mia voce grossa
Jan. 7th, 2012 12:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anigoYesterday I had my first voice lesson.
I decided to take voice lessons for a couple of reasons. First, I have a bit of musical training. I can read music probably better than most people on a bus. I can pick up any number of instruments and pick out a tune or two. I can carry a tune in a basket and I love love love to harmonize. I think my voice is a bit low and a bit nasal and I'd like to be able to make it sound better. I don't want to sing at anybody's wedding. I don't want to be on American Idol (which would be hard, as I'm Canadian and too old). Secretly it would be really cool to step up at somebody's wedding or at a party and just belt out something and leave everybody stunned, and that would be cool, but it's not a goal.
Second, I want to learn to breathe properly. To focus on breathing, and my posture and making the sounds that come out of my body more refined. I do a fair amount of talking to people and to groups and this kind of training, I think, is like getting football players to take ballet. It absolutely can't hurt.
And finally. The thought of being vulnerable enough to open your mouth and try to have what comes out of it be beautiful is absolutely terrifying. Don't get me wrong. I'm cool with being the center of attention. But I'm loud and funny. I'm not strong and beautiful. Because with loud and funny people laugh with you. With strong and beautiful, there's so much more chance for people laughing at you.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is terrifying. And that's why I'm doing it.
So I went.
The teacher was late, and was flustered, and is absolutely somebody from the Theaaatahh. The lessons are only half an hour long, so there's not a lot of time to ask questions. They're very tornado-like (or the first one was anyway.) In a tiny room that's not soundproof (which in and of itself is scary. People in the waiting room will hear me for Pete's sake!)
We, indeed, started with breathing. Laying on the floor feeling breath go into your belly rather than your chest. Then next to the piano practising panting. It was odd and a bit awkward, but it had an undertone of silly, and I can do silly.
And then she asked me to sing.
Now, don't get me wrong, she didn't ask me to sing the Queen of the Night from the Magic Flute. It was her playing a triad on the piano and asking me to use the breathing techniques and sing the notes. And sort of siren them up and down.
AAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh.
And let me tell you boys and girls. That right there was the scariest thing I've done in a LONG LONG LONG time. Opening your mouth and letting a sound come out that is supposed to gather people's attention and NOT supposed to be funny.
And I stopped her and said...
Ok. This is mostly why I'm here. This scares the hell out of me. I don't want to sing at a wedding. I can do that with a pretty decent degree of mediocrity. But. This. Is. Terrifying.
And she gave me her "16 year old girl" lecture, which says that nobody is judging me but her. And that I'm not allowed to judge myself, because I'm not the vocalist, she is. And the reason I'm there is to learn and I'm not expected to be good.
And at the time it was what I needed to hear.
And I opened my mouth and the noise that came out were something never heard coming out of myself before. They were good! They actually sounded like I could maybe even actually really sing something someday. Like maybe someday I could really sing The Queen of the Night (in an amateur production somewhere, to be clear). She also took my voice higher than I ever thought possible. In. One. Lesson. We started at something ridiculous (I thought) like an F, and I told her there was no way I could sing it. Not only did I sing it, she brought it up another 5 semitones higher! And it sounded good!
I. Am. Jazzed!!!
(And. I. Am. Using. This. Technique. A. Lot. Today. It. Appears.)
Anyway. I have half hour lessons every Friday. Unfortunately I don't have a lesson next Friday because I'm going to be in Ottawa, but in two weeks I'll be back in front of my vocal coach and we'll do some more breathing, and we'll do some more wailing, and I'll scare myself a bit more, and who knows what will happen next.
Damn, that was fun!
I decided to take voice lessons for a couple of reasons. First, I have a bit of musical training. I can read music probably better than most people on a bus. I can pick up any number of instruments and pick out a tune or two. I can carry a tune in a basket and I love love love to harmonize. I think my voice is a bit low and a bit nasal and I'd like to be able to make it sound better. I don't want to sing at anybody's wedding. I don't want to be on American Idol (which would be hard, as I'm Canadian and too old). Secretly it would be really cool to step up at somebody's wedding or at a party and just belt out something and leave everybody stunned, and that would be cool, but it's not a goal.
Second, I want to learn to breathe properly. To focus on breathing, and my posture and making the sounds that come out of my body more refined. I do a fair amount of talking to people and to groups and this kind of training, I think, is like getting football players to take ballet. It absolutely can't hurt.
And finally. The thought of being vulnerable enough to open your mouth and try to have what comes out of it be beautiful is absolutely terrifying. Don't get me wrong. I'm cool with being the center of attention. But I'm loud and funny. I'm not strong and beautiful. Because with loud and funny people laugh with you. With strong and beautiful, there's so much more chance for people laughing at you.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is terrifying. And that's why I'm doing it.
So I went.
The teacher was late, and was flustered, and is absolutely somebody from the Theaaatahh. The lessons are only half an hour long, so there's not a lot of time to ask questions. They're very tornado-like (or the first one was anyway.) In a tiny room that's not soundproof (which in and of itself is scary. People in the waiting room will hear me for Pete's sake!)
We, indeed, started with breathing. Laying on the floor feeling breath go into your belly rather than your chest. Then next to the piano practising panting. It was odd and a bit awkward, but it had an undertone of silly, and I can do silly.
And then she asked me to sing.
Now, don't get me wrong, she didn't ask me to sing the Queen of the Night from the Magic Flute. It was her playing a triad on the piano and asking me to use the breathing techniques and sing the notes. And sort of siren them up and down.
AAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh.
And let me tell you boys and girls. That right there was the scariest thing I've done in a LONG LONG LONG time. Opening your mouth and letting a sound come out that is supposed to gather people's attention and NOT supposed to be funny.
And I stopped her and said...
Ok. This is mostly why I'm here. This scares the hell out of me. I don't want to sing at a wedding. I can do that with a pretty decent degree of mediocrity. But. This. Is. Terrifying.
And she gave me her "16 year old girl" lecture, which says that nobody is judging me but her. And that I'm not allowed to judge myself, because I'm not the vocalist, she is. And the reason I'm there is to learn and I'm not expected to be good.
And at the time it was what I needed to hear.
And I opened my mouth and the noise that came out were something never heard coming out of myself before. They were good! They actually sounded like I could maybe even actually really sing something someday. Like maybe someday I could really sing The Queen of the Night (in an amateur production somewhere, to be clear). She also took my voice higher than I ever thought possible. In. One. Lesson. We started at something ridiculous (I thought) like an F, and I told her there was no way I could sing it. Not only did I sing it, she brought it up another 5 semitones higher! And it sounded good!
I. Am. Jazzed!!!
(And. I. Am. Using. This. Technique. A. Lot. Today. It. Appears.)
Anyway. I have half hour lessons every Friday. Unfortunately I don't have a lesson next Friday because I'm going to be in Ottawa, but in two weeks I'll be back in front of my vocal coach and we'll do some more breathing, and we'll do some more wailing, and I'll scare myself a bit more, and who knows what will happen next.
Damn, that was fun!
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no subject
Date: 2012-01-08 03:08 am (UTC):)