Warming Up and Staying There

Went poking around this blog to find info about warming up. I haven't had time to fully read what appear to the most relevant entries. It was very hard to choose. But I did print a few out, double sided, and then punched holes so I can put them in my binder. So I will read it. I also made an extra set for my voice teacher.

However, while there is a wealth of fabulous information there, it doesn't tell me what I really want to know: How long does a warm-up last? If I have a rehearsal from 3-5 and I don't know at what point during that rehearsal it'll be my turn to get up and sing, when should I be warming up? Should I warm up at home for 15 minutes, then in the car for 10, then keep quiet for the next 10 until I arrive at 3? Then what if I don't sing until 4:30? Am I still warmed up? Is it all lost? Should I warm up until the moment I park the car? Should I wear a scarf? Would that make a difference? Or should I forget about all that and just take a xanax? Hahaha ok maybe not. I'd still warm up beforehand.

Progress!

Great voice lesson today!!! I warmed up beforehand, like I usually do, but instead of warming up in the car up to the time of the lesson, I warmed up at home and was pretty much silent in the car for the 15 minute drive. Did that make a difference? One of the many questions I have about warming up... that could be its own blog entry.

So we did all these vocal exercises up and down the scale and I was in great voice. Then we did Batti Batti and my teacher was impressed!! She said I sounded really really nice. She jokes that I'm the poster child for a good voice student, because all her other students are teenagers and they don't pick up the music or practice in between lessons. Yeah well when I was a teenager, whenever I sang my two older brothers would tell me to shut up and that my voice stinks. So I can imagine some of them might be in a similar situation that makes them self-conscious. Hell they're teenagers - everything makes them self-conscious. Plus I pay for my lessons... but that's not why I practice. It's the "I don't give a crap what you think" attitude about people overhearing me practice. And as I've said before, my neighbors have all heard me. And I love singing, and I want to sound better and to learn more more more!!! THAT'S the real reason I practice - because I WANT to! I can't NOT sing. Hokey hokey hokey I know. Anyway she gave me some exercises to do for a few of the tricky spots in Batti Batti - the "ah" sound at a certain note is coming out sort of strained, so she reminded me to keep what she calls a "dumb jaw," a wide open mouth to create vertical space. For myself, I also think it forward, sort of up and out, and I have to remember to use my low breath. The more I practice, the more easily I can fit it all together. So I was really pleased at the end of the lesson.

Alex started his lesson today too. He's getting a 30 minute private lesson which will mostly be a piano lesson but will include a lot of music theory appropriate for his current musical knowledge and skill. His teacher is excited because he picks it up so quickly. She said he really fits best in-between the levels of the group classes, so private lessons are perfect for him.

I'm thinking that if he's learning some piano, we really ought to pick up an electric keyboard for him to practice on. But do I need to get one with piano action keys? They're so much more expensive, and who knows if he'll continue with it.

I've decided that I will save the warming-up questions for another post, as it is now 12:01 am and although daylight savings time means an extra hour of sleep for most people, young children aren't clued into that. But the good news is, he'll go to sleep at 6:30 tomorrow night.

Who's That Girl? Believe! Believe!

Due to the automobile configuration this morning, I drove to work in the car that has this thing in it called a cassette player. So instead of listening to Natalie, or Joyce, or Juan Diego, or Nathan or any of the others, I popped in the tape from my last voice lesson.

One of my friends recently teased me that I probably listen to my tapes over and over just to hear myself. Ha! Au contraire! I listen to them only to do the warm-up exercises and to go over the pronunciation, rhythm and melody for new songs.

So this morning I listened to the warm-up and exercises without singing. Wow. I really AM improving. At some points I found myself thinking, "I don't remember my teacher singing that part, I thought I sang the entire thing," and then I'd hear her say something in the background... because it was me singing. And she totally knows what's going on in my mind because what she's saying is, "Believe! Believe!" and then, "Caress the notes! Sing like an opera singer! Gorgeous! Beautiful rounded tone! Yeah baby!" at which point, of course, I lose it and start laughing because I can hear myself and, in spite of her shouting, "Believe! Believe!" I can't believe that I'm producing that music.

My conclusion: Practice, practice, practice. I have to get used to the idea that I can sing like that, so that I can learn to do it for longer stretches without dissolving into laughter.

First of Three

I have three things to catch up on:

1. My most recent voice lesson
2. That outdoor concert
3. Sunday's rehearsal

So....in this post I will discuss....


1. My Most Recent Voice Lesson:

Had a make-up lesson Saturday morning in one of the practice rooms at Westminster. Like the space so much better than the 6th grade math classroom the lessons have been in so far! With it's "Black Holes are God's Way of Dividing By Zero" banner across the board... yes it's a Catholic school. Yes I'm Jewish. Yes it's vaguely disconcerting to me to be surrounded by crucifixes and other Catholic symbols but I've gotten used to it. So anyway... wow I digress a lot... so Saturday we were in the practice room. The sound was great! My teacher told me that I did really well at the studio class - I didn't realize that this was my first time seeing her since then. Then we did some vocal exercises - one of my favorites where I sing See-YAAAA Ahh ahhh ahhh all legato... I think it jumps up a fifth (?) from see to yaaa and then down in, what, 3rds? I don't know... but it's so much fun to do. She always tells me to "Let loose, sing like an opera singer" and so I do and it sounds great and then I laugh and have to stop because I can't believe it's me singing like that. Then there's usually a point where I don't let myself slide up to the YAAA note for whatever mental block reason and I have a pause between the two notes. It's like I don't feel like I can control the slide to stop at the right note, although I can just hit the note. I think it's the C. I try not to peek at the piano but sometimes I do. So I KNOW I can hit the note, I just have to trust that I can slide into it from below. Anyone out there have any tips for overcoming that mental thing?

So we moved on from there and started "Ouvre Ton Coeur," which meant first checking the IPA, meaning, I copied it onto my copy of the music, then we went over the words and how to pronounce them, back and forth, a word and then a phrase at a time, then the rhythm, chant chant chant to get the words with the right number of beats, then she played the tune on the piano without us speaking the words at all. I recorded it all and have been listening to each part. I'm forcing myself to be comfortable with each aspect before I seriously try to put it all together. I have problems with the pronunciation once I try singing it. And I took French all through college - you'd think it'd be easy for me.

So I have one more make-up class to do over the summer, probably at my teacher's house.

Warm unFuzzies

All warmed up. Hope it's not too early. All warm, but no fuzzies please.

Had a light snack of, yes, leftover pizza. I could say I was inspired, or something, by this person, but truthfully it was all we had in the house. Talk about comparing apples and oranges... She's a professional and I'm a, well, I'm not. She sang a leading role in an opera that people paid to come see, I'm singing two songs for people I pay tuition to. She also gets paid. Again, I pay for the privilege...

And I will say that my pizza was not greasy or cheesy (as the oil seeps out my pores) because it was a Brooklyn, (except square, not round) from Vito's, with a super-thin crust, blobs of fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and crushed tomatoes. Yum!

Warming Up...

...for tonight's voice lesson. The last lesson before next week's eval. Of course my throat is tightening up and generally not cooperating. I'm sure my teacher will have her virtual psychiatrist's couch out tonight.

I'll get home around 30 minutes after Camelot begins. I've decided to watch it from there and "catch up" on the first half hour afterwards.