24 in 24: Getting a Head Start on "Nina"
Since things have been moving along rapidly on "Non posso disperar" my voice teacher and I thought it would be fine to start work on the song for next week, which we decided would be "Nina." Even though I thought up this project, and have been managing it, my voice teacher is familiar with all the songs and is picking up brilliantly with what I'm trying to do here. She is able to guide me through the songs and head me in a developmental direction with them.
It makes me realize how valuable it can be for the student to bring projects to the teacher, instead of having the teacher always decide the direction. That way the teacher can bring his/her knowledge and expertise and suggestions to what the student is attempting to accomplish. It is a true collaboration.
First, just a read-through of "Nina." Since the Italian language is feeling more comfortable to me, I felt able to do a first read-through using the language instead of a vowel. Just to see how it went.
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Also, just for the heck of it, I tried to sing "Nina" with the CD accompaniment, to see what kind of shape it would be in. I guess I just wanted --after all these weeks of learning songs, and learning them more rapidly than I was able to before I began this project -- I just wanted to see if I could sing along with the CD on the first day I picked up the song. I found out that this song requires some stamina:
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Well, by now I had been singing for quite a while and I shouldn't have continued because my voice was a little tired. But my interest was so deep that I just had to keep going. Since "Nina" required stamina, then I would do a "run/walk" workout with it. (To understand why I call it "run/walk," see posts about Jeff Gallagher's run/walk method for runners, which I will post links to when I find them in my blogs somewhere.) I learned something new for this "method." During the "walk" -- or rest -- periods, I can practice the next phrase an octave lower (marking), so I can be ready for the next "run"
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It felt so good during the "walk/run" workout, that it seemed I could just sing the song through. I tried to sing the whole thing. It WAS a bit better, but still didn't have the stamina in the latter part, and had to cut out.
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I feel like I got a LOT of vocal work done today. But the idea is not "more is better," mind you. In fact, it may not have been better. Singing in a still-new upper passaggio for too long? No, it's not good. A little bit would have been better. But I am so raring at the bit to keep moving on.
But singing work is not like the kind where you just go and go. Little bits, but consistent progress every day is best. It was okay to start learning the new song, but maybe I repeated it a little too many times. I've got to learn to hold myself back.
This won't hurt. But you don't want to get to the part where you are being counterproductive. I have been counterproductive for many many years.
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Follow up with: Nina Work Phrase By Phrase AND Boosting Stamina in Nina with Kung Fu Work AND Nina Task, Sustaining High G5
