Holding workshops at voice conference in Prague!

Hello Singers!

We still haven't told you about the exciting trip to Prague we made recently, but here it comes! The Pan-European Voice Conference (PEVOC) is a big conference for voice professionals from all over the world and is arranged every other year. This year it was held in beautiful Prague and the two of us attended as both participants and presenting workshops.

The subject of Annika's workshop was Complete Vocal Technique - Effective and healthy practice methods for singers - and combined the learning and training methods from CVT as well as from the field of Psychology (especially Sports Psychology). Ville presented on Artistry (- What is it and how to teach it?) and his workshop also included a group assignment and a collective discussion of the subject.

We were delighted that our workshops and themes attracted such interest and audience and inspired many interesting discussions and new acquaintances.

Annika's workshop at PEVOC about CVT and Sports Psychology

The program of the conference was full of interesting subjects and presentations. Apart from keynote lectures there were about six different subjects overlapping all the time so it was often hard to decide where to go and what to listen to. Some highlights for us were Ingo Titze's keynote, Cathrine Sadolin and Julian McGlashan's CVT related presentations and research on high soprano flageolet made in the Freiburg Musicians Institute medicine lab.

The wonderful thing about these conferences is that it brings together people who share the same passion for human voice even if they come from very different backgrounds. So singing teachers, voice doctors, and all different kind of scientists gather and share their ideas. We believe that it is essential to alter yourself to new thoughts and points of view, especially those contradicting with your own thinking. These collisions will produce new, improved thinking.

Ville's workshop about Artistry - what is it and how to teach it

The schedule was tight but thankfully there were also evening activities arranged (like dinners :) )so we got the chance to get acquainted with other participants.

Next Pevoc will be arranged in Florence, Italy in 2015. We're already looking forward to it!

Ville & Annika

Finish participants gather for a group photo.
(Ville in the top row!)

Annika holding a CVT workshop at Pevoc.
People gather along the walls as the seats are full. 

Voice Researcher Johan Sundberg with Annika & Ville. 

Ville with Camilla and Cathrine from CVI

Annika with Cathrine and Kristoffer from CVI

Researching, relaxing and raving in Copenhagen

IMPROVING CVT... FOR EVERYONE'S SAKE

One product of all the discussing and experimenting we have done together are some new theories we have developed about vocal technique. After trying out our theories in numerous ways the past few years we finally decided to present them to Cathrine Sadolin at CVI. 

Thankfully she is a very openminded and curious person who constantly wants to develop her methods. The point of view she presents is that it is a great asset that there are different approches to voice pedagogy but that there shouldn't be different "camps". There is no point in debating about the credibility of techniques that are helpful for some people, as they are obviously working and have an important place in voice pedagody. Instead of conflicting about which method is the best, all singers and teachers should come together as a community and share knowledge and exchange experiences. That is the vision she has for CVI in Copenhagen and that is becoming more true for each day. Any knowledge or experience that can improve the pedagogy should naturally be utilized. And so CVT is always developing.

Ville and Annika at CVI, Copenhagen

This is one of several things about Cathrine's way of working that attracted us to CVI from the very start. So when we came with our ideas Cathrine was all ears. Earlier this fall we traveled to CVI and had a good day together with Cathrine describing, demonstrating and trying out our theory. Some of this has now already been integrated in some updates of CVT that was presented at the teachers seminar in November 2012 and is also being further researched already.

Annika, Camilla, Cathrine and Julian in deep thoughts..

Cathrine has an ongoing cooperation with the ENT doctor Julian McGlashan whom she has done several studies together with. You can view some of their results at Youtube.

Now they are making a new study together covering the four vocal modes and their nuances and we were invited to take part. Not only are we thrilled about having this honor, we also use our trips to Copenhagen as a chance to work together as we do live far apart. 

SERIOUS AND SILLY ABILITIES

Electroglottogram ready and tightly
strapped around the neck..

We arrived in Copenhagen on Thursday to check in to the hotel, made a quick visit to CVI and spent the rest of the day working and finally just relaxing.

Friday morning we had an hour each with the study team that analysed a long list of sounds we made by using several methods simultaneously; stroboscopy, fiberscope, electroglottogram...

It was really interesting to see what was happening and to compare it to our theories. Without revealing anything until the results have been analyzed we can say so much that much of what we thought seemed to be correct! We are so excited about this and can't wait to tell you more, but will hold our horses :).

Ville with Julian's stroboscope in action and Cathrine deeply engaged in the drama. 

Now one may think that the two of us do nothing else but working, analyzing and being dead serious.. But that is not completely the truth :)

After being very focused on the research and summing it up with discussions over coffee, tea and dinner with friends.. we actually spent the rest of the night having fun at a …karaoke bar!

We might want to add that our many singing performances there had very little to do with analysing vocal techinque but still very much to do with having fun :)

SINGSTAR TRICKS!

Obviously we didn't wake up early the next day.. but still managed to get ourselves together to do some work also Saturday. We then spent the evening with good friends over dinner and playing Singstar till the morning :) Again we put away our Teachers' hats as Singstar is really a game having very little to do with singing despite the name of it… and we had so much fun. Look at the photo of Ville below and you'll get the picture :)

For those of you who would like to have tricks for winning Singstar BTW… we can reveal some :) To have a chance at this game you actually need to put aside most things you learned about singing since it will probably give you bad points in this case..!

We have discovered the following tricks:

- Sing ahead in time (a lot!)

- Don't use the lyrics, just go "ah, uh, oh, bla bla.. "

- Sing legato (forget the rhythm and slide from note to note)

- Change octave if you wish

- Actually, even whistle instead if you want to!

:) Good luck!

Sunday we were obviously exhausted and after a long weekend of work and hard fun.. it was time to go home again for a few days off to build up energy to work again. 

All in all it was a terrific trip with happy memories, some new inspiring plans and a lot of exciting results from the research to look forward too. We need to be patient though. The results of the study will probably not be ready until about a year from now..  But we won't wait that long to visit Copenhagen again however. The next time will probably be in March when the next update seminar for Authorized CVT Teachers takes place at Complete Vocal Institute. We are excited to see what adventures this lovely city holds for us then.

- Annika & Ville

Copenhagen in a Christmas gown

Best Teahouse in Copenhagen http://singtehus.dk/

Shapes for the visual singers

Essential for successful learning is the teacher's ability to adjust the pedagogy to the person being taught. This isn't anything new. People are different and prefer different ways of learning and different ways of interacting.

Before I encountered CVT - which thankfully acknowledges individual differences as a core part of the pedagogy - I have done a great deal of studying on personal development. There are several different methods and models for altering pedagogy according to learning styles, as well as critic to the whole idea of it. But there is perhaps no need to necessarily believe in or practice any specific theory or model at all, as long as you keep your eyes open to the fact that people work differently and that different problems may need different solutions. It only takes some sober thinking to realise that if you are trying to teach or learn something and it's not working, it's crucial to try something else!

In vocal training, some singers learn well by copying sound examples, which is one good reason for the common myth that some people seem "gifted" with a good singing voice. They have simply done a lot of copying! Music sung by people in their environment or perhaps played on the radio. Auditive singers are also the reason to why an important part of being an Authorized CVT-teacher is to be able to demonstrate all sounds.

But then again, the sound example may help the auditive singer a bit, but perhaps not give the whole solution. Or another singer might need something completely different. Maybe they will find anatomical explanations helpful or maybe they find their way through a metaphorical inner visualisation.
Some will want to have hands on and feel what they are doing while others will want to see illustrations and diagrams of what to do. To be able to teach the singer what they want, it's crucial to be able to meet these needs. And if one trick doesn't work, it's time to pick up the next.

In my teaching I often find great use of shapes. Showing a shape representing the sound can help many singers (obviously not all), to actually produce the sound. For some, that may be about inner visualisation and for some about anatomy. Surprisingly, the fictive shapes that happen to be most efficient in visualizing sound, are quite similar to what is actually going on anatomically!

Mostly I show the shapes with my hands or sometimes I draw them on the board. But today I have tried to illustrate some of the shapes I often use in print. If you find them useful please let us know! Feel welcome to share too (- and we are happy for a link back here if so). Perhaps you have other shapes or tricks that work well for you, please share!

- Annika 

Mind maps, teaching artistry and Björk

Hi everyone, it's Ville this time. As me and Annika wrote before we were recently in Copenhagen discussing technique, singing and working on our future plans. Often when we meet we end up talking so much that we forget to write anything down. This time we tried to avoid some of that by making a mind map of all the things we were discussing. It worked surprisingly well. I was forced to do a lot of mind maps at school when I was around 10 years old and then I didn't like it all. Now it seemed to work out much better. I decided to try using it also for something else.

This autumn I returned to my master's studies at the Sibelius Academy. I'm doing it part time, almost like a hobby, to keep it fun. Anyway, I made a mind map to help me structuring  the theme of my thesis. I don't know if I found out what I wanted but realised something else. I wrote down all kinds of possible things that could be part of singer's artistry or being a singer. Then I looked at the mind map and noticed how very little part is actually being taught at the singing lessons in different institutions!

Many singing teachers teach style - what is right phrasing and sound for certain genres and styles - and/or technique - how to produce wanted sounds in a healthy way. It's easy to notice that a lot of things are missing already within these subjects. Only certain styles and techniques are usually taught as a part of the curriculum. Rock has inspired so many interesting singing styles and techniques that it doesn't seem right to concentrate only on few genres within it, usually the ones with not so "rough" singing. To me, it seems that the curriculum even on a university level is based on a quite narrow image of what singer can be as an artist. This image is largely defined by classical tradition and music business.

So what other subjects could be covered? One quite obvious and easy is technology, all kinds of learning aids like recording audio and video, DAWs, microphones and their differences, voice pedals and effects etc. Also, if singer would like to concentrate more on recording there are many areas to cover like studio technology, recording techniques and auditive analysis. Many teachers teach these subjects but they are not all part of the curriculum, at least in Finland. There's also a lot of things in the area of performance that could help singer to grow as an artist, like movement and dance, communication with audience, trying out different stages and stagings.

I had some more subjects on my list but in my opinion one of the most important things for singing and voice teachers is to encourage critical thinking towards prevalent concepts of being a singer. I believe that this together with more equality of all genres and styles would make it easier for singers to find their place as vocal artists. Now there is so much competition for so few different ways of being a singer that many get frustrated in trying to fit into a certain mold. It is a challenge for all singers, also those already working professionally to redefine singer's artistry - or at least making it more diverse.

I'll end with what I think is a great example of truly innovative artist, both vocally and musically. She has constantly moved on but never lost her integrity as an artist. I saw her concert in Helsinki this summer and her music and performance really moved me, in all ways.


-Ville

Proud nerds and Lara Fabian

I spent my first years in school in the US where I grew up. The attitudes I experienced there were quite different from what I encountered when moving to Sweden years later.

At my American schools, the best students were rewarded and being an ambitious and nice student (yes it was even OK to give the teacher an apple!) was the aim. Whether or not it is good to reward the best students may be a political and completely other discussion… however since I did good I was personally happy that it was appreciated.

When my family and I moved to Sweden I soon had to readjust. Knowing or saying too much was not a good thing anymore. Students with most problems were the ones getting most attention and were put in special groups getting more time and teachers. Since I already had learnt English, my lessons of it were spent alone reading a book of choice with no guidance or futher teaching. Soon my fluent language stagnated at the level of a 10-year-old's (my age when we moved). My classmates were competing in being the coolest - which meant daring to speak up against a teacher, making a mess and to not do the homework. Being ambitious or - beware - even be nice to the teacher.. was not even thinkable. 

Shortly, being a nerd was not cool. 

Imagine how glad I was to later meet Cathrine Sadolin whom already during the first CVT-seminars I attended, began to proudly title herself and our group as ..nerds!

Finally! it was rewarded again to be a person who actually cares - who wants to find out more and go deeper, question things, develop themselves and the work they do, to revisit one's knowledge and never stop learning. 

But even at the best, most loving and accepting place as CVI.. there is just that much the general crowd can bear with the worst nerds. After a full day of intensive studying, practicing and discussing at school, followed by more pondering during evening dinners and at hotel rooms.. and when everyone's eyes were struggling to keep awake…. mine were still wide open and excited about still one more idea about vocal technique.  

When everyone had fallen asleep, left the room or even the country, there was only one person whose attention I still had and - who continuously inspired me with feedback and own ideas. As you might already have guessed…  that was Ville. 

And so we found a great source of knowledge, common interests and inspiration in each other. 

This blog is one of several things it lead to and, expect much more. We have been making plans! We are just back from Copenhagen where we spent three whole days with endless talking, planning and studying with no one else around to get tired of us :)

Another friend of mine, who is very dear to me, has many amazing qualities. She is goodhearted, intelligent, loving, funny, quick and has the energy of a hurricane. However she is not a nerd and she never could understand how me and Ville seemed to be able to go on forever talking about the same subject (vocal technique), over and over again!

In a moment of frustration she once outbursted in the humoristic kind of way only she can: 

"I am leaving now cause I know what's gonna happen anyway. Wherever the two of you start, it always ends with Lara Fabian!"  ... :)

And that is partly true. Lara Fabian's singing technique is one of many things we love to discuss. If you too would like to know more about the voice and all it can express, stay with us and join our nerdy discussions! 

- Annika