.sherlynchia.com.

A movie review: The Descendants

2012-01-19T22:59:00.001-08:00

"A movie that anchors the heart" is what I feel best described the movie: The Descendants.

George Clooney plays the role of a successful lawyer, Matt King, with wife, Elizabeth, played by Patricia Hastie, and two rebellious daughters: 17-year old Alexandre (Shailene Woodley) and 10-year old Scottie (Amara Miller).

Matt, took on the role of being the pillar of the family when his wife is critically injured in a boat race that landed her in a coma.

Eventually when Elizabeth has to be removed from life support, Matt faces the difficult task of informing all the loved ones and friends.

However his world went topsy turvy when Alexandre informs Matt that Elizabeth had been cheating on him with goofball realtor named Brian Speer (Matthew Lillard), who is happily married with two kids.

The show has given a heartfelt perspective at the life of a man whose is thrown off balance by a series of events, and yet managed to keep it all together by sheer strength and courage.

The Descendants displays extraordinary performances from the actors/actresses and it is able to communicate what very few movies can: Emotional journey with simple, non-dramatic events

In conclusion, this is a MUST-watch.

Songwriting essential!

2011-05-11T00:04:00.000-07:00

FAST AND FURIOUS 5 : A review

2011-05-06T11:56:00.000-07:00

FAST AND FURIOUS 5 : A review

Stars: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster
Written by Chris Morgan, Gary Scott Thompson
Directed by Justin Lin

After 3 sequels from the every 1st The Fast And The Furious (which made a hit box-office movie), all fans and car enthusiasts are eagerly anticipating for this 4th sequel- Fast and Furious Five. Well, It certainly did not fail to disappoint fans with its action sequences and but of course, the gorgeous automobiles.

The sequel begins with Dominic (Vin Diesel) being sentenced to prison term and with the help of Mia (Jordana Brewster) and car thief Brian (Paul Walker), he fled to Rio to take refuge. The plot continues to unfold and the team decides to take down Brazil’s most formidable gangster, by robbing him of $100 million dollars. And at the same time, FBI agent (Dwayne Johnson) was sent to track them down and to bring them in.

While the acting put up by the cast may not be exactly the best we have seen, the sets and stunts are definitely worth the ticket. We have Diesel and Walker jumping from a convertible before plunging off a bridge, a chase that has 2 cars pulling a huge bank vault down the streets etc.

Overall, I would give it 4/5 stars for its action but sadly a 2/5 stars for its overall plot and acting.

*Thank you Omy for the screening premiere.

Songwriting essential!

2011-05-05T10:16:00.003-07:00

Want to know how to write great songs?

Zhang Si’er will be starting on an exclusive two part series of song writing lesson.

Date: 23rd of May and 30th of May 2011
Venue: City College, 2985 Jalan Bukit Merah Singapore 15945
(For direction click here: http://www.citycollege.edu.sg/home/Contact.aspx)
Time: 8pm to 9:30pm
Fees: $100/-

Zhang Si’er (张思尔) is a freelance songwriter in the Chinese pop music industry, who began his songwriting career with practically no knowledge in music.

Nonetheless, through his passion in songwriting, he discovered a unique style of writing which has allowed him to produce multiple hits for singers like JJ Lin, Cyndi Wang, Harlem Yu, Tarcy Su, Ado, Sun Ho, and many others.

Some of his works include: 豆浆油条, 翅膀, 会有那么一天, 当你, 末日之恋, 编号89757, 你的肩膀 etc. Sier also received many nominations for music awards in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Part of his passion in songwriting includes imparting to other songwriting enthusiasts and students and teaching his unique style of songwriting via his workshops and courses.

Don’t miss this exclusive two part series of song writing lesson with Zhang Si’er!!

SIGN UP TODAY!

Up, Up and Away..

2011-04-24T08:34:00.000-07:00

After going through a surgery, a week of hospital stay and 3 weeks of recovery rest.. its finally time again to pack that luggage again...

May 13-15th - Malaysia for backup vocals for concert

May 30th - Malaysia for retreat

Jun 12-24th - USA for vocal lessons

Up Up and Away....

i didn't know that! Issue #40- Female Falsetto

2011-02-14T10:12:00.000-08:00

Female falsetto

The issue of the female falsetto voice has been met with some controversy, especially among vocal pedagogists. Many books on the art of singing completely ignore this issue, simply gloss over it, or insist that women do not have falsetto. This controversy, however, does not exist within the speech pathology community and arguments against the existence of female falsetto do not align with current physiological evidence.

Motion picture and video studies of laryngeal action reveal that women can and do produce falsetto, andelectromyographic studies by several leading speech pathologists and vocal pedagogists provide further confirmation.

One possible explanation for this failure to recognize the female falsetto is the fact that the difference in timbre and dynamic level between the modal and falsetto registers often is not as pronounced in female voices as it is in male voices. This is due in part to the difference in the length and mass of the vocal folds and to the difference in frequency ranges. It is an established fact that women have a falsetto register and that many young female singers substitute falsetto for the upper portion of the modal voice.

Some vocal pedagogists believe that this failure to recognize the female falsetto voice has led to the misidentification of young contraltos and mezzo-sopranos as sopranos, as it is easier for these lower voice types to sing in the soprano tessitura using their falsetto register.

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Student - Brandon

2010-11-20T19:19:00.000-08:00

I am happy for my student: Brandon Lee. He got 2nd Runner up for "Youth alive" singing com at Takashimaya Civic Plaza :) Enjoy this song by him:

Children and Music

2010-09-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

ScienceDaily (Mar. 16, 2009) — Children exposed to a multi-year programme of music tuition involving training in increasingly complex rhythmic, tonal, and practical skills display superior cognitive performance in reading skills compared with their non-musically trained peers, according to a study published in the journal Psychology of Music.

According to authors Joseph M Piro and Camilo Ortiz from Long Island University, USA data from this study will help to clarify the role of music study on cognition and shed light on the question of the potential of music to enhance school performance in language and literacy.

Studying children the two US elementary schools, one of which routinely trained children in music and one that did not, Piro and Ortiz aimed to investigate the hypothesis that children who have received keyboard instruction as part of a music curriculum increasing in difficulty over successive years would demonstrate significantly better performance on measures of vocabulary and verbal sequencing than students who did not receive keyboard instruction.
Several studies have reported positive associations between music education and increased abilities in non-musical (eg, linguistic, mathematical, and spatial) domains in children. The authors say there are similarities in the way that individuals interpret music and language and “because neural response to music is a widely distributed system within the brain…. it would not be unreasonable to expect that some processing networks for music and language behaviors, namely reading, located in both hemispheres of the brain would overlap.”
The aim of this study was to look at two specific reading subskills – vocabulary and verbal sequencing – which, according to the authors, are “are cornerstone components in the continuum of literacy development and a window into the subsequent successful acquisition of proficient reading and language skills such as decoding and reading comprehension.”
Using a quasi-experimental design, the investigators selected second-grade children from two school sites located in the same geographic vicinity and with similar demographic characteristics, to ensure the two groups of children were as similar as possible apart from their music experience.
Children in the intervention school (n=46) studied piano formally for a period of three consecutive years as part of a comprehensive instructional intervention program. Children attending the control school (n=57) received no formal musical training on any musical instrument and had never taken music lessons as part of their general school curriculum or in private study. Both schools followed comprehensive balanced literacy programmes that integrate skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening.
All participants were individually tested to assess their reading skills at the start and close of a standard 10-month school year using the Structure of Intellect (SOI) measure.
Results analyzed at the end of the year showed that the music-learning group had significantly better vocabulary and verbal sequencing scores than did the non-music-learning control group. This finding, conclude the authors, provides evidence to support the increasingly common practice of “educators incorporating a variety of approaches, including music, in their teaching practice in continuing efforts to improve reading achievement in children”.
However, further interpretation of the results revealed some complexity within the overall outcomes. An interesting observation was that when the study began, the music-learning group had already experienced two years of piano lessons yet their reading scores were nearly identical to the control group at the start of the experiment.
So, ask the authors, “If the children receiving piano instruction already had two years of music involvement, why did they not significantly outscore the musically naïve students on both measures at the outset?” Addressing previous findings showing that music instruction has been demonstrated to exert cortical changes in certain cognitive areas such as spatial-temporal performance fairly quickly, Piro and Ortiz propose three factors to explain the lack of evidence of early benefit for music in the present study.
First, children were tested for their baseline reading skills at the beginning of the school year, after an extended holiday period. Perhaps the absence of any music instruction during a lengthy summer recess may have reversed any earlier temporary cortical reorganization experienced by students in the music group, a finding reported in other related research. Another explanation could be that the duration of music study required to improve reading and associated skills is fairly long, so the initial two years were not sufficient.
A third explanation involves the specific developmental time period during which children were receiving the tuition. During the course of their third year of music lessons, the music-learning group was in second grade and approaching the age of seven. There is evidence that there are significant spurts of brain growth and gray matter distribution around this developmental period and, coupled with the increased complexity of the study matter in this year, brain changes that promote reading skills may have been more likely to accrue at this time than in the earlier two years.
“All of this adds a compelling layer of meaning to the experimental outcomes, perhaps signaling that decisions on ‘when’ to teach are at least as important as ‘what’ to teach when probing differential neural pathways and investigating their associative cognitive substrates,” note the authors.
“Study of how music may also assist cognitive development will help education practitioners go beyond the sometimes hazy and ill-defined ‘music makes you smarter’ claims and provide careful and credible instructional approaches that use the rich and complex conceptual structure of music and its transfer to other cognitive areas,” they conclude

Courtesy of Science Daily

The passing away of a great vocal coach - Shirlee Emmons

2010-08-20T05:09:00.000-07:00

There was a memorial tribute to Shirlee Emmons, "A Musical Remembrance," on Aug. 14, 2010, at 1:00PM, at Trinity Church, Broadway at Wall Street, New York City.

Shirlee Emmons passed away on April 16, 2010. She will be deeply missed by all whose lives she touched.

I still remember when I first picked up her book- Power Performance for singers. It challenged me to broaden my understanding of voice training; to look beyond the extraordinary and usual methods of teaching. My teaching methods have since then evolved till what it is today; and is still being improved upon - all based upon the teachings of Shirlee Emmons.

Her books are still constantly being referred to when I write and revise syllabus or when I have difficult teaching situations. Shirlee Emmons has blessed so many with her teachings, she is an inspiration to me and to many others.

About Shirlee Emmons:

Lauritz Melchior and Shirlee Emmons

Shirlee Emmons maintained a private studio in New York after teaching for 35 years on the faculties of Columbia University/Barnard College, Princeton University, Boston University, and Rutgers University.

She was the author of five books:The Art of the Song Recital; Tristanissimo: the Authorized Biography of Heroic Tenor Lauritz Melchior; Power Performance for Singers; Researching the Song, and Prescriptions for Choral Excellence.

Her workshops and master classes were presented in thirty-four of the US states, in Korea, and Canada. Emmons’ singing career commenced with winning the Marian Anderson Award, followed by a lengthy national tour with Lauritz Melchior, US and Canadian concert and opera appearances, regular engagements with the major New York City choral organizations, and the award of an Off-Broadway Oscar, the “Obie,” for the leading role in Virgil Thomson’s The Mother of Us All.

She was a past chair of the prestigious American Academy of Teachers of Singing. Her students included Hei-Kyung Hong and Harolyn Blackwell.

I didn't know that! Issue #39- Vocal Expression warmup

2010-08-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

Here are some voice warm-up activities that helps Vocal Expression before we sing.

1. Smile Pucker - Smile with exaggeration, letting your teeth show and drawing the lips as tightly as possible, making your cheek muscles hurt. Say “eeeeeeee.” Then with exaggeration, pucker or protrude your lips, saying “oooooooooo.” Repeat ten times each in quick succession (eeeeeeee-ooooooo). Repeat with “mee-moo,” “tee-too,” “bee-boo,” “gee-goo,” “lee-loo.”

2. Open Wide - Open your mouth as wide as possible. Say “ahhhhh.” Now close your mouth, saying “ooooo.” Repeat “ahhhhhh-ooooooooo” several times, being sure to open your mouth extremely wide.

3. Tongue Tip - Stretch your tongue, trying to touch the tip of your nose. With your tongue, now try to touch your chin. Only one in 1,000 people can actually do either, so don't worry if you can't succeed. The stretch is the important thing. Repeat several times.

4. Tongue Stretch - Curl up your tongue and touch the soft palate at the back of your throat. Now push out your right cheek and then your left cheek as far as you can with your tongue. Repeat.

5. Tongue Twisters - Say quickly - with exaggerated tongue, lip, and jaw movements - several of the following tongue twisters.

Much whirling water makes the mill wheel work well.
Odd birds always gobble green almonds in the autumn.
She makes a proper cup of coffee in a copper coffee pot.
Round and round the rugged rocks the ragged rascal ran.
Shave a cedar shingle thin.
Double bubble gum bubbles double.
Sinful Caesar slipped his snifter, seized his knees and sneezed.

Being an actor on TV, in a video, or singer on stage, isn't easy. You can't be shy, you always have to be aware of the role you're going to play, and you must develop strong skills. The voice is an important communication tool. Treat it well!

* excerpts from Creative Communication Projects in Acting, Speaking and Oral Reading by Fran Averett Tanner

I didn't know that! Issue #38- The Voice Range 2

2010-08-03T06:36:00.000-07:00

Vocal range and voice classification

Vocal range plays such an important role in classifying singing voices into voice types that sometimes the two terms are confused with one another.

- A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics.

- A vocal range being only one of those characteristics. Other factors are vocal weight, vocal tessitura, vocal timbre, vocal transition points, physical characteristics, speech level, scientific testing, and vocal registration. All of these factors combined are used to categorize a singer's voice into a particular kind of singing voice or voice type.

There are a plethora of different voice types used by vocal pedagogists today in a variety of voice classification systems. Most of these types, however, are sub-types that fall under seven different major voice categories that are for the most part acknowledged across all of the major voice classification systems.

Women are typically divided into three groups: soprano, mezzo-soprano, and contralto. Men are usually divided into four groups: countertenor, tenor, baritone, and bass. When considering the pre-pubescent voices of children an eighth term, treble, can be applied. Within each of these major categories there are several sub-categories that identify specific vocal qualities like coloratura facility and vocal weight to differentiate between voices.

Vocal range in and of itself can not determine a singer's voice type. While each voice type does have a general vocal range associated with it, human singing voices may possess vocal ranges that encompass more than one voice type or are in between the typical ranges of two voice types. Therefore, voice teachers only use vocal range as one factor in classifying a singer's voice.

More important than range in voice classification is tessitura, or where the voice is most comfortable singing, and vocal timbre, or the characteristic sound of the singing voice.

For example, a female singer may have a vocal range that encompasses the high notes of a mezzo-soprano and the low notes of a soprano. A voice teacher would therefore look to see whether or not the singer were more comfortable singing up higher or singing lower. If the singer were more comfortable singing higher than the teacher would probably classify her as a soprano and if the singer were more comfortable singing lower than they would probably classify her as a mezzo-soprano.

The teacher would also listen to the sound of the voice. Sopranos tend to have a lighter and less rich vocal sound than a mezzo-soprano. A voice teacher, however, would never classify a singer in more than one voice type, regardless of the size of their vocal range.

The following are the general vocal ranges associated with each voice type using scientific pitch notation where middle C=C4. Some singers within these voice types may be able to sing somewhat higher or lower:

Soprano: C4 – C6
Mezzo-soprano: A3 – A5
Contralto: F3 – F5
Tenor: C3 – C5
Baritone: F2 – F4
Bass: E2 – E4

In terms of frequency, human voices are roughly in the range of 80 Hz to 1100 Hz (that is, E2 to C6) for normal male and female voices together.

Courtesy of wikipedia

I didn't know that! Issue #37- The Voice Range 1

2010-08-01T22:05:00.000-07:00

Singing and the definition of vocal range

While the broadest definition of vocal range is simply the span from the lowest to the highest note a particular voice can produce, this broad definition is often not what is meant when "vocal range" is discussed in the context of singing. Vocal pedagogists tend to define the vocal range as the total span of "musically useful" pitches that a singer can produce. This is because some of the notes a voice can produce may not be considered usable by the singer within performance for various reasons.

For example, within opera all singers must project over an orchestra without the aid of a microphone. An opera singer would therefore only be able to include the notes that they are able to adequately project over an orchestra within their vocal range. In contrast, a pop artist could include notes that could be heard with the aid of a microphone.

Another factor to consider is the use of different forms of vocal production. The human voice is capable of producing sounds using different physiological processes within the larynx. These different forms of voice production are known as vocal registers. While the exact number and definition of vocal registers is a controversial topic within the field of singing, the sciences identify only four registers: the whistle register, the falsetto register, the modal register, and the vocal fry register.

Typically, only the usable range of the modal register, the register used in normal speech and most singing, is used when determining vocal range. However, there are some instances where other vocal registers are included.

For example, within opera, countertenors utilize falsetto often and coloratura sopranos utilize the whistle register frequently. These voice types would therefore include the notes from these other registers within their vocal range. Another example would be a male doo-wop singer who might quite regularly deploy his falsetto pitches in performance and thus include them in determining his range. However, in most cases only the usable pitches within the modal register are included when determining a singer's vocal range.

Courtesy of Wikipedia

I didn't know that! Issue #36- Modal Voice

2010-04-19T07:13:00.000-07:00

Modal voice is the vocal register used most frequently in speech and singing in most languages. It is also the term used in linguistics for the most common phonation of vowels. The term "modal" refers to the resonant mode of vocal cords; that is, the optimal combination of airflow and glottal tension that yields maximum vibration.

In linguistics, modal voice is the only phonation found in the vowels and other sonorants (consonants such as m, n, l, and r) of most of the languages of the world, though a significant minority contrast modal voice with other phonations. Among obstruents (consonants such as k, g, ch, j, s, and z), it is very common for languages to contrast modal voice with voicelessness, though in English many supposedly voiced obstruents do not have modal voice in most environments.

In speech pathology, the modal register is one of the four identifiable registers within the human voice, lying above the vocal fry register and overlapping the lower part of the falsetto register. This view is also adopted by many vocal pedagogists, although some vocal pedagogists may view vocal registration differently. In singing, the modal register may also overlap part of the whistle register. A well trained singer or speaker can phonate two octaves or more within the modal register with consistent production, beauty of tone, dynamic variation, and vocal freedom.

The modal register begins and ends in different places within the human voice. The placement of the modal register within the individual human voice is one of the key determining factors in identifying vocal type.

Physiological process of the modal register

In the modal register the length, tension, and mass of the vocal folds are in a state of flux which causes the frequency of vibration of the vocal folds to vary. As pitch rises, the vocal folds increase in length and in tension and their edges become thinner. If a speaker or singer holds any of these three factors constant and interferes with their progressive state of change the laryngeal function of the voice becomes static and eventually breaks occur resulting in obvious changes in vocal quality. While some vocal pedagogists identify these breaks as register boundaries or transition areas between registers, other vocal pedagogists maintain that these breaks are a result of vocal problems caused by a static laryngeal adjustment that does not permit the necessary changes to take place within the modal register.

On the lower pitches in the modal register the vocal cords are thick and wedge-shaped. Because of this thickness, large portions of the opposing surfaces of the vocal cords are brought into contact, and the glottis remains closed for a considerable time in each cycle. The glottis opens from the bottom first before it opens at the top; this imparts a fluid, wavelike motion to the cords. The modal voice has a broad harmonic spectrum, rich in overtones, because of this rolling motion of the cords. It is comparatively loud to the other vocal registers because of the vibratory energy present, but is capable of dynamic variation.

For the lowest tones, only the thyroarytenoid muscles are active, but as the pitch rises, the cricothyroids enter the action, thus beginning to lengthen the folds. As longitudinal tension increases, the glottis tends to develop a gap in the middle. To counteract this tendency, the lateral cricoarytenoids are brought into action, pulling forward on the muscular process of the arytenoids. This process is sometimes referred to as medial compression.

In addition to the stretching of the vocal folds and the increasing tension on them as the pitch rises, the opposing surfaces of the folds which may be brought into contact becomes smaller and smaller as the edges of the folds become thinner. The basic vibratory or phonatory pattern remains the same, with the whole vocal fold still involved in the action, but the vertical excursions are not as large and the rolling motion is not as apparent as it was on the lower pitches of the modal register.

The physical limits of muscular strength of the internal thyroarytenoids or vocalis muscle are being approached. In order to sing or speak above this pitch level the voice must adopt a new phonatory pattern-to change registers.

courtesy of Wikipedia

Beautiful Soprano voice

2010-04-01T07:58:00.000-07:00

Perfect example of coordination of healthy; non-abused vocal cords, strength and tension management...

Choice of confidence

2010-03-05T08:16:00.000-08:00

The topic of being confident has been brought up by many of my students this week. It is a subject that is vital to achieving vocal and performane improvement; but often the most neglected in music teaching.

Choose to be confident. It is a choice; not a learned ability.

Below is how Wikipedia defines confidence:

Confidence is generally described as a state of being certain either that a hypothesis or prediction is correct or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective. Self-confidence is having confidence in oneself. Arrogance or hubris in this comparison, is having unmerited confidence--believing something or someone is capable or correct when they are not. Overconfidence or presumptuousness is excessive belief, in someone or something, succeeding, without any regard for failure.

Scientifically, a situation can only be judged after the aim has been achieved or not. Confidence can be a self-fulfilling prophecy as those without it may fail or not try because they lack it and those with it may succeed because they have it rather than because of an innate ability.

Self-confidence
Self-confidence does not necessarily imply 'self-belief' or a belief in one's ability to succeed. For instance, one may be inept at a particular sport or activity, but remain 'confident' in one's demeanour, simply because one does not place a great deal of emphasis on the outcome of the activity.

The key element to self-confidence is, therefore, an acceptance of the myriad consequences of a particular situation, be they good or bad. When one does not dwell on negative consequences one can be more 'self-confident' because one is worrying far less about failure or (more accurately) the disapproval of others following potential failure. One is then more likely to focus on the actual situation which means that enjoyment and success in that situation is also more probable. If there is any 'self-belief' component it is simply a belief in one's ability to tolerate whatever outcome may arise; a certainty that one will cope irrespective of what happens. Belief in one's abilities to perform an activity comes through successful experience and may add to, or consolidate, a general sense of self-confidence.

When an individual has a generally nonchalant attitude toward life they can also appear very self-confident when this is not necessarily the case. Instead it is likely that the individual has a poor coping style and does not realistically evaluate situational consequences; and usually the feelings of others. For this reason they may also appear arrogant because they may demonstrate an air of superiority and a lack of concern towards the welfare of others as they evaluate consequences and the feelings of others to be insignificant rather than acceptable. The more marked this attitude is the greater is the likelihood of psychopathology.

Chill...

2010-02-27T06:52:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lag in blogging. Been away in HK for the last week... I promise I will update new stuff soon.. meanwhile, enjoy this piece of music for chilling out..

Duffy's Mercy (acoustic)

The conquer of oneself

2010-02-17T07:40:00.000-08:00

A sneak preview of my book:

As I begin to enter into my 13th year of singing, I am starting to realize how blessed I am to have so much knowledge/values that have been and are still constantly being planted into me. It is the very lifeline that has helped me stay afloat in my pursue of music/singing.

One of them, no doubt one of the most fundamental and important, is the understanding of competition. I have met so many peers and students who have suffered much in character and esteem due to the wrong perspective and understanding of what competition is. They are either oblivious to it and totally omit competition, or they have focused too much on it and constantly compete with others, that they end up losing their integrity, character and eventually their dreams itself.

The truth is, there will always be people who are better than us. Does that mean that we should feel very offended or lousy about ourselves? No definitely. However I am also not asking that we eliminate competition completely in our pursue. You see, the true competition is with ourselves. Let me illustrate: We all start walking and learning from point A and along the way, we should be placing markers whenever we reach a further destination/short-term target. After a few years, you would have noticed that you have come so far and now you are much nearer to your eventual goal/target. This is what competition is; to constantly outdo our present.

It is not wise to omit markers as there will be times that you get discouraged and will need that motivation to pick yourself up.
It is also not wise to be too comfortable with just having one or two markers; it will only cause you to be stagnant.

But remember that you only place markers in your own route. You cannot compare your speed of learning and walking against someone's else. Look, a bicycle is faster than a skateboard, a motorcycle is faster than a bicycle, a toyota is faster than a motorcycle, a BMW is faster than a toyota and the list goes on and on. You should be concerned about always upgrading your own engine; not look how fast others are.

Asafa Powell, the world's fastest runner, have had opponents who focused too much on how fast he was, that his opponents went on track and couldn't be rewarded 2nd place despite finishing 2nd in speed; all because they had focused so much on Powell that they didn't realize that they had went off their own track.

Set your eyes on your goal and compete with yourself to always outdo your present. Stay on track. Compete with yourself; not others.

By: Sherlyn Chia

Resonance

2010-02-08T10:20:00.000-08:00

Acoustic resonance is the tendency of an acoustic system to absorb more energy when it is forced or driven at a frequency that matches one of its own natural frequencies of vibration (its resonance frequency) than it does at other frequencies. As such, acoustic resonance is a branch of mechanical resonance that is concerned with the mechanical vibrations in the frequency range of human hearing, in other words sound. For humans, hearing is normally limited to frequencies between about 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz (20 kHz), although these limits are not definite.

An acoustically resonant object usually has more than one resonance frequency, especially at harmonics of the strongest resonance. It will easily vibrate at those frequencies, and vibrate less strongly at other frequencies. It will "pick out" its resonance frequency from a complex excitation, such as an impulse or a wideband noise excitation. In effect, it is filtering out all frequencies other than its resonance.

Acoustic resonance is an important consideration for instrument builders, as most acoustic instruments use resonators, such as the strings and body of a violin, the length of tube in a flute, and the shape of a drum membrane. Acoustic resonance is also important for hearing. For example, resonance of a stiff structural element, called the basilar membrane within the cochlea of the inner ear allows hair cells on the membrane to detect sound. (For mammals the membrane by having different resonance on either end so that high frequencies are concentrated on one end and low frequencies on the other.)

Like mechanical resonance, acoustic resonance can result in catastrophic failure of the vibrator. The classic example of this is breaking a wine glass with sound at the precise resonant frequency of the glass; although this is difficult in practice.

Taken from: Wikipedia

The Grammys! Hear the words of Jason Mraz!

2010-02-04T06:49:00.000-08:00

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance – Make It Mine
I would like to thank Jerry Lindahl, Jon Marro, Noel “Toca” Rivera, Matthew & Terces Engelhart and everyone at Cafe Gratitude for inspiring such a fun song to write and perform.

This song was originally written for a film and was rejected. There was a montage in the film that showed the main character going thru the process of realizing a dream – from the initial idea to it being fully expressed and all the work that goes into it - in under 4 minutes. One of the things I did to research this experience was call the aforementioned people and ask them “What’s the secret to sustaining happiness?” These people constantly inspire me to share myself as they share their lives with me. I felt these were the perfect people to represent in a song about living a tirelessly love-filled life.

I would also like to thank Bill Silva Management & Everyone at Atlantic Records for their patience, guidance, trust, and compassion on this lengthy project. It gives me a tremendous feeling to still be celebrating this song more than 2 years after it was recorded. I share this award in honor of your outreach and commitment to the quality of life, not only for myself, but for the people whose letters I’ve read that mentions “Make It Mine” as a song that wakes them up to their true potential.

And special Thanks to Engineer Dyre Gormsen & Producer Martin Terefe for holding space for me to sing an award winning performance. Score another point for Kensaltown!

Hooray for mi familia and the Hanover County Schools for the training. My win is a result of your talent nurturing and creating the possibility for this to even happen.

…And it goes without saying, This song would be empty without The Grooveline Horns’ insane spit-fire brass arrangement. Thank you Carlos Sosa, Fernie Castillo, and Reggie Watkins for the gift you have of making every song better. Somebody be sure to give Raul a high five for me.

Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals – Lucky
I first and foremost wish to thank my co-conspirator, Colbie Caillat for inspiring the song to begin with. It was her voice that prompted me to pick up the phone and call her, inviting the duet to happen.

I also thank Tim Fagan, the third writer on the track for keeping the story alive and building a bridge for us all to get over!

Thanks to Mikal Blue for producing the second round of Vocals; what became the final version you hear on the recording. I love your vibe mike. I always have.

Many thanks to Darren Doane for keeping the best kept secret in show business at the time - and then being the one to beautifully reveal it to all. You make me laugh. Even now.

And of course big thanks to Atlantic Records & Universal for seeing eye-to-eye on a project by two artists from different families. This could have easily been a Romeo & Juliet tragedy in the beginning. And now thanks to your involvement, Colbie and I get to add Grammy Award Winning before our names.

Thank you to all my fans. This has been an extraordinary ten-year overnight success.

I didn't know that! Issue #35- Simultaneous production of multiple pitch

2010-01-28T09:04:00.000-08:00

Producing Two Tones Simultaneously In Xoomij Mongolian Traditional Singing?

Abstract
Xoomij is a traditional Mongolian singing style in which a male sings two tones simultaneously. Acoustical analyses and psycho acoustical experiments showed that the following three factors result in two-tone perception for Xoomij:
(1) A Xoomij singer use the tongue to create a vocal tract which results in a large degree of resonation for a higher component of the glottal sound.
(2) The amplitude of the emphasized component is deeply modulated, whereas the other components remain stable.
(3) The nature of the high tone melody is such that the component currently being emphasized was not done so previously. Such a “new comer” stands out in our auditory perceptual system.

Introduction
Xoomij (pronounce [Hoomii] or [Huumii]) is a type of traditional singing in Mongolia in which a male sings two pitches simultaneously. One pitch is high and varies with time (melody pitch) and the other one is low and constant (drone pitch). A similar singing style, called “Xoomei [Hoomei],” exists in Tuva, a Russian neighbouring area.

Tran and Guillou proposed the “resonance” theory of Xoomij production
[1]: A Xoomij singer use the tongue to divide the vocal tract into two cavities connected by a narrow opening. These two cavities create an extreme degree of resonance, emphasizing a high component of the glottal sound. Thus the emphasized component corresponds to the melody tone.

On the other hand, Chernov and Maslov proposed a “double-source theory” of Xoomij production
[2]: Using indirect laringoscopy, tomography, etc., they observed a nozzle-like narrowing formed by ventricular vocal folds in the upper portion of the true vocal folds and suggested that the melody pitch was produces by this narrowing, whereas the true vocal folds produced the drone pitch.

Several following studies by Japanese researchers presented acoustical evidence that supported the resonance theory and refuted the double-source theory [3, 4]. Finally, Adachi and Yamada determined the three-dimensional shape of a Xoomij singer’s vocal tract using MRI, and synthesized the Xoomij sound using the transfer function of the vocal tract shape. The results of this study showed that the extreme resonance is caused almost totally by the rear cavity, the area from the glottis to the narrowing of the tongue

[5]. Although the series of studies described above clarified the production mechanism of Xoomij, only a few studies have been performed investigating the perceptual process.

In our environment, the sound that reaches our eardrums is usually a mixture from several sources. However, our auditory system assigns each component in the mixture to a stream (sound source) accurately with no difficulty. Consequently, the perceptual attributes (pitch, loudness, timbre, etc.) of events belonging to each of the streams are perceived. This process was named “auditory scene analysis” or “auditory stream segregation” by Bregman [6,7].

In the case of Xoomij, we perceive two pitches simultaneously as if two sources are producing two tones, however the sound is actually produced by a single vocal system. From the point of view of auditory scene analysis, the perception of Xoomij is one of the most interesting subjects for investigating auditory stream segregation process, i.e., the question “why do we perceive two streams for the sound that is produced by a single source in Xoomij?” suggests at least a part of the answer to the general question “how does our auditory system accurately divide the mixture of sounds into streams that correspond to the individual sound sources in our environment?”

There are three possible factors in the two-tone perception of Xoomij:
(1) A Xoomij singer constructs a high-Q resonator in the vocal tract, emphasizing a component of the glottal sound. This emphasis must be a factor of the segregation of the component from the other components. In fact, Xoomij sounds sung by professional singers contain extremely emphasized components and such Xoomij sounds as having very loud and clear melody tones, whereas the sounds sung by amateur singers contain poorly emphasized components and perceived as having rather soft, indistinct melody tones [8].

(2) When we listen to the performances of great Xoomij singers, we sometimes perceive deeply vibrated melody tones with stable drone tones. This may mean that only the emphasized component is deeply modulated in frequency or amplitude, while the other components remain stable. In terms of Gestalt psychology, the components that share the same motion tend to be grouped, i.e., “common-fate” components tend to be grouped and the component which has a different fate tend to be segregated. This “common-fate” factor may contribute to the segregation process in two-tone perception for professionally sung Xoomij.

(3) The nature of the melody is such that the component currently being emphasized is constantly changing as the pitch of the melody tone changes. Our auditory perceptual process tends to make this “new-comer” component stand out from the remaining components. Bregman called this process as “old-plus-new” heuristics [6,7]. This “old-plus-new” factor may also contribute to the segregation process.
In the present study, we use formal and informal psycho-acoustical experiments to clarify how the three factors described above contribute to the two-tone perception for Xoomij.

By
MasashiYamada
Department of Musicology, Osaka University of Arts

i didn't know that! Issue #34- Emotions and voice

2010-01-25T07:42:00.000-08:00

Musicians have known for years that there was a connection between the mind and music. Scientists at Duke University led by Dale Purves have found that speech fits the same scales that musicians use to convey happy and sad emotions. Major scales were found to correspond to happy emotions and minor scales to sad emotions. This research was published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

Another paper being published December 3 in the online journal PLOS One Kamraan Gill of the Duke team has found the patterns of human vocal tones correspond to the commonly used musical scales. It appears that this phenomenon can be explained by human biology. Mimicking human speech is critical to our evolutionary success according to this study.

The research team gathered a database of thousands of melodies from classical and folk music. The team also compared this group of melodies to various people speaking vowels and monologues. This comparison is what showed the differences between the tones found in happy speech and sad speech.

There are millions of combinations of notes that could give millions of scales. The fact that most music is based off the same tones human voices use is indicative of the connection to human voice as an imitation of music. This connection could be because we imitate that what we find most appealing. With the preliminary research done in other languages it appears that this is universal although more research on this is in process.

If the eyes are the mirror of the human soul, then the voice is the barometer of human emotion. Voice is the melody of speech. It reflects our deepest feelings and intentions, and permits us to glimpse at the state of our emotional lives. We may be unaware of our emotional reactions to stress, but our voices are constantly vigilant. They respond to the stresses and strains of life on a minute-to-minute basis.

For some people, stress can actually cause physical changes in the voice that can lead to damage. About 7% of the adult population are susceptible to the ravages of vocal tension, and may need professional help to recognize what they are doing to hurt their voices. Speech-language pathologists are experts in this form of stress intervention.

John (fictitious name) was an energetic, 35 year old teacher and single father of three young boys. He had experienced chronic hoarseness over a three-month period of time. It appeared to be getting worse. An ear nose and throat doctor diagnosed vocal nodules (i.e. calluses) and recommended a speech-language pathology referral. By the time I saw John, he could not work, had great difficulty in managing his sons’ behaviour at home and was becoming increasingly frustrated and exhausted.

An assessment indicated that John was demonstrating hyper functional voice patterns, characterized by excessive tension in the shoulder and throat muscles, inefficient breathing, abusive vocal habits (e.g. whispering and throat clearing) and abrupt voice initiation patterns that aggravated the vocal dysfunction. Treatment consisted of education about the mechanics of laryngeal function, and instruction and practice on how to achieve a more relaxed and efficient voice. John learned to identify and eliminate abusive voice habits, relax, breath more efficiently and use “easy voicing” patterns to initiate speech. Treatment also included discussion of healthy life style choices (e.g. the importance of eating properly, exercising and handling day to day stressors more effectively).

Susan was referred because of a peculiar, sudden loss of voice. She was a 25-year-old legal student, who began to experience hoarseness with the onset of an upper respiratory infection. The cold resolved after a week, but the voice problem did not. Doctors could find no lesions or damage of any kind on the vocal chords. In fact, Susan had been to several specialists over a two-year period and no one could help her regain her voice. When I met Susan, she spoke in a faint whisper and was in great distress.

Assessment results suggested a conversion aphonia. Susan initially lost her voice on the anniversary date of her twin sister’s death. Her sister had been killed suddenly in a car crash two years prior.

Conversion voice disorders, like other conversion disorders, can result from severe stress. An individual develops the voice disorder as an avoidance reaction to counteract the trauma that they are having difficulty facing. The disorder permits the individual to avoid awareness of emotional pain, and is completely subconscious. In Susan’s case, the voice problem delayed and distracted her from facing the pain associated with losing her twin sister.

In treatment, Susan was able to regain her voice quickly. Initially, this was through non-speech activities that prevented the triggering of old avoidance behaviours. Using a calm and supportive approach, Susan could phonate again after two sessions, and went on to pursue counseling services with a psychologist. Follow up counseling helped Susan to explore many unspoken issues, and is often indicated after speech-language therapy for a conversion voice disorder.

Both of these examples demonstrate how effective the voice is at helping us hear the stress that accompanies our hurried life styles. Like barometers that measure changes in atmospheric pressure and signal foreboding weather conditions, the human voice can be a signal for increasing pressure levels in life and a signal for danger up ahead.

Speech-language pathologists can be important allies in the battle against stress induced voice disorders. Services are available through local hospitals, schools, treatment centers, university speech and language training programs and private clinics.

By:

Duke magazine

Kerry Erle, M.Cl.Sc. Speech-Language Pathologist, President
CCC-Sp, Reg. CASLPO, S-LP©
London Speech and Language Centre

In memory of Nicole

2010-01-23T07:49:00.001-08:00

Tonight was the show Letter of Heaven on channel 8, in rememberance of Nicole Lai. I still have copies of her anniversary EP with me. Email me if u want one copy.

Views and Mindsets

2010-01-19T09:35:00.000-08:00

I like what my friend, David wrote:

Amazes me how human beings adapt things in the world to the framework they hold and paradigms in their minds. Guess no matter how wide a perspective we think we may have, it is always limited in a divinely ordained way so that we need to view others thru lenses of humility before we finally see them for who they really are and meant to be seen--or rather, cherished

Yes i do

2010-01-19T08:51:00.001-08:00

I believe that everyone are born with unique gifts and talents; irregardless of their background.

I believe that everyone deserves a second chance; irregardless of their failures.

I believe that everyone have the ability to succeed; irregardless of their weaknesses.

I believe that everyone is great in their own ways, irregardless of jobs, roles and responsibility.

I believe that everyone will achieve their dreams; irregardless how small they may start out.

I believe in everyone; yes I do.

“The essence of our effort to see that every child has a chance, must be to assure each an equal opportunity, not to become clones, but to become different - to realize whatever unique potential of body, mind and spirit he or she possesses”
John Fischer quotes

Halo By Beyounce

2010-01-17T22:09:00.001-08:00

I like this! Awesome!

I didn't know that! Issue #33- Voice size = Body size?

2010-01-14T08:55:00.000-08:00

It's always interesting that whenever we hear a specific voice on the radio, we tend to create a sub-conscious assumption of how the person will appear in real life. We also tend to always associate big and depth voices with larger body-sized singers. However, is that really true?

In the animal kingdom, animals that are smaller are often gifted with a much much louder and stronger voice in order to compensate for the lack of body size to scare away predators.

While the answer to whether there is a relationship between the body size and voice remains a mystery, I found this research paper on the study of the relationship between the human voice, body size and impact of listeners. It is a interesting read.

http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/yi/yispapers/Chuenwattanapranithi_etAl_Author_version.pdf

New look!

2010-01-14T06:06:00.000-08:00

Hey all!

Hope you all like the new look for www.sherlynchia.com for 2010. This year I will post more articles on voice and perhaps some excepts from my book.

Let me know what you think of this new look! Post a comment onto the cbox on the bottom right corner or by clicking onto the post subject title :)

Update!

2010-01-12T21:33:00.000-08:00

Hi all! I am revamping the blog for a week or so, thus will stop updating for now.. Be sure to come back in a week!

Back from Korea

2010-01-11T01:10:00.000-08:00

Hi guys!! I am finally back from Korea!

After 7 days of Korean food and culture, I really miss SG, especially all my students, it's weird having such a long break from lessons. Anyway, here are some pics:

Will be uploading more pics and videos tonight!!!

Beautiful song

2009-12-28T08:55:00.000-08:00

I really like this song.. Simple but Beautiful

I didn't know that! Issue #32- The human voice

2009-12-21T09:54:00.000-08:00

Interesting excerpts from Anne Karpf’s book, The Human Voice

Consonants [give] meaning to the words and vowels [supply] the emotion … The feelings behind a Shakespeare speech (but not its meaning) can be communicated by pronouncing only the vowels (p. 42)

With the exception of the muscles around the eyes, those of the human larynx have more nerves than any other muscles in the human body, including the hand and face, even though we only use around one-third of their capacity in speaking. Each can produce a different balance of forces in the larynx, generating a different pulse wave and sound quality. They’re our vocal palette: through them we colour our voices with affection, bitterness, pleasure, disgust, etc. (p. 27)

Though complex communication sounds are emitted by a whole range of animals, only three groups of mammals: humans, cetacean (whales and dolphins) and bats, and three groups of birds: parrots, hummingbirds, and songbirds have to learn them. In all the rest they’re innate. (p. 48)

More than half the world’s top 500 companies now outsource … to India, where over 170,000 people work in call centres. They must first complete a spell of ‘accent training’ … [where they learn to] repeat ‘can’t’ with a long ‘a’ after watching Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady. (p. 193)

I didn't know that! Issue #31- 10,000 hour rule

2009-12-13T07:08:00.000-08:00

I recently picked up the book by Malcom Gladwell, The Outliers.

The second chapter in the new book Outliers is titled The 10,000-Hour Rule. Malcolm Gladwell shares his research about people who become the best in their field, after putting in at least 10,000 hours of preparation.

”The closer psychologists look at the careers of the gifted, the smaller the role innate talent seems to play and the bigger the role preparation seems to play.”

Whether it’s Bill Gates, Michael Jordan, the Beatles, Mozart, or Warren Buffet, one can only get to their best after putting in 10,000 hours. If you put in 40 hours a week, that’s 5 years. If you only put in 10 hours a week, it will take 20 years. It’s the sheer hours of work that will set you apart from the rest.

Now, have you started to put in that 10,000 hours? My own personal experience of improvement indeed came after hours and years of sheer practicing for hours and hours everyday. It has indeed shown over my last 10 years of singing.

Understand that you don’t have to be born with extraordinary talent. Just find your passion and put in that 10,000 hours of practice and doing. You’ll surpass those with more natural talent and find success that you have never dreamt of. Nurture surpasses Nature.

Well, the only thing I don't quite agree on is that the book states that music teachers are those who put in less hours; I guess that is only true for those who didn't choose to be teachers but were assigned to be due to the lack of ability to perform professionally. Those who put in 10,000 hours to master their teaching skills; that will be one awesome music teacher. Well, at leas that is my goal.

I didn't know that! Issue #30- Science of vibrato

2009-12-07T21:07:00.001-08:00

From Shirlee Emmons:

Some Science Background on Vibrato, Tremolo, and Wobble

If you are not interested in the scientific studies of vibrato, feel free to skip this section, although reading it will undoubtedly clarify your thinking on the subject.

As long ago as the 1930s, Carl E. Seashore initiated a study of the vibrato. Until only very recently when the issue was raised again, by Ingo R. Titze among others—without conclusions as yet—the results have stood as a hallmark. Seashore’s definition of a vibrato is the traditionally accepted one: “A good vibrato is a pulsation of pitch, usually accompanied by synchronous pulsations of loudness and timbre, of such extent and rate as to give a pleasing flexibility, tenderness, and richness to the tone.” Several important points were revealed in the Seashore study, among which were these, roughly extracted from that study:

1. The vibrato is a fundamental attribute of the artistically effective singing voice.

2. With the exception of trills, and an occasional note, every tone of every artist registers vibrato, whether long or short, gliding or steady, high or low, pianissimo or fortissimo. The upper and lower limits of each vibrato pulse...are always present.

3. Most singers cannot sing a tone that would have any semblance of desirability without using the vibrato.

4. It is this fact--that the vibrato is not heard even by the best musician as it really is--that lies at the bottom of the confusion which has prevailed on this subject.

5. The impression that a vibrato disappears in pianissimo is false. When a vibrato is not detected in pianissimo tones, it is a fault in the ear of the listener. The vibrato is actually present in production.

6. Both the extents and rates of the vibratos of excellent singers are in a continual state of flux.

7. The whole problem of the prominence of the vibrato in a voice revolves around auditory fusion. Probably the fusion of the slower vibrato rates is not as perfect as the fusion of the faster. At the slower rate...the vibrato is less of a unity since it is completely broken...Too fast a rate, such as in a flutter, also attracts attention more than the artistic vibrato rates.

8. Although the vibrato consists of a frequency pulsation in the sound wave, it has only one salient pitch in perception. This perceived pitch is approximately midway between the extremes. There are individual differences. The vibrato that one person hears as in tune may be appear to be out of tune to another person, pitch discrimination being equal.

9. Those who are most critical of the vibrato are generally those with very sharp ears for pitch discrimination. To those, a vibrato that is too slow or too wide is undesirable because the two notes cannot blend into one.

Dr. Friedrich Brodnitz, a leading New York otolaryngologist of the fifties, stated: “A well-trained voice exhibits always a certain amount of vibrato that gives changes, both in pitch and volume. By vibrato we understand small rhythmical changes in pitch and volume. These oscillations are more noticeable in forte than in piano....If the wavering becomes excessive—up to twelve times per second—it is called tremolo.”

Later scientific authorities also do not disagree with Seashore’s earlier findings: Vennard (1971), Large (1971), Shipp and Izdebski (1975), Shipp, Leandersen, and Sundberg (1981), and Hirano (1985) all consider a vibrato of from five to eight regular pulsations per second to be that of a good singer.

They are in agreement that pulsations slower than that (called a wobble) are picked up by the human ear as separate pitches and unpleasant, and that a rate of more than eight pulsations per second is too fast, producing an equally unpleasant sound (called a bleat or tremolo).

The ordinary and extraordinary tasks for which a singer is often responsible present a variety of problems that impinge upon the desired stability of the vibrato.

1. The extent of the vibrato decreases when rapid pitch changes take place. If the vibrato frequency could be matched to the rate of pitch change in an agility passage, this difficulty could be avoided, but the singer must choose his/her tempo with that principle in mind.

2. Jazz singers commonly change from straight tones to a vibrato tone by altering vibrato extent.

3. Sustained, slow moving music accepts more vibrato than fast-moving music.

4. Middle Eastern music asks that the vibrato extent be reduced even further in order to distinguish between melody and vibrato.

5. Whatever we perceive, neither the straight tone nor the vibrato tone is rock-steady, although they are more steady than a tremolo.

6. When pitches vary, intensity and timbre fluctuate greatly.

7. Classical Western singing styles have not always asked for the same type of vibrato; in fact, they have changed in the last century. In Carl Seashore's day (the 30s) faster vibratos were common (6.0-7.0); Caruso's vibrato was near 7.0, whereas Luciano Pavarotti's average frequency is near 5.5 Hz.

8. Some shapes of the vocal tract--consonants--may affect phonation to such a degree that it is difficult to keep a stable phonation. Thus one could expect disruptions in vibrato during a great deal of changing articulation.

9. Since vowels tend to have intrinsic pitch because of the tongue and hyoid bone height, rapid changes of vowels may cause some vibrato frequency instability, even when the singer's intent is to keep the frequency steady.

i didn't know that! Issue #29- Concept of teaching

2009-11-26T10:35:00.000-08:00

Teaching is not about what u know; its about how you lead, guide and develop your students to illumination and intellectual independence. Learn and use your senses, instincts - understand what your rational mind is trying to tell you through unspoken manner.

The hallmark of a good teacher, a good leader is his faith in himself- with that comes confidence and other tools.

Eventually, the best result a teacher can produce is a student who can reach even greater heights, than he himself; ultimately surpassing him.

Diaphragm pics

2009-11-25T04:40:00.000-08:00

Simple and straight-forward explanation pic :)

From University of Washington School of Medicine

Ooosh!

2009-11-21T21:27:00.000-08:00

Hey hey hey... I got a new hairdo and it is by Award-winning Mr Parry TJ of Ooosh! Hair Salon!! I lovee it!!

Adorned by lush settings such as a sofa lounge area, choice of gourmet tea (I like Lemongrass :), Manicure and Pedicure area, Ooosh! is simple a haven for a haircut. It is now my official hair salon!!

Here are some snapshots of the place while waiting for my hair to be snipped and colored:

Tada!! My new hair and color:

Pic with Sendy Bolang:

Ooosh! is located at Delfi Orchard #01-05/06 and Do check out their facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Singapore/Ooosh/162354346680?ref=ss

P.s They are having a Xmas promo of 50% off....

3 steps of inhalation

2009-11-19T05:03:00.000-08:00

3 steps of inhalation - Shirlee Emmons

1. UP!
(Lift sternum without inhaling.)
2. SIDEWAYS!
(Make your conscious breathing effort only with the internal
and external obliques and the transverse abdominis, with
whatever unconscious help the recti abdominii wish to contribute.)
3. STAY UP!

(Do not allow the chest to recoil when replenishing the air.)

Rehearsal essentials: No 1

2009-11-10T08:59:00.000-08:00

Rehearsing tip:

Singers may find that they can produce a powerful sound during rehearsal but not during a performance or the reverse may occur. Adrenalin and tension can be a hinderance or a help depending on the character of the singer. In some it boosts the performance whilst others become stressed and try too hard.

When learning or practicing songs with a band it is easy to strain the voice by over singing. If a song is demanding, has difficult notes or requires powerful expression the singer should avoid performing at full belt on every run through. Use a lighter technique, hold back or hum the melody line until the accompanying musicians have a good grasp of the song, then have ONE run through at full efficiency and move on to the next song. You can always go back to the song later in the session, during the next band practice or during a vocal practice. The amount of time spent learning a song decreases in direct relation to the experience and proficiency of the performers. A professional singer who works with competent sight reading musicians is unlikely to require more than one or two rehearsals of a complete set whereas amateurs may need several hours of constant practice before one song is played to a reasonable standard.

Teaching essentials: No 1

2009-11-06T22:33:00.000-08:00

To teach is to learn twice.

Joseph Joubert
French Moralist and Teacher

Interesting day

2009-11-05T09:19:00.000-08:00

Today was an interesting day :)

First of all, I was surfing the net and I came across this picture of Bing Bing when she was at the opening of Burberrys at Ion. Actually.... I was there too.. but didn't see her when I reached. I guessed she must have left. Sigh, will be great to catch up with her.

Next, I was supposed to do a gig at Gastrobar @ Bukit Timah Fire station at 830pm and because of the heavy jam on way back, I had to cancel lessons with my students to make it in time for the soundcheck.... But at 810pm, just as I am 2 mins away from reaching, I received a call from them saying that the sound system is down and they have been trying to fix it for hours and it's still spoilt, so they wanna cancel the engagement.

I can always understand last min cancellations but they really could have informed earlier coz there were many who were making their way down to catch my performance and I feel so sorry about it.

Well and most importantly, I guess we all learn things in a way or other. Next time anyone engaging for performance, there must always be a contract of agreement stating terms and conditions; otherwise not wise to do it. Lesson learnt :)

Oh but there was one last interesting thing... The sound system was apparently in working condition though when I drove past at 9pm, with music loud enough to draw the crowd in though.. hmmm.

DXO pics!!

2009-11-02T11:39:00.001-08:00

Here are the pics!!! Starting with my fave one: with my family.. Thanks Mom and Dad for coming!

Thanks everyone!

2009-11-01T08:16:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone!!

Thanks so much for your support last Sat for my DXO gig on Halloween! It wouldn't be awesome without you all!!

Pics to be uploaded soon :)

I am back!!

2009-10-27T23:01:00.000-07:00

Hi all!!

So sorry for the slow update as am tied up with practice for my upcoming DXO gig with Band.Se7en this Sat :)

Let's get started, my latest event was a jazz gig at Changi airport for the Changi Airport race; the race between a Boeing and a Porsche. Yep you hear me right.. a jet liner vs a car. The Porsche won by a fraction of second :)

Anyways, I have found my fave place for writing my book.. It's none other than TWG at Ion Orchard, I loveee! their teas. Awesome to have hundreds of tea to choose from.

Here's some pics:

I also met up with my youngest celeb students, By2. Here's a snapsot:

That's all for now, do catch me this Sat at DXO... come dressed to scare :)

My review of Coraline

2009-10-21T09:15:00.000-07:00

CORALINE S’pore Release Date: 3 Sep ‘09

Genre: Animated Feature

Cast: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Ian McShane

Directed by: Henry Selick

Screenplay by: Henry Selick

Producers: Bill Mechanic, Mary Sandell, Claire Jennings, Henry Selick

Based on Neil Gaiman’s international best-selling book and helmed by "The Nightmare Before Christmas" director Henry Selick, - is the first high definition, stop-motion animated feature to be shot in 3-D. In the film, a young girl (voiced by Dakota Fanning) walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. On the surface, this parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life - only much better. But when this wondrously off-kilter, fantastical adventure turns dangerous, and her counterfeit other mother (voiced by Teri Hatcher]) tries to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her stubborn determination, bravery, and the aid of her neighbors and a talking black cat to save her real parents and some ghost children and get back home.

The last time I saw a Tim Burton work was Corpse Bride, which I was not exactly won over by. In comparison, I must say this is truly way better; in both graphics and storyline. This is my 3rd 3D movie and previously having watched Monster vs Aliens and UP, this is one movie that is simply made to be watched in 3D. Similar to Corpse Bride, almost every single frame of the movie is hand-made. Keeping that in mind will help audiences appreciate the beautiful results when the characters pop alive from the screen.

In summary, this managed to win my heart and my vote for all to catch it. I love the soundtrack, the flow of the story. But do note that this animation is probably more suitable for adults than kids. There are also some horifying images, which I think may cause younger kids to scream. — Sherlyn

Preview invite

2009-10-19T23:56:00.000-07:00

Will be going for Coraline 3D preview by OMY.sg today with my Twin :) Check out my review tomorrow!

i didn't know that! Issue# 28- Music teaching

2009-10-18T09:09:00.000-07:00

I know many are keen on music education especially in the area of music teaching, here is a writeup taken from connexions-direct.com :) but do take into the context that this is written in the context of teaching in the UK.

There are three main types of work for music teachers. They can either be:

classroom teachers in a primary or secondary school - teaching all aspects of music, planning lessons, setting and marking work, and organising school choirs, orchestras and concerts
teachers/lecturers in further or higher education or specialist music colleges, teaching music at all levels, from GCSE and A level, to degrees
private or visiting teachers (often known as peripatetic music teachers), giving instrumental, theory or voice tuition to individuals or small groups, and often preparing pupils for music exams.

School music teachers may do extra work, such as tuition, rehearsals and concerts before and after school, or at weekends. They work mainly in classrooms and practice rooms. Private music teachers tend to work evenings and weekends, often in their own or pupils' homes. They may work school hours also, visiting local schools to teach music under an LEA contract.

Salaries for school music teachers may range from £20,627 to £34,768 a year. Private teachers agree their own rates with pupils. The Musicians' Union (MU) and the Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM) advise members on fee levels, taking into account a teacher's training, skills and experience. These can range from £20 to £50 an hour.

Music teachers should:

have a high level of personal musicianship
communicate well
be able to inspire and motivate pupils
be self-disciplined and organised
be passionate about music and have a strong desire to teach.

Music teachers work for state and independent schools, colleges and music services all over the UK. There are also opportunities with universities and specialist schools of music. Many private teachers are self-employed.

Entry requirements vary depending on the type of employment. Those wishing to teach in state schools need Qualified Teaching Status (QTS). A postgraduate level qualification is usually required to teach in a music college conservatoire. While a teaching qualification isn't a requirement for private work, a teaching or performance degree or diploma from a recognised music college, conservatoire or awarding body can increase the chances of finding work.

To work with children or vulnerable adults, music teachers would need to undergo checks through the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB).

A mentor supports newly qualified school teachers during their induction year. Private teachers need to keep up to date with examination board syllabuses. The ISM, MU and Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) offer members access to professional development courses, including the Music Teaching in Professional Practice (Mtpp) distance-learning programme.

Experienced music teachers working in schools and further and higher education establishments may progress to subject leader or head of the music department. Some might find work in an advisory capacity as a teacher or LEA inspector. Private and visiting teachers may move into music board examining, performing, composing or directing choirs or orchestras

Updates

2009-10-13T11:15:00.000-07:00

I really liked this picture of me taken in Kuching, with Jingxian in the background.

This was a particularly memorable trip as it marks my first week of being a fulltime freelance vocal instructor, a new season of my career.

Just some updates:

I am glad when I heard from Huanjie, handpicked and trained up as a trainer personally by me, that he has taken over my portfolio at Ocean Butteflies. He has taken on many of my values and teaching techniques, and I believe the vocal department is in good hands.

For those of you who have asked me about what I am going to do for the next 3-12months:

1. Revamping my website to be a full site (with updated portfolio).

2. Taking my FTCL for LCM Pops Vocals.

3. Going to Boston and LA for lessons with Berklee, Marta Woodhull and Seth Riggs (finally after so many corresponding emails).

3. Training up at least 8 new vocal instructors who can start teaching freelance or be hired by schools, 35 performers, 5 Lasalle/Berklee students.

4. To startup my social enterprise in music training.

5. Publish my book and DVD.

Thank you all for your love and concern.

Keep a outlook; a new site is coming :)

I like this :)

2009-10-08T08:01:00.000-07:00

Well after reading about the "essence" of music writeup, i find it interesting whenever artiste remix an original to the feel that relates to them and thereafter re-communicating the expression of the song to the audience. Here's Fang Da Tong's Michael Jackson : BAD

What is the essence of music

2009-10-08T07:58:00.000-07:00

ABSTRACT from a study made by Homei MIYASHITA and Kazushi NISHIMOTO for Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology:

In this paper, we discuss what the essence of music is,based on an audience survey to evaluate musical performances with new interfaces.

We composed ten pieces by introducing various types of uncertainty(chance operations), musical scores, and instruments,and performed them at a concert for a Japanese audience of 180.

From the results of our survey, we concluded that the essential characteristics of music include the human element, or humanness, and structure in addition to melody, rhythm and harmony.

Moreover, we found that subjects with experience in music tend to bemore open to new forms than subjects with little or nomusical experience. They also are inclined to put muchfaith in humanness when they estimate the worth of beauty, pleasure and liking as well as evaluating whether a piece is "music" or not

i didn't know that! - issue #27

2009-10-01T09:48:00.000-07:00

As I have started on my new schedule of teaching and performing, I totally enjoy the new challenge of a brand new routine. Especially now that I have made a comeback in performing, I have soon come to realised that i have a whole list of essentials for every performance that is a must for me; resulting in me bringing a larger bag around:

1. File of lyrics (you never know when u need to sing extra songs)

2. Compact powder, lip gloss, eyelash glue, blusher

3. 500ml bottle of water (with a dash of honey)

4. Fortacold throat lozenges (the ultimate lozenges with manuka honey and propolis; stops all itchy throat)

5. Heels for stage (i go out in flats)

6. Extra dress/top (in case i spill a drink on myself)

7. Bread (for curbing hunger))

8. Ipod player

9. Nail polish (for last min chip)

10. Moisturizer (for cracking skin)

11. Sunglasses

12. Audio cable (in case CD fails to play; just plug in the ipod)

13. Umbrella (v v impt!)

14. Jacket (for cold locations)

Yep... A whole load of things I bring around for performance :) You shd try; this conquers Murphy's law!

i didn't know that! - issue #26

2009-09-28T09:07:00.000-07:00

There is always a crucial balance between technique and style in any song. One of the most frequent questions students ask me is “how do I incorporate great technique without giving away my lyrical interpretation, vocal stylization and improvisation?” You don’t give away anything. Instead, you add or build upon what is already there.

A great vocalist will always have a strong technical base from which to stylistically build from. I feel that “it is the difference between building a house on cement and one on sand.” Having a firm grasp on technique as it pertains to your voice gives you the power to make concrete stylistic decisions on what your voice is capable of. Your technique also aides you in finding what is right for the particular genre and song you are performing.

Songs are very specific and detailed in what it takes to make them shine stylistically and technically. If you the artist decide to give anything away in any song you sing it’s more than likely going to be technique. Remember, technique is your base so you must always keep it strong. If you follow this format you will always have the ability to create a stylistic masterpiece!

By Dave Brooks

Fancy Free- Sun

2009-09-25T05:06:00.001-07:00

i like ::)

Brett Manning - Top 3 vocal exercises

2009-09-25T04:46:00.000-07:00

The plans ahead

2009-09-14T08:56:00.000-07:00

I was on my way to dinner when I saw Bingbing's on the cover of the latest HK version of Marie Claire (Pic above is her last year's cover).

It got me thinking about all the students I have ever taught and a strong hint of nostalgia came pouring . It will be almost a month since I resigned from OBMF, due to the reason that I am not able to teach in full-time capacity in terms of no of classes. During this time of vocal break, I took time to think about what to do next- to move into freelance with OBMF? freelance with another music school, so to hav a new environment?

I thought about it for a long time, looked into the different options offered and I decided to do what I am always desired to do - to bring music education to the under-privileged, lower-incomed. I have decided to work with a brand new training/grooming institute that also has the same vision and core values. Of corse in terms of no of classes I teach, it will be much lesser so to prevent my nodules popping up again :)

I have made it clear to everyone that I do not solicit students. Thus, my decision to not do freelance teaching in similar commercial chinese music schools so as to avoid all possible clash of interest with OB; not because it is legally required for me to do so but it is only right for me to do so. Therefore, for students who are leaving or staying in OB, it is solely their own decision to do so.

Looking forward, it is a brand new environment, a brand new start for me.

I look forward to putting the past behind to embark on a new journey.

Singers' and Teachers' Nodes

2009-09-08T09:39:00.000-07:00

Many have asked me about a more detailed explanation of modules or otherwise known as Singers and Teachers Nodes:

Here you go

VOCAL SURVIVAL TECHNIQUES FOR SINGERS WHO ABUSE AND OVERUSE THEIR VOICES

by Rosalie Loeding

Gregarious Behavior Can Be Dangerous

You must never delude yourself. The cause of nodules, polyps, and chronic laryngitis, hoarseness and other unpleasant vocal disorders is usually overuse and abuse of the voice. . When you talk or sing, the vocal folds vibrate. The only way to heal the folds is to avoid hitting them together temporarily. This article is aimed at YOU.

Be very vigilant! If the voice is already under stress -- hoarse, tired, fatigued, gravelly -- a physical condition such as asthma, sore throat and allergies, may escalate the vocal problems, but it does not cause them. You may unconsciously compensate by replacing correct vocal technique with incorrect technique. For example, nodules do not form if the voice is used sensibly and correctly.

Most vocal technique, speaking or singing, is comprised of learned responses; for better or worse. When vocal technique becomes automatic, one is seldom aware of how the voice is being used. Always be alert to the warning signals that your instrument is not working normally. Don't wait until disaster strikes. Cut back drastically on vocal use the minute you recognize symptoms of vocal fatigue and stress. Social talking should be eliminated until the voice is better. Listed below are some clues to help you recognize problems:

I. Causes and/or exacerbators of vocal problems in singers and professional voice users.
A. Lack of discipline and self-motivation.
B. Lack of self-restraint: Overuse and abuse.
1. Speaking too long, too loud, too low, over too loud noises -- particularly when voice is tired or "ill." Voice rest is not an excuse for not practicing. It is the reason to eliminate or severely restrict social talking.
2. Inability to say "no" socially and professionally when you and your voice are tired, sick, and overworked.
C. Incorrect vocal technique. To develop good technique and maintain a healthy voice:
1. Warm-up the voice every day before speaking and singing.
2. Practice efficiently and carefully.
3. Correct technical problems when pointed out and work diligently to correct them as soon as possible.
4. Correct specific vocal habits that hamper good technique:
a. Mouth/jaw not open enough.
b. Vowels -- example: E too stretched, restricting mouth opening.
c. Tongue retracted, humped etc., causing muscular tension, particularly the jaw.
II. Singer's vocal technique problems that result from vocal dysfunction (laryngitis, hoarseness, nodules, etc.)..
A. Inability to bridge easily between registers.
B. A voice quality that is breathy, hoarse, raspy, and gravelly.
C. The inability to sing loudly and/or softly, particularly in the bridge from middle to low register (a "break").
D. The double whammy: It takes longer to warm up a damaged voice. But, in order to minimize further damage, it is imperative that one thoroughly warms up the voice. This is unfortunate because a "sick" voice tires quickly.
III. Singers and professional voice users with vocal dysfunction may have some of the following problems:
A. Raised shoulders, one shoulder higher than the other.
B. Congenital conditions such as a short leg may result in one shoulder being held higher than the other. The longer leg is habitually in front of the other with the weight on one foot. Do not try to artificially level the shoulders. It will only cause more tension. A lift or small molded appliance in the shoe is needed. This is also one cause or exacerbator of Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction (TMJD).
C. TMJD - mouth/jaw does not open symmetrically.
D. Incorrect head position (ex. chin up).
E. Tension of neck muscles, shoulders, arms, hands.
F. Symptoms that should alert one to the possibility of asthma, bronchitis and allergies:
1. A feeling of tightness in the chest.
2. Wheezing and/or shortness of breath.
3. Problems with breath -- inability to complete a relatively short musical phrase.
4. Frequent episodes of vocal and physical fatigue. The appearance of stress of being tired without sufficient cause.
5. A frequent dry or wet cough with the feeling of mucus on the vocal folds.
6. Excessive tension of the extrinsic neck muscles, jaw, and face.
7. Persistent throat clearing,
8. Tickle in the throat.
9. The appearance of restlessness or nervousness.
10. A wrinkled forehead.
11. Loss of voice.
IV. Causes and manifestations of vocal dysfunction in the speaking voice. Incorrect habitual/optimal pitch and glottal initiation of sound. So that you can use this information, let's discuss these two areas.
One of the most damaging vocal behavior I know is speaking at the incorrect optimal pitch, usually too low. (Vocal Fry) More women than men have this problem. A soprano with vocal problems may have a speaking pitch around C or D below middle C! When I vocalize them in this area, they claim it is too low, but that is where they are speaking. This causes register interference (discrepancy) - usually affecting bridging between registers and seriously affecting the ability to sing in the upper voice. There can be little hope of successfully rehabilitating the singing voice until the optimal pitch is raised appropriately.

Learn your correct optimal pitch and use it all the time. If your voice is gravelly and hoarse, it is probably too low. When the optimal pitch is used, the quality of the voice is clear and does not tire as quickly. Not very scientific, but a way to find your approximate optimal pitch is to hum, sliding upward until the voice is clear. This will be close to the optimal pitch.. Become aware of that approximate pitch and continue to speak there, never allowing the voice to gradually "anchor" on the very low, damaging pitches. When speaking, the voice pitch encompasses a range of a fifth or more, but the optimal pitch is the most frequently used pitch. Begin by using mainly head voice for speaking -- it may sound childlike to you. The phrasing must be legato, sustained and well supported, using no excessive force or pressure. Until the voice is healthy, do not use your projected, "performing voice."

Glottal initiation of words and phrases is another surefire way to finish off your voice. It occurs when the delivery is staccato, breaks after almost every word and is disjointed, not legato. The louder the voice, the harder the folds collide; the higher the pitch, the more frequently the folds slam together. In glottal initiation of words or phrases (glottal attack) the glottis closes firmly before breath pressure is applied. To make a sound, the folds must explode open against muscular resistance, causing great muscular tension and vocal fatigue. Glottal Initiation of words or phrases is quite common among speakers whose speaking pitch is too low and those with voice disorders. The damage to the folds causes trauma, irritation and swelling. Hard, fast glottal attacks for 20 minutes may cause hemorrhaging of the vocal folds and even 24 hours of complete voice silence may not repair the damage. Unfortunately, most habitual voice abusers cannot be persuaded to rest the voice until they can hardly croak.

To correct this problem, begin the breath before the initiation of sound. Try saying /singing "hum" as you begin the phrase. Speakers and singers often use glottal initiation in an attempt to speak more distinctly and project the voice. Instead, the disjointed delivery often interferes with the audience's understanding of the thoughts being expressed. Convey the meaning and emotion of a song or speech by placing emphasis only on the important words, not every word; use the appropriate emotion in the voice; appropriate body action; and use variety of vocal pitch.

No matter the physical conditions that cause or exacerbate vocal problems, be it viruses, injuries or chronic conditions, vocal technique must be addressed. I have never worked with a client with vocal problems who had perfect technique.

Gradual retraining is necessary to recover from laryngitis and other voice disorders. The same process can be used with singers after vocal surgery. For best results work under the guidance of a voice teacher or a speech pathologist who understand the singing voice. Here are some suggestions:

1. Do some easy physical warm-ups before vocalizing!!!
Begin with five minutes of humming when the doctor says it is OK.
a. Random humming, lips trills and sliding exercises in mid range.
b. Gradually add minutes to each session and more sessions per day.
c. Begin vocalizing only in the middle voice and gradually and cautiously extend the range up and down. Lip trills are excellent.
d. Add other exercises one by one as the voice improves.
3. Always "warm-down" after singing or performing, particularly after strenuous singing. Using easy humming exercises, etc.,
4. Never whisper! The arythenoids are slightly abducted and "toed in" when whispering, resulting in a small triangular chink. When breath is released, turbulence occurs in the chink exacerbating the problem. Use a quiet, well-supported head voice.
During the first week or two after vocal surgery all social talking should be avoided. When the voice is feeling and sounding healthy, gradually begin short social conversations in a quiet room - no long monologues, no tense, emotional exchanges. Tears may help clear the emotional "air," but it wrecks havoc with the voice (results in muscular tension).

Professionally, one must walk a tightrope, making modifications in lifestyle and in professional activities when necessary to save the voice. To summarize:

During the recovery period or when your voice is tired, take advantage of every weekend and holiday to be absolutely quiet. Save your voice for your job. Try to schedule your time so that there will be vocal breaks. If one day or portion of the day requires heavy vocal use, plan vocal breaks that involve moderate, low, or no vocal expenditure. You must consciously plan vocal use, otherwise you will unconsciously use it in the same manner that got you in trouble. You can use your voice less and be more effective. Be creative.

How rapid the voice improves depends on you and on a number of circumstances:
1) The severity of the vocal damage. For example, a fragile, hoarse voice that fatigues quickly; fibrous nodules or contact ulcers will recover more slowly.
2) Vocal regression following a vocal surgery will also take longer. In any case, one should not expect to resume normal vocal activities for approximately six weeks. How rapid the vocal recovery depends on compliance with the recommendations of your otolaryngologist and your vocal rehabilitation specialist and the determination of the singer to accomplish it in the shortest period of time and on how vocally stressful his or her job may be.

:(

2009-08-07T11:14:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I just went for endoscopy and i have tiny sprouting nodules on the vocal cords, causing uneven closure. This is due to overuse of voice.

Thankfully, just rest will help. I will be canceling 2 weeks of lessons and this week, will not be speaking at all.. anything sms me k...

Hope to be back soon

Sherlyn

Happy Birthday CHC! and... my painful throat

2009-08-02T21:27:00.000-07:00

Urggghh!! My throat suddenly develop this pain on the right side of the throat, painful even swallowing water!! I just seem to get past and over with all these ENT problems... loss of voice la, flu, and now throat!!! Why must I cancel lesson again!!

BTW something happy: Its CHC's 20th birthday!

Having only shared with them 5 years of the journey, I was very touched by the whole service... to see how much we have grown and how far we have come and achieve - on the cost of the pioneers. We are indeed a big happy family.

i didn't know that! Issue# 25- Piano fused w emotions

2009-07-31T00:09:00.001-07:00

Wonder products :)

2009-07-28T01:45:00.000-07:00

These are my most recent wonder products, really good :) So if you are near my age (make a guess), do get them.

Celebs...

2009-07-12T20:16:00.001-07:00

By2 came back last week for series of events and managed to catch up with them for lunch.. Will post the pics soon! :)

And At Flyer 1 week ago, Lee Shen Jie came with some of my friends for my gig. So nice of them. At the end, Allan and him sang quite a no of songs and it was awesome. It's always great for artistes to be able to be relaxed, in a small group setting, singing their favorite songs; instead of singing because its work, but for leisure. Here's a pic of them with the band.

I didn't know that! Issue# 24- Choosing songs for audition

2009-07-12T20:01:00.000-07:00

Always Choose Audition Songs Appropriate to Your Age & Life Experience

Just because we like a song doesn't make it a good song for us to sing in an audition. In order to believably deliver the emotions of a song, you have to relate to the content of the lyrics on a personal level. Choosing a song that you can relate to emotionally is extremely important. There are lots of people who can sing well - what will set you apart is your ability to communicate emotion.

Always Choose Audition Songs in an Appropriate Style

What sets a show tune apart from other songs is its character. Don't choose an audition song that is nothing but a technically challenging tune unless you are asked specifically to display your technical skills. If you are unsure about the style you should be looking for, research about the previous auditions and also the show you are auditioning for.

Your Audition Songs Should Show Your Strengths First

Never choose an audition song just because you think that is what the audition panel wants to hear. When given a choice, always choose the best audition song you have to offer. Choose an audition song that is within your comfortable singing range - this is not the time to stretch for a note, as blowing a note will almost certainly also blow your chances for a role. The audition panel will expect you to show off the very best you have to offer, and this means performing a song that is well polished and well rehearsed.

Choose Audition Songs That Let You Be Yourself

Be the first you, not the 52nd Mariah Carey wannabe. Many auditioners have the tendancy to try and copy the style of whoever sang the recorded version of their audition song. DON'T DO THAT! Pick a song that you can identify with, and use it to show your own personality and style, not someone else's. Make sure you practice with only the accompaniment - singing along with a recording will not help you develop your own style.

Choose the Best Audition Songs for You

I see postings on discussion boards all the time, asking for audition song suggestions. What people seem to forget is that what makes a song right for you is your voice and personality, the two things that other people cannot see over the internet! If you want a truly great audition song, you'll have to search for it yourself.

Accompaniment For Your Audition Songs

There are three choices when it comes to accompaniment. The first is to use a piano accompanist, as usually one is provided. The second is to sing a capella. Finally, you can use recorded accompaniment.

It is important to be aware that not all auditions will give you a choice. Many auditions will insist that you use their accompanist. If you are given a choice, you need to be aware of a few factors that should influence your decision.

Accompaniment will keep you on pitch, and will fill in the instrumental sections of the piece. Live accompaniment also best mimics how you would be performing in the show, and demonstrates how well you can work with an accompanist. However, using an accompanist requires you to have sheet music in the correct key, and you will need to practice singing with the accompaniment before the audition. While using pre-recorded accompaniment makes rehearsing easy, it limits your ability to make creative changes in dynamics and tempo. Singing a capella should be done only when absolutely necessary.

Modified from MusicalTheatreAudition.com

PK finals

2009-06-29T07:41:00.000-07:00

Recovered 10% of my voice... sigh.

Anyway had a great (silent coz no voice) weekend with Miaoru's PK finals. Took her for hair and makeup at 10am etc. Though she didnt get in, it was a great experience for her.

I also caught up with many many frens like Jiaying, Diya, Kewei, Alfred (her boyfriend) and of coz the VS students. Here are the pics, courtesy of Nathaniel :)

Jiaying (Carrie) and me.. she sang so well tat day

Me and Weiyin..

With Nathaniel

Miss Iris and me..

With the VS students!

Twin's Advert for F&N

2009-06-24T23:36:00.000-07:00

Sinus problem

2009-06-24T23:07:00.000-07:00

Urgh, losing my voice again due to that horrible sinus infection that has yet to recover.... anyway just in case you have the same problem as me, here's an article from www.sinus-infections.net:

Falling sick is a part of living. While some of the infections that we may fall prey to can be severe there are milder infections which may resemble common colds. One of these infections, that in many ways seems to be like the common cold, is that of sinusitis.

Sinus infections are illnesses that affect the sinuses. Also known as sinusitis, this infection causes severe inflammation to the sinuses, which are hollow cavities in the bones around the nose. When a person suffers from fungal or viral infections like hay fever, rhinitis, etc. these sinuses become inflamed. Air and mucus may get blocked inside these inflamed sinuses, causing severe pain and discomfort. Sometimes, there could be a vacuum inside the sinuses. The main symptoms of severe sinus infections are pain in the head, ear, or neck; headaches early in the morning; pain in the upper jaw, cheeks, and teeth; swelling of the eyelids; pain between the eyes; stuffy nose; loss of smell; and tenderness near the nose. Sometimes, there could be fever, tiredness, weakness, severe cough, and runny nose. Very rarely, acute sinusitis can lead to infection in the brain or some other complication.

Recovery time depends on the person. Some people start feeling better after two days on antibiotics, while some can still feel under the weather for days and weeks. Antibiotic treatment for a sinus infection usually lasts for two weeks, but it could be extended seven more days in the case of a chronic infection.

Love Story, Viva la Vida

2009-06-23T11:35:00.000-07:00

I really really liked this!! Love story and Viva la vida by Jon Schmidt

When i was young..

2009-06-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

Someone asked me this question: How was your childhood and what were your dreams and aspirations?

Well, I remember I love to read, I love to sing; I never sleep without singing a song to myself. I also love to draw. I even came in 2nd for a drawing/coloring competition. I continued to draw during my teenage years, esp on the days that it rained.. I would just sit by my table looking at the rain through the window.. and I had thoughts of becoming a fashion designer; still kept some drawings of my 1st debut collection :)

I guess my childhood really shaped me into who I am today. The wonderful Aesop's fables shaped my values, the drawings drew me into fashion magazines that has decided my wardrobe choices, my daily singing to myself has brought me to do music full-time.

But of coz not everything was that easy and smooth. The opinions of plenty were harsh, often telling me " NO, you can never sing well!" "NO, you do not look pretty at all" All too many NOs along the way can sure make you feel like worthless.

But I somehow got the strength to just bite the bullet and continue to press towards my goals and just try out all different experiences. Lemme see: I have been a netball player, a print advert model, a backup/lead singer, an accounts executive, a tutor, an independent financial advisor, an insurance agent, a host/emcee, an events assistant, an admin assistant, a cell group leader, an actress and of course a vocal teacher.

Of coz eventually now, I am doing what I like for a living. But if it wasn't through all the above experiences, I would have never got this far-irregardless of how irrelavant the experience may seem to my current profession.

So you see, life is always twisting and turning and you never know where it will get you; but remember that every experience counts and shapes you; especially the difficult moments. It is God's way of adding the different shades of colors into our lives. Smile at every situation.

Fri night fever ;)

2009-06-12T09:44:00.000-07:00

It was a amazing night today at LTW, well firstly I had lotsa interesting stares due to my NEW hair color :) You will find out soon enough what color it is.. and thanks to XX for helping to come over to my place late last night to help me with it.

Secondly, the teachers from music clef were here.. From the principal, Mrs Jo (flute) to Mr Jimmy Lee (drums) and may more.. they did a couple of songs; simply mind-blowing. Chapter One's very own Sharon did an awesome job on the bass!

Last but not least, It was packed to the brim tonight.. woah!! That's cool. Yep. Great Fri night!!

I am tired vocally, physically but I am sooo excited for tmr's student event and the celebrity service!! awesome!!

p.s: oooo, as well as the students' performance @ Love the World, Spore flyer on Sun, 6pm.. what a packed week!

I didn't know that! Issue# 23- Audiometry

2009-06-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

Pure-tone audiometry is completed in a soundproof booth—a room with special treatment to the walls, ceiling, and floor to ensure that background noise does not affect test results. Only those sounds that the audiologist introduces into the room, either through earphones or through speakers located in the room, will be heard. Sounds may also be sent through a special headset "vibrator" that has been placed just behind the ear or on the forehead.

In testing hearing for tones, a pure tone air conduction hearing test is given to find out the faintest tones a person can hear at selected pitches (frequencies) from low to high. During this test, earphones are worn and the sound travels through the air in the ear canal to stimulate the eardrum and then the auditory nerve. The person taking the test is instructed to give some type of response such as raising a finger or hand, pressing a button, pointing to the ear where the sound was received, or saying "yes" to indicate that the sound was heard.

Sometimes children are given a more play-like activity (conditioned play audiometry) to indicate response. They may be instructed to string a peg, drop a block in a bucket, or place a ring on a stick in response to hearing the sound. Infants and toddlers are observed for changes in their behavior such as sucking a pacifier, quieting, or searching for the sound and are rewarded for the correct response by getting to watch an animated toy (visual reinforcement audiometry).

The audiologist uses a calibrated machine called an audiometer to present tones at different frequencies (pitches) and at different intensity (loudness) levels. A signal of a particular frequency (something like a piano note) is presented to one ear, and its intensity is raised and lowered until the person no longer responds consistently. Then another signal of a different frequency is presented to the same ear, and its intensity is varied until there is no consistent response. This procedure is done for at least six frequencies. Then the other ear is tested in the same way.

The frequency or pitch of the sound is referred to in Hertz (Hz). The intensity or loudness of the sound is measured in decibels (dB). The responses are recorded on a chart called an audiogram that provides a graph of intensity levels for each frequency tested.

In some cases, it is necessary to give a pure tone bone conduction hearing test. In this test, the tone is introduced through a small vibrator placed on the temporal bone behind the ear (or on the forehead). This method "bypasses" blockage, such as wax or fluid, in the outer or middle ears and reaches the auditory nerve through vibration of skull bones. This testing can measure functionality of the inner ear independently of the functionality of the outer and middle ears.

Air conduction test results indicate hearing losses that are either conductive or sensorineural. Bone conduction test results reflect only the sensorineural component. By comparing air conduction and bone conduction test results, the audiologist can determine whether there is a hearing loss due to a problem in the outer or middle ear. If air and bone conduction thresholds are the same, the loss is sensorineural. If there is a difference between air and bone thresholds (an air-bone gap), the loss is conductive or mixed.

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Great day

2009-06-04T11:58:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!!

I have recovered from my flu :) thanks for all your emails.

Anyway I caught up with a few frens and Kewei on Wed. Its been quite a while since I last caught up with her. We managed to go for a movie screening at Cathay and it was quite funny actually, haha if u can, u can go catch it: I love you, Man!

It was great catching up with her and I am reminded of how important it is to be able to have people around you that you can talk to, share things with and feel encouraged thereafter. It's always important to me to your my best to stay in contact with my friends.

Even as the Artiste training course exam is around the corner, I hope they will continue to build on the friendships that have been forged. After all, Life is all about relationships :)

Sichuan Earthquake- in memory

2009-05-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

On the afternoon of May 12, 2008, a 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit Sichuan Province, a mountainous region in Western China, killing about 70,000 people and leaving over 18,000 missing. Over 15 million people lived in the affected area, including almost 4 million in the city of Chengdu. Thousands of the initial quake's victims were children crushed in shoddily built schools.
Later in June 2008, low-lying areas in one of the towns devastated by the earthquake were flooded as a torrent of water was released from a dangerous lake formed by landslides, wrecked homes, cars and corpses.

In May 2008, Acid and Huanjie wrote this song and I recorded this demo with them. It is a beautiful song with beautiful lyrics. In memory of all who were lost and remembered by many.

有你有我－ Acid, 环杰 + Sherlyn on vocals

多少次面临着难题
多少次困惑情绪
一路走来不那么容易

多少泪湿透了眼睛
多少患难见真情
一路伴随你，不再孤寂

要多大的勇气才能够闯出去
路过坚心难熬困境

有你有我，扶持彼此心中的梦
未来日子再多坎坷，还有我能陪你走
不管有多少风雨，坚信明天会缃聚
手牵着手，肩并着肩
一起同行

Memorables

2009-05-27T10:25:00.000-07:00

I was looking through some pictures and I found many beautiful "memorables" from my students. The greatest rewards of being a teacher is when the students improve and also the little small gifts- in many various forms such as a tangible gift like a card, or just a drink, a thank you etc.. here are what i found i have been blessed with :

From J4M: My birthday card last year :) It came as a lovely surprise as they went to Jurong West to pass to me personally. Though I have been very hard on them and been pushing them quite a bit the last 4 months, they will always have their place in my heart.

From By2: Snacks from Taiwan, Makeup, Skincare, CD etc etc... Though they are so far away and rarely get to come back to SG, I will always think about how are they doing. Their mum is in SG and I try to take care and accompany their mum as much as I can.

From Renee, 陈嘉唯: A really beautiful card from Taiwan with her description of me as her sexy vocal teacher!! U go gal, may u fly high and far in all that u do..

And many many more from the rest of you... the milos, ice lemon tea, Xmas cards, Valentine's day gift, car rides, walk to get a cab (even in beijing: the guys from Kungfu-pop), meals and every single Thank you.... it all means so much :)

Catch me!

2009-05-26T00:45:00.000-07:00

Hey hey.. Many of you have been asking about updates on what I am busy doing recently..

here's where what and when:

May 29 Fri 10pm- Love the World (02-05) Spore Flyer *

May 30 Sat 10pm- Love the World (02-05) Spore Flyer *

Jun 7 Sun- OBVS graduation

Jun 9-12- Photo shoot week for my new profile

Jun 15 Sun 5pm- Love the World - OBMF student performance Spore Flyer*

Jun 22-23- Recording

Jun 24 Wed 8pm- Closed door corporate gig (hush hush location)

Jul 17-18 Fri & Sat- Heartland performances all over SG

Jul 24-25 Fri & Sat- Heartland performances all over SG

yep, that's about it for now.. will update again soon :)

*Weekly performances

I am in 8 Days!!

2009-05-25T23:29:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

My band and I are featured in this week's issue of 8 days. Do catch the full page article on pg 58.

Showtimee!!

2009-05-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

If you can, do drop by to support the students from Music Forest for their performance!!

When? Tomorrow Friday, 8pm

Where? Takashimaya

Be sure to bring along yr banner etc for them!!

Mr ADAM LAMBERT!!

2009-05-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

Oh man... he is simply awesome!! :)

Support Me!

2009-05-07T21:53:00.000-07:00

Dear all,

I will be singing at Love The World bar bistro at Spore Flyer #02-05 next Friday night. Do come and be there with me if you can :) The drink cost about $5-7 and they also do have snacks, dinner etc.

I will be performing for 2 sets of 45mins: 1015-11pm and 1115pm-12am. Please come and be there to support me if you can, will need it.

Directions to Spore Flyer:

I didn't know that! Issue# 22- General Anxiety

2009-05-04T09:27:00.000-07:00

What is anxiety?

Anxiety can be a normal "alarm system" alerting you to danger. Imagine coming home and finding a burglar in your home. Your heart beats faster. Your palms get sweaty. Your mind races. In a situation such as this, anxiety can be helpful. It can add an extra spark to help you get out of danger. Under more normal but busy times, it can give you energy to help you get things done.

But sometimes anxiety may go out of control, giving you an overwhelming sense of dread and fear for no apparent reason. This kind of anxiety can disrupt your life.

Are there different types of anxiety?

Yes. Anxiety can be a general feeling of worry, an attack of feeling panicky, a fear of a certain situation or a response to a traumatic experience.

What is generalized anxiety?

Generalized anxiety disorder is ongoing worry or fear that isn’t related to a particular event or situation, or is way out of proportion to what you would expect - for instance, constantly worrying about the health of a child who is perfectly healthy.

Symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder include muscle tension, trembling, shortness of breath, fast heartbeat, dry mouth, dizziness, nausea, irritability, loss of sleep and not being able to concentrate.

What is panic disorder?

Panic disorder is another type of anxiety. It occurs when you have repeated periods of extreme panic, called panic attacks.

Suppose one day you’re getting out of your car and about to go to work. Suddenly your chest feels tight. Your heart races. You begin to feel dizzy and think you might faint. You start to choke. You feel as if the end is near. Was it all in your head? No. most likely, you had a panic attack.

Panic attacks last about five to 30 minutes and may include all or any of the symptoms listed. Panic attacks have often been confused with heart attacks, brain tumors or other disorders. They can lead to phobias if they aren’t treated.

Panic attack symptoms

Feeling like you’re going to choke
Chest pressure or chest pain
Pounding heart
Racing pulse
Dizziness or lightheadedness
Shortness of breath
Sweating
Trembling or shaking
Nausea
Tingling or numbness in the hands or feet
Hot flashes or chills
Sense of unreality or dreamlike sensations
Fear of losing control, doing something embarrassing, going "crazy" or dying

What is obsessive-compulsive disorder?

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is the type of anxiety in which you have certain thoughts or ideas over and over, or do certain things over and over (rituals).

The thoughts may be unrelated to what you’re doing. They may be violent, or somehow distasteful or frightening to you. The rituals may include washing your hands because of a fear of getting an infection, constantly checking windows or doors because of a fear they may not be locked, or straightening objects because of a fear something bad might happen if they aren’t in just the right place.

Most people with obsessive-compulsive disorder know the rituals aren’t normal, but they can’t seem to stop themselves.

What is a phobia?

Phobias are when you have a lot of fear and anxiety in response to something specific. Examples include fear of crowds, bridges, snakes, spiders, heights, open places or social embarrassment.

A phobia is only considered a disorder when it keeps you from living a normal life. An example is being so afraid of open places that you can’t leave home. This is called agoraphobia.

What is post-traumatic stress?

Post-traumatic stress disorder is the type of anxiety that can happen if you’ve had a physically or emotionally traumatic experience, such as serving in a war, suffering a violent crime such as assault or rape, or surviving an airplane crash, car wreck, flood, tornado or torture.

People with post-traumatic stress disorder re-live the traumatic event through flashbacks, dreams or memories. If they don’t get help, they may become withdrawn or emotionally numb, and avoid any event that reminds them of the trauma.

What causes anxiety disorders?

Suppose the fire alarm goes off in your home. You race around frantically to find the fire. Instead, you find that the alarm isn’t working properly. You take it in to be repaired.

It’s the same with anxiety disorders. Your body mistakenly triggers your alarm system when there is no danger. This may be due to a chemical imbalance in your body. It may also be related to an unconscious memory, to a side effect of a medicine, or to an illness.

Can anxiety be treated?

Yes. Talk to your family doctor if you think you have an anxiety disorder. He or she can help you form a plan to develop skills to cope with your anxiety. Your doctor can also prescribe medicine if it’s needed. Here are some tips on forming a plan.

Control your worry. Pick a place and time to do your worrying. Make it the same time in the same place every day. Spend 30 minutes thinking about your concerns and what you can do about them. Try not to dwell on what "might" happen. Focus more on what’s really happening, instead of what might happen.

Relax. You may learn techniques to help you relax. These may include muscle relaxation, yoga, biofeedback and deep breathing. Muscle relaxation is simple. Start by choosing a muscle and holding tight for a few seconds. Relax the muscle after a few seconds. Do this with all of your muscles. Try starting with your feet and working up your body.

Steps to deep breathing

Lie down on a flat surface.
Place one hand on your stomach, just above your navel. Place the other hand on your chest.
Breathe in slowly and try to make your stomach rise a little.
Hold your breath for a second.
Breathe out slowly and let your stomach go back down.

Confront the things that have made you anxious in the past. Begin by just picturing yourself confronting these things. By doing this, you can begin to get used to the idea of confronting the things that make you anxious before you actually do it. After you begin to feel more comfortable picturing yourself confronting these things, you can begin to actually face them. You might find it helpful to make a list of things that cause you to feel anxious. Begin by confronting the thing that causes you the least anxiety and work your way up the list.

If you feel yourself getting anxious, practice one of your relaxation techniques or focus on a simple task, such as counting backward.

Although the feelings of anxiety are scary, they won’t hurt you. Label the level of your fear from zero to 10 and watch it go up and down. Notice that it doesn’t stay at a very high level for more that a few seconds. When the fear comes, accept it. Wait and give it time to pass without running away from it.

Don’t be surprised if you have bouts of anxiety even after it begins to go away. This is normal.

Exercise regularly. People who have anxiety often quit exercising. But exercise can give you a sense of well-being and help decrease feelings of anxiety.

Get plenty of sleep.

Avoid alcohol or substance abuse. It may seem that alcohol or drugs relax you. But in the long run, they worsen anxiety and depression.

Avoid caffeine. It’s found in coffee, tea, soft drinks and chocolate. Caffeine may increase your sense of anxiety. Also avoid over-the-counter diet pills, and cough or cold medicines.

Use medicine if it helps. Your doctor may give you medicine to help reduce anxiety while you learn new ways to respond to the things that stimulate your anxiety. Many types of medicine are available. The type that’s right for you will depend on your needs and your doctor’s suggestions.

Talk about your anxiety with your doctor. This is important so your doctor can make sure your plan is working the way it should be. You may also need to get some counselling with your doctor or with a counselor. Counselling can help you learn to express your needs and wants so you can feel more in control and have less suppressed anger and anxiety. Support groups can also be helpful.

The most important thing is to take action. Any action you take will be helpful because it will help you gain a sense of control over your anxiety.

The College of Family Physicians of Canada

I didn't know that! Issue# 21- Character & Success

2009-04-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

by Theodore Roosevelt:

A YEAR or two ago I was speaking to a famous Yale professor, one of the most noted scholars in the country, and one who is even more than a scholar, because he is in every sense of the word a man. We had been discussing the Yale-Harvard foot-ball teams, and he remarked of a certain player: "I told them not to take him, for he was slack in his studies, and my experience is that, as a rule, the man who is slack in his studies will be slack in his foot-ball work; it is character that counts in both."

Bodily vigor is good, and vigor of intellect is even better, but far above both is character. It is true, of course, that a genius may, on certain lines, do more than a brave and manly fellow who is not a genius; and so, in sports, vast physical strength may overcome weakness, even though the puny body may have in it the heart of a lion. But, in the long run, in the great battle of life, no brilliancy of intellect, no perfection of bodily development, will count when weighed in the balance against that assemblage of virtues, active and passive, of moral qualities, which we group together under the name of character; and if between any two contestants, even in college sport or in college work, the difference in character on the right side is as great as the difference of intellect or strength the other way, it is the character side that will win.

Of course this does not mean that either intellect or bodily vigor can safely be neglected. On the contrary, it means that both should be developed, and that not the least of the benefits of developing both comes from the indirect effect which this development itself has upon the character. In very rude and ignorant communities all schooling is more or less looked down upon; but there are now very few places indeed in the United States where elementary schooling is not considered a necessity. There are any number of men, however, priding themselves upon being "hard-headed" and "practical," who sneer at book-learning and at every form of higher education, under the impression that the additional mental culture is at best useless, and is ordinarily harmful in practical life.

Not long ago two of the wealthiest men in the United States publicly committed themselves to the proposition that to go to college was a positive disadvantage for a young man who strove for success. Now, of course, the very most successful men we have ever had, men like Lincoln, had no chance to go to college, but did have such indomitable tenacity and such keen appreciation of the value of wisdom that they set to work and learned for themselves far more than they could have been taught in any academy. On the other hand, boys of weak fiber, who go to high school or college instead of going to work after getting through the primary schools, may be seriously damaged instead of benefited. But, as a rule, if the boy has in him the right stuff, it is a great advantage to him should his circumstances be so fortunate as to enable him to get the years of additional mental training.

The trouble with the two rich men whose views are above quoted was that, owing largely perhaps to their own defects in early training, they did not know what success really was. Their speeches merely betrayed their own limitations, and did not furnish any argument against education. Success must always include, as its first element, earning a competence for the support of the man himself, and for the bringing up of those dependent upon him. In the vast majority of cases it ought to include financially rather more than this. But the acquisition of wealth is not in the least the only test of success.

After a certain amount of wealth has been accumulated, the accumulation of more is of very little consequence indeed from the standpoint of success, as success should be understood both by the community and the individual. Wealthy men who use their wealth aright are a great power for good in the community, and help to upbuild that material national prosperity which must underlie national greatness; but if this were the only kind of success, the nation would be indeed poorly off. Successful statesmen, soldiers, sailors, explorers, historians, poets, and scientific men are also essential to national greatness, and, in fact, very much more essential than any mere successful business man can possibly be.

The average man, into whom the average boy develops, is, of course, not going to be a marvel in any line, but, if he only chooses to try, he can be very good in any line, and the chances of his doing good work are immensely increased if he has trained his mind. Of course, if, as a result of his high-school, academy, or college experience, he gets to thinking that the only kind of learning is that to be found in books, he will do very little; but if he keeps his mental balance—that is, if he shows character—he will understand both what learning can do and what it cannot, and he will be all the better the more he can get.

A good deal the same thing is true of bodily development. Exactly as one kind of man sneers at college work because he does not think it bears any immediate fruit in money-getting, so another type of man sneers at college sports because he does not see their immediate effect for good in practical life. Of course, if they are carried to an excessive degree, they are altogether bad. It is a good thing for a boy to have captained his school or college eleven, but it is a very bad thing if, twenty years afterward, all that can be said of him is that he has continued to take an interest in foot-ball, base-ball, or boxing, and has with him the memory that he was once captain.

A very acute observer has pointed out that, not impossibly, excessive devotion to sports and games has proved a serious detriment in the British army, by leading the officers and even the men to neglect the hard, practical work of their profession for the sake of racing, foot-ball, base-ball, polo, and tennis—until they received a very rude awakening at the hands of the Boers. Of course this means merely that any healthy pursuit can be abused. The student in a college who "crams" in order to stand at the head of his class, and neglects his health and stunts his development by working for high marks, may do himself much damage; but all that he proves is that the abuse of study is wrong. The fact remains that the study itself is essential. So it is with vigorous pastimes. To study hard implies character in the student, and to work hard at a sport which entails severe physical exertion and steady training also implies character.

All kinds of qualities go to make up character, for, emphatically, the term should include the positive no less than the negative virtues. If we say of a boy or a man, "He is of good character," we mean that he does not do a great many things that are wrong, and we also mean that he does do a great many things which imply much effort of will and readiness to face what is disagreeable. He must not steal, he must not be intemperate, he must not be vicious in any way; he must not be mean or brutal; he must not bully the weak. In fact, he must refrain from whatever is evil. But besides refraining from evil, he must do good. He must be brave and energetic; he must be resolute and persevering.

Perhaps there is no more important component of character than steadfast resolution. The boy who is going to make a great man, or is going to count in any way in after life, must make up his mind not merely to overcome a thousand obstacles, but to win in spite of a thousand repulses or defeats. He may be able to wrest success along the lines on which he originally started. He may have to try something entirely new.

On the one hand, he must not be volatile and irresolute, and, on the other hand, he must not fear to try a new line because he has failed in another. Grant did well as a boy and well as a young man; then came a period of trouble and failure, and then the Civil War and his opportunity; and he grasped it, and rose until his name is among the greatest in our history. Young Lincoln, struggling against incalculable odds, worked his way up, trying one thing and another until he, too, struck out boldly into the turbulent torrent of our national life, at a time when only the boldest and wisest could so carry themselves as to win success and honor; and from the struggle he won both death and honor, and stands forevermore among the greatest of mankind.

Alike for the nation and the individual, the one indispensable requisite is character—character that does and dares as well as endures, character that is active in the performance of virtue no less than firm in the refusal to do aught that is vicious or degraded.

By2 latest mtv and Bai mama in Taiwan :)

2009-04-22T22:25:00.000-07:00

The twin did very well in Taiwan, with their album topping the charts; just right after Jolin Tsai. Their efforts to improve their singing, dancing etc has paid off in this album and as their teacher, I am exceptionally proud of them :) Get their album and listen to the difference :)

Lady Gaga - Acoustic version

2009-04-16T20:40:00.001-07:00

Hope these videos help you rethink about what songs can or cannot be done acoustic :)

Boyce Avenue Live

2009-04-16T08:13:00.001-07:00

I didn't know that! Issue# 20- Self talk

2009-04-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

Self-confidence stems from believing in your own ability. Therefore, strategies that promote positive thinking and positive statements about yourself can be extremely effective. Some performers seem to have a natural tendency to think positively. They see the glass as half full. Others tend to be more pessimistic, dwelling on negatives, on doubts, perpetually seeing the glass as half empty.

If you want to have greater control over your own confidence levels, you will have to develop your own techniques to boost confidence. Most people indulge in some form of self-talk, a term describing what people say to themselves, either out loud or as a small voice in their heads. This talk will be either positive or negative; rarely is it neutral. Performers often demand perfection from themselves and can be very self-critical when they fail to attain it. This negative self-talk adversely affects subsequent performance. Therefore, it is important to counter negative self-talk and induce positive self-talk.

Self-talk can be task-related (e.g., "I must get the phrasing right in the third verse," or, "I must make sure of the preparation for the high B flat"). It can also be emotion-related, where the emotion associated with the experience is the focus of the statement (e.g., "I am afraid of failing in front of all these people").

A good exercise to start the process is this: write down typical negative statements or images you have experienced during practice, audition, and performance. For each one, note whether they are task-related or emotion-related. Then note what happens as a result, what emotions you feel, what effect the statement have on your behavior or performance, what happens to your own confidence.

The next step is to identify the negative thoughts and statements and when they typically occur. Through prompting at key moments and pressure situations you can begin to recognize them.

Turning negative to positive

The first step in changing negative statements is to identify the situations where negative statements regularly occur. This will enable you to change them into positive self-talk, which is more likely to elicit positive behaviors, thus greater self-belief and confidence. As an exercise, turn each negative statement that you identified into a positive one.

When to use self-talk

For most beneficial results, positive self-talk should be used in performance, especially at critical moments such as before stepping onto the stage, following a mistake, or before a difficult moment in the piece. To develop this skill, practice using positive self-talk in practice, e.g., in lessons and coachings. Initially, specific techniques or drills can be isolated to develop the appropriate self-talk in specific situations. Simulated performance can then be used to help you do this. These progressive steps will pave the way.

Remember, self-talk should:
∙ focus only on the immediate task,
∙ evoke strong positive emotions such the will to succeed,
∙ trigger appropriate action, such as the correct approach to a high note,
∙ be brief and easy to remember.

Shirlee Emmons

Ken Hirai

2009-04-07T11:38:00.000-07:00

Beautiful song and mtv

I didn't know that! Issue# 19- Imaginery part 2

2009-04-05T11:15:00.000-07:00

What singer has not at one time or another found it necessary to change his technical skills so as to improve vocally? Those singers who have well-developed imagery skills can more swiftly characterize the old way and the new way by feeling, by hearing and by seeing. In the end, they are much more adept at leaving behind the old technique and adopting the new. Such singers, in sum, practice better.

Singers with highly efficient imagery skills can focus more easily on the pictures, colors, and objects conjured up by their imaginative interpretation and not yield to the person in the front row who is blowing his nose so loudly; in short, those singers are better equipped to resist distractions.

Our results show that improving one’s imagery skills is not a difficult task. It simply requires learning the skills and understanding the nature of their application, the will to do this, and the time in which to do it. Imagery exercises are readily available in performance literature. If one were to count up the factors that lead to a successful singing career, imagery would play a large part in most of them:

The acquisition of dependable vocal technical skills;
The maintenance of a beautiful tone;
The capacity to remain in control, focused, and concentrated during the stress of performing;
The confident enjoyment of performance;
The power to transport an audience into the life of the composition by the singer’s sheer personal belief in self and the text.

It is difficult to think of another single skill that has so many applications to the art of singing. It is easy to believe that imagery is the language of performance. Voice teachers might well say to their singers: “Image your way to a successful career!”

More on Synesthesia

2009-03-31T09:42:00.000-07:00

When Ingrid Carey says she feels colors, she does not mean she sees red, or feels blue, or is green with envy. She really does feel them.

She can also taste them, and hear them, and smell them.

The 20-year-old junior at the University of Maine has synesthesia, a rare neurological condition in which two or more of the senses entwine. Numbers and letters, sensations and emotions, days and months are all associated with colors for Carey.

The letter "N" is sienna brown; "J" is light green; the number "8" is orange; and July is bluish-green.

The pain from a shin split throbs in hues of orange and yellow, purple and red, Carey told LiveScience.

Colors in Carey's world have properties that most of us would never dream of: red is solid, powerful and consistent, while yellow is pliable, brilliant and intense. Chocolate is rich purple and makes Carey's breath smell dark blue. Confusion is orange.

Scientific acceptance

Long dismissed as a product of overactive imaginations or a sign of mental illness, synesthesia has grudgingly come to be accepted by scientists in recent years as an actual phenomenon with a real neurological basis. Some researchers now believe it may yield valuable clues to how the brain is organized and how perception works.

"The study of synesthesia [has] encouraged people to rethink historical ideas that synesthesia was abnormal and an aberration," says Amy Ione, director of the Diatrope Institute, a California-based group interested in the arts and sciences.

The cause remains a mystery, however.

According to one idea, irregular sprouting of new neural connections within the brain leads to a breakdown of the boundaries that normally exist between the senses. In this view, synesthesia is the collective chatter of sensory neighbors once confined to isolation.

Another theory, based on research conducted by Daphne Maurer and Catherine Mondloch at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, suggests all infants may begin life as synesthetes. In this way of thinking, animals and humans are born with immature brains that are highly malleable. Connections between different sensory parts of the brain exists that later become pruned or blocked as an organism matures, Mondloch explained.

Maurer and Mondloch hypothesize that if these connections between the senses are functional, as some experiments suggest, then infants should experience the world in a way that is similar to synesthetic adults.

In a variation of this theory, babies don't have five distinct senses but rather one all-encompassing sense that responds to the total amount of incoming stimulation. So when a baby hears her mother's voice, she is also seeing it and smelling it.

Technology lags

Maurer and Mondloch's pruning hypothesis is intriguing, says Bruno Laeng, a psychology professor at the University of Tromso, Norway. But he adds a caution.

"At present, we do not have the technology to observe brain-connection changes in the living human brain and how these relate to mental changes," Laeng said in an email interview.

Like other scientists, Laeng also questions whether synesthesia needs such extra neural connections in order to occur. Advancements in current brain imaging techniques may one day allow the pruning hypothesis to be tested directly, he said.

According to another theory that does not rely on extra connections, synesthesia arises when normally covert channels of communications between the senses are exposed to the light of consciousness.

All of us are able to perceive the world as a unified whole because there is a complex interaction between the senses in the brain, the thinking goes. Ordinarily, these interconnections are not explicitly experienced, but in the brains of synesthetes, "those connections are 'unmasked' and can enter conscious awareness," said Megan Steven, a neuroscientist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Because this unmasking theory relies on neural connections everyone has, it may explain why certain drugs, like LSD or mescaline, can induce synesthesia in some individuals.

'Like I'm crazy'

Many synesthetes fear ridicule for their unusual abilities. They can feel isolated and alone in their experiences.

"Most people that I'd explain it to would either be fascinated or look at me like I'm crazy," Carey said. "Especially friends who were of a very logical mindset. They would be very perplexed."

The study of synesthesia is therefore important for synesthetes, says Daniel Smilek, an assistant psychology professor at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

Research is revealing synesthetes to be a varied bunch.

Smilek and colleagues have identified two groups of synesthetes among those who associate letters and numbers with colors, he explained in a telephone interview. For individuals in one group, which Smilek calls "projector" synesthetes, the synesthetic color can fill the printed letter or it can appear directly in front of their eyes, as if projected onto an invisible screen. In contrast, "associate" synesthetes see the colors in their "mind's eye" rather than outside their bodies.

In Carey's case, the colors appear in quick flashes right behind her eyes, blinking in and out of existence as quickly as ocean foam. Other times they linger, coalescing and dividing like sunlight on the surface of a soap bubble.

'No mere curiosity'

Other subgroups have also been identified.

The synesthesia of those in the "perceptual" category is triggered by sensory stimuli like sights and sounds, whereas "conceptual" synesthetes respond to abstract concepts like time. One conceptual synesthete described the months of the year as a flat ribbon surrounding her body, each month a distinct color. February was pale green and oriented directly in front of her.

Richard Cytowic, a neuroscientist and author of "The Man Who Tasted Shapes" (Bradford Books, 1998), has watched the scientific shift in attitudes toward the condition in recent years.

"Many of my colleagues claimed that synesthesia was 'made up' because it went against prevailing theory," Cytowic told LiveScience. "Today, everyone recognizes synesthesia as no mere curiosity but important to fundamental principles of how the brain is organized."

More on Synesthesia
Synesthesia is from the Greek syn (union) and the aisthesis (sensation).

"If you ask synesthetes if they'd wish to be rid of it, they almost always say no. For them, it feels like that's what normal experience is like. To have that taken away would make them feel like they were being deprived of one sense."
-- Simon Baron-Cohen, synesthesia researcher at the University of Cambridge

Discovery channel

To Karen: J4M

2009-03-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Karen,

I was looking through my lessons for this week and I was reminded that you will not be able to join the class soon and I just thought I should write you a lil something... I just want you to know that you will always be a part of the class, OB and of course J4M. Do not feel sad or discouraged. And definitely don't ever feel that you will be left out. Reject those negative thoughts okie?

You are always remembered and we will welcome you back anytime. Do visit us once you can.

:)

王传一

2009-03-29T10:21:00.001-07:00

王传一原是台湾偶像天团可米小子的成员之一，自单飞后，其主演过《换换爱》、《恶魔在身边》、《战神》、《爱在星光灿烂时》、《Silence深情密码》、《麻辣高校生》等备受欢迎的青春偶像剧，凭借在这些偶像剧中的不俗表现，为其积累了超高的人气，成为了近两年台湾偶像新力军，深受两岸三地粉丝的喜欢。去年5月份王传一趁戏剧告一段落之际，到新加坡海蝶音乐森林接受音乐训练，在那里，许多艺人找到自己的唱腔与音乐创作力。王传一从基层打底，从认识乐谱、乐理，到进一步研习吉他，并且开始运用吉他创作音乐，收获颇多。

回台湾之后，带着制作老师们的指导重进录音室，不但进步神速，让制作人惊讶万分，也让王传一找到属于自己的歌唱方式。因此，2007年公司为王传一推出了首张个人EP《换换爱》，该专辑一面市获得了广泛的好评，他的音乐实力也获得业内的一致肯定，目前他首张个人专辑大蝶正在筹备中，之所以能有这样成功的转型和成绩，与其在海蝶森林系统和专业的培训是分不开的，在那里为其奠定了坚固的歌唱和舞蹈基础。

近日王传一在忙碌之际，得知母校新加坡海蝶音乐森林正式登陆北京，并成立北京海蝶森林演艺培训学校，同时汇聚了毕晓世、林秋离、许环良、吴剑峰、小虫等众多流行音乐金牌制作团队和雪糕(台湾)、雪玲(新加坡)等国际化的巨星幕后打造团队。为此王传一十分兴奋，于是在工作人员的陪同下专门回到了“母校”，并先后参观了北京海蝶森林漂亮的舞蹈教室、歌唱教室、钢琴教室以及VIP教室，看完这一切，王传一一直赞叹这里漂亮的装修和豪华级硬件设备，时不时赞道：“太漂亮了，太漂亮了”，并希望有机会能够再次回到母校进一步深造。

Day to remember

2009-03-29T09:08:00.000-07:00

Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.

- Martin Luther King, Jr -

Many find friendship unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value;
But forget not rather that it is one of those things that give value to survival. Without it, what value do we have in life?

- CS Lewis -

I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world.

- Thomas Edison -

Tonight marks my most memorable day as a vocal teacher. I was given an opportunity and privilege to be with 65 students, to spend time with them and to come up with something to share with them. I spent the entire week night after night dwelling on what I should share and what can i impart and inspire. I decided to choose Friendship.

Friendship is simple; yet made complex by the varieties of personalities of human.
It is of no tangible value; yet without it, we become of no value.

I also decided to show a video clip of JJ's concert in taipei. It was a really touching concert where he shared about his struggles as an artiste. Spent some time editing the 2 hour long video to a simple 19 min clip. Also shared with JJ that I am going to show it to the students.

I feel that music represents love, joy, honesty, emotions, reflections, liberty, freedom, relationships, dreams, ideas, hopes. But what about those chosen to represent and to express it? What started as a pure and simple dream and ambition should not be distorted into something scheming, unfriendly and hostile. Bitterness is nothing but destruction to oneself and to others.

As I prepare my sharing, my mind just got reminded of all the relationships I have bridged; and burned; in my walk of music. Classmates, teachers, friends who have changed from well-intent persons into self-seeking machines, forsaking the need for love deep down and thus destroying the love and friendship to and from people around them.

At the same time, I am also reminded of those who have given many shoulders to stand upon,and wings to soar. One of which is Nicole. Her love for her students, her life given and poured out to others.

I believe in a generation of singers who will change the music industry by their values in love.
I believe in a generation of singers who will rise above their own desires.
I believe in a generation of singers who will represent music with the right prespective.
I believe in a generation of singers who will change the way of the industry.
I believe in a generation of singers who will leave a legacy of love, hope and trust.

I believe in a generation of singers that will change the world.

I believe in you, my students, to be that generation. This is my dream for my life.

Announcement: My personal blog and blog upgrade

2009-03-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I have set up my personal blog where I will blog about my thoughts, ideas... basically the footprints of my life. Click on "MY FOOTPRINTS" in the linkbar or go to http://justsherlyn.blogspot.com.

I will also be revamping www.sherlynchia.com. Stay tuned

I didn't know that! Issue# 18- Imaginery part 1

2009-03-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

Imagery has long been a primary skill of high profile sports competitors like Tiger Woods and Michael Johnson. Yet, traditionally, the value of imagery in the training of singers has been regarded simply as a useful tool to increase dramatically their interpretive skills, probably by at least fifty percent. Alma Thomas and Shirlee Emmons, after many years of combined experience teaching singers to utilize imagery in far reaching ways, propose that imagery skills have more than one application and offer a myriad of benefits.

Far more than increasing singers’ interpretive skills, imagery strongly supports a singer’s ability to give an elite performance by promoting correct performance thinking. Imagery facilitates singers’ capacity to modify their vocal skills toward improvement when that proves necessary.

Imagery enables a singer to practice proficiently and to reduce musical problems to a manageable entity. Imagery provides singers with a method of avoiding distractions during performance. Imagery allows a singer to rehearse silently on those many occasions when that is useful. Imagery helps makes it possible for singers to do under the stress of performance what they have been doing in rehearsal. Imagery can even be utilized to work at controlling singers’ performance anxiety levels.

Our theory, based upon eleven years of shared work as the only known voice teacher/ performance psychologist team, states that imaging for singers can be described as a “method of using all the senses to create or re-create an experience in the mind.” It is clear that those singers fare better in their careers who have acquired a heightened awareness of all their senses: of visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli, of kinesthetic feedback signals, of taste and smell—and are skillful in their use.

They bring a much greater detail to their interpretations and do so with far more ease. They see colors; they hear sounds; they feel the emotions; they sense the performance kinesthetically as part of the body. In addition, it is a simple matter for them to rehearse repertoire while awaiting their turn at an audition or competition. Efficiently and silently they see and hear and feel themselves executing the piece perfectly (while not being distracted by their surroundings).

Those singers who have honed their imagery skills will find it simpler to remember more clearly the essence of a vocal technical skill and repeat it efficiently until it is firmly within their grasp. In this way, they will eventually move from analytical thinking, which is decidedly not recommended during performance, to the intuitive, musically-responsive thinking that is necessary for elite performance.

Alan Thomas

Great Performance: Brain Mcknight

2009-03-17T20:27:00.000-07:00

Last night I think I have watched the best concert; It was awesome. Mcknight's ability to hold the attention of the crowd for a non-stop 1.5 hour is simply AMAZING! Not to even mention his smooth and pitch perfect runs, trills; that ever smoothing tone and heart-melting chrisma. It IS Mind-Blowing :)

Have a sneak peak:

Live at Stripped:

With his sons (live in US):

For consideration

2009-03-15T09:15:00.000-07:00

As I spend my recent weeks thinking through the direction for my students and the school, I have taken a great interest to the subject cognitive learning and how to have efficient, productive learning as well as the ability to bring on stage what is within.

I had dinner today in Malaysia with my husband's family who happened to be the ones who brought Enopi learning into JB. Then this sentence came up in the conversation: The ability to concentrate = the ability to perform well; in every aspect of learning.

Perhaps its time to rethink the teaching methods and try to resolve the root of inefficient learning or mere poor surface performance issues. When was the last time we could sit down and focus on doing one single thing without being distracted? On stage, the ability to control the conscious mind while allowing the sub-conscious mind to be freed up to react to the music and stage atmosphere determines everything; including how our physical anxiety can be controlled, overcome or take over.

This is indeed worth more than just a penny of thoughts.

Professor Randy Pausch- last lecture

2009-03-09T10:03:00.000-07:00

Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch (Oct. 23, 1960 - July 25, 2008) gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving presentation, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,"

Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals. For more, visit www.cmu.edu/randyslecture.

I didn't know that! Issue# 17- Exercises for anxiety control part 2

2009-03-05T07:33:00.000-08:00

EXERCISE 4.
Breathing is a fine way to reduce anxiety. Inhale evenly through the nose, taking four or five long, deep breaths. Then exhale to the same count through the mouth. While exhaling, focus on your relaxed hands. Repeat the process, but this time focus on relaxed shoulders, jaw, or neck.

EXERCISE 5.
This is known as ratio breathing. The length of the exhalation should always be double that of the inhalation. It combines relaxation and concentration. This method is useful both before and during performance. Inhale deeply through your nose to the count of 5. Exhale through the mouth to the count of 10. During the exhalation the focus should be on watching yourself perform well.

EXERCISE 6.
For those who must deal with too low on motivation level, this exercise can be helpful. There are three possibilities:
1. Do a short physical workout like running in place. This will raise the heartbeat.
2. Use inspirational music to make ready for performance.
3. Use strong verbal cues to lift the energy:
This is tough music; I love it when it is hard.
I thrive on pressure. Let’s go.
I’m ready. Let it come!

Have a great performance!

Shirlee Emmons

I didn't know that! Issue# 16- Exercises for anxiety control

2009-03-01T12:05:00.000-08:00

Before applying any strategies that will help manage and control anxiety, the symptoms of both physical and mental anxiety must be recognized. Therefore, use the first two self-awareness exercises to help reveal your choir’s pattern of anxiety and the symptoms that accompany it.

EXERCISE 1.
Think back to a performance that was ideal, one in which you performed very well. Recall all the things that were done before the performance: the travel arrangements, the time of arrival, the kind of warm-up, etc. Note all the details that can be remembered. This performance represents the ideal arousal zone and will also give an idea of how it was achieved.

EXERCISE 2.
Check the following list of symptoms to see which you exhibit. Not all somatic symptoms are negative. Pounding heart, increased respiration and adrenaline need not be negative signs. However, the presence of physical symptoms together with mental symptoms may mean that the level of arousal has gone too high. Then you will have to lower the level.

Mental Symptoms
Indecisiveness
Feeling overwhelmed
Inability to concentrate
Feeling out of control
Narrowing of attention
Loss of confidence
Fear
Irritability

Physical Symptoms

Pounding heart

Increased respiration

Decreased blood flow to the skin

Increased muscle tension

Dry mouth

Trembling and twitching

Nausea

Loss of appetite

Increased adrenaline

EXERCISE 3.
Imagery is a potent method for coping with mental anxiety. Recall your ideal performance (as in Exercise 1) and watch yourself in imagination performing as well as you can. This is a very effective way of reducing mental anxiety. If it is done often, it will be a reminder of how it feels to perform really well.

Reducing mental anxiety can also be done by thinking about images that produce great calm and relaxation, such as running water for example.

Shirlee Emmons

I didn't know that! Issue #15- Anxiety part 2_

2009-02-26T03:02:00.000-08:00

Two kinds of anxiety
The relationship between performance and the performer’s arousal level is the result of the interaction between two kinds of anxiety: cognitive (mental) anxiety and somatic (physical)anxiety.

Cognitive anxiety results from concerns and worries about the demands of the situation. This fosters a lack of confidence and self-belief, and an inability to concentrate. As a rule, this type of anxiety manifests itself days or weeks before the performance.

Somatic anxiety results from the information given to the performer by the body: butterflies in the stomach, sweaty palms, muscle tension, and frequent visits to the bathroom. This type of anxiety shows itself much closer to the beginning of the performance, might even disappear after that.

An eminent British psychologist, Lew Hardy, has discovered that performance depends on a complex interaction between your two levels of anxiety. Given a relatively high physical anxiety but little worry, performance can have a steady decline. Given a high level of mental and physical anxiety, your arousal will reach an optimal level, after which the bottom will dropout, hence the word catastrophe in the title of Hardy’s study. Recovery from catastrophe takes longer than recovery from a slow decline.

The term “arousal” describes the result of interaction between the two types of anxiety. This interaction will produce either a state of emotional readiness or one of instability. At one end of the arousal scale the performer will be highly charged and “psyched up,” perhaps even aggressive. At the other end the performer will be calm and very relaxed.

There is no standard ideal level of arousal for everyone. Each person requires a specific arousal level of his/her own to perform well. The first thing performers should do is to identify their own ideal level of arousal. This could vary depending upon the nature of their coming performance.

I didn't know that! Issue# 14- Pitch perception

2009-02-25T07:23:00.000-08:00

Above: A overview of the production of voice and how our ear distinguishes a voice

High frequency sounds selectively vibrate the basilar membrane of the inner ear near the entrance port (the oval window). Lower frequencies travel further along the membrane before causing appreciable excitation of the membrane. The basic pitch determining mechanism is based on the location along the membrane where the hair cells are stimulated.

Test your pitch perception! Click the link below

http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/tunetest/

Updates

2009-02-22T08:36:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!!

My apologies for the recent delays in updating my blog. Feb is packed with performances and events every week, as well as preparation for the Artiste Training Course. Plenty of work that includes a new updated practice CD and song list for exams. I will be uploading the new syllabus online as well.

Stay tune for new articles on this blog as well :)

i didn't know that! Issue# 13- Anxiety part 1

2009-02-14T08:07:00.000-08:00

To the performance psychologist, anxiety is a complex emotional state. To the general public, anxiety is synonymous with worry, fear and forebodings. To a singer, it is public enemy number one!

Is there anything good about anxiety?

When singers freeze or commit a blunder in a big performance moment, anxiety is either the root cause or the outcome. For the most part, anxiety is the result of other unsolved problems. Performance, by its very nature, places stress on performers and makes demands on their mental and physical energy. But it also offers the participants a challenge, great opportunities, and a chance to push back their own personal boundaries, all of which can be very liberating. Yet it does produce some uncertainty, some doubts–how will it go? Consider anxiety as a reflection of uncertainty. Yes, this powerful combination of stress and uncertainty is the villain, but it is the kind of villain that could turn out to be a blessing as well.

What kinds of anxiety are there?

Whenever a performance is imminent, what thoughts run through performers’ heads? How important it is? How much it means to them? The probable consequences of the outcome? Do they ask themselves certain questions? Will I do well? What might happen if I blunder? Will the result mean something great for my future? If I don’t do well, will that diminish my reputation?

Not only singers have doubts. Anxiety, characterized by worry and tension, is a demon for everyone. These doubts and worries can either make a performer anxious or free from anxiety. They can add to their confidence or they can crush it. How they perceive any performance, what they say to themselves about that performance--these things will trigger their emotional reactions.

But....if they were able to change their way of thinking about what the performance means to them....if they were able to change their way of viewing their own ability....if they were able to deal with the situation in a positive way, then they could transform their emotional responses. The only change would be in their self-perception or their interpretation of the performance. It could, in short, be the means to free them from fear and anxiety.

Anxiety is Internal

Some performers manage to sing well, stay confident, maintain their focus without too much anxiety. It is possible. It is possible because anxiety is not an evil ogre waiting out there. Anxiety is internal. It does not exist outside thoughts, outside the performer’s own head.

Stress resulting from anxiety is not imposed by other people or by the situation. One
might feel anxious about certain circumstances, but it isn’t mandatory that one become anxious. It’s not the situation that is anxious. It’s the performer! Ultimately, anxiety is always under one’s own control.

Anxiety results from one’s perception of an imbalance between what is demanded of him/herself and feelings regarding one's own capability to achieve what is being demanded.

Example: If someone views a performance as very important and if, at the
same time, he/she does not believe that the repertoire offered is “perfect enough,”
if he/she is convinced that it cannot reach the required level, then the imbalance,
the difference between the two, causes the performer to be anxious and stressed.

To remain in control of their anxiety, performers must keep the two sides in balance--that is, they must balance their perception of the performing situation and their belief in their own ability to handle that situation.

A certain level of anxiety is necessary to perform well, but too much anxiety can exert a negative influence on performance. It’s OK to feel anxious, but it’s not OK to be unable to manage this anxiety. To perform in an ideal way the performer needs some anxiety, just enough to feel excited and ready for performance. The ability to perform at an optimal level of anxiety or arousal at each performance is a skill that can make or break the ability to perform consistently.

Alan Thomas

i didn't know that! Issue# 12- Expect Success 3

2009-02-09T08:36:00.000-08:00

Once you are self-aware and in control, then you can reach level three, self-confidence. Many think that self-confidence comes before self-awareness and self-control. Unfortunately it is the other way round.

Your self-confidence, and therefore your success, is built on your positive thinking, your positive self-image, and a positive self-esteem. All of this comes from within (your subconscious self)—not from outside (your conscious self).

If you consciously (outside) hope to succeed as a singer, then you cannot go on imagining, worrying or fearing unconsciously (inside) all the things that may go wrong. The internal mental program of your positive image will not let you down, because your subconscious will make sure that your thinking and behavior are consistent with this positive image.

However, if your internal image is negative, be warned--unless you make a conscious effort to change that image, this negative “picture” will continue to be what others see. To be self-confident you must first work with your confident, positive, internal image as a singer.

4. The fourth and final step toward success is self-actualization. Through your own actions, your dreams and beliefs become reality. You begin to know that you have the knowledge, competence and personal control to achieve highly. You understand that you have the capabilities of becoming the singer you want to be, and that you are learning to realize your full potential.

Shirlee Emmons