Sound Lab Reflections
Assignment #1:
Assignment #2:
As a singer, it has always been difficult to talk about technical aspects of producing a healthy sound. Countless teachers have told me ‘breathe from your diaphragm’ or ‘keep that tongue down’ or ‘keep your back straight’ without me actually knowing what any of these things mean or if they are even true. It can (and has) becoming increasingly frustrating. One thing that is making the process easier, however, is the concept of body mapping. Having discovered what ‘mis-mapping’ can do to your body as it becomes the norm, I have recognized mis-mapping in my own instrument. While keeping the idea of body mapping in mind this week as I’ve been practicing, attending masterclasses and my own lessons, I have observed myself being more aware of the different ways I can mis map in my life. Firstly, throughout my whole career as a vocalist, I have struggled very hard with breathing and keeping a sustainable breath throughout a phrase. Through understanding how the abdomen and the lungs work through breath, I have been able to understand how to better utilize the muscles that can help sustain a breath. It can’t change overnight but, it does give me more awareness and less of a strain on my body. Another thing I have struggled with is loud aspirations in between phrases. In understanding how the larynx works with the windpipe, it is easier to connect quieter breaths to my body when I know the functions. I have learned that I also have mis mapped my jaw and tongue. In reading the article attached to this project, the authors spoke about treating your jaw as an appendage instead of something that is connected and fixed to your head. In one of my private lessons, my teacher outlined that I tend to tighten my jaw on specific vowel shapes to separate notes. This is probably due to treating the jaw as a concrete connection of my brain instead of an appendage. It has helped in practice to visualize how the actual systems function in my body. Especially the tongue, how it is commonly mis mapped to be smaller than it is and to better understand how it works, is to improve the technical aspects of your playing. In learning about how to body map correctly, it improves your playing from the practice room to the stage. I am already seeing the improvements of understanding fully every function system in my body and I look forward to continuing to see the results in the future.
Assignment #3:
For my group excerise I have chosen to pick listening and music as the main focus of the activity. The class will start in a circle and the leader (myself) will begin with a rhythm or sound that will be the base 'melody'. Then, going around the circle, each member of the class will add onto this melody with something that will fit in the general tune of the song we have going. This will continue until we reach the leader again and we will have a final song that we have all created together. One important thing to note is that instrumentalists and vocalists will have different comforts in this game. I will make it clear that if a vocal sound is something that will make you feel comfortable then that is totally fine. On the other hand, if a rhythmic beat is in your comfort zone then that is also good. What I would like to get across is your own personal talents are valued but you must work attentively to have it fit into the larger goal which is having a song or tune that is pleasing to the ear. It will force everyone to listen actively and test their musical skills in a fun and exciting way that will boost the energy of everyone in the room.
Assignment #4:
Assignment #5 & 6:
Jeremy Dutcher’s “Honor Song”
Jeremy Dutcher is a member of Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick. Jeremy studied classical voice at Dalhousie University and then expanded repertoire to include the traditional Indigenous musical styles of the culture. Dutcher’s first album “Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa” became widely known and won the 2018 Polaris Music Prize and the 2019 Juno Award for Indigenous Music Album of the Year. Both an activist in indigenous rights and LGBT rights, Dutcher has certainly become a prominent member of the Canadian music scene.
The song I will focus on in this reflection is “Honor Song”. Dutcher covered this song as a tribute to the protests that went on at Elsipogtog, where indigenous people stood up for land and water. This song was originally written by George Paul as a spiritual song in the 1980s. Paul realized that the Mi’kmaq people didn’t have a song and was inspired to write one. It was to honour who his people were and the respect and dignity those should have for the culture. This song is now an anthem of the Mi’kmaq.
Jeremy Dutcher’s version of this song is the same lyrics as George Paul’s but is brought about as an anthem of protest and a demand from the people protesting that their culture must be respected.
The lyrics translate to this: "Let us greatly respect our being L'nu. My people let us gather. Let us greatly respect our native roots. My people let us help one another. Let us help one another as Creator intended when he put us on the earth."
From simply looking at the lyrics, I can see that this song has the message of respecting one’s culture and where they came from while being aware of why they were put on the earth. This message is one that has great importance especially in Indigenous communities. Helping each other the way the creator would want and wanting respect for others because you are apart of Mother Earth’s plan is a main idea I see from the text. In doing the research for this reflection, I was introduced to a new kind of music and music making. This shows me that representation in music (when done respectfully) is so incredibly important. Not only does it expose others to the new kind of music but it also gives a feeling of belonging to young Indigenous people who may not have seen themselves represented in any kind of music. Paul George wrote the lyrics because his people didn’t have song to begin with, something they could have pride toward. After making it, the Mi’kmaq people have an anthem to fuel protests and to fuel their ideas in a way that will invoke real change. Now, Jeremy Dutcher’s version has a new meaning and a new set of possibilities with modern connotations and what it means to be Indigenous today. Music, especially in contexts such as these, has the capability to change the way people think and invoke necessary changes in the lives of many.
Sources:
Assignment #7:
One performance in masterclass recently made me feel disappointed and frustrated with the result. I had done it practically perfect in the practice room not 30 minutes before but as soon as I got in front of my peers, it felt as though all my practice went out of the window. I felt very frustrated as I knew I had the skills in me but I couldn’t seem to get past the nervousness in a performance setting. It was difficult to get over at the time and is still a big issue. I don’t feel nervous but just not being able to perform to the ability that I know I can is very frustrating.
From the first reading, I really relate to how you go about thinking about the performance. Not in a way that’s harmful but in a way where you are truly appreciating how you felt in the moment and how it can be looked back on. Interestingly enough, the interviewer didn’t impose any feelings on to the subject but just pointed out different ways of looking and processing how you feel. I think this is a great way to get someone past a mental block which is definitely how I’ve been feelingJ Something else that was interesting to read was about how beginning with fear is sometimes detrimental to success, instead of visualizing failure it’s easier to start without that fear.
I really enjoyed the second reading on getting to know our response system. Something that stuck with me was the rainy-day analogy, you don’t learn any new facts about rain just how different people react to rain. This is an interesting fact because after realizing how frustrated and disappointed I was with my performance, I’m still learning about myself and how I respond to roadblocks. It’s not like I learned anything new about a bad performance but more about how I react to failure. This is a really interesting thing to think about, instead of being down on myself for messing up, I can almost think positively because I still learned more about myself. These are empowering skills to be equipped with as musicians and as people.
Sources:
http://www.learningmethods.com/patterns-of-joy.htm
http://www.learningmethods.com/failure-is-hard-but-learning-is-easy.htm
Assignment #8:
A physical activity that I recently picked up is going to the gym. The main thing I do is run on the treadmill. When I was younger, I loved running and did it all the time. I am now trying to get that love back but it is very hard to learn and keep myself motivated. I think it is a fantastic way to release frustrations and stay healthy but is hard to just pick back up again. This weekend, I went to the gym to run on the treadmill and exercise. Firstly, my intention was to run for 15 minutes without stopping. (As I am just starting out again, I don’t want to push myself too hard). Then, I began running and trying to reach my intention and had the goal to reach it. On this particular day, I didn’t reach my goal. I had to stop short about 3 minutes as I was too tired and sore from days before. This frustrating as I set my goal in order to better myself and it’s hard when they’re not achieved. I did get some exercise in but it wasn’t my goal specifically. I did apply the learning cycle approach and when I tried again the next day, I achieved my intention after clarifying what went wrong the day before. It was interesting to learn that through my frustration it was more evident that what I wanted was in reach if I kept trying. This will be an interesting tactic to continue using throughout my life.
Sources: http://www.lightnermethod.com/adaptationlearning.html
Assignment #9:
November 12th 2019
Today, in choir, I’m going to try and experiment with keeping open vowel shapes in long held phrases in order to maximize the sound and the quality of the tone. After doing so, it was interesting to not have pressure, but to just experiment with how the action felt. This was exciting as I no longer had anyone to impress or any expectations to fulfil. It was easier to commit to the task with nothing to hold me back. I definitely saw improvement in my sound quality and am excited to experiment more.
November 13th 2019
Today, in the practice room, while practicing my repertoire for my recital, I am going to experiment with quieter and deeper breaths that allow for better phrasing. This has been something I have worked on in my private lessons and is something I struggle with. Whenever I am nervous (in performance usually) the first thing I forget is to breath deeply and effectively. After experimenting with this in the practice room, I noticed the same thing as I did on Tuesday. When I went in with the mindset of experimentation, I felt less pressured to have a positive outcome which meant that I was much more productive. I felt myself relax and was able to get deeper and stronger breaths while keeping them quiet. It was exciting to experiment more with my technique today.
November 14th 2019
Today in my coaching, I decided to go in with the mindset of experimentation with my expressiveness in the pieces I have been working on. In some pieces, the expression comes naturally but in others, it feels forced. After working with my accompanist and experimenting the way I did, I can definitely see a difference in the way that I approached the piece. Instead of forcing expressiveness and emotion out, I really focussed on letting things flow naturally and enjoying what I was doing instead of being nervous of the outcome. This has been a very interesting experience, to play around with my mindset going into my work. I look forward to continuing to implement this into my daily practice routine.
Assignment #10:
I really enjoyed these articles. I thought they gave an insightful look on a) how we interact with the space around us and b) how intention interacts with our activities. What I found that really applied to me was in the article “By Intention Alone” when it says that we can sometimes get caught up in our own stresses that we can end up being too stressed to actually complete the task. This can be detrimental to a person’s self-value or their ability to do things. I can definitely see that sometimes instead of focussing on the task, I am more focussed on the stress that is surrounding the task. This can get in the way of completing the task and I usually get very frustrated when this happens because I can see what is happening. This article was very insightful as to seeing the task you want to do and putting the intention and being able to complete the task free of burdens. The article “The Great Big Rump” was also an interesting read as it spoke about something that we all do, sit, and put an interesting perspective behind it. Movement as narrowing the tasks that we do in our everyday lives is so incredibly simple but also so interesting. It makes sense and gives a look into our everyday lives.
http://www.learningmethods.com/posture--the-great-big-rump.htm
Assignment #11:
My goal that I will reflect on that I articulated in our first class is to try and be the best musician I can be while keeping realistic expectations for myself.
1) How have you grown towards this goal? Did your goals or focus change over the course of the semester?
I definitely have grown toward this goal in this first semester. I have been being the best musician I can be. However, I do believe that holding myself to unrealistically high expectations is something I still need to work toward diminishing. It has been really hard to balance all the difference needs of a music degree and as I’m trying to figure out these different things, I definitely have been hard on myself to perform to a certain degree instead of understanding that this is a transition.
2) What was a challenge you faced this semester with respect to your time, wellness, or motivation? How did you work through it? What have you learned for next time you face this challenge?
A challenge that I have faced (and am still struggling with) this semester is finishing all my work and practice for the day and still wanting to make time for social interactions and balancing those needs with my academic demands. I am definitely trying to take things one step at a time in regards to setting realistic goals with my academics every day and being okay if some things didn’t get finished if it means decompressing for 45 minutes before bed with my roommate or floormates. This has been very beneficial and I have learned that I can’t be productive without being healthy and I need social interaction to stay healthy. Being gentle with myself is something that is useful whenever I run into this problem.
3) Think of an idea that will be helpful to keep in mind as you work through next semester. This can be a good habit you are trying to keep, a specific goal, or a guiding principal. Write a phrase or mantra that you can use every day to remind you of this idea. Write this phrase in bold at the end of your reflection.
A good habit I am trying to keep is to sleep or at least be in bed every night by 11:30pm. Sometimes this doesn’t happen, but if I set it for myself I can have time to relax before bed. This helps me feel like a human and not a machine and gives me time to feel solid in myself before launching into another full day. Something I am trying to focus is on is the fact that I am human and I can only get so much done in one day with time to still eat, sleep, shower and be social. The balance of all these things are very hard but as I continue to work through this semester and this year, I know I will figure it out.
IT’S OKAY TO BE GENTLE TO YOURSELF, SOPHIA!
Assignment #12:
I really enjoyed Brené’s video. I thought the things that she talked about concerning courage and vulnerability. I really resonated with what she said that there is not a single example of courage that doesn’t have an aspect of vulnerability to it. I thought this was very insightful as we often shy away from talking about shame or vulnerability because it makes us looks weak. Many of us were raised to believe that vulnerability is a bad thing, that you’re weak because you are vulnerable. Brown poses the question that if we can’t think of a way that courage isn’t tied to being vulnerable, then why is it such a bad thing. The answer is, it isn’t. She also talks about how vulnerability gives way to innovation and creativity. I think this is such a great thing to know, especially as a musician. Many times, performing, song writing etc. are all instances where some people shy away because it’s such a personal activity, you’re being vulnerable. However, if we switch the way we talk about the word vulnerability, we can see that it is a truly beautiful thing. She then goes on to talk about how having vulnerability in the work place (teaching settings) would make a big difference because that is the only way to have deep and meaningful conversations which in turn makes the environment better. It is interesting to see these correlations between emotions that are seen as bad and how they can actually be turned into tools to help us grow as human beings. Further educations on topics such as vulnerability and shame are very necessary, especially in the classroom as without them, we are teaching our students that feeling these emotions are wrong. In order to teach our students what is right, we must also have that knowledge ourselves.