1/14 Blog Post:
My student Nancy came to see me yesterday. Nancy has a very nice, powerful quality to her voice. Her technique has improved. She's been with me for a few months now, and I'd love to see her break through her remaining barrier. It's preventing her from really taking over her skill. The one thing alone that is preventing her vocals from developing past the point they are, is fear.
In order to get a good sound, you must move when you sing. You don't have to go crazy with elaborate choreography, but you can't stand frozen, with your hands at your sides, standing perfectly still. The energy in our bodies can not come out correctly if it's not forced out properly. It results in a weak, off key sound.
I demonstrated to Nancy what I wanted her to do, and she became overwhelmed when she saw me do it. I forced her to do a simple step together step together with her arms and legs. This was a great start, because when she went to sing again, she did sound better. I no longer heard the trembling in her voice. Her voice automatically took on a relaxed quality, which greatly improved the sound. Once she felt more relaxed, I saw the expression on her face change to one of really getting in to what she was singing.
Also improving sound quality is how one varies one's voice and movements. The song we were working on had some quiet parts where instruments dropped out and then got louder again. I showed her how she might change her volume and increase or decrease the way she was moving to convey what she was singing. Doing these things might seem theatrical, but they make all the difference in the world in the quality of the vocals.
I'm looking forward to continuing to work with Nancy with this new found insight.
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