Too often we perceive task that lie before as work instead of play. Or, rather, we fail to see the playfulness involved in good ol' fashioned hard work.
Exercise is work
Cooking is work
Meditation is work
Sex is work
Yep that's right, all the things we do outside of work become work!
And, of course, work is just plain work.
For those of us who sing, even breathing becomes work!
Oh, my goodness, I have been working and working and working my whole life, but it is time for a change.
This week I'm going to commit to making every aspect of my life a form of play.--Pure chocolate ice cream for the entire week. Not a mix of work and play; not a dab of some realm outside either work or play, into other dabs and dimensions outside the world of describability. Nope.
Just play.
Chocolate week.
Today I will start with voice--playing with the colors afforded by the words, and by varying rhythmic styles.--Why sing "Amarilli" in a smooth veluptuous 2/4 when it can also be sung in a nice bright coloratura-style 4/4 as well.--For God's sake, live a little with the music. Have fun, dear.
Oh, my--am I talking to myself?---Oh, well, two selves are more fun for conversation!
=) =P ......?
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Commitment
I seem to be one of those who likes to sample just about every flavor of ice cream at the Baskin Robbins. --Some of you creative types out there, I'm sure, can relate.--Wouldn't it be nice, though, to commit to chocolate ice cream?--To decide that chocolate is indeed your favorite, and darnit you're just going to stick with it.
Of course, there is always a thresh-hold point, that point at which your stomach will turn and your face turn green, or chocolate brown, if you have to take one more bite of the chosen flavor.--- Time to try something different, oh, butterscotch perhaps, just to take a break and allow one's desire for chocolate to resurface in due time.
Maybe it's o.k. to have two flavors. But certainly not three or four or five, or, in my case, Lord help me, ten different favorites all swirling in the mix like a flavorless dish. How uninviting really.
--I had a boyfriend, from Appalachia, Bruce was his name, who liked to stack mashed potatoes and beats along with a few bits of hamburger on top of his green salad; oh and don't forget the ranch dressing, that was gluey swirl, yum. ..lots of incongruent parts mixed in together and consumed all at once. --Well that may be yummy to some Appalachian boys around town... I must confess I myself come from the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia.
But I am taking a new turn. Green Salads on the T and S days. Chocolate ice cream on the others. And there will be no ice cream in my salad.
So there I have made a commitment.--Let's see if I can hold myself to it.
Of course, there is always a thresh-hold point, that point at which your stomach will turn and your face turn green, or chocolate brown, if you have to take one more bite of the chosen flavor.--- Time to try something different, oh, butterscotch perhaps, just to take a break and allow one's desire for chocolate to resurface in due time.
Maybe it's o.k. to have two flavors. But certainly not three or four or five, or, in my case, Lord help me, ten different favorites all swirling in the mix like a flavorless dish. How uninviting really.
--I had a boyfriend, from Appalachia, Bruce was his name, who liked to stack mashed potatoes and beats along with a few bits of hamburger on top of his green salad; oh and don't forget the ranch dressing, that was gluey swirl, yum. ..lots of incongruent parts mixed in together and consumed all at once. --Well that may be yummy to some Appalachian boys around town... I must confess I myself come from the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia.
But I am taking a new turn. Green Salads on the T and S days. Chocolate ice cream on the others. And there will be no ice cream in my salad.
So there I have made a commitment.--Let's see if I can hold myself to it.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
The Sex of Vocal Pedagogy
Sex is about pairs, no?
Pairs of people and pairs of parts.
Yet often we want to talk about the two essential parts:
Thus God made man and woman, so that they.....
But of course we know there are many parts
And many many ways to pair
So too goes with voice, it seems
with the five essential vowels ah, eh, ee, oh, oo
Hmm...what are the five essential parts
of the human body, when engaged in the song of love-making
Still digressing
always digressing
So when the ah pairs with eh, in the speaking voice
ah is on the bottom (pitch-wise) and eh is on the top
Eh is the brighter of the two, ugh the analogy is troubling there
On the other hand the ah is more full and luscious, with greater potential--so there...
We can always add in the "ee", just to spice things up a little
This vowel is always versatile, which makes the experiencing inviting--if not riveting
Pair the "ee" with the "eh" and you get narrow phonation, even slightly nasal
Isn't it fun to see just how narrowly you can set the orifice--nasal is nasty and nice
Pairing does wonders
for paradox
Pair the "ee" with the "ah" and you get a full and sensual sound
Like chocolate, swirling chocolate, along the lips of Juan Pedro (who is Juan Pedro, oh my)
Such a pairing can be dangerous
for a tenor on the trapeze
Tiptoeing as a tightwire act
with nastly nasal F#'s to spin
into
infinity
Pairs of people and pairs of parts.
Yet often we want to talk about the two essential parts:
Thus God made man and woman, so that they.....
But of course we know there are many parts
And many many ways to pair
So too goes with voice, it seems
with the five essential vowels ah, eh, ee, oh, oo
Hmm...what are the five essential parts
of the human body, when engaged in the song of love-making
Still digressing
always digressing
So when the ah pairs with eh, in the speaking voice
ah is on the bottom (pitch-wise) and eh is on the top
Eh is the brighter of the two, ugh the analogy is troubling there
On the other hand the ah is more full and luscious, with greater potential--so there...
We can always add in the "ee", just to spice things up a little
This vowel is always versatile, which makes the experiencing inviting--if not riveting
Pair the "ee" with the "eh" and you get narrow phonation, even slightly nasal
Isn't it fun to see just how narrowly you can set the orifice--nasal is nasty and nice
Pairing does wonders
for paradox
Pair the "ee" with the "ah" and you get a full and sensual sound
Like chocolate, swirling chocolate, along the lips of Juan Pedro (who is Juan Pedro, oh my)
Such a pairing can be dangerous
for a tenor on the trapeze
Tiptoeing as a tightwire act
with nastly nasal F#'s to spin
into
infinity
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Spirituality, Absence, and Imagination
O.k. guys, maybe you're wondering how these things somehow connect in a coherent way. Well, I suppose the answer to that will vary from person to person, but for me it is straightforward: it takes a lot of imagination for me to put myself in a completely absent space, where I can be present with another individual on his/her own terms.
Yep that's me--somehow always wanting to insert my creative and/or opinionated self into a conversation. Wanting to make myself present in a way that is not in any way indicative of actually being present with another individual. Isn't it ironic, really--that being fully present with someone requires oneself to suspend self, as it were--to be absent, in a sense.
This all came to me today, as I was reading a blog from a fellow whose life is devoted to spirituality. Way cool, huh. Maybe I'm finding myself currently suspended between my creative self--which seems to be an essential part of who I am--and my spiritual self, which would release me from the notion of an essence altogether, beyond of course, spirituality itself.
Yet doing this Does take imagination, no? So therein seems to lie the paradox, the very paradox that will allow me the luxury of staying suspended, living inside both selves simultaneously.
None of this may make any sense. But oh well, it feels good to simply write.--Blogs are a blessing.
=)
Yep that's me--somehow always wanting to insert my creative and/or opinionated self into a conversation. Wanting to make myself present in a way that is not in any way indicative of actually being present with another individual. Isn't it ironic, really--that being fully present with someone requires oneself to suspend self, as it were--to be absent, in a sense.
This all came to me today, as I was reading a blog from a fellow whose life is devoted to spirituality. Way cool, huh. Maybe I'm finding myself currently suspended between my creative self--which seems to be an essential part of who I am--and my spiritual self, which would release me from the notion of an essence altogether, beyond of course, spirituality itself.
Yet doing this Does take imagination, no? So therein seems to lie the paradox, the very paradox that will allow me the luxury of staying suspended, living inside both selves simultaneously.
None of this may make any sense. But oh well, it feels good to simply write.--Blogs are a blessing.
=)
Monday, March 10, 2008
Roller Travelling Virgin
That would not be describing me--no. Though it seemed that way when I hopped onto the rink for the first time in nearly a decade. Imagine hydroplaning on a two inch sheet of Louisiana rain. A treacherous Southern highway claiming an unsuspecting victim. That's what it felt like yesterday as I skidded across the rink here in suburban Alabama. The children drivers, oblivious to the awkward traveller careening across their paths. They just mosied on, enjoying a sun-shiny day. Clear road. Perfect traction.---Somehow I'd been precipitated into a narrative that only a middle aged man could perceive.
That leads us to the other man on the highway, Hussein, the Travelling Virgin. Never been in a pair of wheels, not his entire life. Well, with a name like Hussein, you know those folks in the Middle East don't even have paved roads, much less padded rinks.--(I wish I were being entirely ironic, but of course in Palestine, that's what the Israelis have done. Created an apartheid whereby only the nationals drive on paved road, with separate identifiable license plates. If only Americans weren't duped by the uninformed media.)
How I'm pulled into digressing!--So back to the Virgin.--Well, there are advantages to being one you know. Especially if you're middle-aged. Because by then, you know to play it careful. So instead of barreling onto the highway, he kept to the side of the road. Holding onto the siderails as he nudged his way from bend to bend.
By the end of the hour he had made his way around the rink, a full circle!--With a clear triumph at hand, we turned in the blades and set our calendars for a future attempt. Some time toward the end of March.--Anyone want to join...the highway is awaitin'!
That leads us to the other man on the highway, Hussein, the Travelling Virgin. Never been in a pair of wheels, not his entire life. Well, with a name like Hussein, you know those folks in the Middle East don't even have paved roads, much less padded rinks.--(I wish I were being entirely ironic, but of course in Palestine, that's what the Israelis have done. Created an apartheid whereby only the nationals drive on paved road, with separate identifiable license plates. If only Americans weren't duped by the uninformed media.)
How I'm pulled into digressing!--So back to the Virgin.--Well, there are advantages to being one you know. Especially if you're middle-aged. Because by then, you know to play it careful. So instead of barreling onto the highway, he kept to the side of the road. Holding onto the siderails as he nudged his way from bend to bend.
By the end of the hour he had made his way around the rink, a full circle!--With a clear triumph at hand, we turned in the blades and set our calendars for a future attempt. Some time toward the end of March.--Anyone want to join...the highway is awaitin'!
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Paradox Box: Redux
I guess I should hasten to add that the voice is often still
somehow inward and outward at the same time:
a paradox of a different kind.
What is more, the world of consonants adds a whole new dimension:
Some tend to naturally pair with round vowels, others with bright ones;
when they're added into the mix, it's more than possible to
compress a round vowel on the way down
or a bright vowel on the way up:
assuming the phrase itself is not completely still to begin with....
Ah, the world of voice and context....hmmm.....
somehow inward and outward at the same time:
a paradox of a different kind.
What is more, the world of consonants adds a whole new dimension:
Some tend to naturally pair with round vowels, others with bright ones;
when they're added into the mix, it's more than possible to
compress a round vowel on the way down
or a bright vowel on the way up:
assuming the phrase itself is not completely still to begin with....
Ah, the world of voice and context....hmmm.....
The Paradox Box: Art of Voice
O.k. guys, gals, who like to sing or read about singing,
this post is for you,
and it will all begin with what I call the paradox box: the voice
which seems to begin with the vowel and end with the breath.
Only more complex: the way the vowel manifests itself in the breath depends on
which vowels you're talking about and whether the musical line
is ascending or descending:
The round vowels, it would seem
tend to compress on the way up
and expand on the way down
while the bright vowels
operate in reversal:
therein lies the paradox.
In the ideal scenario compressions are lateral
this seems to be imperative in the tenor voice
though I've talked to sopranos, whose breath connection is less intense
sensing it vertically.
For ya'll singers out there:
does this description "resonate" with you?
this post is for you,
and it will all begin with what I call the paradox box: the voice
which seems to begin with the vowel and end with the breath.
Only more complex: the way the vowel manifests itself in the breath depends on
which vowels you're talking about and whether the musical line
is ascending or descending:
The round vowels, it would seem
tend to compress on the way up
and expand on the way down
while the bright vowels
operate in reversal:
therein lies the paradox.
In the ideal scenario compressions are lateral
this seems to be imperative in the tenor voice
though I've talked to sopranos, whose breath connection is less intense
sensing it vertically.
For ya'll singers out there:
does this description "resonate" with you?
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