WorkSingWork

There's a difference between who we are and what we do Often, when we turn something we love (singing) into a career pursuit, the thing we love becomes a grind.  Practice becomes the biggest/weightiest thing on a list of chores AND we no longer view the daily pursuit of a career as a thing that we can enjoy, or that can bring us personal reward.  I have two initial thought prompts on this. 1. As long as we remain curious about what we're doing, we can remain engaged by it and it's personally rewarding.  If we only approach our practice as a check-list, and not as a jumping off point for continued exploration that's where stagnancy can set in.  2.  There are things other than music which can bring us personal reward and keep us engaged-- with others and with the world around us.  I can't give music the burden of being my only source of inspiration-- but often, when I allow myself to pursue other hobbies or interests, they circle their way back to my music practice an

Sometimes I find it useful to have one prompt that I share with all of my students over the course of my teaching for the week. This can help me stay faithful to the "Big Picture" part of mentorship. These "Prompts of the Week" or "POW"s can be about consistency, mindset, goal setting, or anything about the bigger picture of being an artist. I hope over time to build a database of over 200 prompts to share, along with some studio responses.   POW 1: What is the function of your voice lessons? How is our time together going to serve you in the short and long term.   Reflections: In the end, I want the singers that I work with to feel confidently independent. It's no good going for a drive if you're tethered to your mechanic. I want to help you to understand how your voice functiions so that if something goes wrong when you're out on the road you can fix it yourself and keep on singing. Of course I am here for any tuneups and checkins and

Reading about sports sleep coach Nick Littlehales, and how he optimizes sleep for elite athletes. This man has COUNTLESS articles on optimizing your sleep for peak performance.  Part of learning to optimize your singing involves optimizing your health and your body.  I have ALWAYS been a good sleeper-- excepting those times in which I had to subvert my naturally fantastic sleep habits to keep other humans alive.  If you struggle with sleep-- check out his blog linked above.  Some habits of successful sleepers: 1. Keep your bedroom free from clutter and from work.  This can be hard to do if you have space limitations, (for instance if you're in a dorm).  But you can find ways to keep things compartmentalized.  Put your laptop in a drawer so that it's not looking at you with that guilt-inducing look.  2. Stop looking at screens ! Experts suggest that you stop looking at "blue screens" two hours before sleep. 3. Develop a routine. This can be a simple way to cu