Emily F. ER 7: Many of us get tripped up on all the little details of our music. Yes, we need to error-detect and look critically at what we're doing, but often the heaviness of "all those notes" takes away from the cohesiveness of what we want. Ms. Ristad talks about reading piano music being confusing, with so many notes to figure out, but the same can be applied to us as singers. Some of the vocalizes we do in lessons are complex with lots of moving notes, and if we were to try to get every single note right every single time, we would defeat the purpose of the exercise, which could be fluidity, flexibility, lightness, etc.
Key Concept: We need to look at and absorb the whole picture of what we want to accomplish, without getting bogged down in the minutiae of it.
Making Connections: Not only does this apply to specifically learning notes and rhythms, but it applies to our voices as well. I find myself thinking of ALL the elements I'm "supposed to" when I practice or sing (watch that jaw! what are the words? get a good breath!--not too soon, though! what does this mean? is that a rounded or smiley vowel? I like this song--enjoy it! is my expression appropriate? I need lots of body energy for that high note., etc.). But when I do that, all of those things are what show up in my performance, and I don't enjoy what I'm there to do anyway, which is sing! Just like emphasizing the first note of each beat of a run in order to easily navigate the whole thing, choosing important elements of performance (what is my intention and feeling? breathe for the highest note) would help the momentum of the piece.
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