I have good reasons for not blogging about singing!!

And these reasons are as follows:

• ACTUALLY singing
• rehearsals!
• Having a muscle spasm in my lower back which made sitting painful

Of these three reasons, the first one is probably the one I’m most proud of – it’s the only one that I could have easily weaseled out of.  I sang a song the other day at a singing lesson, (The Singer) and had one of those moments where I was pleased with the voice coming out of my mouth. Most of the time when singing you just focus on what you could be doing better – is the support there? Argh too much breath, oops, not enough…etc. Now I’m not saying there was nothing I could have done better, but it felt like a turning point for me, where I really heard myself, and accepted it, and enjoyed the sound I was making for most of the song – not just moments here and there.

I’m also thinking of doing a singing exam in August from the ABRSM. Singing teacher suggested it, and it gives me another goal to aim for. It’s always easier to achieve things with a specific goal in mind. Also NEW SONGS WOO! Not sure what grade or anything to go for, will discuss with teacher and let you know!  It’s a while since I’ve done exams, I think I did my Grade 6 piano in 1998? Then I stopped learning piano.

Which reminds me that I’m thinking of taking it up again. That, or another instrument. I’ve always wanted to try the violin! But maybe I should stick to instruments I actually own. Guitar or piano would be good. I’m of two minds. I lean more towards guitar for accompanying myself singing, but then I would love to be more technically proficient on the piano, so I can play more amazing music.

Have I linked to my favourite piano piece of all time yet? Probably not. Is it 12 minutes long? YES. Is it worth it? OH HELL YES.

Here: Mark Andre Hamelin playing Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C# minor.

If you can find a recording of Olga Kern playing it,  have a listen. I prefer her version – probably one of the best I’ve ever heard.

(NB: I would not be able to play this even after two million years of piano. Good lord it’s difficult.)

Unexpected patterns

Recently, both in the music for the show and in songs I’m learning outside the show, I’ve noticed how composers will play with the patterns I expect to hear. This makes it more difficult to learn the music, because I’m fighting my brain which insists on hearing the music as it wants to, not as it is.

For example, the scales most of us are used to hearing are the major and two minors, and the chromatic. Even if you don’t read music or study music, you will be used to hearing music this way because it is what most of the music you hear is based on.

I’ve discovered my brain is very stubborn about what it wants to hear and what it wants to sing. To change the way it hears I need to play and listen to the new patterns over and over again to make them stick. Sigh. I would love if my brain would suddenly open up and just be able to hear what is actually there. I guess it’s a symptom of how we love to find familiar patterns in things. Singing a nice major scale is comforting and easy. Singing other patterns ain’t. Getting frustrated about it doesn’t really help either!

I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to start working in other music (non-Western) which doesn’t just have semi-tones but quarter tones too. Maybe I should do that next year as a challenge to my brain! Oooh and I’ve just discovered that Charles Ives had a play with quarter tones. Charles Ives is an awesome American composer who was way ahead of his time. His ‘Crossing the Bar’ based on the Tennyson poem is beautiful. Not that I can find it, sigh.

If you are a Wellington library card holder, log into the Naxos music database at http://www.wcl.govt.nz/mygateway/music.html and look for anything by Charles Ives (I do recommend Crossing the Bar). It’s worth it! Also if you haven’t logged in there before you should definitely do so more often, there is so much music available!