Taylee - ch12 DYV

Summary: Technique takes a lot of time and energy to develop. Eventually though, we need to get to the point that good technique becomes habitual so that we can focus our attention on the emotion and meaning of the song. After all that is why we are singing, to convey a message. There are a lot of things that need to be taken into consideration when working on the emotion of the piece. There is the aural aspect obviously, but then we also have to portray the meaning in our face and in our movements. The deeper we understand the character of the piece, the more easily we can make musical decisions as to how to convey the message the composer intended. One of the easiest ways to tap into the emotion of a song is to correctly produce our primal sound. Things can get even more complex when trying to put together a program of music. Be sure to consider your abilities along with the overall mood that the selections will produce.
Key Terms: Color. Empathy.
Key Concepts: Think the music and your voice will sing it for you. If you are to have something in mind for your body to produce, you have to have studied the music thoroughly so that you can understand it for yourself.
Making Connections: This chapter had a lot of really great references. I really like having examples of what other people have done in the past, and this chapter was full of them! I've noticed with myself that my emotion comes off obviously fake if I don't make a real personal connection with it. This kind of puts me in a sensitive spot though. I'm a private person, and I usually only share personal things with people that I'm very close to. Singers really have to be quite vulnerable. I'm also a cry baby. I bawl over most anything. (I always like to watch "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" but I cry every time! Why I do that to myself, I'll never know...) There have been times were I have allowed my personal connection to become so real that I start crying in my song. What do you do? Obviously I start trying to stifle it, which only creates tension. It doesn't happen very often, but I'm constantly worried about it because I'm so prone to crying.