Rehab, Rehearsals, and Comfort Coffee

Whew!  What a week!   I have my (only) second day of finger rehab and, people, it’s just a finger, I know, but I have to tell you, I never appreciated my hands until now.  All of your fingers are so interconnected that if one goes out, they all go out, like Christmas lights.   The only digit lucky enough escape the rehab is the thumb.  There is a level of distress with not having things “the way they used to be” that I didn’t expect.  Occupational Therapy is great because they address those concerns with you as well as your physical issues.  Anyway, treat your hands with care is all I can say – and don’t reach for cell phones or anything falling out of your hands (unless it’s a baby or a puppy).  Nothing else is worth it.  The five times a day torturexcises coupled with sheer exhaustion from back-to-back-to-back rehearsals makes me want to walk across the street for what I like to call Comfort Coffee.  It’s my new thing.  Not food, but coffee.  It’s cheaper and has fewer calories.  I may be developing a caffeine addiction, which I don’t think the finger therapist will be able to help with unless she says to “not curl your fingers around the coffee cup” or to “not use your fingers to grab your wallet.”  The problem is that Starbucks is literally 50 feet away from my office.  Woe. 

On a lighter note, the Philadelphia Singers , along with the Philadelphia Orchestra , is performing Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust this week.  We are performing at the Kimmel Center and Carnegie Hall.  I’m not only excited about singing the concert but also about getting another chance to go to New York and eat at a great restaurant that I discovered the last time I was there.

Comfort Coffee, anyone?

Judges want you to do well…

Are you sick of my mentioning the Susan Boyle video?  I did have one final thing to say about it.  I use it because with the popularity of the American Idol and Got Talent… shows, people not in the business of singing, get to see what happens (and what really doesn’t happen) in an audition.   I could get into a huge diatribe about the accuracy of it all, but I only wanted to focus on what aspect:  The people on the panel listening to you.  I recently took a course in audition technique where I heard something encouraging from a person whose job is to audition singers.  She said that the people listening to you reallywant you to do well.  They want you to do as well as you want to do well.  I guess I sort of knew this in the back of mind but never really thought too much about it until I heard it from this person.  It makes perfect sense, of course.  They not only may be emphathizing with you (singing is not easy!), but they also want to find good singers, and the right singers for their production.  They want you to be “the one” – as much as you want to be “the one” for them – they are rooting for you – it’s a win/win.  I knew she was right because looking back over my many, many auditions, I can’t remember an unpleasant experience in that regard.  The only thing close to that was at the Metropolitan Opera Auditions where I was a finalist – one of the judges told me that I shouldn’t wear black.  Too many people wear black in auditions, he said.  Looking back, he actually had a point.  On the contrary, most wore nice and supportive.  I’ve been to open auditions where the singer was really struggling, and they were equally supportive of that person too.

I mention this because this can be a huge source of anxiety for singers who may be going in thinking it’s me against them when it’s typically the contrary. 

I also mention this because of the Susan Boyle video and American Idol videos you have seen.  Simon’s attitude IS NOT TYPICAL and is MADE FOR TELEVISION.  However, the lady on the panel in the Susan Boyle video (Her name escapes me) IS typical.  Did you see her face when Susan walked out?  Open and supportive.  Because you never know.  She even admitted that she was cynical but you wouldn’t have guessed it on her face.  Although cynical, she was supportive.  They are on your side.

Top 10 Tuesdays – Physical Preparations for an Audition

I’ve always read that the most successful athletics have a ritual that they follow to the letter before every competition.  A ritual that ever changes.  I’ve actually watched Tiger Woods do this when preparing for a put.  One of my goals this year is to develop one of my own rituals before every audition, and in general.  After reading this, I would love  your feedback on what you do!  Today I’m focusing on the physical aspects of preparation.  This is still a work in my process, but I give you my:

Top 10 things (Physical) to do in general and before an audition:

1.  Hydrate.  I am guilty of this myself because I also suffer “nervous bladder,” but it is important to hydrate.  What you are feeling right now as you read this post is a result of what you drank 24 hours ago.  If you start to hydrate a few hours before an audition – that’s great, but you won’t feel the full affects until much too late.  So – 24 hours before an audition, kick up the fluids and cut back on (gulp! ) the coffee.  I KNOW!  Hydration not only helps the vocal folds but the entire body.

2.  Decaf Tea with Lemon and Honey – this works for me, especially during allergy season when my vocal chords are thick.  It also helps break up the phlegm.  Medications for allergies are very drying so use with care.

3.  Here was a big shocker for me – working out the day of the audition.  Working out, for me, actually helped warm up my chords simply because of the increase blood flow, which was a suprise to me.  A light workout will also helpful in releasing body tension and reduce stress.

4.  The breathing exercise that I mention here.  Personally, I’m going to try this throughout the day of the audition and again right before.

5.  Don’t eat spicy foods! – Keep spicey foods out for the 4 hours before an audition if not the whole day.  It increases acid reflux, which can reek havoc on your entire system.

6.  No spirits.  I’m sure we have all heard stories of singers that may have a little something before a performance.  Alcohol is dehydrating, and – just don’t do it.  Now afterwards!….

7.  You may not want to talk too much just before.  For me, I’m a nervous chatter just before an audition and I need to stop doing that.  After you have warmed up, it’s good to give it a rest.  Also, along those lines, whispering, which a lot of people might be doing while they wait for an audition, is like screaming to your chords.

8.  Don’t be afraid of the dumbells.  Contrary to what people might say, singing is athletic.  In more demanding performances, I’ve lost several pounds from not only the running around, which is part of it, but the singing itself.  As you know, it is important to be strong and have a strong core for breathing and holding your body in place for the practice of singing.

9.  Visualize – this is a new thing that I’ve been experimenting with that I never did before.  I will actually sit and visualize the entire audition from start to finish; not only the words and notes but every focal point and acting transition that I will be using, physical gestures, everything.

10.  Don’t be afraid – and go for it!  OK, this isn’t an actual physical item but I’ll hark on attitude until I’m blue in the face.

I would love to hear some of the things you do!

Monday Moment- My thoughts about audiences

I’ve already talked about what I loved about the Susan Boyle Video but I didn’t mention the audience, which was interesting in itself.  This reminds me of my trip to New York to see Guys and Dolls last month and the audience there – I’ll get back to that in a minute.  

As I’m sure you noticed, if you have been in, or gone to, classical or musical performances, how different the audiences can be.  Did the audience in the Susan Boyle video remind you of Parlimant or is just me?  Is this good?  Is it bad?  As shocked as I was with the openly vocal and negative response of the audience (was this just for television or for real?), I was torn with their reaction when she started to sing and when she was done.  As touching as it was to hear them eventually cheer her on, did it negate the heartbreaking behavior prior to that?  I would love your feedback. 

Now, back to New York.  Maybe it is me, but Broadway has always been a magical experience for me.  Now, as you know from my post here regarding the book, Making it on Broadway, it is not magical by any stretch, except by how the experience is perceived by the audience.  NEVERTHELESS, I draw the line at breaking out the movie snacks during the performance, which was what my seat neighbor was doing during Guys and Dolls.  As I started to look around, I noticed some people in cocktail dresses and others were in, well, sweats.  Really?  Will talking and heckling be next?  I shudder to even consider it.  It is an incredible feat to not only perform, but to produce a Broadway show, or any show for that matter.  Keep the twizzlers and sweat pants at home.

Friday Fermata – Breathless

I’m breathing, obviously, because they aren’t pulling me out on a stretcher.  But I don’t think I’ve ever REALLY been breathing.  One issue I have with auditions (and one that I have been battling for years) is loosing a good 30% of my lung capacity just before (and during) an audition.  I literally feel like I’m singing at 10,000 feet.  I know it is based on nerves, of course, but I started to wonder, “Is the lack of oxygen causing the nerves or the other way around?”  I’m aware of the problem, and have tried to take some deep breaths prior, but found that it wasn’t very effective.  I had an audition yesterday where this same problem occurred – AGAIN.   I knew that what I needed was an actual practice for breathing like I have for warming up, etc.  Old news, right?  But that’s not the entire story.  I actually found an interesting read about this in a great book called Mind Over Mood.  In one chapter about anxiety, the author reviews ways to relax the body, a breathing excersise, but with some extra information that I found interesting.  Did you know that you need to do deep breathing for at least 4 minutes (something to do with the amount of time your body needs to balance the levels of Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide levels in the blood – or something like that – I don’t have the book with me)?  Last night, while reasonably relaxed, (sort of that exhausted post-audition state), I thought I would give it a try.  I didn’t think I would see huge results given that I wasn’t swirling with nerves.  I did the required 4-4-4, which is setting the timer to 4 minutes (and you need the timer because you will think that you are at 4 minutes WAY before you really are) and then inhale for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds and repeating.  When I was done?  I felt different – really different.  I couldn’t believe how different I felt.  And this is while I thought I was already relaxed.   I wasn’t tired, just more alert and extremely relaxed – the likes of which I don’t ever remember feeling.  Sounds like meditation, right?  It does, but was I doing this before an audition?  For 4 minutes and inhaling/exhaling with deliberation?  Hardly.  I’m the nervous and chatty one.  Maybe I need to change my ways.  If I can sit there (or go somewhere else for 4 minutes) and do this breathing exercise, I’m positive the results will reveal themselves.  I have 2 more auditions coming up and I will let you know how it goes!   Does anyone else run in to this issue?

Friday Fermata – Doing what you love

I’m not the biggest baseball fan, although I have gone to my share of baseball games.  I’ve enjoyed Houston Astros baseball as a child when my dad worked at the Astrodome (I won’t tell you exactly when I was a child lest I get dated), I’ve had dodger dogs at Dodgers Stadium in California and attending the Grand Opening of the beautiful Colorado Rockies stadium in Denver.   That picture is of my family at last week’s Rockies Home Opener where they beat the Phillies – (I’ve already been properly ribbed).  I’ve been to only a handful of Phillies games but I did watch them a lot on TV  in the summer, partly because of who was playing, but mostly to hear the voice of Harry Kalas, who we lost this Monday.   Harry’s voice to me was the voice of summer as much as it was about baseball.  He was the voice of Philadelphia.  A city that, with all of my resistance, is getting under my skin and growing on me over these past 9 years.  I knew that if I were hearing him, the weather was about to turn, or had already turned warm.  To people who have lived here for decades, (who have heard his voice since 1971 – wow), it is even more of a blow. 

 He died while doing what he loved.  I am determined to have a lifetime to look back on filled with joy, dreams realized and doing what I love and do best.

YouTube, Susan Boyle, and Square One

If you read no other post but this one, you’ll get the gist of what this blog is all about for me.  Finding your voice in the singing business, or finding your voice in whatever it is you want to do in your life (no matter what others say or think), is what life is about.  It is about your happiness, living your dreams and not being afraid.  When I saw this video on youTube today I thought this pretty much summed it up.  See for yourself and please comment and tell me what you thought and what this video meant for you.  Before the songbooks and auditions, the studying and practicing, the hours of research and lessons, you must have this.

Tolerance

Monday Madness – Contents of my Purse

• ATM Withdrawal Receipt
• Occupational Therapy Script
• Township Receipt for Recycle Cannister – It’s mandatory and they make you pay for the canister
• Receipt for Salad Works – lunch
• Buddy Tape
• Gauze
• Checkbook
• ATM Withdrawal receipt #2
• Starbucks Coffee Receipt
• ATM withdrawal receipt #3 (a month old)
• Receipt for a haircut I got in NYC while there on business.  Broken finger means no washing of hair that week!
• Receipt for Doctor’s visit to have him look at XRAY and say, “yep – still broken”
• Glasses and glass case
• 1 packet of Splenda
• Package of Kleenex
• 2 items that women use a certain times during their cycle if you know what I mean
• Used Kleenex (ew)
• Highlighter
• Change purse
• 2 Packets of Advil
• 1 loose Advil,  1 loose Tylenol, 2 loose Excedrin Extra Strength
• 2 hair pins
• 2 earrings
• Target Gift Card ($2.79 remaining)
• Sears Gift Card (don’t have a clue what’s left)
• On the Border Gift Card (don’t have a clue what’s left)
• Banana Republic Gift Card ($9.00 remaining)
• 3 Target coupons for free Starbucks Coffee)
• Stack of my husband’s business cards
• Berlioz Score (Damnation of Faust) for Philadelphia Singers Concert
• Philly Pops Song book
• Wallet (and what’s in that is a whole other post

Why I like Behind the Scenes – Day 7 of the Road Trip

Today, we had a great task from 31 days to building a better blog about linking to other posts/blogs that we find to be helpful.  See how I already did that here? 

The types of blogs that I gravitate to are the behind the scenes blogs that take you a bit of a different look at the performer while still immersing you in the art form.   One particular blog from a bassist in an orchestra that I’ve sung with, does this in his Bass Blog.   He has a way of showing you the everyday but in a way that you come away learning something of interest.  In my research, I am surprised to find out that there are either not a lot of singer blogs out there along the same vein or I’m just not aware if them yet.  If you know of any, please let me know. 

Maren is one of the few singer bloggers that I read on a regular basis and is also in my blog roll.  I just finished listening to a great podcastshe posted of her work with the truly extraordinary group, the Crossing.

In other news, I start a series of rehearsals that have me working on three concerts simultaneously.    At the same time, I am working on an important audition opportunity that presented itself suddenly!  Isn’t that always the way?