O Canada!

During the past weekend as we observed Remembrance Day I was having several memories that didn't necessarily go with the solemnity of the occasion.Growing up my brother Erik was famous in our neighbourhood for scaring the bejinkers out of the lady next door by singing O Canada at top of his lungs into her dryer output pipe on the side of her house. Who knew that doing the laundry could elicite such strong feelings of patriotism?  My son Julian, as a child, also rejoiced in his rendition of the national anthem which included the line ' O Canada, our home and mative land!'. Spell check didn't like that one bit...

Which brings me to an exercise that I created and have been using with singers for quite some time now: the O Canada exercise. A number of years ago I had the pleasure and privilege of improving my teaching chops by filling in for a sabbatical leave at Mount Allison University. I did not have a lot of experience with undergraduates at the time and it was a real challenge to learn what their needs were in terms of vocal development.  I wanted to impress upon them the importance of trusting thought and emotion being conveyed through tone. Because this was a young group of singers I wanted to do this through repertoire that didn't 'distract' them with complexity of the musical or linguistic variety.

I came up with the idea of having them sing O Canada which, hopefully, they had known since childhood and could sing without being self conscious . I wrote a series of situations on individual pieces of paper that they would select and then have to embody while singing. For example:

You have just been rescued  from a burning building and feel relief, gratitude followed by the shock  of realizing what just happened to you.

OR

 You've just won a major prize and are elated then troubled as to how to spend the prize wisely.

OR

 You've just broken up with your significant other, you are calm and then overcome with concern about having done the right thing.


While this is an exercise for the singer in simply letting subtext flow through you while singing a very familiar song it is also interesting for the other singers observing. They are trying to read and guess what is being portrayed. The goal, it must be said, is not to guess correctly but instead to reflect what you see and hear. We have had some big laughs as others create a whole opera in their head from what they saw and heard in O Canada.I encourage the performer not to resort to too much gesture and trying to act out the scene but rather to let the thoughts pervade their sound and see what the result is.

In the interim I have used this exercise with more advanced singers at the University of Toronto where I teach as well as at my summer program in New Brunswick.  I was thwarted once when I had a singer from Bahamas who didn't know O Canada and I had to resort to Amazing Grace. It was also remarkably effective. So many interesting things come up including the unconscious instinct to change the thought with the change of harmony.

 At its heart, this is an exercise in trusting your talent and allowing integration of sound and emotion to happen. Our job, as singers, is to express and allow our audiences to project onto us what they need to see and hear. This is possible only when our own subtext is supremely clear and well conveyed.

Porcine Performance

One of my students at the University of Toronto had a personal victory today in a group class. We were all excited for her, and the other singers were amazed to hear her confess that her secret ingredient was...(drum roll please)...bacon.

Earlier in the day at her private lesson we spoke about performance energy. Petunia, not her real name, was lamenting that it was difficult for her to summon performance level energy for auditions in particular. It was a bit of a sore spot because someone had suggested that she was not the kind of singer to get jobs from auditions, but likely to get jobs from jobs (i.e. being seen in performance). While this was interesting feedback it can be rather discouraging because, as a young singer, you must audition. Heck, as a professional you must audition!

You must practice performing, just as you must practice technique. Period.

Is performance energy something that is learned, cultivated, and/or put on? I think it is all of those things. I am constantly surprised at how many singers are, in fact, shy people in the 'real world'. They love being on stage but don't necessarily need to be the centre of attention wherever two or more people are gathered. Somehow our Canadian sense of discretion can get in the way too...better not show off or we will get our come-up-ance!

Back to Petunia in the studio. In her lesson we got her body opened up and voice flowing, but it wasn't a place she went to instinctively. She felt she was way over the top for the size of my studio and her audience of two. It wasn't, and the proof is that it became vocally easier for her. Building on this I suggested that she think about channeling someone who might inspire her to be more 'diva like'. Did she have an idea? She did. I challenged her to appear at master class and be that 'diva'.

She delivered.

Imagine the hilarity in the room when after a terrific performance of  'Una voce poco fa', for which they applauded vociferously, Petunia confessed to be channeling none other than...Miss Piggy! The other singers thought that it was some of the best singing they had heard from her; vibrant and a complete performance. Petunia was stunned. She was convinced that it was too much. It wasn't.

Petunia has a lot of stage experience and is a very talented singing actor, she just needs to bring performance level energy in an audition or rehearsal. I remember Canadian pianist/coach Michael McMahon telling me of his admiration of Maureen Forrester's rehearsal style. He said she never sang a note without complete commitment to communicating the emotional meaning.

We can learn from Miss Forrester. So often we check out from the emotional connection when trying to get a certain passage note perfect or correct technically. We forget that emotion and connection are directly linked to breath and soul. It's the very essence of what we do.

A great exercise is to assign emotions or situations to vocal exercises. Here are a few suggestions:
sing that scale imaging a joyful reunion with an old friend,or that arpeggio with the dread of not knowing what the future holds or that melisma distraught at the loss of someone close to you. Keep your technique brain in close contact with your emotional brain, they might just help each other out.