Co-Authoring & Collaboration
This might not be what you expected.
Have you heard directly or from a colleague or peer that a new teacher has said “we will have to tear down/break apart that voice and start fresh”????
Or something like that?
Basically letting you know that nothing you have done, are doing, are living, are experiencing is worth salvaging, saving, honoring, and that it’s got to be a whole new way.
I call bullshit. Complete and total bullshit.
Every singer, and I mean EVERY singer walks into the studio with SOMETHING. Language like “tearing down” hurts my soul. As a singer, I’ve been there too.
I know that this is one of the biggest reasons singers don’t seek out a new and/or fresh set of ears: they are exhausted and afraid they will have to start again.
Shame on our profession of so-called teaching if we focus on this.
Your technique is based on collaboration, and is co-authored, first and foremost led by YOU and your voice. YOU do the work in collaboration WITH your voice and your physicality.
A teacher is also part of that collaboration so said teacher can reflect what you might need to see/hear/observe in order to make choices that are in the best interest of you and your voice.
I say this time and again to singers: I simply offer you a tool, and why that tool could be needed. YOU take that tool and the why and YOU figure it out. It’s not my voice. It’s YOURS.
This allows singers to feel EMPOWERED in the studio, and then empowered in their lives: from practice, to audition, to performance.
Technique is drawn from so many sources and observations. It isn’t “one and done”. It isn’t “my way or the highway”. It isn’t “one size fits all”. It is YOUR voice, YOUR body, YOUR mind, YOUR spiritual energy, YOUR emotional energy, YOUR dramatic intelligence, YOUR observation, YOUR search, YOUR discovery, YOUR journey.
Otherwise, wouldn’t we all sound the same? Wouldn’t “technique” then cause a Stepford Wives affect?
The uniqueness of you must be honored and acknowledged. Then we get to work to adjust, tweak, balance, discover TOGETHER in the collaboration of honoring the voice’s co-authoring of technique in your body.
Technique isn’t just about physical function: it’s about a safe place to explore who you are as an artist and how the co-authoring and observation can be fully realized.
It’s about commitment to BUILD. It’s about commitment to RECOGNIZE. It’s about commitment to OBSERVE. It’s about commitment to CHOICES. It’s about commitment to OWN FULLY what you are discovering in and OUT of the studio.
When that commitment infuses the space between singer and teacher, then real magic can happen!
So find those spaces and places that you can feel safe to co-author your own technique. Find the safety to CLAIM what you do not yet own. Co-author and collaborate with your voice, for your voice in places that honor you, your journey and your unique pursuit.
with fondness & fierceness,
