Well, I’m taking the plunge and have hired Brian Farrell, an extremely well-reputed vocal performance coach, to help me continue to hone my skills. Brian has worked with serious singers like Paul Brandt, Sarah MacLachlan and Jann Arden…so I guess he’s more than qualified to help me!!
Brian has a lovely home in Bearspaw, with a big grand piano, and a keyboard+large-screen computer setup. There was a beautiful view of the snowy foothills out the big windows as we worked. The lesson started out by talking about my goals for the process. Mainly, I’m looking to improve my range, my confidence throughout the range, and my endurance. I had just sung a 5-6 hour house party gig on Saturday night, and although I managed to sing through it, my voice was thinning out at the end, and really tired the next day. I’ve also found that I since I’ve been trained by different teachers in different ways (classical vs. pop), I didn’t really know what sort of vocal exercises I should be doing to improve things….I usually just try not to burn out my voice when performing…but I don’t really warm it up or do anything to exercise it.
I asked what was probably a dumb question for a singer: Were vocal cords muscles that should be exercised or tissues that should be used sparingly? He showed me some videos of vocal cords in action, and explained that they were definitely muscles that should be exercised, stretched and toned. That was a relief…and then he began giving me a bunch of weird-sounding vocal exercises that would stretch them in different ways. I was really surprised to hear that he could reach the very end of the notes on the piano keyboard (BOTH ENDS) with his own voice!! Oddly, he explained that hitting low notes meant “aiming” them high, and that hitting high notes meant aiming them low in the throat. This was news to me, as I had always strained my neck and leaned upwards to hit higher notes….it will be very interesting to see what he says about this as time goes by!
On the drive home I popped in a DVD of vocal exercises he gave me. It was kind of tough – like going to a first workout at a gym. I couldn’t do all the exercises or hit the end of the range. I think the gal on the CD he gave me was a serious soprano, and I’m more of an alto, but I did the best I could. Not sure I was doing everything with proper technique, but we’ll see how it goes through the next couple weeks of using it, and if he sees any improvement when I return…..good thing I’m keeping those windows rolled up!
In all, this is very exciting…if any of you hear improvements in my voice in the next few months – please let me know!! My mission in this musical adventure isn’t to be perfect, but to at least be a moving target…