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Vocal Coach Says: “You Are The Message” Part 2

Saturday, November 21st, 2009

YOU ARE THE MESSAGE Part 2: The Visual Side

As we moved to this, our new BLOG format I wanted to again feature this important article.  Just like “You Are The Message, Part 1,” this article hold a number of keys to moving from wanting to communicate, to doing it clearly and consistently.

IT TAKES A LOT OF HONESTY

It takes a lot of honesty, and a bit of reflecting, to deal with the visual side of presenting a single song or an entire concert.  But, the good news is that by adding the visual to the audio you have many more ways to get the job done.  That job?  To get the message of the song from your heart, to the listener’s heart.

The following are some areas to consider, evaluate and act on.  Before you look at that, however, you need to take an inventory of who you really are . . . now.  Not, whom you think you’d like to be some day, but who you are. Why all this analysis?  Because there has to be a comfortable connection between the audio message, and the visual messenger.  If not, there are dozens of things that can and will get in the way of a successful sharing.

A BIT OF SELF-HISTORY MIGHT HELP

As a counselor and mentor to a number of musicians I have often used a personality inventory test to get the conversation going.  It’s neutral, doesn’t care who the players are and is generally accurate. After using this test with myself, and my family I remember saying to Carole, “Am I really still doing that? Well, since you, and the kids are still seeing it in me, I guess I’m still blinded to some of my own actions.” All that to say, don’t be too shocked if you discover some annoying truths about yourself. Growing is a non-stop process.

SOME SPECIFICS TO LOOK FOR

Be age-appropriate in the way you look and act.  Wow. How does one do that? Since we’re dealing with physical and mental age it’s not always obvious.  For example, I’m 65, work with young musicians and teens, have a shaved head, ride a Segway for fun and travel the world with my wife teaching about the voice. I have no intention of retiring any time soon.  I think and feel young and workout every day but, like it or not, I’m not a kid, shouldn’t pretend I’m one or try to be one in concert. It won’t fly, and instead of taking advantage of my maturity and experience, I’ll look like an old guy who can’t accept where he is in life.

Dress in a way that compliments you and the situation. I can dress casual, moderately mod, wear an Italian suit or my favorite, shorts and a T-shirt, but I’m still me.  Why go into such detail about me? Because I see other people my age who are convinced that if they change their hair and wear smaller sizes they will magically become young. No they won’t. In fact, they will only emphasize their lack of self-acceptance and make the whole presentation less than believable. Enjoy your station in life, dress in a way that compliments you and rock on. If there are some tasteful changes you can make, such as taking off a few pounds and getting a new doo, great.

On the other hand, don’t fall into the, “I’m over 50, therefore I need to look as boring as the people I work with or others in my church. No you don’t. It gets back to identifying who you really are inside, then being that with joy and confidence.

THE VENUE and SETTING

Make sure you check out the physical setting and what the host’s expectations are for people who sing there.  Singing in a church? Some churches require a jacket and tie for Sunday mornings, but not for Sunday evenings or mid-week services.  Honor that, even if it’s not your norm and you have to borrow a tie.  Some churches could care less what you wear at any time, but do the research.  You’re job is to make sure you don’t let something as silly as clothing get in the way of your communications.

AGE OF THE AUDIENCE

Find out the demographic of your audience.  If it’s 90% seniors they may not “get” certain forms/styles of songs. It is your job to change, not theirs.  If it’s a youth-based audience make sure your stories and testimonies apply to that age.  If not, you are not honoring their time.

SUMMARY

Do your homework so that the message and the messenger are appropriate and ready to get the job done.  That job? Fully, completely sharing the message.

TOOLS TO HELP YOU GROW
Perhaps your best tool is going to be some thoughtful interaction with yourself, some mature, trustworthy friends and a video camera.  Let’s all keep growing together.

Tags: chris beatty, know your audience, visual performance, vocal coach
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Vocal Coach Says: “YOU ARE THE MESSAGE” Part 1: The Vocal Side

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Vocal Coach Says “YOU ARE THE MESSAGE!”

Part 1: The Vocal Side

As Vocal Coach moves to our new BLOG format I wanted to feature a previous article that addresses a key to being a successful singer.  When you sing there needs to be a coordinated effort between a number of parts of your presentation.  If not the distractions and filters between you and the listener can completely block your message from getting through.

CONSIDER THESE KEY ELEMENTS AND HOW YOU NEED TO PREPARE:

The Sound/Tone Quality

Think about it.  Does the message invite a full rich, vibrant tone quality or a softer, almost airy sound?  Is it a declaration or conversation?  Are you testifying or asking questions? You need to answer this question then practice the various possibilities.  If you can’t think of any, try listening to accomplished singers and imitate what they do for various kinds of songs.  Then, begin in integrate some of these qualities into your own vocal sound. A caution: I said integrate, not copy.  You still need to be you, just with more possibilities of sound.

Treatment of Diction

If you’re singing a hymn or English art song, the way you pronounce the words will be handled differently than in a worship song, or a contemporary/pop style of song. If I’m singing, “My Jesus, I Love Thee,” I’ll treat the words differently than when I sing the Broadway song, “To Dream The Impossible Dream.” If I don’t, I will be putting up walls between myself, and my audience. Again, listen to the pros, imitate and play with the different options. Build some choices into your diction options.  It’s the only way to keep things real and really communicate with the listener.

Phrasing & Expression

Going back to the earlier example of the difference between “My Jesus, I Love Thee,” and “To Dream The Impossible Dream,” let’s consider phrasing and other tools of expression.  To begin with, most hymns will have built-in phrases that invite breathing at certain places.  And, though you may make things more interesting by stretching that a bit, you are still at least partially limited unless you are doing a real pop arrangement.

With other songs, however, you have more options as to where you might breath, pause, or bring attention to a word with more or less volume or a dramatic and sometime sudden change of tone quality.  The options are many and best learned by listening to those who do it best, then imitating them to feel and hear you and your voice doing it.  That’s how a singer builds a repertoire of creative options.  If you have never heard and felt yourself do it, you are not likely to draw on that option any time soon, even when it would be the perfect solution.

Summary: Get inspired by those who do it well in the same way you get inspired by watching an excellent, experienced athlete.  Observe, analyze, imitate and integrate.  And, remember throughout that to do this safely you must maintain the foundations of posture, breathing, tone, diction and expression.  It’s a lot of work . . . with a lot of rewards.

Tags: chris beatty, coaching voice, expression, performance training, vocal coach, vocal coaching
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Singers! Help Your Listener Be Vulnerable To The Message

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Singers! Help Your Listener Be Vulnerable To The Message

If An Audience Is Going To Receive Youre Message

If an audiend is going to receive your message they need to be comfortable with you.  That means they need to be vulnerable, mentally available and ready to hear what you have to share.

The Areas You CAN Control

Anything you can do to help them believe you is worth doing.  This can be done in the way you promote yourself, the way you look and the way you sing your message.  Those are all areas you can control.

The Areas You CAN’T Control

There are other areas that you may, or may not be able to anticipate, and this means you need to be ready to make things right in real-time.

* If the listeners are tired, it’s your job to revive them.  This may mean adding a song that gets them up on their feet, singing, clapping and getting some much needed oxygen.  Once they’re mentally and physically refreshed you can get to your message.
* If they’re distracted, your job is to get them focused . . . on you and your message. This may take a bit of personal story telling that engages then personally.  Do your homework and know what your audience it likely to be interested in. Using name/stories from their community, sports teams etc. will draw them into what you are sharing.  Remember: It’s about them, not you.
* If technical issues are getting between your message and the heart of the listener you need to do something about it. If they’re cringing or leaving because the sound level is too high, or look like they’re hearing more track/band than words do what it takes to change things. When in doubt ask the audience between songs. “Is the sound a little loud?” or “Are you hearing more instruments that vocals?” Then, in your most friendly tone ask the sound person to lower the accompaniment, or overall sound level.  Better to offend one sound person than several hundred in the audience. You can also have a trusted ear seated on the isle in the middle of the house who can go back and suggest some changes to the sound person. (This, of course, should be pre-arranged to avoid an awkward moment.)

Summary

Your job isn’t just to get up there, sing your songs and then sit down. You are responsible for successfully communicating your message. Do what is necessary to get that done well.

Tags: chris beatty, performance coaching, performance training, singing lessons, Vocal Coac, voice training
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SINGERS, ARE YOU MORE LIKE CLAY, OR A CERAMIC?

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

When Singing In A Group Are You More Like “Clay,” or “Ceramic?”

If you sing in a duet, trio, quartet, choir, chorus, band or any other group you need to ask yourself this question: Are you more like clay, or ceramic?  Stay with me.  I promise it will make sense.  A good quality potter’s clay has substance and a certain consistency, but is still very pliable and moldable.  Once that piece is glazed and baked the flexibility is gone, and either it works with the other pieces or it doesn’t. There’s no turning back or fixing it.

The obvious parallel

The obvious parallel for singers is this: Anyone who sings in a group must remain like clay. If you’re not moldable, pliable and flexible you won’t fit in and blend with others.  Instead, you will stick out, like a misshaped or discolored mug in what was intended to be a matched set.  And, even if you’re primarily a soloist you still need the same “clay” element in order to do different styles of music authentically and believably.

Your Job Now

Your job now is to do a meaningful self-examination and ask the big question: “Am I more like the potter’s clay, or the inflexible ceramic?”  If you do find yourself in the ceramic category you can relax.  Unlike the potter, who has to destroy bad pieces, God has given us the ability to rework and relearn.  This allows us to keep and add to the good skills, while at the same time eliminating the bad ones.  If we are diligent with this pursuit, our vocal muscle memory with be helping us really own some great vocal technique.

Your thoughts

Let me know your thoughts on this article by adding a comment or writing me at chris@vocalcoach.com

Warning: Sometimes, those of us with the most training are the ones in danger of being “academic ceramics.”  If we’re not careful, we will live in a rut of just what we were taught and lose the ability to grow. Those of us who teach risk the danger of giving bad counsel due to our own inflexibilty.  How do I know this?  Through personal experience.  I am constantly learning, reading and love chatting with other teachers and coaches.

Tags: chris beatty, singing classes, singing lessons, vocal coach, vocal training, voice lessons
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

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