How singing is like writing
In a writing project, whether a blogpost, an important letter, an article, a book, an academic paper, the important thing is to start. This week I had to rewrite the 200-word version of my bio. As usual, it’s a very lurchy start. I have to just throw something on the screen, even if it’s “Me teacher. Me sing. Me write”. It’s always ugly when I start, but I have to start, so that I can build, refine, edit, and finally get it together.
It’s the same way with practicing. I have several allergies plus vasomotor rhinitis. Somedays, the weather in Larynxland is very unsettled. On such days the first sounds I make might be somewhere between horrible and hilarious. However, I often get the train on the tracks anyway by adapting, adjusting, and (my favorite word) experimenting. This means I cannot do the exactly the same warmup for every practice session. There are large and small variations to my warmups depending on how the citizens of Larynxland are behaving. Usually I can quell a riot.
In the practice room, you may start with any easy vocal sound, such as falsetto sirens, robot-speech, humming, lip trilling, or singing a phrase of a favorite tune. Then the next thing, and the next, and the next. As you get to know your voice, perhaps with the help of a good teacher, you will learn to determine what to do next better as time goes by. What starts ugly, probably won’t stay ugly, if you can make friends with the process.
This is an apt word for me today! Also, I want to acknowledge that I really appreciate your relatively short, concise posts. 🙂 . I enjoy reading blog posts but often shy away in a long list of emails because I feel as if I can’t take the time. I almost always read yours because I know they will be short and to the point! 🙂
Thanks, Julie! I often write, and then remove about a third of the words. Short is good.