.sherlynchia.com. Vocal coach. Performer.

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.

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!

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," 

One of my recent read is The Element by Sir Ken Robinson. This is a timely as I begin my plans for 2009 and have been thinking lots about what do I want to accomplish for the next few years.

One of the stories that really impacted me from the book is the story of Gillian Lynne. Lynne had been underperforming at school, so her mother took her to the doctor and explained about her fidgeting and lack of focus. After hearing everything her mother said, the doctor told Lynne that he needed to talk to her mother privately for a moment. He turned on the radio and walked out. He then encouraged her mother to look at Lynne, who was dancing to the radio. The doctor noted that she was a dancer, and encouraged Lynne's mother to take her to dance school.

She is now best known for her work on the Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals Cats, The Phantom of the Opera and Aspects of Love.

This chapter discusses the identification of musical potential in childhood and considers the impact of an environment that is nurturing and stimulating. It addresses the place of musical ability tests as well as personality assessment and suggests that while these are areas for the teacher's consideration, they may prove to be of minor significance in any formal selection processes. The chapter describes the manner in which parents and teachers might consider musical potential, not as something finite but as something that may gradually emerge during childhood. The question of children's potential to play various instruments is considered as well as the existence of certain stereotypes prevalent in musical circles. Suggestions are offered to parents and teachers so they may become aware of a child's potential as soon as it becomes observable and nurture it in a facilitating environment.

“This child is musical, you know. ” How often have we heard an adult—a proud parent, an elderly relation, a friend of the family—say something like that! What do they mean? And are they right?

The chances are that the adult is trying to say something positive about the child, something that marks him or her out as more special than other childrenin a manner that is wholesome or at least harmless. Being a musical child is, in the eyes of an interested adult, normally good. The adult thinks that something has been spotted in the child that destines him or her for greatness as some kind of musician or at least indicates that it is worth giving the child opportunities that may be denied to other children, for example, lessons on a musical instrument. In other words, the adult is suggesting that the child has what we shall describe in this book as musical potential: a latent, but as yet unrealized, capacity to do something musical—for example, play the flute.

But is the adult right? Is it possible to spot that one child has more potential than another to play flute or piano or trombone before either has been given achance to try doing any of these things? The biographies of musicians sometimes give an impression that verges on that of a baby emerging from the womb with the musical skills of a very competent adult. But clearly that cannot be the case.

Some children who seem much like other children nevertheless turn out to be
gifted musicians. No child is a blank sheet with respect to music, but the experiences that children have of music vary widely with respect to quantity and
quality. The signs of musical potential that adults think they spot are manifestations of musical achievement. These are the results of musical experience and learning, formal or informal, that some children have had, but others lack. And
there has to be someone there to spot these signs.

A child may move in time to music, play large numbers of pieces of Bach from memory, sing along with a parent, or become engrossed when an older sibling plays the viola. However, a child cannot sing along with a parent if the parent does not sing. Neither can a child play Bach on the piano if there is no access to a piano or the child has never heard any Bach. Nor can a child be seen moving in time to music if no one has time to spot this happening. It is likely that virtually all children have the potential to do all manner of things musical that they never have the chance to do.

Musical potential is something that all children have, although arguably some may have more of it than others, and musical potential may come in different shapes and forms. Musical behavior such as joining in singing means that a child has responded favorably to an opportunity to learn in music but does not necessarily mean that a child has more potential for music than any other child. Neither does it necessarily mean that the child will show more aptitude if offered the chance to learn an instrument, that is, that he or she will realize the potential to develop the ability to play it effectively more speedily than any other child.

Yes, singers do feel dizzy sometimes from prolonged periods of singing high notes (Try it!) But singers dun really faint; This should not happen at all if the singer is in a relaxed state of mind, without too much adrenaline, pressure etc, that may cause improper technique, posture etc..

Thought this is a funny topic.. Read below :)

From TIME magazine online:

Arturo Toscanini firmly believed that "the vibrations of high notes beating frequently on a singer's brain make him stupid."

It is a notion held secretly or sheepishly by a number of music's leaders, supported by a body of folklore and some medical opinion. According to the theory, the higher the voice, the more stupid the singer — particularly tenors, whose resonant upper register causes more acute brain-beating frequencies.

Basses, baritones and contraltos have more sense because they have fewer vibrations.


In Italy, a man would much rather be called a cuckold than be accused of having a faccia di tenore—the face of a tenor. In France, the proverb goes: "Stupid as a tenor, amorous as a baritone, drunk as a bass." Some doctors who specialize in treating singers' throats and nasal passages at least half-believe the theory. Says a well-known Manhattan doctor who probably caters to more of the city's vocal elite than anyone else: "I have always jokingly said that tenors are so dense because they are living with chronic brain concussion. They have all of those vibrations bouncing off the bones of their heads. It is definite that they do feel the vibrations, and sometimes when they sing high notes, they feel faint and dizzy, and they often have to sit down." An internist finds the theory scientifically feasible: "Ultrasound shatters molecules, and that's what we are made of. High frequencies in his singing voice could well knock a tenor silly every time he belts out a high C."

Among themselves, singers are naturally divided. Soprano Birgit Nilsson has referred to a tenor partner as "having a resonance chamber where his brain used to be." Metropolitan Opera Soprano Teresa Stratas takes a feminine view: "Stupidity, no. Egomania, yes. Tenors seem stupid because they are so fully absorbed in themselves. Sopranos —they all have to be pretty smart cookies to have gotten where they are." Tenor Richard Tucker, in a cheerily frivolous reaction that goes far to refute the thesis, comments: "Since tenors usually carry their fat elsewhere, you can be sure they are not fatheads. And besides, the mere fact that there's vibration in a tenor's cranial cavity would seem to be a sign of life not found in the same area in many other people."

Overall, most U.S. neurologists would agree with Dr. Rudolf Zimmermann, famous German throat specialist: "From a medical standpoint there is not the slightest shred of evidence that there could be such a link to the mind. Singers —often out of necessity and insecurity —may harbor a somewhat inflated ego. But few of them could be considered outright dumb."

I feel that there is no way a singer intellectual ability can be affected by his singing! Feeling dizzy? Yes. Silly? Never! hahha