I just got an email from a new student. Im going to quote it here because its wonderful: I need to enter a realm of wildness which can be hard for me at times. I love that image, entering a realm of wildness. Its also appropriate. People start to sing thinking that it will be safe, pleasant, normal. Its anything but, or its all of that and to get there, we have to do none of that. When we sing well, its completely safe. Its certainly safer than singing badly which begets sore throats, strain, pain, and the dreaded nodes. In order to sing well, we have to open ourselves to the every emotional feeling we might ever have. We have to let ourselves be completely vulnerable to everything within us. In the end, thats completely safe, too, because we find the good as well as the bad. We find the strengths we can grow on to nurture us through the weaknesses. It just feels like the most dangerous thing imaginable. To sing well, we have to explore what we dont know and have never imagined. Thats scary. It doesnt mean its really dangerous. It just means it feels dangerous. We have to release physical tension which makes us feel safe. It doesnt make us safe. It makes us limited, but it feels safe. I had a dance teacher tell me he was amazed at how many people were afraid to run full out. Most people run, but we keep the brakes on a little bit just in case. Singing is the same. We do it, but we keep ourselves safe within the bounds of what we have decided we can do. Singing well means we explore everything to find out what our bodies say we can and cant do, and we dont know until weve tried. The joy is that even when we cant do something, if were singing well, it doesnt hurt. We just cant do it. I cant sing the Queen of the Night. Oh, well. I took out a coloratura aria yesterday that I havent sung in 15 years, and sang it great, cold. Not shabby. If I tell myself I cant, I cant. If I say I dont know so lets go, WOW! Enter a realm of wildness. In singing, youre still safe. Maybe, youll even be wonderful.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 17:01:30 +0000