Setting the mission and tone for 2010!!

Setting the mission and tone for 2010!!

The world had changed a great deal since I started the Sing Your Life website back in 1999. There seems to be an unspoken mandate which hovers above my head, and more or less demands that I change to keep up with the rest of the world…And I’ve resisted...but no more…not this time.

I think that as we get older, we need more stability in our environs and tend to get pretty stubborn about changing with the times. I was talking to a dear friend the other day, a piano player who I work with here in town, and he said something that rang so true for me. He said, “…my lady friend complains a lot that I live in the past too much, but ya know? It was better then, dammit!”

We both laughed.

I’m not so sure it really WAS better then. I think now that it’s in the past, whatever it is, and we know it well and it’s familiar and has become comfortable, it may seem better. God knows, as we get older, the future becomes more and more ominous, so the past, even if it really stunk, does provide some comfort….the “devil you know” kind of thing.

The truth is, in my view, that NOW is all we ever really get, and to embrace NOW is to reduce the fears and anxieties of that which has not yet happened, and to calm the sorrows of our past mistakes…so that’s where I am steering my boat. And I invite you to come with me into 2010, singers!!

I feel the urge to complete a whole lotta projects this year:

• 
  
  “Close Enough For Jazz” – A memoir- (pecking at it, but very slowly.)
• 
  The Complete Video Vocal Performance Course – (start looking for new videos in January)
• 
  Development of an ongoing Performance Workshop, including the art of Cabaret, the art of Auditioning, and more… (done with local students and we’re looking to video the process for all of you to see)
• 
  The completion of “Get Off The Bandstand” – Last installment coming in February.)
• 
  The completion of a short story I’ve been writing for 40 years. (Obviously, I have severe writers’ block on this. Ha ha!)
• 
  The completion of the final CD, (working title: “The Delights & Distresses of Growing Old” – just gotta call Barney and BEGIN!)
• 
  Completion of the Backing Track Project – (to sell off entire remaining inventory)

I believe I need to finish these things not because I may be getting ready to depart the earth or anything dramatic like that. No! I seem to want to finish these things so I can get them all out of my head, and I can then sit on the beach and watch the boats go by, or the flight of a blue heron, or the gentle kiss of the waves against the rocks along the bayfront here in Corpus Christi, and to simply exhale a sigh…and enjoy the view.

And at the same time, even as I write that, I recognize all too well that sitting on the beach with nothing to do is the very worse thing that I could do, ha ha!
Staying youthful and vital for as long as possible requires constant engagement with Life on a moment-by-moment basis, so while I yearn for leisure as most aging working people tend to do, the projects are really my fuel for staying active and engaged. Kinda funny, huh? Or maybe just ironic??
Like I keep telling my sister when she sighs and says she’s so tired, “Be careful what you wish for, Doll! The Universe is always listening and if you want a rest, you might just get one…and then really hate it.”

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UPDATE!
For those of you who may be interested, I have recently completed the Standards and Jazz BT list and have posted it on the Members Only Page of my website…and to end any confusion, when I say “MY website”, I am speaking of www.singyourlife.com/

When I say “OUR website”, or “the COMMUNITY Singers’ site”, or “the Singers’ Network page”, I am speaking of www.singyourlife.ning.com.

I guess I shoulda named our community a little differently ‘cause many of you have gotten somewhat lost looking for things. Forgive me. Hope I’ve made things a little clearer for ya now.

Anyway, since my niche group of singers is mainly interested in Standards and Broadway tracks, everything from those categories is now posted and you may browse the lists at your leisure and send me your requests whenever. REMEMBER! I have reduced the cost to 75¢ per track, so get ‘em while you can.
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Here is Installment #6 of “Get Off The Bandstand”
This month’s section is extra long to make up for the month I missed in November. The final section shall come to you in February, 2010.

(previously, I spoke of what it means to SHARE the stage with other musicians, and the nuances of hand signals in the unspoken language of jazz… we continue now with the rules for the vocalist…)

Here is an excerpt of what is contained in this installment?

“Can you just imagine saving all your pennies to go see a Broadway show and because the performance you are viewing happens to be the 200th time the performers have sung this music? Can you just imagine what it would sound and look like to you, the listener if the actors and singers were bored to tears with this show?

You would leave that theater, feeling empty inside but not really understanding why. You might comment that you were disappointed and felt that it lacked a certain energy that you were expecting, and you might think it was the failure of the voices, or the acoustics in the theater, or the band was too loud, or the dancing was amateurish, but what really was the root of your displeasure was the simple fact that the players on the stage were bored…and so…you were too.”

Moving to the Side

In the world of Jazz, it’s considered rude to stand in the center of the stage, hogging audience attention that should be on the band. It shows a lack of regard for the musicians, and for their participation in the music itself. It also shows a lack of professionalism on the part of the singer. Instrumentalists refer to singers like that as “clueless”.

I was on a job once where the singer stood smack in the middle of the stage after she had sung the first time through the song, and she actually hummed along with the instrumentalists’ solos. Another time, that same singer talked OVER the solos, telling stories to the audience. As you can imagine, that singer was NOT asked to sit in with that band ever again. She didn’t understand and had to be told that the gig was NOT her personal showcase, and while her stories might work in a Cabaret setting, they amount to a lack of considersation on a Jazz gig.

The correct and respectful move is to stand on the side, either left or right, and allow the band to play…as long as they want to.

In college I was privileged to sing with a great band called “The Jazz Explorers”, and we worked all over the college town of Ithaca, New York. One night we were in an exclusive jazz club, where elite jazz fans only were admitted!

I sang “Night in Tunisia”, by Dizzy Gillespie, moved to the edge of the bandstand and let the saxophone take it. He was in rare form that night and having recognized that he had the audience with him, he kept playing…and playing…and playing. He must’ve played 10 choruses or more. The crowd was in a frenzy of delight listening to him. Can you even imagine, what would’ve happened if I had interrupted that?

When they were ready to give it back to me, they let me know with a nod.

Jazz musicians depend on intercommunication to achieve and maintain a sense of spontaneity. They encourage each other vocally or through their instruments to attain higher levels of performance. The connection with an audience is also vocal and visceral.
Because an original function of jazz was to accompany social dancers, a jazz audience's physical responses signaled the musicians to continue or heighten their level of intensity.
Among musicians themselves, the jam session exists as the central agency for communicating in a common musical language, in an atmosphere of collective
spontaneity. Parallels between the sense of community in a jam session and an open forum of discussants are clear --a successful session, like group conversation, depends on courtesy, decorum, and mutual respect as well as open-mindedness and willingness to listen. Thus, the connection between
music and language manifests itself in the jazz context.
[from "What Is Hip?" And Other Inquiries In Jazz Slang Lexicography by Rick McRae]

Listening, Appreciating, and Learning

Please remember, singers, it’s a collaboration, not a showcase! So what do you do as the vocalist when you’re over there on the edge of bandstand while the sax, and the trombone, and the piano and the bass and drum are taking solos?

You listen and applaud right along with the audience.

Because they ARE watching you! The audience I mean! They are watching…you, and the all of the artists on the stage. They want to see if the music is as appreciated by each of you who are creating it as it is by them, the listeners.

Does the sax player like the way the pianist takes his solo? Does the trombone player smile when the bass player is taking his?

It’s an secret language of sorts that give jazz it’s ethereal mysterious, quality that allows an audience to imagine and picture scenarios of its own.

If you, or any other musician on stage were to look disinterested while someone is soloing, that would interrupt the mood and take much of the magic out of the overall performance.

(This next section is pretty technical, so feel free to bypass it and go straight to “Continuing Your Musical Education”)



Learn and Understand “Trading Fours”

There’s a particular feature of jazz playing that does not exist in any other genre of music, and it’s called “trading fours”.
This particular musical device is a technique in which the musicians alternate brief solos of four bars each, usually occurring after each musician has had a chance to play a solo, and often involves alternating four-bar segments with the drummer.
Most tunes played in a jazz setting are written in a 32 bar format. For example,
take the tune “Teach Me Tonight”. This song has 32 measures or bars. The first section, (“A”) contains 8 measures, which is then repeated, (2nd 8) with different words, followed by a “bridge” of 8 more bars with a different melody line and different words, and then what is called the “last 8” with the same melody as the 2nd 8, but with different words. This format is called AABA, or a “Standard” format.
When the musicians decide to trade 4’s to this tune, it could look like this, (although there are multiple varieties of trading 4’s which we’ll see later.):
Starting at the beginning of the song:
Saxophone improvises on melody: “Did you say I go a lot to learn. Well Don’t think I’m trying not to learn”. That’s 4 measures of music.
Drummer plays: “Since this is the perfect spot to learn. Teach me tonight”. 4 bars
Piano improvises on melody: “Starting with the abc of it, right down to the xyz of it” 4 bars
Drummer plays: “help me solve the mystery of it. Teach me Tonight”
Trombone improvises on bridge: “the sky’s a blackboard high above you. If a shooting star goes by”
Drummer: “I’ll use that star to write I love you, 1000 times across the sky”.
Bass: “One thing isn’t very clear my love. Should the teacher stand so near my love”
Drummer: “graduation’s almost here my love, teach me tonight.”
Now understand singers, I’ve written the words so that you can understand the way the song is divided up when trading 4’s. Naturally these musicians are NOT singing the words, they are improvising on the melody.
Furthermore, the song can be played over and over again in this trading 4’s arrangement so that it builds to a great dramatic cadence! Audiences absolutely adore this device cause it’s joyful and celebratory! And it gets everyone involved at once, and is just plain FUN!!
And let me say…If, as a singer you are ever invited to trade fours (4’s) during a piece, consider it the highest honor you will ever have bestowed upon you as a jazz singer. But learn to SCAT first!
Continuing Your Musical Education

Singers! If you should ever get to that place and time in your life where you feel you have learned all there is to know about the music you sing, do yourself a favor and everyone else as well…and QUIT!

And actually, this step is meant for all singers of every genre, style, and level.

In recent years, the majority of my students have been ladies over 50, who have not stopped learning, desiring, and expressing. In fact, these women enthusiastically drink in everything they can about singing and performing music.

When the market gurus tell you to find a niche you can love, I DO understand that, because, it is these women, with the energy of children, and the wide-eyed thrill of discovering their voices, that keeps me young and vital every day.

Can you just imagine saving all your pennies to go see a Broadway show and because the performance you are viewing happens to be the 200th time the performers have sung this music? Can you just imagine what it would sound and look like to you, the listener if the actors and singers were bored to tears with this show?

You would leave that theater, feeling empty inside but not really understanding why. You might comment that you were disappointed and felt that it lacked a certain energy that you were expecting, and you might think it was the failure of the voices, or the acoustics in the theater, or the band was too loud, or the dancing was amateurish, but what really was the root of your displeasure was the simple fact that the players on the stage were bored…and so…you were too.

A Broadway Show, especially a Broadway show, has to be played and sung with the exact same vitality on the last day of the run, that it had on Opening Night!
No, it’s not that easy, which is why many extremely successful and long-running musicals change cast members halfway through…to keep it fresh and exciting for the audience.

That being the case, can you just imagine what it can be like to have a singing gig in a supper club several nights a week and have regular customers who come in for a drink just to hear you sing their favorite song? How would it be for that customer if your singing was lazy and unenthused? Think he’d want to give you that $5. tip you were expecting? Think he’d continue to show up night after night?

I know these things singers, because as they say, “been there, done that”.

My point is this: As long as you are still growing musically, and still finding new and wonderful ways to express the music you are singing, it will always be fresh and exciting…always!

Remember when you were a small child and your Mom bought you your first box of crayons? There were 8 crayons in the box, right? And the colors were red, blue, green, yellow, orange, brown, white and black.

You drew pictures and colored in coloring books and spend countless hours of enjoyment with your colors…until those crayons were broken and in teeny pieces all over the floor, and then one day….your Mom came home with a big surprise for you.

A new box of crayons with twice the number of colors of your old box. Wow!!!

You opened the new box and saw all these NEW colors inside. You reached into the box to grab one and which one did you choose first?

I would wager that you chose a color from the first box…a color you knew. The familiar colors had a certain warmth and safety about them, and I’ll bet it took a little while to “get to know” those new colors in the box, so you were careful at first, using only the colors you knew. If you Mom was smart, she let you decide which colors to use and didn’t force any new ones on you, knowing that when you ready, you’d explore this new horizon on your own.

And that you did! One day you grabbed the purple crayon and drew a line.

WOWEEEWOW!! How great that looked!! Such a cool color! That was the beginning of your willingness to try all the rest of the colors in the box.

When I am teaching a student of mine how to put his or her own stamp on a song, it’s very similar to a kid with a box of crayons. The singer will sing what he knows and feels comfortable with until there comes a time when he feels an urge to stretch himself and try something knew. Many…many students of jazz singing will suppress that urge for sometimes…well…years. Why?

The simple answer is FEAR! Fear of making a mistake, fear of sounding off key or cracking, fear of the unknown…plain and simple!

But here’s the thing! Once the student overcomes that fear and allows himself to try something knew and pushes himself to keep trying in spite of what he may hear as unpleasant, he is growing and learning and getting better and better with each attempt.
The Purple Crayon

It starts with a single note. Instead of singing that line exactly the way you did the first time, change just ONE single note….just one. The first time my students do this, there appears a smile that begins at the corners of each mouth, like they just did something really great, and it grows and grows with each move they make in the song.

RULE! You never let the music get old, boring, or flat. You look for and find anything at all, even just a single note that will change a line or change a mood, and change YOUR OWN ATTITUDE about the song.

And remember please, it’s not about impressing others, it’s always about Expressing YOU!

In the 70’s I was fortunate enough to have a steady singing gig in NYC. My partner Lenny and I worked in some of New York’s classiest clubs and we did so, 6 nights a week with Sundays off.

We had a loyal clientele, including some of New York’s most famous, or shall I say INFAMOUS mobsters. They loved us…mainly ‘cause we sang a lot of Sinatra, but they were extremely generous when it came to showing their appreciation.

One guy, Louie, loved the song, “Help Me Make it Through the Night”, so whenever he came in to the club, I‘d sing it for him.
Now, I’m not a big fan of Country, but let’s face it, when Louie, who was a hit-man for one of the illustrious Italian families of New York, requests a song, you sing and you sing it with gusto! And the more gusto, (emotion, feeling, drama) you sing it with, the bigger the appreciation.

So an attitude change for Country music was definitely in order for me. And I actually learned to love that song, the more I sang it and changed it, here and there, differently every time. And I made a ton of money with it as well.

RULE: If you’re a jazz singer, you cannot sing a song the same way twice.
If you do, there is no spontaneity and without that…well, it ain’t Jazz, see?

And as a Jazz singer, singing other genres for the jobs you go on becomes a fun experience for you because you find little ways to alter the songs so that you never tire of them or get bored with them.

Keep learning…keep growing…always…always, singers!
(To be completed next month with the final chapter, “IS JAZZ just about the MUSIC?”)

‘til next time, Singers!!
Chrys

After-Thanksgiving Issue, 2009

Hi Singers!

Gads! So much to tell you guys!

First, I sin[g]cerely hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and used the day to seriously count your blessings and feel the gratitude that is needed to physically alter you earthly experience. The longer I live and the more I read about spiritual matters, the clearer it becomes that if we express gratitude, the vibration we generate in that expression can actually change things in our lives...practically over night.

It's easy to be upset, annoyed, or bitter about the economy for instance, and I certainly am not recommending we jump up and down in enthusiasm for it, but what I AM suggesting is that we quietly thank our version of God, (Source, The Almighty, The Universe, Divine Creator of ALL that exists, whatever you call it), for the the good things we have...like family and friends and health instead of focussing on the bad stuff. It really does help! As Ghandi put it, "Be the change you wish see".

Let me wish you each and every singer who read this blog a wonderful holiday season... whichever holiday you celebrate.

Here's what happening in my world....

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My toilet tissue list of "projects" grew like crazy and I never DID get everything completed in the time I gave myself, but here's the thing. I figure, since I, and no one else, created the time-table, I could also change it and thereby alter the deadline I originally set for these projects. And so I did that!! Easy! Problem solved! It's so simple when you give your permission to take the pressure off...ha ha!

But here's an update on where I am with each project:

The Video Collection:

I am working on a professional vocal series that covers these questions: (each video to run about 30-45 minutes)

1. If you Can Talk...You can Sing!

2. The Role of ego in a vocal performance

3. The Competitive Singer or the Creative Singer? Which are You?

4. Don't forget to breathe.

5. Being more than a singer...being a musician!

6. Expression vs. Impression

7. Let's Put On a Show!!

8. PRACTICE does not make perfect. PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT!

9. Perfectionism vs. Authenticity

10. Mis-takes...Take 2!

If you are a member of the Sing Your Life Community, you can receive advanced copies of each series of lessons for your review prior to their publication and distribution to the public. Further, if you care to share your viewing experience on any of the lesson packages, you receive special gifts from SYL!

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Sing Your Life is Out of the Backing Track Business! We were thankfully put out of business by a site that allows the buyer to change the key right there on the displayed page PRIOR to actually purchasing the track.

Now, when I say "thankfully" put us put of business, I am saying that the job of locating a track in my database, listening to it, transposing it into the appropriate key for the customer, (and this is a long and arduous process if the singer has no idea of the keys he or she sings in), compressing the file for easy transport through email, or singing it myself if a vocal guide track was not available...all these steps were taking a good deal of time and I simply ran out of those luxurious hours. And that's where the pressure was mounting ...so much that I eventually made myself ill.

Finding the site with which we are now affiliated has freed up the time we can now devote to the Video Packages, and the 2010 plans for all of you singers.

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We have several projects in the works for 2010...

1.Along with the Videos mentioned above, we are developing a workshop for those singers who want to perform in front of a "live" audience with a "live" accompaniment, like a band or a pianist, or guitar player.

Using a group of local students as a model of sorts, (or guinea pigs as they may call themselves, LOL), we have secured a local venue where each singer can showcase their own act of about 30 minutes in front of an audience. The singer will put a showcase together with my coaching help, work out the theme, the keys, the patter, etc., and then rehearse the whole thing with an accompanist and perform it on a Friday or Saturday night at a local coffee house.

I'm considering getting the entire process recorded with each student from the brain-storming

process to the actual performance, which I will post for my internet singers to use as a guide of how to put a show together.

2. There are several older singers in our community who I want to gather around and put on a seminar of sorts, a cyber-seminar on performance expression. I guess it's part of the maturation of us singers that contributes to the disappearance of a self-conscious performance, 'cause our younger singers don't seem as comfortable on stage. I thought it might help them if some of us older ladies, who have "been there, done that", share our own experiences and tips on what we've done to get over the "butterflies" that come with singing in front of strangers.

3. Later in the year, we will start working on an original Christmas Song which I wrote along with my older sister who provided the lyrics.

There wasn't enough time to work on it this year because the arrangement for chorus was not completed until late October. The choir arrangement has been written by my dear friend, Barney McClure, who is a renowned composer and arranger of vocal music, including songs for vocal jazz ensemble and choirs of 100 or more singers. Barney is also the gentleman

who arranged my recording of "Where Do You Start", which I posted to our Community Pages last month. He was so impressed with my Chrsitmas tune, he arranged it and published that arrangement, which means that the song is currently being distributed to Universities and Colleges and Church Choirs all over the country. This'll be a real treat for those of us who can read music, and who enjoy singing with a group. We will begin work in August of 2010. I will post the music for you to download and practice.

And BTW, check out Barney's arrangement of a song her wrote called "Before the Rain" at: http://www.barneymcclure.com/. I just melted when I heard those harmonies.

4. Yes!, Virginia! I WILL complete the sage of "Get Off the Bandstand". It will have an ending...and an important lesson, so stay tuned.

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That's just an outline of our agenda coming up, singers. I will continue to post free video clips based on questions and concerns I receive from you singers, so if you are working on something and need some advice or you have issues with vocal and performance matters, just let me know, okay?

Have a wonderfully joyful and fulfilling holiday, singers, and we'll see you next year!!

Sin[g]cerely,

Chrys

Installment #3 - "Get Off the Bandstand"

CHAPTER ONE
Who Do You Think You Are, Anyway?

If you wish to be viewed as a serious artist, or even at the very least, a singer who obviously loves the music you are freely sharing in the world, it becomes necessary to put away your ego and realize what it is you really have here. What exactly is it, this talent of yours??

Did you invent it? When? How old were you? What was the original idea for this brilliance of yours? Is there a blueprint around we can examine?

Hardly, right? Obviously, if you look closely, you can see that you DID NOT create your talent. It’s a gift, pure and simple.

It’s a talent that was given to you, most likely at birth, for which, in a perfect world, you in turn, say “thanks” to your Creator by offering it to others with the same intensity and profound love with which it was given to you.

Do You Get That?? Does it make sense to you?

It’s a talent that was GIVEN to you, most likely at birth, for which you are more or less encouraged by your Creator to SHARE it with others with the same intensity and profound love with which it was given to you.

You do NOT use it to glorify yourself in arrogance, and self-promotion, although it’s certainly not a giant leap for the EGO to deduce that you must be special indeed to have been given a gift of this magnitude! And of course…you ARE…as are all of God’s children, including your audiences, your fellow musicians, your housekeeper, your mechanic, your enemies…(see where I’m going with this?)

Now, I can hear you, singers! I hear you yelling back at me, “But , what are you saying, Chrys? That the only way to demonstrate how grateful we are for our talent is to humble ourselves when we perform? Shouldn’t we be strutting our stuff instead? What’s with all this humility…we’re not monks!!”

Well, yes…and no! It would depend on what your definition of strutting is.
If you mean showing off in a manner that suggests a message of
“Look at me, you losers! I’m special, and you are NOT!”.
Then, I would think that THAT was an ungrateful demonstration of your talent.

But if you mean by strutting that you sing with zeal and passion, and celebrate your talent AND your ability to use it to turn people on with the joy you feel in your heart, then, okay! Strut away!!

I sorta prefer the term “gravitas” to more clearly describe the quality I am talking about. It’s more of a dignity than a swagger. There is a certain substance or weightiness, or even a lordliness in the kind of person who walks in a glow of self-confidence and gratitude for what he has.

In a performer, it’s magical, and majestic! It’s the power to look into your eyes and go all the way to your soul…”Killing You Softly with His Song”.

You can’t strut that kind of a gift. You really cannot!! It is this humble author’s view that this gift has to constantly be treated with honor, adoration and reverence. Come on! You DID NOT CREATE IT! It was GIVEN, and you DISCOVERED it inside of you! Bravo for THAT! Wow!! And THAT is why you share it, right? It truly IS! Look!

It’s like when you were a kid and you happened upon a shiny marble on the sidewalk. You couldn’t wait to find your friends and say, “Look at this! Look what I found! Isn’t it fabulous? Let’s play with this for a while!” That’s not swaggering or bragging, it sharing what you found with people that matter to you. And when you perform from this perspective, you are sending vibrations of love all over the place, and you are showered with the stuff in return.

Performing from this space in consciousness cannot be faked, singers! You have to mean it. That’s what I’m talking about when I tell you singers to establish a relationship with your audience, and to find something special about them and to love them.

And you also have to love your musicians.

The feelings that travel among each of you on stage becomes PART of the songs you are singing so you HAVE to love and respect and admire your musicians.

Let me tell you a little story to more correctly make my point on this particular issue about loving your musicians.

I was traveling around the country several years ago with a big band, and when I say “big band”, I am talking about a particular genre of music called “Big Band”. It refers to the 18-piece bands of the 40’s and 50’s like Glenn Miller, Woody Herman, the Dorsey Brothers and people like that.

I traveled with the Les and Larry Elgart big band back in the early 60’s and also with Si Zentner’s Band, and The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra under the direction of Sam Donahue for several years.

There were occasions when the band was backing up a big name singer in Vegas or Reno, or somewhere, and on those occasions I would get the night off. I never stopped being totally star struck by some of the big stars that were backed up by the bands I was on…singers I grew up adoring, like Mel Torme, Johnny Ray, Nancy Wilson, Connie Francis, and people like that.

So, even if I had the night off, there was no way I wasn’t going to stand in the wings and watch these people I loved perform, and dream about reaching the heights that they already had attained.

99% of the time, my “idols” did not disappoint…except for this one time…

TO BE CONTINUED

Get Off the Bandstand! (The Rules of Behavior for the Aspiring Jazz Singer) PART TWO

Previously…I compared being a working professional singer to a tennis player…each making a living and a life by doing what he or she loves to do, and while they dream of stardom and fortune, they play by the rules of the game of the present moment.

In Tennis, there have only been 6 players in the history of the sport, who have won all 4 Grand Slam Tennis Events. And only 2 of those 6 have won on 4 completely different surfaces! Those 6 players are well-known all over the world, while there are thousands more players who make a good living playing tennis, and while they will win a tournament here and there, are not widely known.

Good, all around tennis players, just like good all-around singers can make a living doing what they love, and what could be better than that! Not everyone’s gonna end up at the top of the game or in the record books, and that should NOT be the goal anyway. The goal is to do what we LOVE more than anything.

This book is geared toward Jazz Singers and Singing, which is a specific genre and has with it very specific set of rules that the singer should follow to be considered a true pro!

And, by the way, when I talk about singing Jazz, I am not referring to what they call “Smooth Jazz”, or “New Jazz”.

I don’t even know what that is, but the songs and styles I hear, either of which are referred to with that moniker are NOT Jazz in this author’s humble opinion. Elevator renditions of a Jazz standard, played by John Tesh is NOT Jazz!

When I talk about Jazz, I am speaking with reverence about an art form created, in the cotton fields down south by singing slaves; nurtured by the melodic stylings of Louis Armstrong and the chaotic expression of Ornette Coleman, and continuously expanded in its rhythms and harmonic patterns by people from Scott Joplin at the start of the 20th century, to Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane in the mid-20th century, and Chick Corea, and Wynton Marsalis into the 21st century! And does not include anything played by Kenny G or Yanni!

Jazz is one of America's greatest exports.

It is the first truly American musical genre, and was recognized by Congress in 1987 as a national treasure.

Thanks to countless performers and innovators over the course of centuries, jazz has risen to become one of the most respected musical genres in the world.

And if you wish to sing jazz and be called a singer of jazz, don’t just learn how to scat…study the history of jazz and connect with its soul.

It’s more than technique, it’s so much more than dexterity, It’s a pure and unadulterated American Art form to be respected and to be proud of!

And there are rules that don’t exist in other musical forms…rules of behavior on the bandstand, rules of understanding the particular language of jazz, and well….that’s what this book is about!

I’ve been a voice teacher for 30+ years. There are literally thousands of us in the world, and, as in any educational field, some of us are better at it than others.

I don’t claim to be the best voice teacher out there. There are better technicians than I for certain; many classically-trained vocalists who understand the anatomical aspects of singing far better than I do, and whose methods, I think, should definitely all be attempted by the aspirant to see which works best for him or her as a student of voice. Trying on singing methods is much like trying on songs to sing, or trying on coats for that matter. You try different ones on until you find the one that FITS!!

Learning from a teacher is totally subjective. The bottom line is, if you “click” with your teacher, you are able to learn from that person. If you don’t “click”, then it doesn’t matter how accomplished he or she is, how many famous clients he or she has taught, or how expensive or inexpensive the fees are.

The fact remains that you cannot learn and get better as a singer with a teacher or coach with whom you just don’t connect.

Personally, I spend just about 6 weeks training voices to sing, the reason being that 6 weeks is the maximum amount of time it takes to put certain principles of singing on auto-pilot, such as; the breathing, the sound creation, (diaphragm control), the body’s resonation centers, and the Seven Deadly Sins of Singing which are to be avoided.

That’s pretty much all of what I teach to beginning students. I leave it up to the individual singer to practice the drills I design for each specific concern he or she may have about his/her voice. If the student is dedicated and seriously committed to his/her singing, the 5-10 minutes a day of drilling is not much to ask, and the results are amazing!

But, almost any decent voice teacher can do that for a student.

Where my joy and fulfillment lies is in the performance aspect of singing…and in helping a singer to discover his own voice, his sense of musicality, purpose, and ultimately, his total power through his vocal performance to alter Energy, and subsequently, Matter!

And while I am no scientist, everything I teach, write about, or talk about with my students is based on empirical knowledge, that is knowledge which has been informed by my own personal experience.

So when I say that a performance can move energy, I say it because I’ve seen it happen…and often!

This principle is widely known and accepted in the world of sports, where a particular athlete’s performance can so move the observers’ that they in turn will literally send him or her the positive energy required to accomplish the goal at hand.

This is true in almost all sporting events, but most easily understood when a single athlete is performing a feat, like playing tennis, golf, diving, or standing at the plate with a bat. The crowd becomes a “partner” in the process of achievement and each member of the observing crowd will literally feel the joy or agony of the result…as deeply as the athlete himself.

In tennis, for example, when a player is an audience favorite, the opponent will want to start the match with a flair of winning points, specifically to “take the crowd out of it”, meaning to quiet their cheers and leave the favored player with no energy with which to fight except his/ her own.

Baseball fans are celebrated as the “10th man on the field”.

And for a singer, there is nothing more meaningful and deeply felt than the audience’s applause, that symbol of love and devotion that all artists crave. For some, once they have experienced the feeling of a standing ovation, they can never be satisfied with anything less ever again.

There is, however, a price to be paid for that kind of love!

Or perhaps a more appropriate way to put it is…there needs to be a certain reverence shown to the art form itself for its ability to produce joy, and sadness, exhilaration, and despair, hope, and love that nothing else can produce.

We as singers of song, need to be profoundly and utterly grateful for this gift we have been blessed with by the creator of all that is.

We didn’t invent it. We didn’t manufacture it, and we can never take it for granted or treat it with egotistical arrogance or stupidity!

And I have written this book to demonstrate what I believe is the appropriate way to carry this gift and cherish it, treasure it, and guard it, lest it be taken away in a flash!

So we’ll talk about how to work with musicians, writers, producers and promoters in a way that honors your talent…but also theirs!

In addition, we’ll be covering some helpful hints on dealing with fans and customers. (This section will be quite amusing, and sometimes scary, so be sure to stick around for that!)

And we’ll discuss your ability and willingness to adhere to the rules of the road on a bandstand…in other words the things you need to know…which are so much more than just the song you’re singing.

So off we go…into the world of the professional singer/musician!

TO BE CONTINUED…

Happy August, Singers!!

Been away a long time, huh? Actually, I've been putting the blog on another site for the past 7 months or so, and if you'd like to read any of the ones you missed, they may be accessed at www.singyourlife.com/blog/.

Hope your Summer, wherever you may be is giving you an opportunity to rest and appreciate all the great things in your life. I truly believe that it’s that appreciation, that fuels the continuation of those great things.And don’t I get more and more philosophical each month???

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this blog…its value as entertainment as well as my own seemingly endless pontifications on the subject of singing and all its aspects.

My sister forwarded something to me a few months ago by an author named Sara Davidson. It was in a blog format, but it was actually a story in serial form and each month her blog would be a continuation of the story she was telling.

While I actually found the story a little silly, something about love and sex after the age of 50, and why even at that age, a woman cannot seem to identify a DOG when she sees one, I kinda liked the idea of the serial format.

So….I have decided to serialize my next book for you, my loyal readers. You get to read it way before it even goes to the publishers, and your comments will really help me when the time comes for final edits, so thanks in advance for that, singers.

Here’s the first installment of “Get off the Bandstand”, OR (The Rules of Behavior for the Aspiring Jazz Singer).

Introduction:
This guidebook is designed specifically for those singers who wish to pursue, or are already pursuing a career as a Jazz Singer. It doesn’t apply to any other vocal genre. And that being said, let me take a moment here to explain why that is before getting on with this book.

It is widely understood in the world of Tennis, that in order to be considered a complete player, one who is rated among the very best in the world, year after year after year, the player must be able to perform on a variety of surfaces.

In other words, the player should be as comfortable on a grass court as he or she is on a clay court, a hard court, or an indoor carpeted court. Each court demands a completely separate set of skills from the player because each surface creates different challenges.

For example, the ball will tend to bounce differently, lower, or end up in an unexpected position on grass where there are dips and even holes on the surface, than on a hard concrete court where there are none. Or, while one needs to be able to run to the ball on a grass court, he will have to perfect a sliding technique on clay to be a consistent winner.The thing is that to be a truly consistent and top rated player, one must be able to negotiate all surfaces accurately and play according to the protocols inherent in each surface.

And it’s the same for singers. Every gig is different. A singer cannot perform at a wedding the same way he/she does at a cabaret gig. And let me tell you ladies that if you try, you’ll probably never work a wedding again. Why? Because “stealing” the spotlight from the bride is a big “no no” in the wedding reception business. The guests are not at all interested in the singer’s little self-aggrandizing anecdotes. They just wanna dance!

And while you may be sitting there reading this and thinking, “Who cares about that? I will never work a wedding gig. Those are lame. I’m too good for that”, let me tell you that playing weddings can pay your rent for a year or more while you’re perfecting your scatting, building your book, or practicing your instrument.

Every Gig is Different!

If you get a call to sing back-up at a recording session, this is NOT an opportunity to try out your audition piece for American Idol. You see that, don’t you? Singing backup requires something different, something subdued, without too much vibrato that might make you stick out, because that’s the job you’ve been called to do.

How about a restaurant looking for dinner music? Is this the appropriate venue for a loud, bombastic “Come to the Cabaret”-type number, or maybe your stories of childhood and how you learned the song you’re about to sing?

When a restaurant owner says he wants dinner music, he means SOFT…elevator-style, the kind of music that people can converse over in levels no louder than a whisper.Additional factors distinguishing the differences inherent in singing jobs are not just the venue differences, but the genre differences.

There are experienced, competent singers, who work consistently, who pay their bills on their earnings from singing, who never become a famous celebrity, but who make a living AND a life doing what they love.They are as comfortable in an high class private country club with plush, elegant furnishings as they are in a bar with sawdust on the floor. They can sing in a variety of styles, like requests put forth by the customers, be it a 40’s big band tune, or a country song, or a bossa nova, or even a show tune, or a jazz standard.

These artists, and called Journeymen, (that is any experienced, competent but mostly unknown and uncelebrated performers).

There are thousands of journeymen in the music business, including guitar and keyboard players, saxophone and trumpet players, bassists, flutists, harpists, violinists, cellists, drummers, and yes, singers, all doing what they love for a living, and loving what they do every day.

These are the working professionals of the music business, and while they…[we] understand that every gig is different, and while it remains the dream of every one of them [us] to just DO OUR ACT, stand up there and express our deepest feelings, with our favorite songs, the ones that perfectly express our essence and which are arranged exquisitely, the way we want them; and our warm and witty stories that hold the audiences attention in an utter delightful magnetic clasp that only releases them when we are through, and the perfect venue where the plates and glasses make no noise when we are on the stage, and where the lighting is perfect and the sound system is set to the most attractive equalization for our voice, and one where every eye in the house is on US…Aaah YES!

While we dream all of that, we also know the reality!And that is that if we wish to work as professionals, we can almost assuredly count on being called upon to play, (sing) on different “surfaces” (venues), using a variety of strokes, (sing in a variety of genres, like Country, Jazz, Pop, Rock etc.), and need to be competent in every single one!

A working singer’s schedule for just 2 days: (sample)

• Monday10AM – back-up singing gig at ABC Recording Studio, (no rehearsal – need to read it)
• 12:30PM - Give a voice lesson to a student
• 2PM – Ladies Auxiliary Luncheon and Fashion Show
• 7PM – Happy Hour at the XYZ Bar and Grill
• Tuesday11AM – Art Gallery Opening – (may need to emcee)
• 2PM-4PM - Teach
• 5PM - Cocktail Party at the GHI Hotel – Ballroom A
• 9PM – Dance at the VFW, (may go overtime)

Naturally, every single journeyman performer aspires to greatness, fortune, and celebrity. The point here is that although that’s very true, one has to play by the rules of the game that are being played in the present moment!

TO BE CONTINUED…