Last Day of Practicum

Today was my last day of practicum. I've been thinking about my whole practicum ever since I got home. It was an absolutely amazing experience. My Associate Teacher was more amazing than I could have ever imagined and I was at an awesome school. I was completely spoiled by both of these. Every time I go on Facebook I read of the problems one or another of my colleagues is having at their school, I didn't have any problems.

In regards to my singing project, I also got a lot out of my practicum. I taught grade two to grade eight music. The grade twos do singing, the grade threes and fours do singing and recorder, and the the fives to eights do band instruments. I saw an awesome overview of the process John (my associate teacher) uses to create the really amazing singing found in the grade fours. Getting students, sitting up straight, using good posture (sitting on the front edge of the chair, with their feet flat on the floor and their backs straight), and singing in their head voices. The hardest part of this is the head voice, a large part of achieving which is the warmup. In addition to the warmup done every day in class (which I intend to post on here, eventually), I copied John's vocal resource binder, which had it's own section just on different vocal warmups, as well as many other awesome resources.

Between the advances I've made in my own singing, and the experience of having taught vocal classes, and all the resources I have, I now have very little anxiety about teaching vocal music. That being said, this project is definitely not done. It will never be done, but realistically it will eventually fall into the background just as all the other musical skills I've worked on have. I don't have time to practice all the instruments I play regularly, this is just a fact of life. But for now, singing is still in the foreground. The better I am as a singer, the better I will be as a music teacher, especially in the junior division where vocal music is almost a guarantee. My focus right now (outside of the approximately 50 pages of assignments I have to write in the next three weeks), is to start accomplishing some of the goals I laid down in my initial blog post.

Thanks for reading,
Trevor

The Purpose of the Exercise

The whole exercise of becoming a better singer was for purpose of being a better music teacher. I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and work on singing lately. Well not in the way I envisioned this process taking place. I've been in my practicum. But, the whole practicum experience is definitely helping me a lot. Obviously for teaching, but also in my singing journey. I've been doing singing with about half of the classes I teach and it's really helping my singing out. Especially the head voice. My tone, tuning, range and head voice have all improved immensely from using them teaching classes. Yesterday I taught three songs by rote to a grade 3 class for their holiday concert. I had no problem singing in my head voice (to model singing in head voice for the students), and that whole class went really well. Although I haven't had time to work on the rep I've chosen to deal with, my singing is improving immensely and it's working great for the situation that I actually wanted to improve my singing for.

In other news, my practicum is also going really well. I do not want to leave my school at all and go back to classes. I'm loving teaching and my students as well.

Thanks for reading,
Trevor

Practical and Successful Application

Yesterday was an interesting day. I taught a grade four class, which started out with a vocal warm up. It went pretty well, no major problems. I pulled out some falsetto to sing in their range and it worked great. I haven’t had a lot of time to practice lately due to a lot of school work, but I will definitely be making time this afternoon. I will be upset if any of my progress regresses.
Thanks,
Trevor

First lesson

“The definition of a good teacher is one who makes their students want to learn.” This is especially true for music teachers. I have no idea how Shannon got my head voice to start working. I somehow was having some weird problem getting it to work, and then all of a sudden, somehow, it was just working and I added almost a 10th to my range. It was huge, it was ridiculous, it was awesome. I don’t think she intended to save the fireworks (making me blow myself away with my own falsetto) for the end, but the last 10ish minutes where I sang higher than I thought I would ever be able to, was pretty amazing.

The whole lesson was pretty amazing actually. I had gotten a voice lesson from Shannon about two years ago; most of the information had been forgotten, but some had been assimilated. For example, I remembered not to wrinkle your face, but I couldn’t remember why. Anyway, we basically recovered all that material, talked about what’s happening in your body with different things and then talked about falsetto. I also recorded the lesson, which means I’ll always have all the info.

Some points to note from the lesson:

- Falsetto and head voice are NOT the same thing. For now I’m using the term interchangeably (as most people do). This is going to be my first research topic: finding out the difference, finding out what I’m doing now, and hopefully becoming able to do the other as well.

- I had some friends who were classical vocalists, and they always said about how alcohol could ruin your voice. I know it can really lower your voice (I totally went home and nailed an Eb that was over an octave below the bass clef on Thursday night). Anyway, the big thing that alcohol does to hurt your voice is dehydrating you. Your vocal folds are in your trachea and pouring water down your esophagus does not hydrate them. You must keep your body hydrated. Ergo, the dehydrating effects of alcohol are the big problem with alcohol (there are other minor ones, but they don’t really apply to me, and definitely won’t apply to my students…). The same goes for anything that dehydrates you. Tons of sugar (which is a problem for me since I drink a lot of iced tea), is just as bad.

- A lot of talk about how the vocal folds work and how to not damage them. A big point was that ROD STEWART is what someone who has damaged their vocal folds sounds like (take that, mom). What a node is, what it does to your folds, etc…

Anyway, it was a great lesson. For now I’ve got lots of stuff to work on. My first priority is really getting all over the falsetto. Bringing the falsetto lower and mixing both head and chest voices to make gradual changes and put in different inflections.
Anyway, thanks for reading
Trevor

Cold is lifting...

Ok, so the cold is pretty much gone, there's still a bit of gruffness in my throat, but for the most part it's gone. I think persistently trying to sing while sick probably prolonged the throat soreness. I'm having my first lesson on Saturday with Shannon (I think I mentioned her before, but just in case: Shannon Kerr, we did undergrad together, she's an awesome singer).

Yesterday I had a small personal victory where I sang some solfege in front of a class (as an example), I picked a range low enough I could handle it and I had the confidence to really belt it out. It was in tune. It had a nice tone (anything that low really booms). A couple people in the class were even like "whoah". So, it may not seem like much, but it was actually a pretty big deal for a guy who is usually too embarrassed to sing in front of people.

Then both this morning and yesterday morning, before class, I grabbed the guitar and sang 1235321 patterns from as low as I could to as high as I could. Yesterday I started at the C below the bass staff, and today I could start at the Bb. Yesterday my range maxed out at middle C, but today the top end stopped at the G in the treble staff. So... quite a range difference in basically 24 hours. 2 octaves, to adding a 6th the next day. As much as probably every guy wants a lower range, a higher range is much more practical. I would guess that there's not a lot of music written lower than my range, from an arranging standpoint, things get really muddy down there. I think a warmup can help with keeping my range bigger, I'll definitely bring this up at my lesson on Saturday. I want to talk about everything at my lesson on Saturday, but I know that time is going to be limited. Range and warmup are probably the two most important topics right now. I hope there's time for falsetto too. Falsetto seems pretty important since my range is so low, and every time I do it, my throat gets really tight and really hurts.
Thanks for reading,
Trevor

"Categories"

Since my cold is hanging on, and I'd really like to be working on this project (and am actually frustrated that I can't), I've decided to put down some thoughts. One thing that I think is important for the sake of gaining knowledge in the full spectrum of singing is making "definitions" between styles and then making a specific attempt at each style. I usually hate creating labels: jazz historians get caught up on the differences between "post bop", "hard bop" and "cool bop". Trust me, Horace Silver and Clifford Brown didn't make a distinction. So I am hesitant to make a label, but I do feel it necessary.

So here are the categories I’ve created for the purpose of this project:

Singer songwriter/vocal and guitar
I’ve decided to make this my base, or my comfort zone. Being a big John Mayer fan is a large factor in this decision, especially since I’ve worked on his music a lot on guitar.. When I started this blog I threw down the names of a bunch of tunes, most of which fall into this category, or I envisioned being able to be adapted into this category. I definitely want to branch out to other styles, but I think this makes sense to be my “home base”. Maybe it just seems less daunting.

Jazz
Definitely an important style to check out. As my undergrad was in jazz, I have a lot of friends who will be able to help me with this. One of the big challenges I’m anticipating with this style is the desire to really go out and not sound like anyone else. With the other styles, assimilation seems desirable to varying degrees; whereas in jazz, “finding your own voice” was always the goal. For the purposes of this project, that seems a bit excessive as it is usually a lifelong process. There will definitely be some discussion of this in lessons.

Western Art Music (Classical)
This is also definitely an important style to explore, especially since I have very little knowledge of it in a vocal context. One friend recommended Bach’s “Bist du bei mir” for me to work on. I found sheet music online in no time (so I’m assuming it’s a common piece), but the music is for soprano (http://artsongcentral.com/wp-content/uploads/ps014.pdf). I’m told that it is commonly transposed and sung by baritones and basses, so I just need to find out what key I should transpose it to. It’s an excellent suggestion given that I (somewhat) speak German. The language in this is much more manageable by me than say, Italian. It seems like a really good starting place. At present, my plan of attack is to get the text and melody down, and then get some lessons to work on the stylistic nuances. I have four recordings right now (three sopranos and I’m not sure whether the fourth recording is a bass or a baritone, but I know it’s in B major). I have the piano part which I will put in MIDI for practice purposes.

Pop/Rock/Blues
Although I was tempted to group Blues with Jazz, I’ve decided to put it with Rock. It definitely could go either place, or be its own group altogether. The big challenge with this category seems to be competing/blending the voice with electric instruments, as is the forte of vocalists of this genre. Although there is a stigma that exists, I will argue forever that Michael Jackson, Elton John, Robert Plant, David Lee Roth and Justin Timberlake are excellent singers. John Mayer sings differently on “Who Did You Think I Was” than he does on “Comfortable”. One technique in specific that I really wish to work on is the growl. It transcends these styles with jazz as well (Ella has an amazing growl, and so does Stevie Ray Vaughn). Every time I try this I massacre my throat, so it will definitely be a lesson topic.

Although I feel it necessary to make categories for the sake of zooming in on technical aspects, there is obviously crossover between all of these styles. The areas that crossover are probably the most important (tuning comes to mind). Something I want to keep in mind throughout this, is that I need to look at what I’m doing both from a close-up lens (getting all the subtle stylistic things) and from a wide-angle lens (more broad aspects such as tuning).
Thanks for reading,
Please feel free to comment,
Trevor

Cold

My cold has continued to get worse since last Saturday, until it's decided to stay the same for the last few days. I a fair bit frustrated as I would really like to be working on singing exercises, but I've definitely found that that makes my throat worse.

I have, however, had an educational week as far as singing goes. Tuesday is my "general music teaching class" where we talked about helping kids match pitches and what different class exercises can help develop. Wednesday in my music teaching class, Sarah Morrison came in as a guest and talked about a ton of different exercises that all sounded useful and as soon as my throat is better I plan on trying a lot of that stuff out.

So for now, I'm waiting impatiently for my throat to get better,
Thanks for reading,
Trevor

Sore Throat

So, since about Tuesday night I've been noticing it harder to sing in my upper range, and my throat getting smaller and smaller. Definitely a question for a lesson is warming up and keeping your throat open. I just woke up with a really sore throat and I think I'm catching a cold. Do singers know four days in advance that they're catching a cold? Part of me thinks it could be the cold air coming in my window last night, I'm assuming that would close up your throat. But I know that being in the cold won't actually give you a cold (contrary to what anyone could ever convince my grandmother). A cold is a virus that you actually are infected with. The term "rhino virus" comes to mind from an episode of House MD. Anyway, I just had a hot shower that helped my throat a bit. I think the next plan of attack is some chicken noodle soup (although it has no scientific basis more reliable than my grandmother's thoughts on "catching" a cold, it does feel good on the throat). I guess this will be a good day to read psych instead of singing scales…
Thanks for reading,
Trevor

The Beginning...

A bit about me and my musical history. I started piano lessons in grade two and hated it. In school I started trombone in grade seven and in grade eight I convinced my mother to let me switch from piano to guitar lessons. In high school I played at many different things inside and outside of school mainly on guitar. At this stage I’d always wished I could sing to have more choice in the material I did and to make different collaborations possible. After high school, I focussed mainly on trombone and composition while in the Jazz Program at the University of Toronto. After university I knew I wanted to become a teacher, but I wanted to take a couple years to do the professional musician thing. So I worked for Carnival Cruise Lines in the showband, I did a bit of studio stuff, I played electric bass on a tour (that ran out of money and ended abruptly), and various other gigs (restaurants, etc). Now I’ve moved back to Toronto for teachers college. I left my trombone at my parent’s house (because I know I would spend too much time practicing it if it was here in TO with me), and I brought my guitar with me.

So, one of my favourite musicians is John Mayer. I have a degree in jazz performance, I’ve worked as a professional musician, I’ve been on tour, I’ve recorded in studios and one of my favourite musicians is John Mayer. A lot of people think he’s just sugar pop. When I first heard John Mayer, I hated his music. “Your Body is a Wonderland” is one of the lamest pieces of music I’ve ever heard (in my opinion). BUT, one of my close friends made me sit down and listen to his other stuff and damn, that boy is heavy. If you’ve never listened to the John Mayer’s music that isn’t on the radio, I personally feel that your time would be well spent doing so. He’s absolutely the best guitarist in pop music today. Possibly the best acoustic guitarist pop music has ever seen. Check out any of the acoustic versions of “Neon”, check out the live album “Try” where he does some great blues stuff with amazing musicians Pino Palladino and Steve Jordan, and to get a broader idea of what he does, check out the live album “Where The Light Is” (which opens with an amazing version of “Neon” (which is on youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_M5cNcRcMk). Just to clarify why “Neon” is so amazing, the low E string on the guitar is tuned all the way down to a low C and actually covers the bass range, there’s a tapping pattern that serves as a drum beat on top of the rest of the guitar part, and John singing. So by himself, he covers four instruments. And it’s also just an amazing piece. Another youtube thing pertaining to John Mayer that I love is a clinic he did at Berklee, the video quality isn’t so hot, but the content quality is amazing. Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDrdXj6pdD4 (there are many parts to this clinic).

So here’s the plan. For my music teachable class at teacher’s college, we have to pick an area of music that we think developing will benefit us as a teacher. As soon as I heard the assignment I was excited and knew exactly what I wanted to do. I’m going to finally focus on singing. It’s one of the skills that I always seem to put off working on. Sight-reading and playing in tune is what pays the bills when you’re working as a musician, but now I finally have a motivation to work on singing.

So, how am I going to work on singing? A lot of people join a choir. I honestly don’t feel I’m at that level yet. Maybe later in the school year, it all depends on the speed of my progress. I have a guitar in my apartment. Right now the plan is to mostly work on singing and accompanying myself on guitar. Guitar is a perfect instrument for providing chordal accompaniment and it takes up way less space in my small apartment than a piano. One of my friends from undergrad, Shannon Kerr, is an amazing vocalist and I got a lesson with her a couple years ago, more lessons is definitely a part of the plan. I’ve already spent some time playing scales on the guitar and matching the pitches with my voice, which definitely gave me some positive results. I’m also hoping to trade lesson skills with other teacher candidates. I can teach arranging, composition, brass or guitar lessons in trade for vocal lessons, so we’ll see if I can make that happen. I’m a very big fan of getting lessons from different people. Two points of view are definitely better than one.

As I said earlier, I’m a huge John Mayer fan, so, the list of tunes I want to work with is quite dominated by his music. Please feel free to leave a comment and suggest other tunes that would work well in the vocal and guitar context. Please keep in mind that I have a LOW voice. Here is my tune list:

Why Georgia – John Mayer

Comfortable – John Mayer

Love Song for No One – John Mayer

Tracing – John Mayer

Man on the Side – John Mayer

Why Did You Mess With Forever – John Mayer

Come Back to Bed – John Mayer

Neon – John Mayer (if I can get the guitar part up to speed, it’s really hard)

Sucker – John Mayer

Wind Cries Mary - I know it originally as a Hendrix tune, but Mayer does an amazing version as well

Californication - RHCP

Better Man – Pearl Jam

Tears In Heaven – Eric Clapton

Texas Flood – Stevie Ray Vaughn

A few comments on the list: I’ve tried out all of these tunes somewhat. One of my big problems is my range, it’s very narrow, and very low. That’s definitely one of the areas that needs attention. Singing “Tears in Heaven” down an octave actually sounds really creepy, so, that needs to be doable in the recorded octave. Sometimes I’ve found that moving things down an octave gets very muddy, another reason to expand the vocal range upwards. “The Wind Cries Mary” seems like it should be a really easy tune to do, but in all actuality, it seems to give me the most trouble of anything on the list. I can’t even identify what the problem actually is, that will probably be on the agenda for my first lesson. Some of the John Mayer tunes are only recorded as bootlegs, and if there are any John Mayer fans out there that haven’t heard of some of these songs, that’s why.

OH, and a quick thought on transposition: I’ve always hated when singers want to do a song in a different key. This happens all the time in the jazz world, and yes, I understand that often there are some ranges that don’t work, in which case, transpose a 4^th or 5^th and get on with it. My big pet peeve is transposing a song a whopping semitone. Seriously, that almost always puts you in a ridiculously hard key, and it’s usually not necessity, but range preference. Like “it just makes my voice a little more stressed at the climax of the song”…too bad… Ok, so that’s my feeling on the subject right now as a complete non-singer. Maybe as this project goes on further I may completely change my mind, or at least be more understanding of this.

So that’s the plan, I hope to be making posts here fairly regularly with updates on my progress. Please feel free to comment with song suggestions, technique suggestions, exercise suggestions, or whatever else. I have every intention of posting audio clips and maybe even video clips up here, but for now…I just don’t like how anything I’ve recorded sounds. I understand that it’s hard to hear progress without contrast material, but…I just can’t bring myself to post anything yet.

Thanks,

Trevor