Trust That Voice

Boston, MA. 21ºC

"...First you are not going to like it. You are going to think that it's too soft. You are going to think that it's too classical sounding but that's what you need to strengthen because I promise that voice can sound just as loud, just as musical theater, just as edgy, whatever it is! You can even sound ugly if you want it to! But without having to be in your throat." - P.Murray

First time singing "I'm Not Afraid Of Anything" in front of the class. We rehearsed with Miranda in section before class. For being sick last week my voice is doing quite well.

It was not a bad first try. Notes for practicing:

1. We may need to increase a little bit the tempo once we are more familiar with the song and that will help specially towards the middle of the song "And I feel the calling of adventure...".
2. Since this song fall in my middle range I have to be careful with not letting the lower notes drop because then the higher ones get stuck in my throat. How? Think about how I sing "And he'll always beeeeee..." towards the end of the song. Bring that quality of voice into the rest of the song.
3. Breath: control more the timing for the breading. Cut off the long notes by 1/8 to catch a good breath and prepare for the next phrase.
   

When I was practicing the song, one of my concerns was how to sing the theme of the song. The "I'm not Afra____id of anything" phrase that appears every few measures. I want "afraid" to be soft but when I sing it suddenly the voice feels like hiding somewhere behind. And I hear it weak. But I don't want to belt it out because it sounds pushy and is not as expressive.

REVEALING SITUATION!

What it sounds to me weak or soft it's because my voice is out. It's free and released so I don't hear it as much. At first, it can be a scary thing. Where did my voice go?!?! By holding the sound inside, it sounds louder in my head but it's not going to necessary project any further.

For the more agitated part of the song, the one that JRB kindly marked with the guidelines "Intense and Tight" (nice!), try to identify the notes that get me in trouble. Work the song slowly so I can see which are the notes that I tend to drop. By working them individually and moving forward or backwards in the right position it will help the real tempo performance. It's difficult to work them at the real tempo because when it gets all so "intense and tight" and exciting it's so hard to identify them and make them work.

End of the song, "And I'm Not Afraid Of Anything! I'm sure to win with anyone at all!", try to find that free sound quality of voice. Find it with my crazy friend the "e" vowel. Crazy "e"! Find that quality of sound. First you are not going to like it. You are going to think that it's too soft. You are going to think that it's too classical sounding but that's what you need to strengthen because I promise that voice can sound just as loud, just as musical theater, just as edgy, whatever it is! You can even sound ugly! if you want it to, but without having to be in your throat.

Trust That Voice.

About Songs For A New World

Boston, MA. 21ºC

Jason Robert Brown wrote about the show:

I arrived in New York when I was twenty years old, and I spent my first five years in Manhattan working as a rehearsal pianist, arranger, conductor, vocal coach, piano bar entertainer, orchestrator, and just about anything else that would pay me while I was trying to establish myself as a composer. I'd write songs for anything and anyone, and after a while I had quite a big pile of music written for various people and various projects. I met a wonderful young director named Daisy Prince, and she and I took this vast and unwieldy collection of material and began to shape it into a revue. By the time "Songs for a New World" opened at the WPA Theater in October 1995, we'd culled the sixteen songs that best suited our narrative purposes and our four exceptional singers. Four of those songs are included here: "Stars and the Moon" is without question my most popular and performed song, and I originally wrote it for a cabaret night at a summer stock theater in North Adams, Massachusetts; since its debut in 1991, its interpreters have included some of my favorite singers in the world, such as Karen Akers, Ann Hampton Callaway, Betty Buckley, and the magnificent Audra McDonald, who recorded it on her first album. "I'm Not Afraid of Anything" is the oldest song in this collection, having been written in 1990 for a cabaret night in Weston, Vermont. "Just One Step," the story of a fed-up Upper East Side matron, was written specifically to showcase Laurie Beechman, who premiered it in Toronto; this book marks the song's first commercial publication. Finally, "Hear My Song" is the finale of the show, and it was originally written for Sally Mayes to sing at an AIDS benefit in New York. It's a song that gets done all the time at benefits and special events, and I'm very proud of this song's ability to inspire hope and strength within the performers and audiences who share it.

The Good Girl

Boston, MA. 21ºC!!!

Being a good girl means doing what your mom or your teachers tell you to do. So... I wanted to be a good girl and I picked the song for my class according to a sentence that got stuck in my brain "I'm Not Afraid of Anything is a great song for your voice but The Wizard And I may be a bigger challenge for your middle range voice". Bigger challenge? Here I go. Although, I like much much better I'm Not Afraid of Anything I decided to work on The Wizard And I so my learning process would be richer. jeje

My biggest mistake was to listen to the recording of Idina Menzel over and over again without spending too much time with the sheet music. The result... Me trying to do what she does in a really poor way. One, because it is not my way of doing it so is not as intuitive and natural for me and two, because she kind of uses her voice in a way that I'm not so familiar with like belting the highest notes. I just can't do it without being pushy and flat. So... It was not a great first time for the song. note: just learn the sheet music as it is and then if wanted, make MY OWN changes to personalize it.

But oh, surprise! Pam tells me that she likes better the other song for me but she thought that I wanted to do this one better. Misunderstanding... Oh, noooooooooo! I tried to be the Good Girl looking for the big challenge and it turned out to be that we both thought that I'm not Afraid Of Anything would be a better choice for me. Jajaja Sometimes life is funny...

Next time, I'm Not Afraid Of Anything from Songs For A New World by Jason Robert Brown.

Raquel- No matter what, always learning something new