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Ian Sidden

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Break the Ice Daily

August 26, 2009 By Ian Sidden

Yesterday, I shattered the ice
To draw water-
No matter, this morning
Frozen just as solid.
–Rengetsu

Imagine that a friend walks up to you and tells you everything about you (incorrectly), pushes you around, and in the process greatly offends you to the point where you doubt your friendship.

Do you do that to your singing voice? Arctic_ice_melt

Your voice is the result of actions taken by your body, and that body is always in flux and changing over time. Therefore, literally, you have a slightly new voice every day. You must take time to relearn it.

Your improvement at singing will be short lived if you are getting better at forcing your voice into places that it does not want to go. If you do not break the ice and pay attention to your voice, then you may not have a voice by the end of the day. It will have left you just like Rhett left Scarlet; frankly, my dear, it just won’t give a damn. It saw that you wanted it to be something else, and it cannot do that.

Accept that you are beginning again every day and treat your voice like a precious object. Explore it. Play with it. Listen to it. Challenge it but ultimately accept it for what it is.

Be kind, and your voice will reward you.

Filed Under: Craft Tagged With: attention, Health, warm-ups

Perform Fearlessly Part IV: The Day of the Performance

July 18, 2009 By Ian Sidden

Chill_out

By this point of preparation, you can do little to fundamentally change your outlook on the nature of a performance. So your best bet is to set up conditions so that you are in peak shape to perform even if you still have lingering worries.

    1. Get enough sleep the night before. Pavarotti said in Great Singers on Great Singing that on a typical performance day he would sleep in until noon. Rest!
    2. Eat enough….but not too much. It’s scary being so stuffed that you cannot breathe, but it’s equally frightening to be so famished that you have no strength. This will probably deserve its own post in the future, but you must learn what is best for your body and your voice when you eat. Before a performance, try eating a light meal a few hours in advance. Then bring fruit to the performance to refuel while you are taking breaks.
    3. Beware of Caffeine. In my most recent Weekly Gathering, I posted Coffee Breakdowns: Is There a Link Between Caffeine and Hallucinations? This quote is particularly ominous for the potentially worried performer:

Caffeine heightens the physiological effects of stress, lead author Simon Jones says. When someone feels anxiety, the body releases the hormone cortisol, and when people drink plenty of caffeine-infused tea, coffee or soda, their body produces more of the hormone when they encounter stressful events. Researchers have proposed that cortisol may trigger or exaggerate psychotic experiences by increasing the amount of the neurotransmitter dopamine flowing into the brain’s limbic areas, evolutionarily ancient regions involved in emotion, memory and behavior.

I tend to get fearful jitters if I drink a lot of caffeine before a show. It’s usually unnecessary, anyway. The material should be stimulating enough to keep you awake.

  1. Warm-up slowly. Noodle around with your voice and body throughout the day just to keep it moving. Then warm-up about a half-hour before the performance. Of course, your mileage may vary, so pay attention to the signals your body is giving out.
  2. Trust that you Know Your Material: If you prepared properly, your material is learned. Try to avoid singing it over and over because you’ll tire out your voice and your mind. If you must, just recite your words to yourself and remember your acting intentions.
  3. Relax and Focus: You must pamper yourself a bit on the day of a big performance. Rest, take relaxing walks, do very light exercise, meditate, eat refreshing meals, drink water, etc. Try to avoid moving heavy furniture on a performance day. Accept that certain things must be put on hold, and let them go.

Do you have your own ideas about how to stay relaxed on performance day? Do you agree that being relaxed on performance day is necessary? If you have any comments, please leave them below!

Filed Under: Craft Tagged With: caffeine, eating, performing, relaxation, sleep, stage fright, warm-ups

About Ian

Ian Sidden is currently a baritone member of the Theater Dortmund Opera chorus. Read More…

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