Me: Okay Tage, do you intend to keep singing past highschool?
T: Yes...?
Me: What kind of singing are you thinking of? Do you want to minor in singing, major in singing....
T: I would like to take classes, but not minor. Well maybe I could do that too
Me: Okay, what kind of styles would you like to be singing?
T: I like classical.
Me: You still like it then? Okay.
T: That's what I've been doing for forever (all her lessons--both by me and other teachers--up till this point), and I don't know anything else. Hahaha
Me: So health concerns... Mom and Dad told me that they finally figured out why you've been kind of a hobo.
T: Yes
Me: So apparently all of your behavior lately is a reaction to a concussion you had?
T: What?
Me: Yeah that's what Mom and Dad said.
T: I was not informed of this. Hahaha
Me: What kind of stuff do you do at school? Like what is your daily routine?
T: I take an online class, go to English, choir, go to EMT class, lunch, then physics, history, and seminary. That's school.
Me: Besides ballroom, do you have anything else that you do?
T: Singing!
Me: So you sing in choir, you sing in church...
T: And I'm in that girls A cappella group now, and Jazz choir.
Me: Okay, on a scale of 1-10, 1 being only responding to questions and keeping your answers super small, and 10 being you initiate conversations and could talk for hours and hours, how much would you say you talk in a day?
T: In a day?
Me: Yeah, on a scale of 1-10. Or at least your need to talk.
T: My need to talk... I guess a 7 or 8.
Me: Okay, so you really like to talk but you don't feel like every second needs to be filled with talking.
T: Yes.
Me: Okay, um, because of school and ballroom and now you're in a lot of singing groups, um would y;ou say that you're current daily routine requires you to talk a lot--on a scale of 1-10?
T Like an 8 or a 9.
Me: Okay, do you talk a lot at ballroom?
T: Yeah, a fair amount.
Me: Okay, I'm just trying to gauge health wise where your vocal folds are at.
T: Well I talk a lot at ballroom; I talk a lot in English; and then singing--obviously in choir; and then Mom's class I do a lot of talking because there is a lot of discussion; and shockingly a lot in physics; and then a lot in Seminary.
Me: Okay, well I already know a lot of these questions about you anyway...
T: Such as?
Me: What music you listen to, stuff like that.
T: Oh
Me: So what do you expect from these lessons? What kind of things do you expect from me as your teacher?
T: I don't know, I guess I want to improve...
Me: Well what things specifically?
T: My volume, and um I dunno, control (this is where I'm thinking "interesting").
Me: Okay, name three things about your voice that you like.
T: That one's hard. My singing voice or my talking voice?
Me: Um, you can do either, I guess. But if you do speaking they have to be specific.
T: Um, I dunno, sometimes I like my inflections.
Me: Your inflections? Like your emotion in a speaking context?
T: Yes. Um...
Me: Think more on the singing side, because I am a singing teacher.
T: When I'm on, I'm really on, like in my deeper register...
Me: I don't know what you mean necessarily...
T: Like I think I can produce a really rich sound in my lower range.
Me: So you really like your lower range? It's comfortable to you?
T: Yes, not like super low...
Me: Just the low part of your range.
T: Yes. And when I get it, I really like my high notes. They're not consistant...
Me: what about that specifically? Like when you're singing and you think your getting it, what kind of feeling would you describe that to be?
T: It sounds clear; and, like, full, even though it's high; and effortless.
Me: Perfect! So I like the effortless part of your description, because that's something you can gauge really well. As far as aurally about yourself, your body is actually designed in a way that protects you from your own sound, so that you don't blow your own eardrums out.
T: Yay!
Me: So because of the way our body is shaped, our mouth is in front of our ears, so we never hear what we actually sound like. So it's hard to gauge how well we sound as we're singing. There are ways to do it, like singing to a wall, so you kind-of get a little feedback. But the best way to tell how you're doing is by feel. So I really like that you can feel that effortlessness and sense of ease. To start of today's lesson, does your voice feel tired at all?
T: It's all right.
Me: How much voice have you used today?
T: Not a lot.
Me: Okay, have you done any singing at all?
T: Yes, singing in the car to the radio on the way here.
Me: Can you sense anywhere in your body, right now, that feels tight?
T: My shoulders, and my upper back.
We took a minute to do some stretches and try to relieve some of the tension.
Me: What kind of things do yo think contribute to your tension?
T: Stress, physical activites, such as dancing...
Me: Okay
Then for a minute I talked about what things I would need from her as my student for the class. I mentioned how many lessons we would need to complete, the lessons taught in front of the class, and then the lesson I would do in front of Cindy. I even had Kat come in for this part of the lesson so that we could really hash out any concerns they would have. We then solidified lesson times for each week, and any issues they would have on getting to the lessons, such as parking at the school on the days she would need to come.
As we were about to start singing, I noticed that she was still very tight in her body and wasn't in a healthy place to start singing. So I had her sit in the exercise ball and we worked on releasing down into the body with low breath gestures. Then after we were done, I realized that her time was up. So not a whole lot of singing was done, but I feel like it was still beneficial for both of us. I started trying to pay attention to even the little details of what she was doing, and she got a good practice session of being aware of her body.
No comments:
Post a Comment