought was, she knows who she is and wants to specialize in what she does best and most naturally and I won’t push the issue. Then on a whim she attends a pop singing contest and the judges, do guess what? Blame her teacher.

On an even more serious note, when students come to me for an initial consultation and I suspect nodules or some other possible pathology, I always send them to an ENT, not only for their own good both medically and because it will inform how to proceed in lessons, but because I don’t want to be blamed for the condition of someone’s voice before they came to me for lessons!

What can singing teachers do?

If you give an initial consultation as I do, or if not, during the first lesson, take notes on your evaluation of the singer and share those notes with the singer, verbally or in terms of a report. It is up to you how much detail you present in that initial consult, and how your present the information, because you want to always be encouraging, if at all possible, and you don’t know how rapidly a singer will progress. You should, however, fully share the information with the singing student during their course of study as well as bring to their attention areas they are not addressing in their practice and what the consequences might be. Of course, if you see student after student coming to you from another teacher with a similar set of problems, you can form a  (private) negative opinion of another instructor, but do not be quick to blame the former instructor (if any) for problems based on one singer. You do not know how the singer sounded before the other teacher worked with them! You would want your student’s future teachers to offer the same level of fairness to you!

Make sure you ask a singer, when you first meet him or her, exactly what their goals are and make sure that you feel that you can help that student reach those goals.  If a student with no previous training comes to you two months before an audition for a top conservatory to prepare the audition, you must be up front that there is not the proper time to prepare this audition. You can still take the student and do the best you can given the fact that goal is unrealistic. In many cases the student can and will attempt the audition the next year and be successful.
If a parent brings you a child with the stated goals of winning auditions but only want to the child to have a half hour lesson every other week  when the child has many areas that need to be addressed, don’t set yoursel and more importantly the child,  up for failure by agreeing to help achieve the goal on insufficient instruction time.

What can Singers do?

After you have carefully selected your teacher based on qualifications, experience, word of mouth, how they themselves sing, and the way their other students sound, be honest with yourself. Are you putting 110% effort into becoming a good singer? Are your goals realistic based on your present level of ability? Are you putting enough effort into getting your career going? Simply paying a teacher and attending lessons does not guarantee you will get the results you desire, be they becoming a better singer or becoming a big star.  A teacher can only give you , accurate information, appropriate feedback and guidance ;  A good voice  teacher can make or break whether or not you learn how to sing, but you need way more than that to have a career. As far as getting cast in roles and working is mostly about what YOU bring to the equation.  That is a truth that is sometimes hard to face, but once you do face this, you will  greatly increase your chances of reaching your goals.

Should YOU become a Singing Teacher?

Should YOU become a Singing Teacher?



I have been approached for advice, from time to time, by fellow singers who are considering doing some teaching. Sometimes it comes in the form of a panicked request for “materials” before a job interview for a teaching position. Other times it is a singer bouncing ideas off of me about whether or not teaching singing is right for them and whether, in my opinion, they have something marketable to offer. Sadly, sometimes it is a singer who has not been serious in their own training, as well as  unsuccessful in obtaining paying work as a performer due to a deficit in skills, who considers becoming a singing teacher. Often they have little actual interest in teaching,  but needing to get some work to keep them afloat until they get the paying performing work, they decide to become teachers. I have therefore organized a few points about teaching the art of singing, which I hope will be helpful to potential singing teachers and their potential students.

1)    Most importantly, you must first be a skilled singer in order to teach the art of singing. There is an old saying, very insulting to teachers, that goes something like ”Those who can, Do, those who CAN’T.... teach”. Well, as far as singing goes, you absolutely have to be able to do it (or have been able to sing in the past if you are advanced in years) in order to teach it. Period. Full stop! Now, you may be an excellent, experienced and skilled performer who does not wish to or is unable to engage in having a singing career and still be an excellent teacher. Several esteemed teachers I know of are such individuals, they missed the boat of a performing career for themselves because of family obligations, health problems or having initially received poor training and then found themselves to old to establish a performing career, but they do possess the technique they are teaching. If you have tested the technique in the professional arena all the better.
 Occasionally, I have a call from an absolute beginner who wants to train to become a singing teacher. My advice is always to train to become a singer and if you do not have a burning desire to perform then you will have a head start to being a good singing teacher. I do not subscribe to the “Music Education philosophy, which trains "music teachers".  Music students are "musical souls", be they adults or children, and they respond to fluid, expressive, enthusiastic playing and singing from skilled performers. Mediocre "Music Ed" specialist teachers have, in my opinion done more to kill off enthusiasm from the public for serious music than the influence of the vapid commercially-promoted recordings with little"musical content" that are fed to  young listeners.

2)    Conversely, just because you can sing does not mean you can teach. Never the less, as discussed in 1) above, it is a very good start. There are many natural singers who have beautiful singing voices but do not understand exactly what they are doing to produce the sound or if they do understand they are unable to communicate it. You need to be able to do both. Sometimes singers understand how to make a nice sound with their own instrument but do not understand how different vocal instruments function or how to approach singers with different technical problems from their own. I am going to make a few high sopranos angry now, but I will say it anyhow. There are many sopranos, with high light voices that are able to make attractive sounds without learning how to sing properly. This is because it is possible for some tiny little soprano vocal mechanisms, to create what is an attractive sound to the public, when they are young, without the kind of breath support that most other types of voices absolutely must have in order to function. Often these singers have decent performing careers until their voices mature and they find they can no longer sing without retraining. It has been said by colleagues of the famous soprano who shall remain nameless, that she was an inverse breather. An inverse breather pulls up and in, instead of expanding the body with the air. A singer such as this may not understand how critical it is for other types of voices to breath correctly and then fail to address this issue with their students.(I often drive myself crazy trying to get some high light sopranos to breath correctly, but since they can get away with their bad habits some do not learn the most optimal way. I think even high light sopranos sound BEST when they breath properly like everyone else so I will never stop insisting that all singers breath well. Baritones generally get further than tenor simply on the strength of their beautiful natural voices whileknowing very little about technique. It should be remembered a singer cannot transfer his or her lovely voice to a student, only their knowledge.

3)    A singing teacher must understand how different personalities and voices function. Don’t think that all you need to do when teaching others is repeat exactly how your teacher worked with you. I adjust my teaching to each singer. If a singer is a hardworking perfectionist who is very hard on his or herself,  I have a very different attitude than I do with one who is a slacker. If a student has a hyper-phonation problem we do completely different vocalizes than if they have a hypo-phonation problem. Many singers who makefirst attempts at teaching voice, simple regurgitate what worked with them.  So how does one learn about other voices? In the normal course of a peforming career singers observe what works and does not work with other voices and voice types. As a student, it is important to sit in on other singer’s lessons and attend master classes in order to learn about other kinds of voices as well as taking classes in pedagogy. The easiest way to do this is in a University or conservatory music program. If you are a fine pianist you can volunteer to play for singing teachers and observe, observe, observe.

So, if you think you have something to offer, how do you get started? One excellent way to gain experience is to barter singing lessons in exchange for other services. Be upfront about your level of experience. I started teaching in my late teens. At that point I had two years at university under a good teacher, it was more than five years since my first paid gig and had already won several competitions and made a recital debut at Carnegie Hall, so I was not exactly green despite my age. I exchanged singing lessons for guitar lessons. It was a great deal, I was learning on my second instrument AND getting experience as a singing teacher. Soon I was getting results and references. So I started to charge a little, but I worked exclusively on technique and taught only other musicians who knew what they were doing otherwise. Then my teacher started referring high school age students to me and was kind enough to monitor my progress with them. Then she had me take some of her students while she was away. I think I did help even my first students but I was quite aware that I had so much more to learn. I had to start somewhere, and if you want to teach singing you must start somewhere too.

If you are just starting out and do not have knowledge that is broad or deep, only teach what you know best. If you are a natural singer but an experienced performer, why not be a performance coach and have a group workshop. You don’t have to mess with any technique. A performance coach can help singers with their style, dramatic interpretation and stage presence. Just make sure that the singers who work with you are getting technique instruction elsewhere if they need it. If you only feel totally confident with one style than only teach that style and be up front about it.

Finally, the voice studio should not be a graveyard for frustrated singers who are not making it, or never made it, passing on their technical deficiencies to those who don’t know any better, although it very often is. Teach for the right reasons: because you really want to help people and because you are honestly interested in the human voice.

Do You Know the Difference between a Singing Teacher and a Coach?

1. Singing Teachers, also known as Voice Teachers
These professionals teach singing technique.  They address how the voice is produced. They teach posture, breathing, resonance, breath support, the way the mouth opens, how to shape the throat and  other issues that effect how the larynx functions.  They give instruction to singers about how to warm up and care for their voices and how to apply the technique to repertoire.
Singing teachers help singers increase the range strength, pitch accuracy and beauty of their voices.These professionals are almost always, themselves, singers.

2. Singing Voice Therapists /Voice Rehabilitation Specialists
These Professionals help singers recover from traumatic voice injuries and voice abuse as well as preventing problems in the singing voice.Generally they are singers with specialized training.

3. Performance Coaches help singers to interpret repertoire and apply acting, stagecraft, and presentation skills. Performance coaches are trained actor/directors and may also be musicians (pianists/singers).

4. Diction/Foreign Language Coaches help singers to pronounce the texts of their lyrics accurately.  They must be familiar with the language and how to apply it to music. They may be singers, pianists or musically educated linguists.

5. Piano-Vocal Coaches help singers prepare repertoire stylistically and accurately as well as suggest repertoire, while accompanying them on the piano. These professionals generally have strong piano skills. Most, but not all are performers.

6. Vocal Accompanists also known as Collaborative Pianists are musicians, who specialize in performing music with singers. They understand how to play their instruments in a way that allows singers to sound their best. They are high level performing pianists and usually excellent sight-readers.

Traditional Theater Taboos- Know What They Are!

One of the quickest ways to become branded an outsider is to not observe the traditional theatrical superstitions. Now, in general I am not a superstitious person , however, respect for the traditions of the theatre is a nice way to pay tribute to the history and community of the theatre as well as an indication that you have an interest in being a considerate and dedicated part of a theatrical community. It also shows that you are a good and serious performer and that you are educated.

 

There are many traditions and certainly many are no longer in use, but I will list the most common ones below. I strongly hope that any present or former student of mine would at least be aware of these.


 
1) NEVER wish someone good luck(especially inside a theater). unless of course you are trying to send them the EVIL EYE. If you don't know what the evil eye is find out. (NO I don't think it actually exists any more than fairies do but I do know what a fairy is). Break a leg , In bocca al lupo, etc. Knock 'em dead is OK too. If you send good thoughts prayers, thinking of you is I guess, OK but LUCK .... NO!

 

2) Never mention the Scottish play in a theatre, or it's opera versions. If you don't know which Shakespeare this is find out, OK?
 


3) Don't use real props if you can help it, especially flowers(think allergies) mirrors(duh). Don't use real holy books. For g-d sakes use toy guns.
 


4) Don't whistle in the theatre! The first stage hands were Sailors. The first stage hands were out of work sailors (think of all the ropes etc. There is a reason why is is a theatrical rig. Whistling is how they signaled each other. Send the wrong signal and a you could get crushed by a sand bag. OK now everything is computer operated so yes this is antiquated but knowing this and not whistling is an acknowledgment that you realize that a set is a dangerous place. Life and death. A very beloved stage hand was once crushed to death during an opera production I was in. No it was NOT caused by whistling of course. But hopefully you get my point. Have respect for your work environment.

 

5) Maybe in the current green world we can give up keeping the ghost light on, but find out what the ghost light is, ok?

 

6) Don't use brand new make-up opening night.... very important. Think... allergies... the wrong color etc. 



7) Don't complain about your bad dress rehearsal. Bad dress= good opening night. Good dress also = good opening night.