“What I have achieved by industry and practice, anyone else with tolerable natural gift and ability can also achieve.”
― J. S. Bach
Industry and practice. For Bach and for many, it comes down to those basic concepts. I would add a third element – environment. If you want to create beauty you have to immerse yourself in it and become a practitioner of it. As Shinichi Suzuki observed in the 1930s, Japanese children, speak Japanese. Even when confronted with the most complicated dialects, no one needs to specifically teach them. They become. Even with the most challenging skill, you become what you live with and in.
As a child, my 5th grade music teacher handed me a flute. I ‘played’ for four years and eventually resigned myself to the instrumental equivalent of lip-synching every 8th grade concert until I finally admitted that I hated playing the flute. This was the polar opposite of my experience with singing. I can’t remember picking up my instrument and practicing voice. I swam in the sea of singing. It was as regular and natural to me as breathing. From the moment of conception, I was immersed in music. I began singing when I began speaking. Some of my earliest memories revolve around singing – having my Grandmothers’ church friends huddled around me as I sang the “Our Father.” I couldn’t have been more than three-years-old at the time.
As an adult, I often wonder why my experiences with both “instruments” were so different. Time and time again, I come back to two simple distinctions – quality and accessibility. In order to get really good at playing, you should start with a good instrument. If you have one, you will be drawn to playing. I had an old used flute that was far less than inspiring to play. My voice, on the other hand, was a pleasant instrument. It was fun to play with it. I was always discovering new colors and capabilities. I have yet to exhaust the possibilities of my own sound. 30 years into my career in music, I continue to marvel at the miracle that is the human voice – the never ending depths of creativity and sound. That never ending curiosity comes from having a high quality instrument at my disposal.
There was also the issue of accessibility. I didn’t have to take my voice out of a case and put it together. Barring the occasional child-hood malady, my voice was always there and ready to go. I could use it whenever inspiration hit. Much to my older brother’s chagrin, that inspiration was nearly constant. I see that theme not only in my musical journey, but in the journey of my most successful students and even my own son. Aidan is an accomplished composer and pianist. He practices for hours a day. People often ask me how I ‘get’ him to practice. The short answer – I don’t. Our tuned piano is right by the front door. It’s not tucked away in a corner of the living room. It’s right there. In your face. You can’t come into the house or leave it without seeing it – nearly tripping over it. He sees the piano constantly and is always reminded of it’s presence. He’s drawn to it. I often think that the piano must be for him, what singing was for me.
There is a downside to having a high quality accessible instrument for a singer. It can breed complacency. Truly great artists strive to achieve the David Goggins standard – working to become uncommon among the uncommon. The gifted singer without drive and direction can become lazy and may begin to assume that practicing is the same thing as singing along to your favorite artist on Spotify. While there is a place for that in your training (swimming in that sea of sound and song), a singer still has to set aside the time to be mindful of technique – to be deliberate in her singing. The best singers understand that to have a career in singing, one must train and build a body that supports the talent. but how? Aside from having an excellent trainer (voice teacher), one has to put in the time to build the muscle memory. A singer has to be deliberative with her movements and engage in repetitive practice to hone her skills. Meeting with a voice teacher once a week is not enough. Singers should be saying ‘hello’ to technique EVERY DAY, several times a day. While we no longer live in an era where a singer would cloister herself with a master teacher (as was the case in the days of Garcia), singers must take the daily business of practice mindfully and seriously. Vocal technique needs to be the language a singer speaks natively. The body has to become the technique. With intelligent exercise and carefully crafted physiological responses, vocal output can become not just sporadically impressive, but predictably excellent.
Some practical strategies… Listen to music… high quality music, and lots of it. Train your brain to live in the style that you are attenuating yourself to. Bathe your mind in beauty. Study it. Make it part of your vernacular. Practice mindfully many times a day. Don’t just set aside a couple of hours a week to get at it. Make it part of your day in small ways too. If you are brushing your teeth, look in the mirror and check your posture. When you are in the shower, practice that hissing breath. As you are walking down the street think through your pieces. Imagine performing them. As Yo-Yo Ma says, “ Practicing is not only playing your instrument, either by yourself or rehearsing with others – it also includes imagining yourself practicing. Your brain forms the same neural connections and muscle memory whether you are imagining the task or actually doing it.”
I have not only seen the impact of practice, accessibility and immersion anecdotally in my own life, but have noticed it in my studio. My most successful singers over the years have had high quality instrument with accessible tools and an unquenchable desire to live with music. They practice not because they have to, but they are drawn to it. They come into the studio week after week, brimming with questions and new discoveries. They are living with and thinking music all day, every day.
It can work for you too. Make high quality music making and listening a part of your life in a mindful and constant way and you will begin to live in the culture of music. You will not simply be better at carrying a tune, you will become a native speaker of song – a singer.