My Singers Blog

Curtain Up! Light the Lights!!

2011-05-21T15:03:00.002-05:00

Curtain UP, Light the Lights!

(A Discussion on Authentic Performance Aspects)

You will notice that I put up a lot of songs on the various profile pages I have all over the web. And it’s not to show off…well…not entirely.

I put the songs up there because when I record them, while I can get a vague idea of whether or not they reflect my inner self, I don’t have sufficient objectivity to make a concrete decision about what songs to put on a CD I am preparing for this Summer, so feedback is important.

Of course, when we seek objectivity, we’re not always thrilled with the responses we get from others, are we? Well, after all, we’re human, right? But we should, all of us, embrace the feedback, whatever form it takes, ‘cause it simply makes us better!

And Sure! I love it when I get positive feedback on my singing, but my job here is primarily to teach, not perform.

Perform! That’s your job! And that’s what we’re going to talk about today.

I found some old articles I wrote years ago on the subject of what makes an authentic performance, and I’m going to try an string a few of them together to articulate what I think are some key components that create the Magic!

So let’s begin…

There are 3 elements that come to mind right off the bat:

Song Choice
The Quality of your Communication
Gotta Have a Gimmick – Really?

SONG CHOICE

(some excerpts taken from SYL Newsletter April, 2004)

"The Song is You"

The words to this old standard suddenly invaded my dreams the other night and I awoke with a new revelation. Although it is a romantic love song, the last 2 lines seemed to speak to me of something else...something genuine, authentic, and true...kinda like the way I want you to sing.

The words to the last lines are, "The music is sweet, the words are true. The song is you".

When I talk to you about being real when you sing, I am talking about choosing songs that are comfortable to you in style and mood, as well as lyrics and melody. When you choose comfortable songs that say what you want to say, AND are based on your beliefs, your traditions, your customs, your upbringing and environment, then you ARE the song, and the song is YOU!

Finding Your Song

I grew up in NYC and was influenced by Jazz and Broadway musical styles.

Jazz songs feel very natural for me...the way jazz notes are bent and improvised feels familiar and comfortable, and when I sing Broadway songs, they flow from me with an effortlessness that feels as if I could go on singing for hours and hours.

Yes, I'll sing a Country tune when asked, or Pop power-ballad, or a rock tune, or even an Art Song if requested on a job to do so, but although I can appreciate and perform all musical genres, if I were to choose an audition song to fully express my essence, it would have to be a Jazz tune, a standard, or something from Broadway.

And the reason for this is that as early as I can recall, the sounds of the melodies, harmonies and rhythms contained within these 2 styles drifted through our house non-stop. Examine your roots to find music that fully expresses you!

I have students who love the Jazz style, yet find it difficult to negotiate through jazz nuances that are not part of their comfort zones. They simply sound better, freer, looser, more confident when they sing in styles that are part of who they are. It's where they can best express their own essence.

The Singer's Comfort Zone

Now I can hear you saying, "WAIT, Chrys! Are you saying that we should never venture out of our comfort zone? How can we ever grow if we don't?"

That's a good question! And "No", I'm not saying don't widen the border lines of your comfort zone.

On the contrary, we should always be willing to stretch ourselves through our performances. And especially, if you wish to work as a professional entertainer, you just gotta know a whole lotta tunes for when customers make requests.

We can also stretch ourselves within our own style. For instance, if we're used to clutching the microphone, we should try sometimes to sing with the mic in the

stand and our hands free. And we should try to stretch our range and to listen to music that is popular, but may not be what we would normally purchase at Tower Records.

But everyone has a center where the music of the heart lives and breathes. In this place is where the Song and the Singer are ONE. And it's where you are at your very best!

And you can find that place by singing in as many different styles as you can, and then checking yourself out.

Do you find it hard to breathe in places; notes that are inside your range, but still not easy to hit, rhythms that seem to pull you off track, phrases that get stuck in your throat?

If "yes", then while you can sing these songs on a job if asked to, they are not the songs of your heart, and you'd never want to sing them at an audition or competition. Songs of your deepest soul expression flow from you

like honey; effortless, fluid, smooth, sweet and clear.

You can read more about choosing the right songs for yourself by reading “The Art of Stage Presence”, because song choice and stage presence are related…and how…for when you sing a song that’s comfortable, you really connect with your listeners!

(from SYL newsletter, May, 2007)

It's so important to choose correct material to sing, people. Choosing songs to

perform is like trying on coats. They need to make you look good, feel good and fit you well. So it's important to know who you are as an artist.

I am delighted to say that we have a great deal of experienced and more mature singers here in this online community, who are most aware of what works for

them, probably because we have had more life experiences, but you younger singers can sharpen your song selection skills too...just by understanding your particular style, connecting with the lyrics, and knowing exactly how to pitch the song into the "meat" of your voice.

My teenager students will tell you that I will not let them perform a song until they understand every single word of the lyric.

You can also reread more about song choice in the March 1, 2009 posting, which is already on the blog at www.SingYourLife.com/blog

THE QUALITY OF COMMUNICATION

(some excerpts taken from SYL Newsletter of April, 2003)

Being Yourself!

I have found that once a student of singing has established firmly the fundamentals that are given in "The Art of Singing”, (previously titled, “A Voice For A Lifetime in 30 Days"), and is ready to start performing regularly, something strange begins to occur. The progress made in the learning process of the correct way to produce sound seems to slow to a crawl.

I have wondered about this since the occurrence happens to almost every one of my students who have apparently gone through the fundamentals of vocal training, and feel that they have mastered the principles which are breathing, creating the sound, using all the body's resonation chambers, supporting tone with the diaphragm, and avoiding the Seven Deadly Sins of Singing.

What seems to occur is that the singer, having successfully made the transition between the drills and the songs, at least to their satisfaction, quite inexplicably and suddenly performs without any truth, or real expression of self!

When we are learning how to sing correctly, we move from just doing the exercises to singing familiar favorite tunes while applying the fundamentals we are learning.

This is good, for since we are programming the body's cell and muscle memory patterns, we MUST USE the principles of singing in an actual song.

But something else MUST eventually occur in order to be a performer.

And that something is the quality of communication, in other words, the level of realness. How can we express our feelings in a song using correct technique alone? We CANNOT!!

Everyone has parts of our personality or character that we hide from others. We all do this in our day-to-day experiences. We replace our deep-seeded fears and negative opinions of others and even ourselves behind a mask, or a “persona”, that may show as real enough, but really isn’t.

During a Performance -

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, when these negative feelings show up in a performance as discomfort; maybe by forgetting a line of lyrics , or a distraction of some sort like missing a note you were going for, and getting stuck in that moment of failure, your level of confidence and hence your “persona” identity can usually go out the window.

Remember when I told you that performing takes courage? I wasn't speaking about the courage to stand in front of an audience and sing. That can be learned and as you build your confidence in your abilities, it gets easier and easier.

No! I am speaking of the courage it takes to ALLOW all of your hidden fears and discomforts to SHOW to an audience!

I can hear you say, “WHAT? Are you serious? Expose my weaknesses to an audience? And have them laugh me off the stage??

My experience -

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I was a student at the High School of Music and Art in NYC, I considered myself quite clumsy, and although I was very talented vocally, I never tried out for any school productions that required dancing because I was afraid being humiliated at the auditions by not being able to dance very well or really at all. I couldn’t even fake it by being graceful, so I missed out on many a role that I could have probably been great on because of my fear.

Later on in college, I continued to play it safe, by singing with a small band in a

club with a small stage that limited my movements. This way I could disguise the fact that I thought of myself as homely and clumsy, even if I knew I could SING.

Peoples' comments on my performances back then were, "You sing so well. We enjoyed it." "You have a great voice". "Your range is exceptional!" "You have great pipes."

No one back then ever commented on how my performance made them feel.

It wasn't until my 30's that I discovered something quite by accident. I was singing in a Dinner Theater in Arizona, and was given a medley of songs to perform by the musical director.

The medley consisted of 3 songs about Rhythm, "I Got Rhythm", "Fascinatin' Rhythm", and "Crazy Rhythm". I had told the musical director that I really didn't think I could pull off this medley and begged him to give it to one of the other singers.

"No way!" he said.

"You are the best singer in the house. Why wouldn't you want to do it?"

I reluctantly admitted to being too clumsy to sing about rhythm. He laughed and said,

"I thought you'd know by now that a pro takes a deficit and turns it into an asset.

You are a pro! Do it as camp! Make it funny!"

That one phrase about turning a deficit into an asset changed my entire view of myself and my performance, and when I finally did perform the medley,

I purposely and exaggeratedly stepped all over my own feet, (A la Fannie Brice), and had the crowd in the palm of my hand. They roared with approval, and I learned that by revealing something that I had tried to hide for years, I was more accepted than ever before.

As the customers filed out of the theater that night, they said things like,

"You made us feel as if we have known you forever", "You are so expressive and funny, and we just love you!" "Your vulnerability really came through. Thank you!"

So what IS it that you don't want to show, singers? Do you have the courage to reveal it?

Reveal it to an audience? Dig down and search the corners of your psyche, singers! Don't be afraid of your weaker parts or even your darker parts! Have courage! Because the truth is, when you take that mike off of the stand, and hold it in your hand, THAT is the time and place when you can SAFELY be YOU… warts and all!

I want to say here that perfect vocal tone is NOT, repeat, NOT a prerequisite for giving an authentic, magical performance! There are performers out there who are still filling theaters and auditoriums whose voice have long since gone south, or even those who never really had a voice to begin with.

I am thinking of people like Elaine Stritch, Carol Channing, and yes, my idol of all time, Frankie. No, not Avalon, silly…Sinatra of course!!

By the time I got see him in person he was in his late 70’s and the “voice” was well worn by then. Years of alcohol and smoke abuse had stolen his once gloriously rich tones and he struggled for every note and every breath too.

But what time never took away was his charisma, the electricity he created just by standing there on stage with those piercing blue eyes.

A gorgeous instrument will go just so far and then….well, like Ray Charles said in an interview once, “I’d like to think that when I sing a song, I can let you know all about the heartbreak, struggle, lies and kicks in the ass I’ve gotten over the years for being black and everything else, without actually saying one word about it”.

Here’s something from a newsletter I wrote back in February, of 2005. It’s on Carol Channing and my experience upon hearing and watching her interviewed on PBS.

You younger singers may not be familiar with Carol Channing, but at age 85, I gotta tell ya, she is a force of nature! Not a great voice or a raving beauty by any measure, but quite an amazing entertainer!

Prior to the interview, she had given a performance and had held the audience spellbound for 1 1/2 hours...all alone on a large stage with a pianist in the pit. That ain't easy guys...A rather diminutive and frail-looking old lady on a huge stage...but this frail old lady can pull it off!

The interviewer asked her right off,

"How do you manage to keep an audience captivated as you just did for a full hour an a half?"

This got her talking about the art of performance, and it so validated my own views that I wanted to share her perspective with you singers.

She knew that she wasn't gorgeous even at 15 when she started performing.

In her 70 odd years of being on a stage, she discovered that if she sang to just one single individual in the audience and, to put it her words, "caught fire with him or her", the fire would spread and it wasn't long before the spark would ignite the entire audience.

And that was it! Just sing to one person, and it can even be a single person in your mind rather than physically in front of you.

She said that the trick was to focus on the one person and not on yourself. "If you listen", she said, "to the sound of your own voice, then no one will listen except you! So don't listen to yourself...just sing to that one person...have a conversation with one person, and all the rest will eavesdrop!"

So I tell you singers, STOP listening to yourself! STOP being so involved with your performance, the sound of your voice, the way you look, the movement of your hands, or feet...

SIMPLY FOCUS on someone other than yourself. Put your ego to bed and just COMMUNICATE! Then you've got something! You really have something!

Finally I want to tell those of you have come along with me on this network idea that it is okay of you decide you do not wish to post any of your music here. We all respect each other here and would never make you feel bad for just listening and watching.

I DID find it interesting however when years ago I sent out a survey to my entire mailing list to get an idea of what they needed from me that I could give them. One of the questions was “Do you believe you have talent?”

And over 80% of the answers to that one question came back as “NO”!

Shocked doesn't even describe my reaction! And my answer to them at that time was this:

“Now I know that what I'm going to say is going to get some heated responses, but I'm saying it! When have I ever been less than totally honest with you guys? Cannot and will not do that!

There are tons of voice teachers who figure since you will never actually see them, they can tell you what you want to hear and collect your money. The best teacher I ever had told me right off to be one thing above all other things!

BE REAL!!

So, pardon me if I have to question your answers to that question about your talent.

If you do not believe you have talent, why are you on this mailing list? Do you think you will somehow develop your talent by reading these newsletters? I'm sure none of you think that! I believe we have a uniquely intelligent group of singers on this list, so that cannot be it.

So what's this all about?

Here's what I think. You'll excuse my waxing philosophical here, but I was truly thrown by these responses, but in my attempts to analyze the results, I had some intriguing revelations.

I believe that we are afraid to claim our own inner talents for fear that once we take that on, the idea that we have talent, we'll be obligated to take a stand on it and actually use it!

I recently read part of a talk by Marianne Williamson, the creator if “A Course in Miracles” , which my son had framed and displays on the mantle in his apartment. It goes like this:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves:

Who am I to be brilliant, (gorgeous, talented, fabulous?)

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God, You're playing small does not serve the World.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking, so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us: it's in everyone. And, as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we were liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Don't hide your lights, singers! Don't shrink from the power of your talent.

Maybe it's not completely developed yet, maybe there are cracks in your instrument at times, but it's there! Let the song live inside of you and freely share it as YOU and no one else!

Gotta Have Gimmick…Really? (from June, 2007)

I had this article all set to go last night, but after having dinner with my sister last night, I am altering it just a bit, I told her about the subject matter of my article and she said, "Well, of course!" And then bursting into song, (which we sisters are prone to always do), She sang, "You Gotta have a gimmick if you wanna be a star".

Then she said, "What about Bowie, and Elton John, and Boy George? They had gimmicks, and they were, and still are successful"!

So, I've been thinking about that...and I have concluded, as you will read down the page, that gimmicks are okay, AS LONG AS THEY COME FROM YOU! This shall be explained later.

Many years ago, in my capacity as a health care professional, (Yes, Virginia, even I lost my nerve and fell into the abyss of Corporate America for years), I had an occasion to attend a 2-day workshop on leadership and management skills. I don't remember a great deal of it, but I DO recall that we were given a short questionnaire to complete which would reveal the kind of leader, manager, instructor, etc. we were most similar to.

The choices were something like:

a)The Drill Sergeant: humorless and iron-fisted,

b)The Dilettante: negligent and indifferent

c)The Cheerleader: nurturing and supportive

d)The Effective Manager: fair and objective

As I recall, getting to Letter D was the goal of this particular workshop, and I suppose we all went back to our facilities vowing to be fair and objective, but within 2 weeks or so, we had slipped back into our comfort zone of management. Mine turned out to be (C), by the way.

And it’s true! Letter C is indeed who I am as a teacher and coach, as those of you who have directly experienced me can attest….or maybe not. LOL!

I tell you this because every now and then, and this would be one of those times, I need to "get real" with you people, and tell you things straightforwardly.

And I do you a shameful disservice if I don't drum some crucial truths home.

I received literally dozens of emails about the upcoming “Idol” auditions in August for next season. A few of you sent me clips and asked me straight out if I thought you had a chance at the auditions. Many of you wanted suggestions for gimmicks, to get past the pre-panel process, while others wanted to know what to wear to make them stand out.

While I answered each of you privately, I would like to encapsulate some of my thoughts here. You can take what I have to say at face value, and use it or

not, but basically singers, it all boils down to this:

IF YOU'RE NOT YOU, THEN WHO ARE YOU?

If the 15 minutes is enough for you, then you can work on a costume or a gimmick, and maybe you'll get on TV, but if a SINGING LIFE of some longevity and personal integrity is what you're after, well...hopefully, you'll get the picture.

Okay! Let's begin by asking you some questions:

1. Why do you sing? If your answer is anything but, "because I want to be famous", answer this next one: If your answer is “because I want to be famous”, STOP HERE! You need a reality check and undoubtedly a coach!

2. Why do you love to sing? Again, if your answer is anything but, "because my friends say I'm a great singer", then answer this next one: If your answer is "because my friends say I'm a great singer", STOP HERE and get 10 professional opinions!

3. Why do you NEED to sing? Your answer to this question reveals your inner motivation, and should look something like, "because I am driven to it, because I want to express myself", or "because when I sing, all is right with the world".

To those of you that answered all three questions, this article is for YOU!

I believe that singing is the most personal and subjective art form there is, and furthermore, that unlike dance, or painting, or writing, or even playing an instrument, SINGING, because it comes out YOUR MOUTH, has the potential to totally unwrap your outside persona and expose your inner essence. And because of this [exposure], it can be one TERRIFYING endeavor.

I mean, who wants to stand naked before the world, right?

Even acting can be excused if it reveals too much of YOU in the process. You can always say,

"I was just playing a part", right? But when you sing...when you perform a song, you are telling a story, and you are consciously or not, exposing yourself, your feelings and emotions about it to your audience. That is, IF you're doing it right!

With that in mind, then, let's take a look at you. Do you know who you are as an artist, as a person? Are you comfortable with letting the world discover you from the inside out? Because, as you know, revealing your true self through your performance makes magic on your audience.

What we are talking about here is how much of YOU you are willing to reveal...AND...do you hold back parts of yourself that you cannot or will not share with your audience?

We talk about connecting with the lyrics a lot around here, and then telling the story of those lyrics to your listeners, which means that if some of the lyrics are dark, then you need to be open to the communication of that darkness.

Some singers refuse to go there...to a dark place in a song, whether it be sadness, anger, despair, even hatred. I'm here to tell you that if you cannot embrace the gambit of emotions in a song, your performance of the song can be less than thrilling to an audience.

Please understand this...a nice voice, even a great voice, is only 39% of a great performance.

61% is your delivery, your connection to the words, and how well you communicate the song's meaning to an audience.

But because singing is so subjective as an art form, and so very personal, you'll hear the judges on IDOL say things like, "that song was safe...and it was boring", or "in 4 weeks of hearing and watching you, we still don't have a clue as to who you are". They react this way when the singer is reluctant to totally reveal their essence through a song. He/she will choose a song that doesn't ask for much, maybe just enough rhythm and harmonic changes to be barely interesting and fun, but emotionally vacant.

The accolades come to the singer who will use all the emotions of his/her life in a song, and leave it all out there on the stage.

Okay, so here it is, guys! You need to identify yourself as an artist, and this requires you to identify yourself as a person. You need to embrace all of who you are, forgive the stuff of you that you don't like very much, and "let it all hang out" when you perform. And really guys...quit looking for a gimmick and work on revealing the Source of who you truly are!

New Year - New Plan

2011-01-28T20:27:00.006-06:00

Happy 2011 to all!

Ye Gads! I once again cannot believe that the month is over already and I haven’t written a Happy New Year newsletter to you all. How is this possible…that the year 2011 has raced in and is in full swing so quickly?

I have loads to tell you so let me begin, okay?

First of all, let me wish you a belated but still heartfelt Happy New Year. I certainly hope your holidays were everything you wanted them to be.

My own holiday was grand. I took the train to Los Angeles and spent Christmas with my son and his lady in Marina Del Rey. Glorious! We had such a great time together…eating Los Angeles Mexican food, (the best in the world)…touring the Getty Museum, meeting fabulous young Angelino’s and….reconnecting with my west coast students, which was an amazing, if not nostalgic experience. We had our regular vocal performance workshop, and everyone sang so beautifully and had grown so much since the last workshop we had together. I was very proud of all of them. And Rick, my son joined us and sang as well. How fabulous he sounds. And the train ride…WOW! That was a uniquely wondrous experience too!

I’ve included a couple of photos in this newsletter, and you can see more on my Facebook page.

I had just enough time once I returned home to rehearse for my Cole Porter evening with my band, “No Exit” at a popular Jazz joint here in ABQ, “Vernon’s Jazz Club”, and my older sister flew in from Dallas to support me and to do some filming of the show.

Some of her efforts were unfortunately futile with all the noise and movement in the club, but there was some that was good enough to put up on YouTube, and you’re very welcomed to trot over there and watch some segments of our performance. Just look for “An Evening with Cole Porter”

http://www.youtube.com/user/Sing4aLifetime09

We were received very well and have already been invited to return in March for another Tribute show. I think we’ve chosen to perform songs from Movies and Broadway…as Jazz tunes of course.

So it is with humility and amazement that I have greeted 2011...living my 71st year on this magnificent Earth and loving my life.

And the weirdest part is that the whole thing started with an event that I tried to avoid for more than 40 years. I won’t go into details here, (pretty private…and emotional), suffice to say, sometimes the very thing that you think will destroy you, and that you keep fighting to keep away from touching you, CAN often be the very thing that frees you to truly live your life and “Follow Your Bliss!”. It’s just a question of ALLOWING things to unfold and evolve the way they are supposed to. In other words, “Get thy bloated self out of the way, and give it up…let go.” Ralph Waldo Emerson (paraphrased)

Some announcements about what is happening that could affect you if you frequently, (or even infrequently) visit our website.

My plans for the new year, already in progress, are varied.

I’d like to start spending more time on the video collection I am constantly asked about. I am really amazed…and delighted about how many singers young and old, professional and virtually inexperienced, have benefited by these videos.

I have decided to go on with them in a more detailed way, dividing them into sections the same way I would teach a person in my studio.

When I moved, (it seems that whenever I move, some of my equipment needs to be reconfigured to work properly), this last moved altered the way my webcam was operating so I am attempting to install a newer and more sophisticated webcam.

As soon as that’s handled, I will start adding to the instructional videos. There is a URL at the bottom of this newsletter which will show you where all of the videos and other materials are located.

And of course, I welcome your ideas about specific singing issues you might want addressed in a video lesson, so please feel free to contact me and let know what you’d like to see there.

Another plan I have, knowing full well the words of John Lennon when he said, “Life’s what happens when you’re busy making plans”. I thought last year at this time that all I wanted was to relax, retire, and recreate! Boy oh Boy! Was I wrong!!! I tell you, singers, I am having the time of my life…the very best time…and in this my 71st year.

Okay, so getting back to the plan…

I will be looking for the perfect time to jump away from here for about a month or so in the Spring or Summer to go to Seattle and record a CD of my favorites with my friend Barney McClure, with whom I shared a bandstand years and years ago. Having reconnected with him, I have been inspired to do this CD as well as to inspire others in our age range to stay the course and never give up on dreams.

I will also be working on expanding my private practice There are loads of great singers here in beautiful ABQ, and even great artists need a coach now and then, just as skillful athletes need a coach to point out areas that could use a brush-up.

So in order to have the time and energy to handle all of these “plans”…

I am taking the Singyourlife website down after 11 years of presence on the Internet. Actually much of it will still be available, but it will not be located at www.singyourlife.com

I am moving all the content, including the Blog, to a site I started several years ago, and have learned recently that I own free and clear…with no fees for hosting or anything like that.

So PLEASE write all the links you see here down and SAVE them for future browsing. This newsletter will appear at various sites as soon as I send this out to all of you.

I’ll be letting go of the email manager too, so the only way to read my newsletters will be at the various blog sites where I post them.

I am inquiring as to whether or not I can keep my singyourlife.com email address. If not, however, I am giving you several choices of where you may reach me. PLEASE write them down as well, or copy and paste them into a safe place.

Letting Go of this burdensome website, which has consumed so much of my time and effort will free me up to work on all of the above mentioned projects, PLUS finish 3 books I’ve been working on for a long time, one being a compilation of all the articles and stories I have told you over the years about my life as a musician and singer, another a memoir of sorts, and the third, a novelette, totally fictitious, but based on real experiences.

Below are the new emails and URL you’ll want to save if you want to stay in touch.

For all Instructional Videos and Performances:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Sing4aLifetime09

For Blogs:

http://www.MySingersBlog.blogspot.com

http://www.selfgrowth.com/experts/chrys_page.html

http://server10.myebiz.com/chryspage/the_blog.html

http://www.singyourlife.spruz.com

For emails that will reach me in a hurry, try any of these:

(Just copy and paste into the browser)

CPage119@gmail.com

ChrysPage@sbcglobal.com

ChrysPage41@msn.com

Learn_2_Sing@msn.com

CoachChrys@singyourlife.com

‘Til we meet again, Singers…

Sin[g]cerely,

Chrys

Holiday Time...Again??

2010-11-28T20:02:00.003-06:00

Yikes! I simply can't get over how fast the time is fleeting by and half the time I don't even notice its passing.

Here we are once again with another Holiday Season upon us, and as singers that means invitations to parties, and dragging out the

Christmas tunes, making sure that we can still sing them in the same key that was good last year. If we're over a certain age, that particular element

can definitely change from year to year...UNLESS of course you have mastered the "voice for a lifetime in 30 days".

My keys haven't seriously altered since 1979. (Oh, Chrys! Quit braggin').

I feel very fortunate to be working this season because as many of you know, the "holidays" are not my favorite thing. But the one thing I DO love about them is singing the music of the season, and this year I will do a lot of THAT!

Looking forward to riding the train over to Los Angeles to spend Christmas with my son, AND to conduct a workshop for the singers I left behind when I originally left there in 2006. It'll be great to see...and HEAR them all again.

Earlier, it occurred to me, as I was sitting on the floor with sheet music strewn everywhere, that being a professional singer...at any rung of the so-called ladder to success, is hard work...that is IF you really want to do this for a living and for a lifetime, and the the often hateful or simply mean things people say about musicians needing to get a real job is ridiculous!

This IS a real job, and I just spent 6 hours on my livingroom floor working out sets of music for a variety of functions I will sing at this season and then writing out the music in my keys, and alphabetizing all 168 songs into a readable format for myself, my guitar player and bass player. And I have to ask..."Why does loving what we do NOT count as work?"

Shouldn't everyone love what he/she does for a living? Do you?

A lot of my younger students don't get that....yet! But I am confident that they will at some point. Even they have bought into the myth that being a professional singer is a walk in the park. Or that one never has to work at it. Just ask any "famous" artist about that! The rude awakening is enough to lead many young artists into harmful behaviors. If it isn't having to work to stay on top of their game, it's reading their own press and thinking that they are somehow in a space where the air is more refined and they get to breathe it in over the rest of us.

However, with the right influences early, I think young aspiring artists can be educated in a gentle and non-intrusive manner about the business of music.

One of my dearest young students has been with me since the age of 12. When we first met, she was into some really poor excuse for a singer on the Disney Channel.

I used to tell her that she'd outgrow her childish admiration for these people, and even pass them, leaving them all in the dust with her talent.

She would listen politely, and ignore me. It's 5 years later and she's turning into as beauty as well as an accomplished singer AND songwriter.

She sings rings around Miley Cyrus, and her writing skills are getting better every day. And she no longer thinks singers on the Disney Channel are all that much. And she has parents who are involved and keep her grounded.

And this makes me wonder about the so-called "Pop-Culture", as its defined by 12 year olds. I guess I wonder...WHY??? Why is the culture of what is happening in the movies, on TV, and in the music industry, being dictated by 12 year olds?

And then I recall the days of doo-opp an how much my parents hated it. Same chords for every song, same rhythm.

Lucky for me, my mom's brother was into jazz and he used to play it for me constantly...

and my father had 3 passions, 2 of which I embraced just to be near him, (because, as the middle child, I felt less loved than my older sister), and the passions he passed on to me were for baseball, and opera. So I had a foundation of music appreciation that served me well as I grew and matured.

I guess when I think about it, these men were the models for what I try to teach today in a way. I expose my students to different kinds of music so that they can know, that

there IS history at work here and that although they can enjoy the top 40, just like my generation did and as every generation has, stretching oneself into another KIND of listening, can only enhance the overall musical experience. I certainly have no intention or desire to dissuade any young person from the latest pop culture symbols...except....when it comes to GLEE!!!

Oh, the music is okay...the production levels pretty fine, the dancing top-notch, so what's my beef?

Its the celebration of MEAN, UNDERHANDED, DEVIOUS, UNSCROUPULOUS, JEALOUS, UNETHICAL, HATEFUL behavior of the characters that just really burns my

brain! Maybe I'm just an old fogey, (I believe we are often called "Old Pharts"), but there's more than enough mean-spirited TV on the airwaves right now. Wouldn't it be nice

if the show that has the minds and hearts of our youth at the moment, demonstrated KINDNESS, INTEGRITY, FRIENDSHIP, SELFLESSNESS,

LEADERSHIP, ACCEPTANCE, AND JOY, be something?

Hey, I don't know. I sort of live in my own world more and more as the years pass. Like the song says...

"I got plenty of nothing and nothing's plenty for me...got my Lord, got my song, got Heaven the whole day long..."

Let's talk about GLEE...whaddaya say, huh?? Come on over to the Sing Your Life Singers Network and put in YOUR 2 cents.

singyourlife.spruz.com/blog.htm

Or you can just respond to one of the places where this newsletter will appear:

Here are the addresses:

www.singyourlife/blog

www.mysingersblog.blogspot.com

And before I forget...WE'RE on "MY SPACE" NOW TOO!

Here's that URL: www.myspace.com/556673795 (or just search for "Chrys Page" in the music devision)

See you over there???

Happy Holidays Everyone...

Sin[g]cerely,

Chrys

Q & A with a mailing list member and a great singer!!

2010-09-13T11:46:00.001-05:00

Hi Singers!

Thought you might enjoy this exchange between me and one of our members. When I ask you for questions and comments, I mean to answer them, and this singer took me up on it.
I can do the same for all you singers out there.

Enjoy...

I have some other questions but please only answer them when you have time. I don't want to monopolize your kind availability. Feel free to take as long as you need. It's just that sometimes I have seasons where I have a lot of questions when practicing it and then I simmer down.

Here are the questions:

Well, I have some time today, so here goes:

Re: . 1) I've been singing and I'me keeping a feel for the relaxation. My shoulders, knees, legs, arms are all relaxed. So is my mouth and face. My neck isn't stiff either. They are all relaxed even on long or high notes. I feel some diaphragm use but at the same time the throat still gets slightly sore. After I'm finished the show I can get back to it within 30 minutes but my throat shouldn't feel sore at all right? My doubt continues to be how much of the diaphragm am I using. It's different showing you as opposed to doing a show.

This is where daily practicing come into play....not hours of it, but maybe 2-5 minutes every day, you need to practice the diaphragm drills to put the diaphragm on auto pilot. Takes about 30 days and after that you never need to "practice" again! You're a pro now so you should NOT be worrying about what your diaphragm is doing during a performance, and I can tell by listening to you that you normally don't. You are there to entertain and you do it exceptionally well. Practicing for a few short minutes every day for 30-45 days will get you to stop thinking about your diaphragm forever, cause you'll know that it's always working and that all your notes are being struck right in the middle where they should be struck.

Re: 2. Aren't there notes, sometimes in quick fast phrasing songs where you won't use the diaphragm so much? I mean, depending on the song it's really a combination of belly, throat and head/nasal passages right?

Actually, NO! The diaphragm should be working every moment you are singing. Mine is working even when I speak, although I don't even notice it anymore. I've been singing for 62 years, and for the last 40 of those years my diaphragm has been on automatic, so its second nature for me to be using it. I sing in the same registers that I sang in in my 20's. Tone placement in the nose, belly and throat etc, is separate from supporting the sound with the diaphragm. Using the diaphragm totally frees up everything from the chest UP and gives you the option and flexibility to PLACE your tone in any of the vibration chambers of your instrument...(Chest, throat, nose, head, etc.). But you should never let go of the diaphragm until you are totally out of air...then let go and your body takes the next breath FOR you...(like it does when you come up for air in the swimming pool).

Re: . Phrasing and softness. I've been trying the be more conscious of the diaphragm and it has had good results but some of the notes sound a bit coarse. They sound a bit like the "grunt" (now I see why they call it the "attack"). I learned over years to start a high long note softly and then bring the power up as I keep singing that note. It seems that with the diaphragm it is difficult to be conscious of phrasing and the delivery sometimes is not as pretty.

Yeah, this is a tough one. I get questions about this all the time. It's tough to sing softly without letting go of the diaphragm altogether, right? Here's what I think. When you're singing "live" to an audience, THEY DON'T CARE if its not pretty. It doesn't have to be pretty to be dynamic, dramatic, exciting, uplifting, etc. Audiences just want to have the "live" experience with an artist they admire. The performance is everything! On a recording, okay that's different. It should be more exactly correct on a recording because you are not actually there to mitigate any mistakes, see?

But listen! Practicing using the diaphragm on soft phrases will actually give you MORE control than letting go if it. When you let go, it all comes into your throat immediately and then getting it back into the belly is hard to do. Spend 1 minute or 2 every day to singing short bursts of loud and soft notes with the diaphragm as your foundation and support, and it'll become second nature in no time. Sometimes soft singing can sound kinda sleepy without the support of the diaphragm, while using it will not necessarily make the sound loud and harsh, intense or edgy, or sweet or warm, whatever you choose while still remaining soft. Listen to Vic Damone singing "A Love Affair to Remember", or Johnny Mathis singing "The 12th of Never". On the last phrase they each end on a falsetto note that is pure and simple yet sweet and warm.They could never do that without using their diaphragm. It is absolutely the key to flexibility, vocal strength and endurance.

4. I read somewhere you saying that you couldn't damage your voice by singing too high but you could damage it by singing too low. Whether you're tlking about pitch or volume I didn't get that. Coz the throat feels the strain when notes are high right?

Okay, there's a lot of misunderstanding about this one, so glad you raised this question. Let me clear that up for ya.

Mostly for females singers but also true for male singers...the human body determines how low you can sing, (by LOW meaning how far down the register you can reach comfortably and still sing with power.)

My lowest comfortable note is the Eb below Middle C. Any lower than that and I have either whisper it or "say" it cause trying to SING it with power can actually result in tearing some some very delicate tissue right between the collar bones where it feels like a U-shape. So that's why it's dangerous.

However, with CORRECT practicing using the diaphragm, I can go to High C if necessary without hurting myself and without putting any strain on my throat. Its called the "One-Voice" method and is accomplished with practice. While I can sing up to the 5th space Eb in the treble clef in my natural voice, (2 octaves from my lowest note), I still have 9 more 1/2 steps in my head voice I can sing without cracking or straining,

Male singers have 2 actual "falsettos", the first being at the very top of their full voice where they feel a strain in their throat, (which can be totally eliminated by NOT singing in the throat), and this first falsetto, or "passagio" as the classical teachers call it only consists of 2-4 half steps. Once you pass from that into the 2nd passagio or falsetto, you can sing all the way up the scale to the place only dogs can hear if you wish without hurting your voice at all. But you gotta sing correctly which again...is using the diaphragm properly.

5. Music ear. Why is it hard to know flatness when we're actually singing but we can hear it more clearly when we listen to the recording?

Well, this actually happens to me all the time. I get wrapped up in the song and the performance and every now and then I go under the pitch. So what??? It happens. When you're out there performing every night, its bound to happen, and most of the time, it makes no difference to your audience. It DOES matter in the studio however, when like I said earlier it should be more exact. So "take 2, or 3, or 33, to get it as close as you can.

(Notice I didn't use the word, "perfect" because I hate that word, and it is NOT possible to sing perfectly anyway.)

It's the striving toward perfection that gives us artists the drive to keep going, but no, we are never perfect, and therefore never satisfied. Isn't it wonderful???

6. Range. I usually have a range similar to singers like Harry Connick Jr., Nat King Cole, Dean Martin and Sinatra. However. In the nearly 1000 different recordings that I heard of Sinatra (and I'm not talking about the 40s when his voice was young) there are only about 3 instances where his ranges goes high out of my range. It's strange because other singers like Bubble, Bobby Darin, who have a higher range than me, you can clearly see this through most or many of their songs. So why does Sinatra seem to reserve his high range 99% of the time and uses it only 1%. Is that what I should be doing?

When I choose a key for a singer to sing a particular song, I try to choose the one that is centered in the "sweet spot" of the singer's range. In other words, if you have a range of 2+ octaves that you are capable of singing, there may be just a few notes somewhere within those octaves where your voice is the strongest, sweetest, and most expressive. THAT'S where you should sing most of the notes of any song. Never NEVER try to sound like anyone else but you, and sing in only the keys that express YOU best.

Sinatra smoked and drank JD for most of his adult life...and also slept very little... and you can hear it in his voice. By 40, at the top of his Capitol years, it was already losing some of the purity of his youth, but it had character that he didn't have at 20, so people, (including me) went bananas over his ability to express the lyrics. By 50, he was ready to retire because it became an effort to sing the same way he used to, and by 65, his voice was pretty much worn out. He still performed non-stop, no sleep, lotsa booze, and still had the "magic" until he could no longer hold a note longer than one beat. and was singing thru every diphthong as in "Myeeeee Wayeeeeee" rather than, Maaah-ey Waaaa-ey. Do you see this? These words have one syllable but 2 vowels sounds. using the first vowel sound opens the throat and makes the sound come out easily, effortlessly. It's only when your throat doesn't work anymore that you go instantly to the 2nd vowel sound. And that's how Frankie sang for about the last 10 years of his career.

When you sing using your throat alone you WILL wear it out, eventually. If you use the diaphragm, your voice will last forever. Ask Tony Bennett.

7. Do you think my choice of range is too high (such as in Yellow Ribbon)? Should I be singing lower keys?

As I previously mentioned, find the sweet spot of your voice and place the key of the song where most of its notes are in your sweet spot. Some of your songs DO seem high to me, but some of them sound great like on "You're Nobody". How does it FEEL to you...that's the measuring device to use when choosing a key.

8. Earnings. I need to make more money. Do you recommend I go in at the rate I want and see which clients I get or that I bend and go in lower and then raise the rates later?

I've never been very good at business decisions. Fortunately I had a piano player/partner who handled all of the financial matters, but, as a teacher, I've had to take care of those issues, so here's my take...for what it's worth.
In LA I was bringing in $75-$100 per lesson. When I moved to Texas, I had to go in at a lot less than that to establish myself and then raised my prices to the top of what THAT market could handle. I've had to do that again since moving to New Mexico.
But in all 3 markets, the price for singing gigs is pretty much the same.
Pricing yourself too low leads to exhaustion and perhaps even leaving the biz, so you gotta ask for what you know you're worth. The key is to work as many high-paying and high quality gigs as possible while sprinkling in the NH gigs that may not pay as well. In other words look for ways to work less hours but for more $$$, if that's possible.
So, don't devalue yourself, but don't put yourself out of the market altogether. Maybe check around at what the country clubs and restaurants will pay. I would also look into private functions, even house parties.
Some of my most lucrative gigs were in homes for about 25-50 guests. The atmosphere is relaxed the guests can really enjoy you...and tip you outrageously well.

Hope that helps, Doll! Just one opinion from an
old lounge singer/vocal coach.

Thanks Chrys. This is the most exhaustive answers I ever got from any teacher on any subject. You are an awesome teacher. I'm practicing every day now and may have a couple of SHORt question in a few days. I'm very confident and boosted by your challenges and encouragements.

Love you.

April - Not Just For Fools!

2010-03-31T15:13:00.004-05:00

Hi Singers,

The count down continues to my departure from the various features of Sing Your Life as it was created originally on the web in 2000...

This month, I am sadly having to let go of the long distance lessons. It has simply taken up too much time and the frustration with less than perfect synchronization of sound and video has rendered the entire process more distracting for both the student and the teacher and not as helpful as I imagined.

And once again, I don’t have the resources to increase the quality of the broadband. So it has to go…

On the other hand, and with a little more cheer, I have decided to bring the site down to only a few pages, improve the navigation and offer more FREEBIES to members of this mailing list.

In a few days, I will have completed compiling a list of all the POP backing tracks I have and I’ll be placing the list on the Members Only page. This list
has taken a really long time because it’s the longest list and was housed in
folders and subfolders I didn’t even know I had. But it’s getting there and will be available for download for you to select your most coveted tracks
for only 75¢ each.

Of course, the singers social network is still going strong as a place where we singers can gather, sing for one another, discuss whatever we wish, (as long as
it’s in good taste), blog, make videos, and share personal stories across the
vastness of cyberspace. And I shall continue to blog on the importance of staying the course with the dreams you have of singing, for this is my mission.

As long as there is breath inside of you and the deep longing to sing your life’s story into the ethers, I am here to encourage that act and the courage it takes
to keep that flame going long after those around you have decided that it’s
just too late and/or that it’s time to grow up.

And that brings me to my featured talk for this month…

They say that we tend to TEACH that which we need to LEARN the most. I believe that’s true. In fact, I KNOW it! It is the reason I CAN NOT and WILL NOT let go of the passion that I’ve had for music since the age of 3. But more than that…

Well let me tell you a story…

The earliest performance of mine that I can recall was at about 5 or 6 years old, standing on a picnic table in a family friend’s back yard and singing a “La Vie En Rose”…

And feeling the praise and love from all those around me, I wanted that to go on forever. There was never a thought in my head as a small child that I would

ever wish to do anything else with my life…only to sing and keep on
singing…cause that’s where the love was…at least where I felt it the strongest.

But the times in which I came into my own, and my OWN lack of courage to go after my dream and possibly meet with disapproval from my loved ones, kept me from my life’s dream. And although I made a life and a living from singing for a long time, raising my children and gaining respect and admiration from fellow musicians…

Well…In the words of Terry Malloy, the character in the movie, “On The Waterfront”, played by probably one of the top 5 greatest actors of all time, Marlon Brando, “I coulda been a contender. I coulda BEEN somebody…”

Now don’t misunderstand me here. I am not by any stretch whining about the fact that I never DID get to sing at Radio City Music
Hall, (Hey, it could still happen…) :-)

I tell you this because the ONLY real joy we get to experience in this life, is the joy that we ourselves create. The “yeah, but’s” that our loved ones shower upon us may be meant well, but only keeps us from our dreams.

Courage! That’s the mantra!! And having said that, I am so so proud of my daughter,Jen Olive, who unlike her mother, has had the guts and passion to stay the course for over 20 years, through some bad times and bad relationships, and raising 2 kids, and is still coming out on top!!

She was signed to an Indie record label in the UK last year, and yesterday, her CD was released to a throng of accolades and fan approval. I am posting a link to the video she did in the studio at APE HOUSE records, her label.

I could not be more inspired…Hope you will be too…

And while the style of music she offers may not be palatable to the masses,

(Taylor Swift, she ain't, ha ha. And Thank Goodness!), the musicianship, the vocals, the uniqueness of her compositions, the choiring reminiscent of the Beach Boys, Carpenters, and even Les Paul and Mary Ford, cannot be denied. It does weave a spell...but then I'm her mom so...

My point is this. When I tell you NOT to compare yourself with any other artist, I realize I have just asked you to "NOT THINK OF A PINK ELEPHANT".

So perhaps I should be saying...OKAY, compare away, but know this: The result of your "research" will be that you will find that about 50% of singers you hear will be better than you and about 50% of them will not be as good.

The truth is that of the 40 million telephone votes for singers in last night's "IDOL" show, the lowest number of votes are still more than enough to sustain a career. So whoever goes home tonight will still have opportunities to sing and perform and have a successful career. Google any of the top ten from seasons past, who sing for the love and passion of it and NOT the celebrity, and you'll find working singers, not waiters and sales girls.

Check it out for yourself:

http://www.watchingamericanidol.com/category/where-are-they-now/

So I have no desire or intention to go quietly into that good night. And neither should any singer who still has the desire and ability to GIVE!

"He who lets his breath, hence his life force, flow consentingly as a willing sound sacrifice from the depths of his body, sings his life; for singing means to affirm life, to free oneself, and thereby to bring happiness and prosperity to oneself, and consequently to one's fellow man." Marius Schneider

See ya next time, singers!!

Setting the mission and tone for 2010!!

2009-12-30T14:21:00.001-06:00

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.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

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

2009-11-30T15:56:00.005-06:00

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"

2009-08-22T12:30:00.001-05:00

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

2009-08-15T09:45:00.003-05:00

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!!

2009-08-02T12:12:00.003-05:00

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…

New Year Resolutions

2008-12-29T10:07:00.003-06:00

So, have you made your resolutions? Everyone I know is making them. "I'm going on a diet", one friend has proclaimed...for the 3rd year in a row.
"I'm going to save some money", another friend has stated, one who has been known to shop 'til she drops.
The thing with resolutions is that they have no meat! By that I mean, not a lot of power.
They are wishes, and only stated as resolutions. Noone really intends to carry through with them and usually by the middle of January, sometimes sooner, they fall into those places of the mind where we store unfinished business. It's a place we don't like to visit too often, and so as time passes we conveniently forget.
And that's fine because to remember just makes us feel bad.
The words "I am going to..." carry no power whatsoever! Talking in the future tense cannot move the universe's energy to assist us because Divine Intervention only knows the "NOW".
If you have read "The Art of Singing" you already know this. In the guided meditation I give you, you see that what we are creating is a visualization of what we want this very moment, not tomorrow or next week.
So, when you make your "resolutions" to practice more and pursue your dreams of singing and making it in the music biz, try writing them down in the present tense.
"I am a singer! I know it's my destiny to be successful. I practice every day, and the Divine Spirit that runs the universe is right this minute working to give me my heart's desire! I am confident that as I continue to work on my dream, it cannot help but materialize for me."
Something like that, but using your own words and feelings, repeated daily for several minutes at a time, will produce remarkable results. See how much more powerful "I am" sounds rather than "I'm going to"?
This is known as the "Act as if" method. And trust me on this, singers. IT WORKS!
Happy practicing!

Cabaret - No! Not the Musical

2008-11-28T00:42:00.003-06:00

I want to talk today about the art of Cabaret performance.
Let's make an important distinction right now.
Singing in church, or on the auditorium stage of your highschool or college is not the training ground for the kind of performing I am speaking of, for I DO believe that the only way to understand how to connect with the audience is to get closer to them...physically as well as emotionally.

And the way to do that is to play in a venue that forces you to look into their eyes and guage their response to you. It moves you to communicate with THEM rather than being overly involved with the sound of your own voice. This style of performing that I speak of is called "Cabaret".

Cabaret consists of not just singing, but of interacting with the audience through patter and story-telling.

When you do a "cabaret act", you choose material that will reveal the essence of who you are, one that has the potential of literally casting a spell on the audience and making them hang on your every word, spoken or sung.
When you let them KNOW you, they become your friends and they feel connected and special to be there listening to you.

I am always amazed when I have a student who tells me he/she wants to be the next "American Idol", and then when I ask them to perform for me, they become embarrassed and make some excuse like, "with no mike?" or, "It makes me nervous when you look at me."

Let me say right here and now, if you can't look at your audience, and I mean into their eyes, then you're not a performer, at least not yet. Singing Cabaret-style allows you to learn how to present your own unique talent and your particular spin on life as a performer, for an intimate audience.

And let me add here that a Cabaret Act does NOT have to include perfect vocal technique, for it is more than just singing...much more!

It differs from other onstage disciplines, in that the "wall" between artist and audience is erased. There are no bright lights in your face to shield you from seeing how you're going over.

When you sing in an intimate setting, you are inviting the audience into your world.Cabaret allows you to share who you are and what you feel. And this type of performing can start in your own living room, singing for friends and family members. The idea is to get intimate and tell the story of who you are through your voice and your musical selections, which become woven into your "story".

In cabaret, you can sing anything, as long as it is justified by a personal connection to the material. Cabaret acts can have a theme or not, can honor a single composer or be about someone's life, as long as it's an honest representation of you, the performer, and engages the audience on a personal level.

When I left NYC years ago and was doing a cabaret act on the road, I always included a set of songs about "home". Luckily for me, there are a ton of songs about NYC, so I had a wealth of material to choose from. I'd start out with somethin like, "We'll have Manhattan", and slowly build through 4 or five more songs to the big finale of "New York, New York". My audiences from Peoria to Butte, from Kennebunkport to Phoenix reallyloved that set.

I also had sets of Cole Porter Medleys, Frank Sinatra Songs, and always always always did an entire set of audience REQUESTS.

So what do you want to say at this point in your life? Choose songs that will tell your listeners all about that!

Because keeping your performance honest will convince your audience of your sincerity and make them adore you.

Holiday Gift-Giving! How 'Bout You?

2008-11-21T10:05:00.005-06:00

Forgive me, singers, for missing the entire month of November with regard to the newsletter, but I have been preoccupied with some serious health concerns, and I am undergoing continuous procedures and treatments to correct the problems.
I must admit to some depression about the state of my physical self, although I can say that the cliché, “behind every cloud lies a silver lining”, is valid. In the midst of my anxiety and self-pity, I rediscovered the profound love of my two sisters, which I had forgotten was there, and they stepped up to support me through this entire ordeal. They are my angels.

Anyway, my students and I still plan to make the rounds of the senior communities and nursing homes with our holiday music program. I cannot emphasize enough the value of such an exercise, singers. When you share your gifts with others in such a heartfelt way like singing, you generate the quality of JOY. And JOY, it is said, is the key to attracting the desires of your heart into your experience. So I invite you to visit some nursing homes with your karaoke machines and share your talent this holiday season.

Some time ago, we conducted a survey of all our subscribers asking a variety of questions, some of which included age and preferred musical genre.

And my private practice here in Corpus Christi, while it does consist of several mature singers, is mostly comprised of young female singers, ages 11-16. However, the majority of my readers of this newsletter are between 45 and 70, and you enjoy singing Broadway, Country, and most of you prefer Jazz or Cabaret. (BTW, I have written an extensive article about the genre of Cabaret, which I will be placing on this blog for those of you who are interested.)

I bring this survey up again because mainly, when most singers reach age 40, any and all fantasies of singing professionally have already withered and we decide to give up.

I have spoken ad nauseam on the subject of giving up, but let me briefly point out...again...that if you want your life to work, you need to stay connected to the things of life that you love. And if you like to sing....THEN SING!!! The passion you allow yourself to experience causes beautiful things to happen for you, so there is never a valid reason to quit engaging in the activities of your heart and soul that you are passionate about.

And when you consider the singers who are still performing in their 70’s and 80’s, AND, that their audiences coming out to listen to them are still enthralled by the performances, you must admit that it’s never too late. Broadway, Jazz and Cabaret happen to be very forgiving genres, and one doesn’t need to be young and skinny to attract an audience. Think about these singers:
Tony Bennett
Barbara Cook
Elaine Strictch
Carol Channing

Each of these are currently pulling in huge audiences across the country.

Or these, who just about sang until they dropped:
Frank Sinatra
Rosemary Clooney
Peggy Lee
Ella Fitgerald

Each of these artists maintained a huge fan base right up to the end of their lives.

Okay, I can hear what you are saying, “Well sure, they can sing into their 80’s since they were legends at 30 and the public knows who they are. What about us 50 year-olds who never really made it, but we cannot get rid of the “itch” to keep trying.”

To this, I say simply…Perhaps you are approaching it from the wrong angle. The question is NOT how to get rid of the “itch”, but how to fulfill your dream of performing at the age you are now.

I just cannot think of a Loving Spirit that would continue to give you this “itch” if there were not a way to materialize it. I will never believe in a cruel or prankish God!

So what IS there to do about your desire? Again…your job is to share it…and trust me there are people who need for you to do just that.

Do you recall the now famous line from the movie, “Field of Dreams”? “Build it…and they will come”. This seems on face value to be some supernatural admonishment that most people, including some characters in the movie, believe is just some nonsense.

But let’s use something more conventional as an example.

Suppose you are lonely and you desire a mate, maybe just a dear friend.
What do all the commercial magazines tell you to do? Sit alone and wait for the phone to ring? No! They may tell you to go get a make-over, lose some weight, and you could do those things but still sit home and wait. The more new-age publications may suggest that you get out into the world with your new make-over and thin bod…and EMIT an energy of confidence. For it’s THAT, the energy you emit, that will attract the desired person to you.

Another example:

Why is it that people with means are the ones who always seem to win at the roulette table or slot machine, when the poor person using his rent money usually loses it?
The answer is the energy being emitted by these people. The person with money to lose is relaxed and even enjoying himself while gambling, while the poor person is generating a desperate and negative energy.

Instead of fretting and complaining over the fact that you never made it as a professional singer, be joyful that you have been given this talent, and then use it to uplift others….maybe not in Carnegie Hall or Radio City Music Hall, but somewhere.

And the more you share it, the more joy you bring to others, the more happiness you attract to yourself, along with inspired action to take to become a true professional whatever the age.

There is a singer among you who shall remain nameless, who at the age of 60 started to sing at some nursing homes in her city. She became so popular that she had to start hiring other singers to cover jobs that she had double booked. She made sure that the programs performed by these singers matched her own with the kind of music that she had learned was preferred by the audiences she serviced.

Before long she had 20 bookings a week, and it was then that she received inspiration to start a booking agency for the specific purpose of providing entertainment to senior centers, nursing homes and assisted living establishments. She maintains a thriving business to this day, one that has exceeded her expectations and gives her a handsome retirement income, which at 60, she thought had passed her by.

I tell you these things because, I think that what you truly want is the satisfaction and joy singing will bring you, and not so much the fame and fortune. After all, you’re not 15 anymore, right?

And the holidays, my friends, are the perfect time to begin. I am learning every day that it is never ever too late to begin something that can have a positive impact on the rest of your life, no matter how long or short a time that seems to you. Doing something different, thinking about something in a different way, even something as simple as changing the route you usually take to work can be the start of a new and brighter future for you.

Sounds silly? Well, I invite you to try it and prove me wrong.
But DO write and let me know how a small change in the way you do or think something made you feel, okay?

Happy Holidays, Singers!!

Rejection - Ouch! That Hurts!

2008-10-07T19:24:00.004-05:00

As artists, we often times face rejection. However, not only as artists but in many areas of our lives. And I think it becomes much easier to deal with if we remember that we are not rejected because of who WE are but because of who the other person is.

If we understand this, and if we do not personalize it, life would be much calmer, more peaceful and certainly more productive.

My son goes on a lot of auditions in Hollywood, and quite often he is not chosen for the role he wanted. He says, "I don't take it personally. I just accept that on that particular day, I was not what they were looking for, and move on. It's not a judgment of ME!"

If I were to try out for the part of Laurie in "Oklahoma", for example, I would have expect to be turned down. After all, my voice, and character don't fit that role at all. So it would be ludicrous to feel bad about not getting that part. You see that, right?

Personal rejection has an even greater sting, tho', doesn't it? I had a recent experience with personal rejection and I can say for sure, it hurts. Prone as I am to revealing parts of my personal life to you readers, still, I'll just give you the abbreviated version here:
I met a man online...a lovely man with whom I shared much. We seemed to click really fast, and in a matter of a month, we were on the telephone with each other almost every night, singing song lines to each other and guessing the songs, talking about our growing feelings of comfort and friendship, and the easy way we were with each other.

I started smiling all the time, feeling good, and young, and able to move mountains. Yes! (Even at my advanced years, it's still possible to recapture the rapture of youthful romance, singers.)
Anyway, one night, as we were cooing on the telephone, I said, "I think we should meet."

All was silent for what seemed like an eternity, tho' I'm sure it was only a few seconds.
Finally, he said that there was a pressing matter he needed to attend and said a quick good night.

He never called again.

I emailed him...several times, and when he finally did answer, it was to explain that he had allowed himself to be swept away by his own romantic notions and had responded to my attentions in an uncharacteristic manner. He was not prepared to take our relationship further, but of course still cared for me deeply and wished to remain friends.
Well, that smarted a little...Hell! A LOT!! My very first instinct, and thankfully not the one that ultimately prevailed, was to write him a nasty letter tell him off for what was clearly a flight of fancy for him at my heart's expense.

But then I saw it! This was HIS problem, not mine. He could not allow himself to be happy! He could NOT see a way of bridging the physical distance between us and so made a decision to crawl back into his comfort zone, empty and lonely as it was. How sad is that?

If I felt any deep rejection from this guy it was for about 5 minutes! Then all I could muster was pity. He, on the other hand, continues to write and inquire if I am "okay". It's actually funny to me now...let me add this:

I do not regret one second of romantic feelings, conversations, and exchanges with this man. It made me feel great and there's certainly nothing wrong with that!
Yes, rejection is tough. It doesn't matter whether the rejection comes from a director, a business associate, a friend, husband, wife, lover, or even a total stranger, it still hurts. If we possess any sensitivity at all, it's natural for us to feel bad. The trick is not to mind too much, not to focus all our energy and time on saying, "How could they, (he, she) do this to me."

When we can stay in the present and realize that it's in the re-experiencing of the moment of rejection that builds in us and makes us nuts, then we can feel the feeling,
in that moment, and just let it go! Our ego just wants to re-live it over and over, but we don't need to let it!

Richard Bach, one of my top 5 favorite writers, had already written a number of books when he sent his new manuscript to a major publisher. It was promptly rejected with a note attached as to its quality. But he believed in his work and continued to send it out, realizing that his subject matter was NOT going to be preferred by a lot of publishers.

Seventeen or eighteen rejections later, his manuscript was finally accepted by Macmillan. It was Richard's positive way of looking at life that made him keep on. I am sure that the rejections bothered him a bit, but was quickly neutralized with the publication of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" which resulted in Richard Bach gracing the cover of Time magazine. And today, each of his meaningful books have touched the hearts of millions of readers.

This, dear singers, you MUST remember!! There's no one else on earth with your talents and your abilities. No one else can do what you do. You are unique, a special person-- someone whose hopes and dreams span eternity itself.

Don't let rejection bring you down. Just "see" it differently from the way you're accustomed to, 'cause it's not really a rejection of you, your singing, your personality or your soul. It's a commentary on the one who is doing the rejecting.
As Terri Cole-Whittaker once wrote in her book of the same name,
"What You Think of Me of None of My Business".

My mission for your singers is that you explore your world of song as you are. Hide nothing from yourself. It does not matter if you are a professional or a silenced voice who sings in the confines of a hidden corner. This is your place to shine, your time to learn, your opportunity to expand all that you are in the music you create!

I'm here to help you do that!

'Til next time, Singers!

It's Not Just About YOU!

2008-09-08T22:04:00.003-05:00

It's Not About Just YOU!
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As I suspected, many of you were confused by my last blog entry. "What the Heck are you saying?" seemed to be the words to express the general feeling among those of you who were kind enough to read the thing.

I know I've been coming on a little heavy lately, and that many of you may be wondering what's going with me, so I'm going to tell you right out!

My entire life has been about music, singing it, teaching, making it! And I have encountered so many singers across the globe who are about the same thing as I am... dedicated, committed, and determined to make the music a central part of their lives.

So when I wrote "It's Your Job", with all the crazy quotes, and "deep" thoughts, reminiscent of Stuart Smiley, (remember him? HA HA!), my intention was to encourage you, entice you, coerce you, pursuade you, even intimidate you if necessary to never give up on your singing.

It's interesting 'cause when I was editing that piece, it suddenly dawned on me that I was really writing it for my older sister, who made a decision to stop singing altogether because in her view, she's just not good enough to be heard. That is just Not Okay!! If there's a song in your heart, you MUST sing it! And I sure as Heck know it's in Hers!

I haven't always felt this way, y'know! Time was, and until very recently, I, like Simon Cowell, believed that people who can't sing, who cannot hold a pitch, should never open their mouths.

We should be spared from such dissonance, indeed cacophony in the world and allow only the "perfectly pretty" voices be heard!

Then I discovered something rather startling! I met a deaf woman whose deepest passion was to sing. And when I say passion, I mean a burning in her heart that could never heal until she gave into it.

And with all the courage she could pull out of herself, she sang a song, recorded herself and posted her song online for all to hear.

And I heard it! And I broke down sobbing because it was so beautiful! And what made it beautiful was not all the perfectly placed notes and dulcit tones of her voice, for they weren't perfect, but it was the sheer joy in her expression that you simply could NOT deny or escape from.

This woman and many other people who courageously aspire to change their life experience through an artistic expression do not only change their own lives, but others as well. I AM changed!

Now, there are many of you who CAN hear, and WHAT you hear from your mouth, you are not happy with, so you've decided to quit, and do something else. And if you're smiling when you say that, (pahdnuh), then I wish you well on your new journey!

But if your reason for quitting is more like,
"If I can't win Idol, then I'll just go back to school and learn a trade where I can make a bunch of money", or like, "If I don't win this particular game, I'm taking my marbles and going home."

Well, I don't know about you, but that does not sound like a winner to me.

There's a much bigger picture out there singers. And YES! I call ALL of you on this list a singer, even the ones who don't believe they can sing...but you CAN! And you MUST!

Do you guys want a better life than the one you've got right now? A better world? More kindness? More joyfulness? More Peace? How 'bout more peace?

Then DO WHAT YOU LOVE, SINGERS! See the bigger picture....PLEASE! We're all part of the larger life...you could even say that we've each got a part to play in the grand scheme of things. To do those things that make us happy and to share our gifts...PERIOD! End of Story!

We can provide you with all the tools you need to share you music; backing tracks, sheet music, instruments to play on, and instruction.

I'm almost sure that you agree with me, but I can hear you saying things like, "Well that sounds fine and good, but I deal with reality! I got bills to pay, obligations!

I'm too old to be chasing rainbows".

And I'm not suggesting that you rearrange your entire existence and become a troubador, guys!

Why does it have to be all or nothing? Why can't you just love to sing and allow yourself that pleasure? Does it have to be a record deal or quit?

A Broadway Show or quit? Do you think my deaf friend thinks that way? Did Marlie Matlin think about the limitations when she went on "Dancing With the Stars" with the whole world watching?

I wish I could get you guys to realize that it's not about just YOU! Your love of singing, or of anything really...it's YOUR LOVE that can touch others, and have a ripple effect that is healing!

I want to tell you a little story that I read just yesterday, a fairy tale, I guess...about the heroine who went to get living water to bring back to life someone near and dear to her.

The living water was on top of a mountain. Whoever wanted to get it had to climb the mountain without turning back, even for a moment.

If she turned her head back, she would turn into a stone and well...game over. The voices other climbers of the mountain had heard were horrifying, terrifying, and warning, compelling her/him to turn back. So far no one could resist them.

She was determined to succeed in her quest. To minimize the risk of succumbing to the voices and turning her head, she plugged her ears and proceeded up the mountain that was covered with stones, without paying attention to horrifying voices, noises and threats because she did not hear them.

Finally, she reached the top of the mountain and got the living water. When she was going back she sprinkled some of the living water on the stones, which immediately turned back into people who over the centuries tried to get to the living water but, frightened by the voices, turned their heads and turned into stones.
So, she had not only achieved her own goal but she also brought many people back to life.

'Til next time, Singers!
Sin[g]cerely,Chrys

P.S. If you enjoyed this newsletter, please pass it on to your friends. Just be sure, you include the copyrights. Many thanks, Singers!

(Copyrights property of Chrys Page and Sing Your Life Enterprises)

Vocal Anorexia

2008-08-19T00:13:00.002-05:00

This article was written by me last year, but I have decided to reprint it here for your comments! So comment, already!

We know what Anorexia looks like, right? A 5'4" woman, weighing 80 lbs. will stand in front of a mirror gazing at her image and will see FAT! To her eyes, as she stands in front of the mirror, examining every inch of her body, her body weighs 250 lbs.

Anyone else; yes, ANYONE ELSE sees the reality of her weight which is 80 lbs. Her skeleton is clearly observed below the skin surface, which has such little mass, that to the objective observer, this woman appears malnourished and maybe even close to dying.

The only conclusion that can be drawn is that this woman is seeing a distorted image her body that no one else, I mean NO ONE ELSE sees. And that's her illness!

The cure, if there is one, is several weeks in an institution where the "patient" is taught to rely on AND TRUST what OTHERS are seeing, and not on his/her own reflection in a mirror. Once the patient is able to understand that her view of her body is not real, but distorted, then she starts to see herself through the objective eyes of those around her who are telling her the truth...the truth that she has not been able to see... that she weighs 80 lbs., not 250.
Well, how does this relate to what I call "Vocal Anorexia"?

"Vocal Anorexia" is a condition where a singer will hear the sounds that emit when he/she sings a song that NO ONE ELSE hears.

Take the case of the people who audition for American Idol.
They will sing...badly...excruciatingly AWFUL.

Simon will say, "Do you think that was good?", and they will reply, "Yes! I was great!"
But they were about as terrible as they could be. What's going on? The person is hearing something that is not real; sounds that objective listeners hear as unpleasant and even painful to hear. The only person who does not hear how bad it is is the person singing. And that's an illusion.

It takes hours, months, maybe even years of ear training for a person with this affliction to improve their singing. And I know this because I've had students like this in my studio, and believe me, they CANNOT hear how bad they sound. They remain under an illusion that they sound great...a false illusion!

By the same token, I have encountered numerous singers who will sing a song, and sound exquisite, simply wonderful. The vocal tone, the expression of the lyric, the entire performance could make one melt, but to the singer's ear, it sounds frightfully horrendous. If this singer is told how wonderful he/she sounds, it translates in the singer's brain as, "They're just being nice", or "They didn't hear all the mistakes, so they don't know".

The same inability of the anorexic patient to SEE what is plain as day to an objective eye is apparent here as the anorexic singer cannot HEAR what is clearly beautiful to the objective listener. And the cure, if there is one, is for the anorexic singer to hear him/herself through OTHERS' ears and not his/her own.

This takes discipline and a continuous inner conversation where the singer must repeat often,
"What I am hearing is not real. I will not judge my singing or rely on my own listening for it is flawed by my condition."

This is what Martha Graham was saying to her student, Agnes DeMille in her letter, and although I have referred to that letter many many times, it bears repeating here once again.
Agnes DeMille, for those of you who do not know, was the choreographer for the first Broadway production of "Oklahoma". She became so critical of her own work that she almost quit, but instead wrote to her mentor, Martha Graham, for some advice. And this is an excerpt of the note she got back. I strongly recommend that you read it SLOWLY, making sure you understand every word, especially if you feel that you may be one of those who suffer from vocal anorexia.

There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.

As always, your comments, positive or negative are welcome, singers!

It's Your Job!!

2008-08-16T11:52:00.003-05:00

Gads! I can't believe it's been an entire month since I lasted posted to my blog!

To my newsletter readers, so sorry for the delay in posting this article, but I've been wrapped up in this Boundless Living Challenge, and it's having an incredible effect on me. But that's another article altogether. I'll be able to tell all the details after the challenge ends on Sept 2.

Meantime, here's todays article, just a couple of weeks late...

It's Your Job!
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As mentioned above, I am involved in a project with about 5600 others online. We are each discovering things about ourselves and seeking ways to have an impact on the world we live in. What I am finding out about my self and my motivation is charging my spirit with all sorts of new ideas for the future.

As I write this, I am acutely aware that some of what I am about to talk about with you guys will be received by you in a variety of ways.Some of you will think, 'Yeah, she's right. It's exactly like that', while others will disagree totally.

I suspect that most of you will be somewhere in between because as artists we are fairly, if faintly aware of what goes on behind our eyes, and in the deepest part of ourselves, even those parts we keep hidden from the rest of the world outside of us.

That being said, I start by saying that I believe we human beings come into this world each endowed with certain gifts. Some of us discover very early on what those gifts are, and for some of us, they can take a lifetime to reveal themselves. While others may never find them, many will discover their gifts in the latter period of their earthly experience and wonder why it took them so long to see them.

Well, duh...it takes as long as it takes for each individual rose to blossom.

One thing IS certain though, and it is that every one of us DOES have gifts, and from my view, our only job on earth is to use them for good.

I have spoken to you guys about this before and quite often I know, but while I was researching material for the 5th eBook, I came across some quotes by musical artists that truly touched me very deeply. When I tell you people that your gift of song can heal the planet, I'm not just being dramatic. I'm dead serious about that. What's wrong with the planet is from my perspective really quite simple to diagnose. We are lost! And we are standing at the top of a hill, looking down into a valley, thinking, 'is that the way...there?' and suddenly, we hear a small voice, behind us, like a child, and turn to look at it and THAT's when we see the road back. And the voice was our own...inner child calling us back to LOVE!

All we needed to do was turn our heads. But we are so preoccupied with day-2-day survival game we are forced to play on this planet, that we cannot appreciate the value of LOVE, and that's what music is, you know...LOVE.

"To sing is to love and affirm,to fly and to soar,to coast into the hearts of people who listen,to tell them that life is to live,that love is there,that nothing is a promise, but that beauty exists, and must be hunted for and found."
Joan Baez - American Singer/Songwriter

Do you think that human beings who are feeling that kind of love would be interested in raging wars for profit?

"When I am singing, I am inside of it...I feel, oh, like it feels when you're first in love, when you're touching someone--chills,things slipping all over me...A lot of times, when I get off the stage, I want to make love"
Janis Joplin - American Blues Singer

Would a CEO feeling like that create a mission statement to lay off a million people just to make a few more dollars?

"Once I had a dream to live and love, and this dream became music.It touched all of the beautiful experiences I have searched for or known. Each sound was a color, and each color was a warm feeling, and my heart kept the tempo."
Les McCann - American Jazz Pianist

Can a person who understands this quote spend his afternoons spreading ugly rumors about his/her neighbor over the backyard fence?

"The funny thing about enlightenment is that it's like you're searching for something--say your hat--and you're tearing the house apart and suddenly you look in the mirror and you see it sitting on top of your head. Music is where I experience that. I'm in a flow, I'm in a zone, there's a definite shift in consciousness, without desire, without my ego, without me thinking, 'oh wow, I'm sounding great'. Just experiencing it as a flowing living moment."
Vernon Reid - British-American Guitarist

Can you recall a time in your life when you were so full of joy you wept? Was your ego involved?

"For a musician, music is the best way to unite with God". Inayat Khan - Indian Sufi Master

The Runner runs - and it becomes a prayer. For me, singing is my meditation.

"Music is the harmonious voice of creation.An echo of the invisible world [of spirit]."
Giuseppe Mazzini - Italian Patriot and Revolutionary

Singers - I encourage you to SEE your place in this miraculous creation!

"He who lets his breath, hence his life force,flow consentingly as a willing sound sacrifice from the depths of his body, sings his life;for singing means to affirm life,to free oneself, and thereby to bring happinessand prosperity to oneself, and consequently to one's fellow man."
Marius Schneider

This is the quote that gave me the name of my first website.

I have been literally singing my life since I was 3, and there is nothing I cannot endure as long as I keep singing.

How can I impress upon you people, the value of your gift for this planet?

How can I make you see that your voice + my voice + all the singers' voices can make so much music, that the entire earth will be continuously singing.

You can make this happen just by singing your song...making your own "sound sacrifice" to heal the hearts of a lost society. It's your job....TO SING!

Well, please do forgive my proclivity for phlolisophical discourse, but as Nietzsche once said,

"Has anyone ever observed that MUSIC emancipates the spirit? gives wings to thought? and that the more one becomes a musician, the more one is also a philosopher?"

Guilty.

I leave you with this final thought to ponder, and I invite you to leave your comments. I know you must have some remarks to make about my attempts here to stir things up in you.

Don't be shy. There IS a way to leave a comment anonymously, so go for it!

"Wherein lies the power of songs? Maybe it derives from the sheer strangeness of there being singing in the world...a mystery like mathematics, wine, or love. Song shows the world that it is worthy of our yearning, it shows us our selves as they might be...The mystery holds the key to the unseen...There are occasions when the bolts of the Universe fly open and we are given a glimpse of what is hidden...Glory bursts upon us in such hours, and reveals the radiance of singing."
Salman Rushdie - British Author

See ya, Singers!

Sin[g]cerely,

Chrys

Singers With Musicality

2008-07-08T10:14:00.001-05:00

Singers with Musicality

I was overjoyed and totally delighted when I moved to Corpus Christi from Los Angeles to realize that I hadn't left everything behind. I knew there were going to be enormous changes that I would have to adjust to, and there have been to be sure. But one thing I still have here in Texas is Ovation TV.

I know it doesn't sound like much, and if you've never had the pleasure of watching this channel, you may not get what it means to me, but let me try and tell you anyway.

If you're anything like me, and you truly believe in your heart that the salvation of the human race lies in its art, then maybe you can imagine what Ovation TV has to offer. Masterpieces of Art, Film, Literature, Poetry, Opera, Jazz, Singing, Plays, Sculpture, Photography, indeed creation of any and every kind of art imaginable are represented, celebrated and encouraged on this station.

You can watch a play, a symphony orchestra, an opera, a jazz concert on one day, and a film on Dexter Gordon, Charlie Parker, Sylvia Plath or Martha Graham on another day. There is no end to to the glorification of art that goes from morning 'til night on this channel. And it was here that I encountered 30 minutes of this celebration last week on the life and music of Ella Fitzgerald.

Growing up in the canyons of New York City, my sisters and would often go up to the roof to escape the heat during the summer months, and I would always bring my transistor radio along to listen to my favorite station WNEW, where William B. Williams would teach me how to listen to singers, and not just listen...but analyze, appreciate... hear what the horns were doing, the bass lines, everything.

Frank and Ella were "IT" for me and were why I knew from very early on in my lfe, 5 or 6, that it would be my life's work to sing like those 2.

The short film showing on Ovation took the time to trace the history of Ella's rise to the top in the recording industry, but went further to explain, why she was adored and respected by her listeners and peers alike. One after another, musicians who had worked with her or just listened to her records, stepped in front of a camera and proudly boasted,

"It was her Musicianship"!

Now, Ella had a fluid, lush, pure, glorious voice, that warmed your heart when you heard it, and also could do anything on earth she wanted it to do, but here were these people saying, "It was her musicianship!"

Several of those interviewed from this film recalled that early on in her career, the bands she auditioned for didn't really want her. "It wasn't personal", one tenor sax player said. "It was that the guys in the band didn't hold too much respect for girl singers back then...well I guess it's the same today. You know, girl singers just want to be the center of attention and more often than not, their talent doesn't deserve that attention. But when Ella sang, not only could you tell instantly that she could hear every chord and every beat we were playing for her, she even made us look for better chords and beats to play just to keep up. She made us all better players!"

There were 2 current jazz singers in the film too, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Anita Wardell, who talked about what it means to sing when you know the music...ALL the music, not just the melody line, and how the whole band knows that you know it, and you know that they know that you now it.

That's a ride on a magic carpet, singers and it's woven from the golden thread of the singer's musicality.

Now you know I've talked about this before, singers, and I've mentioned with regard to eliciting respect from your fellow musicians, but after watching this film, I realized there was something else...something more I wanted to express to you about musicianship, (or musicality if you prefer), and it's this.

When you and your accompaniment (whether it's a full big band or orchestra or YOU playing for yourself) are in total synchronization, the performance is MAGICAL! It infuses YOU and the band and every person sitting in the audience. And believe me, there is no greater satisfaction than singing with a bunch of musicians who are feeling you and playing the best they can to make the whole thing sound wonderful. And you find that singers with musicality don't worry so much about drawing all the attention from the crowd. They are team players and every body knows it and respects it, just as all those guys respected Ella.

So when I try to encourage you singers to learn an instrument, at least enough of one to understand chordal structure and rhythms, I'm trying to show you that the more musicality you possess, the further you will progress with your singing.

Seriously singers, if you are dead on committed about working as a professional, you're going to have to have a "live accompaniment". You cannot rely on backing tracks indefinitely.

Measuring the quality of art!

2008-06-28T14:57:00.002-05:00

I've been watching a lot of tennis this week! And I've noticed something interesting that I wanted to share with you.
Clearly one's athletic prowess can be objectively measured by numbers.
You win! Your ranking goes up, your income goes up, your endorsement opportunities go up, your popularity goes up. It's all measured by the stats.
It's like this in almost every sport, and when an athlete, whether a tennis player, baseball player, basketball or whatever, is winning, excelling at his sport...even HE or SHE must admit how good he or she is at it. Isn't that right? Ask Roger Federer, or Tiger Woods. Neither of these men who say that they are not great at what they do.

But artistic performance cannot be measured by statistical data, can it? Art is SUBJECTIVE!

Remember Andy Warhol's painting of a Campbells's soup can? It was highly successful, but even today, there are numerous people out there who do NOT consider it art, and therefore not worthy of artistic praise. And one may wonder what Andy was thinking at the time.

I point this out because we, as artists each need to get to the bottom of this goodness or badness, this merit or lack thereof of our own performances.
How can we measure something that cannot be scientifically measured? And how can we know when it's not up to standard without displaying it to a large group? How can we call something bad based on just our own opinion, formed by the doubts and fears we have inside? How do we measure the quality of art in any form?
Oh yes! We have "experts" to tell us what is good art and what is bad or inconsequential, sure! Well, I don't know about you, but personally I love the movies the critics hate, and I read all the books the book reviewers label as second-rate. Maybe I think that critics are self-imposed experts who don't know any more, (or any less) than I do, so I can make up my mind.
That's really the point.
With an art form, the quality of it lies in the receiver, the listener if it's musical, the viewer if it's visual, etc.
But rankings?
Isn't it quite possible for a singer to be at the top of his or her game in poularity and still sound terrible to a lot of people? Of course that's possible...and occurs frequently.
Whereas, if a baseball player is batting 400+ and has hit a gazillion homers, one CANNOT DENY the quality of that effort, and quite often even the person who's made it.
So tell me, dear readers....what say YOU about this theory of mine?
We've got 3 juicy topics going on right now and you are welcome to comment on all of them if you'd like to. So SING OUT!

Ugh! That sound is Awful!!

2008-06-20T10:13:00.004-05:00

I hear it from my clients all the time, and many of my colleagues and friends as well. Even my own son, and my daughter too, complain to me about it. And yesterday, while recording a vocal guide for an original backing track I made for a student, I actually saw and heard myself vocalize an expression of loathing of my own voice.
And the moment it happened, I thought, "Aahaah! None of us are immune from this! Each of us, in one way or another, absolutely HATE the sound of our own voice."

So the question becomes,
THEN WHY DO WE CHOOSE TO ENGAGE IN AN ACTIVITY IN WHICH WE USE OUR VOICE MORE THAN ANY OTHER BODY PART?

I mean, if we hate the sound of our voice so much, why don't we just do things where we don't ever have to speak... and definitely not sing...like reading or something like that?

For me there are 2 answers:

1> We are programmed to be self-effacing, self-critical, overly humble, and non-threatening.
2> It's an ACT!

Before I actually elaborate on these concepts, I'd like your take. So whaddaya say? Take it away!!

Is the Ego a healthy thing for a singer to have?

2008-06-11T12:40:00.000-05:00

Yeah, okay, I already have strong opinions about this, but don't let that stop you from voicing your own, okay?

I tell my singers, and they will testify to the never-ending diatribes that they have to endure from me, that the ego is the enemy of a true artist...that while you're up there thinking...

"Look at me, look, LOOK! See me, hear me, pay attention to me ME ME! Oh God, what's the next line? Should I go for that high note tonight? Do I have the strength? Oh Geez! They're not even listening....BLAH BLAH BLAH"

...you're losing them fast!

How can you connect with anyone with all that chatter going on in your head? That's your ego.

So I tell my students to stay in the present, and just communicate! Tell 'em a story. Pull 'em in. Be more interested than interesting.

What do you think? Do you think your ego is who you are? Is that where you get your individualality? Or does the creative part of you come from some other place?
G'head....talk to me.