The Bristow Voice Method Blog

When Imagery Hurts A Singer

Posted on 12. Sep, 2008 by Per Bristow in Performance, Singing

I feel it is very important that I publish this letter below. Forget for a moment that this is addressed to me.  It is not about me and that is not why I am publishing it. The reason why this is so important is because her experience is so frighteningly common. Go ahead and read it first, and then I’ll discuss it…

"Your program has me excited about singing again. I just started to sing a year ago at the age of 34 with the goal of getting a good part in a community theater musical production in 2010 – just for fun.  I also dream of being in a band .  I am a dancer but untrained as a singer.  I have had a singing teacher for the last 8 months and I have been liking singing less and less.  I just quit lessons a month ago. Talk about the opposite of your approach.  He would laugh at me when I would make a mistake.  Then I would try to control my voice even more so I was singing with a lot of tension.  Then he would tell me not to be tense.  After all this time I still do not understand the particular method of vocal production he was trying to share with me. It had to do with staying open, e.g. feeling like a pelican swallowing a salmon while you sing.  He was indeed a beautiful singer himself so I am certain that this method works for him but he was unable to teach me how to do it.  I am working on ridding myself of the tension, so far I have made good progress with the first couple of your DVDs.  And I don’t mind practicing as I do not feel the frustration I was experiencing with my private lessons. Thanks."

So was she just in the hands of a bad teacher?  Not necessarily. This teacher probably did exactly what he had come to believe teaching should be – to teach the student how to sing according to what he believes is the right way. Naturally, if the student then doesn’t "get it" frustration might set in.

Now before we go on, I’m sure you understand why it is so difficult for me to write about this. How is it possible for me to try and bring the art of learning forward without coming across as I if I am critiquing other colleagues?  In The New Era of Singing Training, I write about the art of learning and how it goes hand in hand with the evolution of consciousness and knowledge of our psychology. I also specified that discussing the evolution of learning should in no way be considered critique towards the many brilliant teachers who daily inspire people to sing with greater freedom. 

Even so, amongst the daily thank you letters, once in a while I receive a harsh letter from a singing teacher, and I’m sure I will again. So be it. If that means they willingly consider themselves outside the pool of the brilliant teachers I have publicly applauded, I don’t know.
 
Now, the woman writing this letter above is a classic case of someone who has been taught what is supposedly correct singing – the do’s and don’ts of singing.  She has been taught from an external point of view, instead of having been allowed to experience and discover – which I consider the true art of learning. As a result, the student undoubtedly, becomes more controlling. And this is exactly what is intended according to, what I consider, old-fashioned way of thinking. Control was and is still seen as good.

However, what she realized is that the control was indeed fear-based, which I write about extensively in The New Era of Singing Training.

She is yet another person who has been exposed to artificial means of sound production. "Feel open like a pelican swallowing a salmon". I happen to be somewhat accomplished in imagery and visualization techniques, and while imagining you’re a pelican swallowing a salmon might be interesting for a comedy improv exercise, what does such an image really do for anyone?

I, for one, have never had the experience of being a pelican. However, let’s say we are really good at visualizing (meaning the visualization creates a true internal response in your body), the thought of swallowing a salmon, surely doesn’t open much. I don’t know what you think, but keeping the throat open if a salmon enters, just doesn’t sound like a good idea to me.

And then when everything else fails we give the student the classic instruction to "relax" – failing to realize that telling someone to "relax" is just as artificial.  No one has ever relaxed by being told to relax.

Okay fine, we can argue he just means to open the throat wide and is just accustomed to use artificial external images to get someone to do so.

But then we may want to consider this old-fashioned idea of "open throat".  We see people all the time trying to sing with this belief, trying to artificially manipulate the position of the larynx, trying to artificially manipulate the sound.  Not surprisingly, many who believe they are creating an "open throat" are in fact creating enormous restrictions in body and mind – just as our writer above realized. And not surprisingly, many evolve to sound like… well, come to think of it…. darn close to a pelican swallowing a salmon.

Alright, do I sound angry? Well maybe I am. The point here is that people shouldn’t have to lose interest in singing. Congratulations to the woman who wrote the letter for not giving up on her dreams.

Singing can be one of the greatest joys in life. Feeling comfortable to express yourself in sound and rhythm may be one of the healthiest activities you can engage in. Singing is for everyone.

How about instead of engaging in "right" or "wrong", you get to experience the truth – the true you – the you that constantly evolves?  How about getting a chance to really experience what "relaxation" is?  How about you get to discover what it really feels like to let out sound with less and less restrictions, with more and more power, with greater and greater and freedom.  How can we ever lose interest in that?

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