1. I was oddly excited to fail. I have always been afraid of making mistakes, not only in singing but in life in general, but that is irrelevant at the moment. The point is, I have worked very hard in the last two years studying with Brianna to let go of A LOT of tension in my body. The concept of "letting sound happen" seemed more than crazy, but impossible. Just before school let out this past spring semester, I felt release happen in my body! I continued taking lessons over the summer not wanting to lose what I had finally gained. However, I still had a hard time completely letting go and doing it consistently. After this week in Vocal Ped., I was no longer afraid of my inability to be perfect. I wanted to make mistakes so that I could learn to recognize those small sensations and learn to correct them!
2. I was focusing on a whole new level. Because I was taking lessons all summer, and knowing I would be doing my Junior Recital this semester, I have had my songs picked out for a while. Fearing that I would run out of things to do to count towards practice hours, I put off doing my song analysis forms, I didn't really take advantage of the extra time like I REALLY should have. (I seem to be making a lot of confessions in this post.) Now that I have a better understanding of what deliberate practice can do for someone, I'm seriously regretting that decision. Instead of just "getting it over with", my practice time has become very beneficial.
3. I wanted to set, and reach my goals. Making a goal is hard for me, because I focus too much on the chance of me not reaching them (see first paragraph). But in my lesson we discussed having little goals. Instead of waiting till the actual due date, I could turn in two or three analysis forms a week, and I could do mini memory checks instead of one big one. So, this week's goals that I made are as follows: turn in two analysis forms, know my aria (all but memorized), and have a new song memorized and ready to sing for Master Class in two weeks.
Sorry this post is dragging on a bit, by the way. So, statement about my preparedness: I was very mentally prepared, but my cords were a little swollen from some of the pushing that I did this week. I felt a lot of pressure to do well at both Opera tryouts and VRH, and tried to force things a little. Summary of activities in lesson: I had allowed my voice to resonate down in my throat this week and I knew that going into my lesson. Swollen chords, tension, and misplaced resonance meant all of the vocalizes we did were to find a "simple" sound, and releasing my lower body to allow better breath support and supportive energy. Those vocalizes include: lip buzzing down a five note scale; "thee" down a 5-note scale with a focus on correct tongue placement, falling into pitch, and a "huh" feeling in throat; nasal "na na na" down 5-note scale and 8-5-3-1 scale for proper resonance; "thee" and "ng" on 5-note, 8-5-3-1, and full octave scales for "dump" moments; primal sound "huh" into a 1-3-1-8-5-3-1. Since this is the first post I had a ton to write. Also, I hope more than just Brianna's students can understand what these vocalizes are....
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