I want to share a song that really moved me. Obviously I listen to a lot of music and really enjoy it but it doesn't happen so often that I get this captivated by something. But James Blake's new single Retrograde does it for me.
Some people don't like to discuss or analyse music that's important for them, maybe in fear of losing some of the mystery or magic of it. But I don't mind and I thought there's something in James Blake's vocal performance we can learn from.
One interesting thing is that one of the hooks of this song is a part around 1:28 where James Blake sings a phrase in the lower register. Since most of the song is sung higher and softer it stands out. It's a good reminder that in order to make a dynamic vocal performance you don't always need to belt out high notes. Also, if you feel like you're lacking dynamics in your expression I feel it's often better to widen the dynamic range towards softer than louder volume. More dynamics doesn't necessary have to mean more volume.
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.
I'm picking up where I left last with my technology and teaching singing subject. Last time I wrote about DropVox. This time I'm gonna write about a couple of quick and easy iOS apps.
QuickVoice is basically like the voice recorder app that comes with iOS. However, it's much nicer to use because all the functions are on one page. It's also free so there's no reason not to get it. I often urge my students to get this app because it's so quick to record a phrase, an exercise and then listen back to it. It helps to spot the problems and also what is already working. Also, it can help shifting the focus from listening to feeling because you know that you'll be able to listen to what you did later. Of course, we often need some time to get used to recording ourselves.
Video Camera
So how can we use the iOS camera? Recording video is often used to analyse performance and working with it. This is a great use provided that you don't get too critical towards everything you do. I use video recorder also when working with technique. Basically it works like a mirror. Even with mirror I sometimes find some singers looking elsewhere than they should. This is natural because there's so many things to focus on. So recording an exercise can help making it more simple. Video is a great tool when working with support, for instance. You see the movement of the abdomen or the lack of it.
Complete Vocal Technique makes it clear that anyone can sing in any way. However, that doesn't mean everyone wants to sing in every way.
The choices you make - what sounds you chose to do, and, what sounds you chose not to do - is part of the building of your own unique sound. That is simply part of what makes you You.
Every now and then a singer gets stuck when approaching a new way to sing a song, despite that they seem to have everything they need to do it. A clear wish has been expressed for how to sing the song, they have the knowledge of what techniques can take them there and the tools for how to do it. Still they can't do it.
This is a good time to go a bit deeper into the actually wish, to see if it really is what they think it is…
Let's take an example: The song "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", sung by Jennifer Hudson. Let's say a singer wishes to sing it exactly like she does, or at least with similar energy and expression.
The recipe for this is, simply put; a good amount of volume, which means we will be spending a lot of time in the full metal modes. Then put in some Neutral and Curbing here and there, a lot of twang and some dips into darker sound color to even more increase the great dynamics of the song, a good deal of vocal runs, some splashes of growl (vocal effect) and basically there you have it…
Anyone can do this if they know how to. But there is something more to it at a deeper level.
Who sings like this? What kind of character would chose to express themselves in this way? Of course that is a question that can be answered different ways depending on the person, but to simplify it a bit I would say; someone who is really eager to say something and to say it loud! The song is basically a 5 minute scolding. Imagine a long period of stong feelings and effort and build it up to a climax when you are at the top of frustration and everything basically explodes out of you. 5 minutes of screaming, yelling, begging, whining, sobbing…
It is a great, powerful song and has given joy to many, many listeners. And this is what it is, a 5 minute loud explosion of feelings.
Then take a singer who never speaks louder than a soft stroke. Who prefers to sing gently, simply and quietly. Now they are in my studio wishing to sing like Jennifer Hudson. Perhaps because they love it and really long to burst out into that kind of expression. Perhaps because they need to learn how to do it cause they got a job where they're gonna perform it like this.. Or perhaps because someone else told them it would be better if they sang like this. Maybe they just have some idea about that this would be good to do, but still, they really don't feel like doing it.. It can be they are not really comfortable with expressing themselves this way because it's just very far away from their own personality. Maybe they want to change both their personality and how they sing, or maybe they actually don't. Being loud is great, but being gentle is also great. It's really just a matter of taste and when a singer is expressing themselves, it is about THEIR taste, no one elses.
Remember, it is possible, if you really want it. But the question to ask here is, do you REALLY want to sing like this? Are you up for it? Because to sing this song like Jennifer Hudson sings it means to bring out that kind of character. It takes a lot of energy and you need to be ready to give that energy. To be loud, to be angry, to take a lot of space and to not doubt that it is ok to do it.
When that question is asked and the answer is yes, we are ready to get to work!
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!
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!
