Good disruptions

I am wrapping up a week’s vacation in a peaceful place where I have been able to forget obligations and concerns while soaking up the seashore and fresh air. Although I have studied a few new songs, I have not actually been singing. Silent study goes a long way. I read the text first to get a feel for the poetry, then I mentally sing, or very softly hum, the melody, then I go through both together. I have explored about eight new songs that way at the beach, under an umbrella, completely relaxed.

I have not done any formal vocalizing, just a few outbursts here and there. What usually happens on this kind of a vacation is that my voice takes on an immediately accessible fullness that sometimes takes me a while to “get to” in practice sessions back home. I have read the advice of famous singers to take a holiday from singing now and then, and I have to agree that it is restorative. It is an opportunity to re-set, re-align, let the authentic center of oneself just be. That is undoubtedly very good medicine for a singer.