There's a trail near my house. I've known of its existence since we moved in nearly a decade ago—its entrance is marked by a charmingly rustic carved wooden sign—but it was only under the scent-motivated encouragement of Jackie (the retriever mix also known as my parents' favorite child) that I first walked along it, several weeks ago. And with Jackie on the end of the leash and the autumn sun...
It sounds like a Harry Potter spell, doesn't it? It's not, but it can have a magical effect on the demeanor of a beginning singer. So many of the most common challenges for singers are simply matters of acoustics: the physics of how sound bounces around (or doesn't) on its way out of your face. Because singing isn't much more complicated in our conscious minds than "say ah," it's easy to...
I used to carry a coffee mug around the music building at Dickinson. On it was a lovely photo of several snowflakes, with the caption, "Always remember that you are unique. Just like everybody else." One of the things I love most about teaching is the way it reminds me (on my best days, of course) that, while we all may speak different languages and connect most readily with different...