There’s nothing quite as awful as listening to someone present information in a monotone (Anyone? Anyone?) or seeing someone performing a scene where their affect doesn’t quite match what they’re doing. World Voice Weekend isn’t just about singing and listening to singing, but all kinds of voice use. How do you use your voice whenContinue reading “World Voice Weekend: Exploring the Voice in Acting & Movement”
Category Archives: Expressivity
Live out loud! (But not TOO loud)
Tonight Mezzoid Voice Studio will be covering the topic of singing dynamically – finding the full range from soft to loud and knowing how and when to use those dynamics. How do we do it? Why do we do it? How do we know how and when to do it? The composer often tells usContinue reading “Live out loud! (But not TOO loud)”
World Voice Brunch!
Years ago, I was a big listener to NPR’s World Cafe with David Dye. It was on in the evenings, and I really enjoyed listening to the variety of music that was played. There was a lot of world music, folk, singer-songwriter, indie rock, lots of cross-genre kind of programming. Eclectic programming is my jam.Continue reading “World Voice Brunch!”
Updating your audition book: The 5 C’s for Choosing an Audition Song
I think I do a pretty good job at choosing audition songs. In fact, it might be one of my superpowers. I like finding pieces that bring things out in people, not only things I knew were there but things I merely suspected were there, and maybe even things I had NO IDEA where there. ButContinue reading “Updating your audition book: The 5 C’s for Choosing an Audition Song”
Sing me a story: Creating your backstory
Tonight I will be holding a studio class for my private students about creating a backstory. When I played Mother Abbess in Sound of Music, my back story was that my character’s name was born Johanna Schmidt and was from a relatively prosperous and devout Catholic family in Austria. She was trained in piano andContinue reading “Sing me a story: Creating your backstory”
In the Beginning was the Word (maybe)
Or was it the music? It depends on the composer. Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart agreed that Rodgers would write the music first, and Hart would fit the words to the music. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II began with Hammerstein’s lyrics, with Rodgers fitting the music to the lyrics. In that case, yes, theContinue reading “In the Beginning was the Word (maybe)”
A Stroke of … Scenius?
I just came across the term “scenius” a few months ago in a blogpost – I’m not sure where. I thought it might be Seth Godin, but I didn’t find it. Scenius is defined as “communal genius” that occurs in scenes rather than genes. It was created by musician Brian Eno and is intended toContinue reading “A Stroke of … Scenius?”
Another Way to look at BRAAP™
If you have studied with me or read anything I’ve written over the past 10+ years, you probably know that I have created an acronym for my approach to basic vocal technique. This acronym is B – Breath R – Resonance A – Alignment A – Articulation P – Phonation Or – BRAAP™, which myContinue reading “Another Way to look at BRAAP™”
Breaking Down the “I Am” Song
A few weeks ago, I talked about the role of the “I Want” song in a musical. From that blogpost, I created a series of questions that the actor needs to ask themselves when preparing that song and gave it to my students for our studio class on the topic. Tonight, we will be exploringContinue reading “Breaking Down the “I Am” Song”
Make a Fool of Yourself!
Today I attended a masterclass hosted by Susan Hanlon, a voice teacher in Dallas, and Izzie Baumann, a voice teacher and performance coach in Mainz, Germany. The clinician was Christian Borle, Broadway star and Tony award winner (Peter and the Starcatcher, Something Rotten). He worked with six singers from the US to Germany. He wasContinue reading “Make a Fool of Yourself!”