Tag: performance

How Emotions Affect Singing

Emotion is necessary in musical expression, but our emotions can have a very strong effect on how we sing. Here are 3 ways in which our emotions can affect our singing:

#1. Positive emotions:
Positive emotions, such as joy, excitement, and love, often have an equally positive impact on our singing. These emotions help us to feel confident and engaged in what we’re doing, meaning our breathing is more free, our sound is focused, and we blend well with other singers around us!

#2. Negative emotions:
Negative emotions, such as fear, stress, or anger, can have a deleterious effect on our singing. These emotions inhibit musical expression, often dragging pitch down, introducing bodily tension, hindering supported breathing, and freedom in our singing.

#3. Changing emotions:
One of the most wonderful aspects of music is how engaging in it, whether through listening, or playing an instrument, can actually change your mood! If you’re experiencing negative emotions, one of the best things you can do is start singing! Singing forces you to pay attention to your body, to stay in the present moment, and to regulate your breathing that creates a meditative effect. Plus, singing in a choir with others, has been shown to have a very positive effect on mental health!

How else might our emotions affect how we sing? Tell us in the comments below!

November 28, 2016
Present Focused Performance

Performing is a unique aspect of singing with a group. By the time a performance rolls around, the basic necessities of learning a piece of music are already accomplished. The notes, and rhythms have been learned, the words have been memorized. Performance evokes something completely different in musicians. It makes demands of your present self:

#1. Forgiving Mistakes:
One of the most beautiful things about music is that there is never perfection. A performance only highlights this, because there are a myriad of factors that contribute to a successful performance, and very rarely do they all go off without a hitch. In a choir setting, there is also the variable of many more voices. Thus, mistakes, even small ones are bound to happen in a live performance. To stay present focused, instantaneous forgiveness of any mistakes is crucial.

#2. Responsiveness:
In a choral performance, the conductor is not simply there to keep the beat, or to bring everyone in on their respective entrances. It is the unique responsibility of the conductor to respond to the energy of both the audience and the performers, to enhance the musicality at any given moment. By remaining focused on the present, singers are able to respond to the slightest direction from their conductor, making the performance that much more sensitive and nuanced.

#3. Creating a moment:
Performing is different from just learning a piece of music, and singing it for yourself. By allowing an audience to hear the music that you have spent time and energy working on, a new opportunity opens up. Performers who are present focused, can respond, in real time to the reactions, emotion, and energy from their audience, heightening heightening the musical experience for all! Creating a musical moment like this can only happen when a performer is focused on the present.

How else does performance encourage you to stay focused on the present? Tell us in the comments below!

September 26, 2016
Musical Professions: Performer

This is the fourth post in our series, Musical Professions, in which we will be taking a closer look at the myriad of careers available to those with a background in, and a passion for music!
Many musicians chose to pursue a combination of these musical professions, making them incredibly versatile and well-rounded!

Performer

There are a multitude of options available to musicians who want to perform:

Events: Events are one of the best places to get yourself out there as a performer. Common events at which musical performances are likely are weddings, funerals, fundraisers, galas, etc… These are often excellent venues at which to start performing because the musical performances are usually shorter sets, and the requirements specific to the occasion, such as a string quartet performing while the bride walks down the aisle at a wedding.

Musicals/Operas/Orchestra: These musical events are very large in scope and require intense preparations to audition for a role. Once a performer has secured a role, there is even more work to be done! Rehearsals, costuming, lights, sets, staging, all need to be considered for a performance on this scale. Performing for a larger musical work like this is a big commitment of time, and energy, but can be very rewarding, as it gives the performer the opportunity to perform the same music for a different audience each time, and experiment with how the changing audience impacts the energy of their performance!

Recital: A recital is an excellent way to perform music, with an attentive audience, and a relatively quiet performance space. Recitals require advanced preparation of repertoire, and usually last around one hour, though they can be longer. Generally, recitals are about music above all else, and can often feel more intimate than other kinds of performances.

Busking: This relatively spontaneous type of performance is another great way to introduce oneself to performance. A busking license is required in most municipalities, but once acquired, the performer is generally at liberty to decide when and where and how they want to perform! The opportunities are endless for a self-motivated, versatile, and gregarious performer!

What other types of opportunities are there for performers? Tell us in the comments below!

April 25, 2016
Vulnerability In Singing

Music strikes an interesting balance between being an art form and a discipline. It is a difficult process to learn the intricacies of music; understanding the mathematical principles behind music concepts such as time signatures, intervals, and chord progressions. But it is equally difficult to learn how to approach music as an art form; learning to communicate subtle and nuanced emotions, understanding how the music informs text and vice versa, and personally opening up to the music.

Approaching music from an artistic perspective, requires a great deal of vulnerability on the part of the singer, and this can be difficult to manage. Here are three thoughts on understanding the power of vulnerability in music.

#1. Understand the music:
This goes beyond just understanding the structure of the music; learning the rhythm and melody of a piece. A singer needs to also understand the text they’re singing, which we discussed in greater detail here. But even more than that, a singer needs to understand how the music and the text work together; how one informs the other, and how subtleties in both music and text can convey the true nuances of the human experience. Truly understanding the many complicated layers of music is essential for a singer to communicate and connect with the audience.

#2. Connect with the music:
Making a personal connection with the music we are learning is not always as easy as it sounds. Sometimes we have not experienced the event, thoughts or emotions communicated in the music. Thankfully, we do not need to have personally experienced every event and emotion, for us to be able to connect to the music. This is why empathy, the emotion that allows us to see things from another’s perspective, is an important aspect of every artist. Through empathy we can imagine the event or emotion the piece is discussing, even if we do not have these experiences ourselves. Emulating the thoughts and emotions of others, and then communicating those emotions effectively is the hallmark of talented singers, actors, and artists. This connection is what allows us to express the human condition, and it is why art, music, dance and drama, are considered the emblem of civilized society.

#3. Connect with the audience:
One of the most important aspects of performing is connecting with the audience. Music is a wonderful, and powerful way to communicate, and in order to effectively communicate, we must forge a connection with the audience. The most effective way to do this is to allow the audience to see our own understanding, and interpretation of the music, and this comes from our own understanding, and connection with the music. The most difficult aspect of performance is allowing the audience to see that understanding; through our facial expressions, the tone of our voice, our delivery of the music, and in the emotional energy we share with our audience. This is true vulnerability in singing, and it is what allows us to truly create magical, musical moments.

Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you yourself must believe. – Winston Churchill

What are other aspects of vulnerability in singing? Tell us in the comments below!

April 20, 2015
The Value Of Not Performing

The Calgary Children’s Choir has three major performances a year; our Christmas concert, our Folk Concert, and our Spring concert. Sometimes we’ll have other singing engagements sprinkled in as well. Much of the music that we learn throughout the year is chosen for one of those concerts, but sometimes we learn music without having a specific performance in mind. There are several reasons why we find value in learning music that is not for performance:

Practical Elements:
Often we learn a piece of music to demonstrate a certain aspect of music to our choristers. This could be anything from multi-part harmonies, to great vocal leaps, appropriate breathing techniques, or poignant text. What our choristers take from a piece of music should be from our rehearsals and exercises, our workshops and the practice they might do at home. A piece of repertoire is a valuable way to provide an example of a musical technique, but that doesn’t mean that we have to perform that piece.

Music For Its Own Sake:
While it is wonderful to perform, we shouldn’t think of music as valuable only in the context of performance. Much of what makes learning music so amazing – the self-discipline, the hard work, the hours of practice, are all aspects that are not readily seen in a performance. It is important that we teach our choristers that learning music is important because music itself is important, and not just the act of performing music.

Do you think every piece you learn needs to be performed? Tell us in the comments below!

March 16, 2015