"Every time I get on the mound, I pitch like it's the World Series..."

Just heard that on Sportstalk tonight from one of the game's top pitchers.

What would it feel like, if every time you opened your mouth to sing, you sang like it was opening night on Broadway?

Try it!

Removing The Emotional Distance....

Music has some very magical properties. Magic happens in my studio quite a bit, mostly because I push my singers to "remove the emotional distance" between themselves and the song.

We don't ever want to fake ourselves or our audience out of the real energy that is present in our being. That would not only be inauthentic, but, ultimately, pretty boring.

Of course, we don't need to be a serial killer barber in real life to pull off the lead in Sweeney Todd on stage, either.

Our job within the context of a song or a musical theatre role is to find the through-line of humanity and spirit, which makes all things "relate-able." Let the sets, lights and costumes do their part. Let the orchestra do theirs. Let us choose to be the vessel of informed energy, armed with words, pitch and emotion, and, having burned said information into our DNA, let us become full energy in performance; concentrated and free, focused and present.

Paying Attention, Are We?

I have super talented students/clients/friends/pals who, sometimes, during the course of our voice training, have a tendency to not "pay attention."

Not to me;

Not to their vocal technique;

Not to the words or music;

But, to the "detail of performance."

If you are looking for an edge in your auditions and performances, pay attention.

When you practice, make every practice a performance with performance energy -- don't practice with your typical high school, college, community theatre, or "hey, I'm a pro, I do this all the time" energy. That only serves to make you as mediocre as the rest of the performers.

Practice Performance.

Once you get into this habit, you're still not finished.

Pay Attention.

Keep connecting the dots of the song. It doesn't matter how many times you've performed a song. It's not just a series of notes or words strung together, it is something that lives through you. A song can ONLY live through you. The more attention you pay to the song, the deeper and more complex it becomes.

In other words, "If you phone it in, we won't call you back."

Take Off The Blinders

Blinders don't give you determination. Blinders don't give you drive. Sure, they help a 1,300 lb. horse run faster in a straight line or a single direction --

But, you'll notice, the "little guy in charge" never wears blinders....

So, which kind of artist are you?

Like a thoroughbred; tunnel-visioned, blinders on, can't even see the crowd and spent at the end of the race?

Or like the rider; flexible, strategic, in command, ready to "see the whole field" and ride again and again?

It's your art.

The flag is up!

The Failure Dance

Work toward your successes, don't dance over your failures.

And, fer Pete's sake, don't practice catastrophes.

Gimme a second, I can explain...

Whether we are doing a vocal warm-up, learning a new song or going over repertoire, every student of mine knows that if they stop, I'll just keep going. I'm not trying to be mean or anything. It's just that, if you practice stopping in a song whenever things "aren't right" or you "made a mistake" or something "was weird," then you are "practicing a catastrophe."

Deep inside, you know that there is no perfect venue for singing.

There is no perfect day, night, time or temperature for singing.

Thus, EVERY singing experience will be imperfect, so get used to it.

Seriously. Get used to it.

Something's always going to be a little weird or different somewhere, so don't stop in the middle of your song when you're rehearsing. Why practice stopping? Why stop and then dance around about how you missed a note (with all the energy you should have used to produce the note in the first place...!). Get over yourself and get back on the pony while it's still near you -- not after it's galloped away.

The sooner you embrace the imperfection, the sooner you may exhibit the perfection.