The "IT" Factor

It is said that teachers can learn more from their students than they themselves can even teach sometimes. I believe it!

I continue to learn so much from students, and I continue to get ideas for helping them get better with every new singer I meet.

This past month, I encountered a brilliant singer, who didn't even know how good she was. She is in her 70's and although she hasn't really performed for more than 20 years, when she sang for me for the first time, it was clear as crystal that she still had IT! That "IT" I have spoken of in past newsletters is that intangible quality of performance which some say cannot be learned. But I find that I disagree! And through my initial lesson with my new student, I began to see the path to performance excellence more and more clearly.

Very simply it is the total lack of self-consciousness, and the telling of the "story" that the lyrics demonstrate.

I know I've mentioned this to you before, but today, I'd like to give you some solid steps to take to get out of your head and just tell the story.

Have you ever noticed that when you are engrossed in telling a story to a friend, relating and incident that occurred, or remembering an interesting time from your past, or even just telling a plot from a great movie you saw...do you notice that you don't ever think about what your diaphragm is doing?

Or how you're breathing?

Or even how you look? You become more interested in the communication of the story than in anything else, right?

If it's sad, your face will show it...if it's exhillerating your face will show that. Singing a story is no different than telling it as far as your consciousness goes. If you can manage to just "talk" to your listener through the song, you are on your way to performance excellence. So okay, HOW do we accomplish this?

Preparation!

First of all there is the preparation part...and this is where the "drearyness", (many students skip this part) of PRACTICE come into play. And when I say PRACTICE, I don't mean REHEARSE! I mean PRACTICING THE DRILLS! The reason you practice the drills is to teach your body what you want it to do when you are singing so that it becomes totally automatic. That way you NEVER EVER have to think, "Can I make this note?" in the middle of a song when You ought to be wrapped up in telling the story. So step one then is PRACTICE your drills every day, every single day, the way the tennis pro practices his back swing or his serve. He will spend the time going over and over and over the movement of his body in the process of serving or hitting a back swing until it's automatic. This way when the game is being played, he is NOT THINKING ABOUT HIS BODY, but rather on his opponent, and his shot-making.

AN IMPORTANT thing to know is that every time you practice a single element of your singing, you are planting a seed in your body's cell memory. If you practice correctly, that seed will grow into INSTINCT. Once your body has the right instincts, you never need to think about your body while you are performing.

Now after practice time, you need to forget all about it and just go on with your day. Why? Well, when you plant a seed, you don't keep returning to the plot of earth where you planted it, and dig up the dirt to see how it's doing, do you? No! You plant it, you feed and water it, you put it in the sun, and you TRUST that the seed is growing...and it IS...trust me on that one.

Being INTERESTED vs. Being INTERESTING!

Okay, Step TWO! Be more INTERESTED than INTERESTING! In other words, stay out of yourself and stay on the listener(s). And if you've practiced your elements sufficiently, you can do this!

Why did Taylor Hicks win the latest round of American Idol and not Kathryn McFee? Simple! Taylor Hicks was genuine and Kathryn was not! Taylor was totally interested in the audience while Kathryn was involved with herself.

A beautiful instrument is never enough! A singer, to be a true performer, needs to REACH OUT, not IN!

Dealing with the INNER CRITIC!

The third step addresses the difficulty in silencing the voice inside of you than says things like:

"Careful, that high note is coming...don't blow it!", or

"Who do you think you're kidding with this, you can't sing".

Believe me singers, we all have this demon. Every artist fights the INNER CRITIC! It especially appears right before you have to perform, but with the very first line of your song, it is likely to fade IF you concentrate on the story and on the audience.

You may be one of those singers who gets so close to the lyrics that you become emotionally attached to your story and actually lose control. I have several students who cry when they sing sad songs, and have avoided singing them for that reason.

In these cases, it may be necessary to take on an alternate personality that CAN sing sad songs. Does this mean you're not being genuine?

No! It means that for you, you might need to initially "act" the words to your song in order to perform it, and, as with all actors, you are actually bringing pieces of yourself to the part!

So it becomes YOU, being someone else, but being YOU! It's just a tool you are using to get the song across. This tool fades with each performance along with the inner critic, until it's all YOU just telling a story!

So PREPARATION + COMMUNICATION = PERFORMANCE EXCELLENCE!