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With my trip to New Zealand, I had
not gone to a voice lesson for two months. It had been even longer since my
last choir rehearsal. I had my first returning choir rehearsal last night and
my first returning voice lesson that morning. I did not realize how much I
missed them until they were back in my life.
I acted like a rookie with the
choir. I did not bring my music folder or that essential tool for singers
everywhere — a pencil. It’s used to note where to take breaths, where to put
emphasis, and where to use the pronunciation the director directs. Of the four
songs practiced I’d heard one before.
I was sight-reading almost all night. Still, I was pleased by my general
performance. The choir has a new young director with a lot of energy,
interesting ideas and high expectations. I really like the companionship with
other singers.
My first voice lesson reminded me why
I like lessons so much. My teacher made suggestions that I implemented then and
there. She always gets me singing better and better. I can hear the improvements
as the lesson progresses. Sometimes I can end up singing better than I thought
I could. There are moments of beauty and art, which lift me out of my
day-to-day living.
Like writing it gets better with
practice and with feedback from a knowledgeable and trusted teacher. There are
not many activities that allow you to experience marked improvement in a skill
in such a brief period of time.
I have been singing long enough
that I can hear differences in my voice from recordings I made a while ago. The
skills are additive. I noticed in choir how much my ability to sight-read has improved. I don’t know how
good I can be eventually. That’s part of the attraction of the whole
experience. At my age there are not a gigantic number of behaviors that
continue to improve. Writing and singing are two. Writing better is a slower
process, but then I’ve been doing it longer so improvements take more time. The
amount of change is less too.
What raises you out of the ordinary
and gives you a sense of accomplishment?
