Malcolm Kogut: February 2015

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Stage Fright

I recently auditioned several singers for a cantor position at my church and most of the singers either admitted to being nervous or displayed attributes of nervousness.   There was absolutely no reason to be nervous because the people in the pews were not passing judgment on them. Those people were there to worship God or accept any mental, emotional or physical healing they could gleam from the liturgy. Fr. Bill was going to make the ultimate decision but I suspect he was basing most of his criteria on the phone interview.

Musically, there were many things I was listening for such as tone, diction, pitch and rhythm but, there were other factors which stood out for me more so. I took note during the rehearsal if they were marking or doing an all out performance. If they performed, was the actual singing of the music during the Mass a carbon copy or newly alive in the moment? Was there a synaesthesis between us? More on that later.

One singer who impressed me greatly was a woman who looked out at the people quite often and had a genuine smile on her face. Not the fake kind that voice teachers teach. Just as you can hear a real smile over the phone, you can hear a forced smile or masked smile on a singer, too. This is why some mediocre folk singers can touch us more than a trained singer can. The music comes from someplace deeper.

This woman, as she sang the line "Here, a million wounded souls, are yearning just to touch you and be healed." she fixed her gaze up and out over the heads of the people. That caught my attention. Then on the line "See the face of Christ revealed on every person standing by your side." she made a sincere perusal of the congregation. It wasn't something choreographed. I could see her look at individual people, too. To quote Yoda, "The force is strong with this one." So, what is this "force?"

When I accompany a musician on the piano, I can feel them in my hands.   Mozart once said that the hands and fingers must never play together. Chords must never be struck in perfect timing. The notes should be misaligned in time, that they are desynchronous. One of my teachers taught me that a melodic line must not be played in perfect metronomic slavishness. That you steal micro-beats from one note but make it up in another. This is called entasis meaning "tensioning." Any speech or song which is metronomically perfect can lull our audience members' brains to shutdown. This can happen immediately from the first few notes or words. Our ears and brain crave micro irregularity of timing to remain alert and attentive.

I *try* to do this in my playing and, when I encounter another musician doing this, we gel together, like puzzle pieces fitting into one another. Entasis is what I connect to synaesthesis. It is a paradox when the voices or instruments are truly independent and seem complex but to the listener and performer it is simple to feel, listen to and follow. My friend Byron and I have this when we perform together. I don't know if it is him or me but, I can feel his performing and phrasing in my hands as I accompany him and without even looking at him, I know when he is going to breath. I don't get that often with many singers. They seem to sing without regard to me and I just follow them. It is quite dull for me as an accompanist.

What does this have to do with stage fright? It is actually what musicians need to strive for in order to overcome fear. Some teachers will say that you have to know your music so well or memorized that you won't be nervous or, your preparation will overcome the nervousness. Some say that practice makes perfect but we all know that in reality PERFECT practice makes perfect. If you practice mistakes, no matter how much you practice you will always make those mistakes. Even with perfect practice, being nervous can undo much of our preparation. Natural entasis and synaesthesis comes from a place deep within which can not be touched by the "Id" or nerves.

So, what are nerves? They are of our own creation. In the movie "Forbidden Planet," The Krell were a race so advanced, that they created a machine which made their mere thoughts into reality.   It was the ultimate achievement in creation until one of them thought the entire race out of existence, and so it was. Stage fright is the same thing, if we give it power, it will take total control over us. As the saying goes, give an inch - takes a foot.

So how do we control it? Of course, preparation, perfect practice, being physically warm, diet and rest; these things can ameliorate nerves. Then there is avoiding the pitfalls of the Krell; not to give power to nervousness in the first place. If one were to sing Amazing Grace at the bed side of a dying parent, would they be nervous about their performance? Most likely not. For, their offering comes from the heart, from pain, from love, from com+passion (with+suffering), and sacrifice.   It will naturally be filled with entasis because their guard will be down. It is within those thin spaces that entasis and synaesthesis exist. You can't force it or train for it. It has to be there and it comes from embracing the you you hide.

When that cantor looked out at the congregation while singing those two lines, was it choreographed? Did she make a mental or written notation to "look out here?" My synaesthesis told me no.   Of course, any musician or stage performer who tries to force this entasis and synaesthesis between performer and audience runs the risk of self grandeur and that is not the same thing.

A performer needs to first realize that they perform what the page reveals and they reveal what their spirit possesses and what they are desirous to share. They are the conduit between page, instrument and spirit. Spirit and sharing are both a gift and only require that we accept them and give them freely. Anything else will result in stage fright or metronomic performances.

When we seek self grandeur, applause, perfection or don't know why we do what we are doing, we run the risk of the Krellian fate or the self fulfilling prophecy of nervousness for, the performance is then not about them, it becomes about us and that scares us. Ask any battlefield hero or fireman who runs into a burning building to save someone if they were nervous and they will probably say no. They did what they had to do to save a life. If what we do on stage is to share, to teach, to inspire, to heal, to save or to comfort, we won't fail either. Every singer should first feel their text for if they don't know what they are singing about or feel the place where the text comes from, the audience will know it. Then, entasis won't exist. Synaesthesis won't exist. The audience will get bored. The singer will sense this and nerves will creep in. It's then too late.

CPE Bach, in his Essay on the "True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments," suggested that one should "endeavor to avoid everything mechanical and slavish. Play from the soul, not like a trained bird."

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Breathing for Life: From the Diaphragm

No preamble. Let's just jump into it.

Get on the floor or on your bed. Lie on your back with your knees bent.
Take a couple of deep breaths.
Notice that you are breathing from your stomach area.
Make several high pitched fire engine siren imitations, each time going higher and louder.
Notice that you are breathing and pushing from the stomach area.
Notice that your shoulders are not going up.
Notice that your chest may not be going up.
If your chest did go up, good. Keep it there.
Keep it there as if you were in the Army and your drill sergeant barked at you (from his diaphragm) "STICK OUT YOUR CHEST! SUCK IN THAT GUT."
Now cough.
Notice it came from the stomach area, or diaphragm.
Yell "NO. BAD." as if your dog is about to void on your new white carpet.
Notice it came from your diaphragm.
Yell "FIRE."
Yell (quietly-in case someone hears you) "help."
Whisper "Awwwww . . ." while thinking about a new born baby.
Where did you feel it?
Notice that in order to project both loudly and quietly, it came from your diaphragm.

These are all great exercises to awaken you on how to breath properly. Now for the hard part. Stand up and try it. You may succeed a few times but as the day goes on, you will most likely lapse into shallow upper chest breathing again. That's okay. Perfect practice makes perfect. Get back on the floor and keep in mind your drill sergeant's instruction: Stick out the chest (to make room for air) and suck in the gut (to push the air out). What goes in must also come out, so, in order to breath again, your diaphragm or stomach must expand. Breathing while on your back is how the machine of your body is designed to operate. Maintaining that mechanism while standing takes a little bit of work. The stomach expands to let air into the lungs so the stomach must pull in to push the air out.

The summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil are not until 2016 but this summer, if there are swimming competitions on TV, watch them. Professional athletes are not only trained to breath from the diaphragm but by nature and physical demand, they do so naturally. Watch the swimmers when they get out of the pool. Look at their stomachs. Most will be breathing from there. Sure, a few shoulders may rise and a few chests may collapse but keep an eye on the stomach. That is where all the work is being done.

Professional singers are not always good to watch because many do not breath properly. Isn't it ironic. Some of them think they know what they are doing but don't, while others are more concerned with how they look and won't expand their stomachs. Another hindrance is that their clothing may hide the true action of the diaphragm. That is why shirtless athletes are easy to learn from.

Many teachers who teach singing from the diaphragm fail because they either don't truly know what they are doing or are too afraid to look at or touch their students out of fear of a sexual harassment charge. You will often see singers touching their own stomachs to assert or verify they are breathing properly but that isn't necessary for, if you are breathing properly, you feel it in your voice, head and whole being.

When you blow up a balloon, it doesn't fill up just on one side but, the entire balloon fills up. Your whole upper body must do the same. Someone looking at you from behind should be able to see your whole upper body expand from the back, sides and front. When you take a breath, imagine your whole body is a balloon and you are filling it. Your ribs are designed to expand, let them.

Breathing should be effortless. To take a breath, we need only to relax the diaphragm and the air should fall into our lungs effortlessly. To exhale, or yell help or fire or bad or hey, that takes pushing or pulling in. If we find taking the breath requires effort, that is because we are trying to breath in and push out at the same time. You can't inhale and exhale at the same time. If a singer runs out of breath on simple phrases, chances are they are trying to take in more air before they used up or pushed out what is already inside them. You can't fill what is already full. You need to empty first, completley. Get back on the bed for more practice.

Mark Wahlberg does a great job demonstrating proper breathing in the movie "Rock Star" where he spends most of his on stage scenes shirtless and you can see him breath properly. Even though many pop stars and rappers run around the stage shirtless, I advise not watching them for, many of them are breathing from their chest and shoulders. Anyone who runs out of breath, cracks or wavers is doing it wrong. Don't try to learn from them. Well, learn what not to do.

Breathing properly is good for oxygenating the blood. Oxygenated blood gives you energy, promotes healing, helps with clearer thinking and is beneficial for overall health. You can't heal or lose weight or think clearly if you are not breathing properly. If you ever develop breathing issues from smoking or some disorder such as COPD, you'll be glad that you took the time to learn how to breath fully.

So everybody, for your homework, go to bed.