Camryn-Coyle Chapter 8-9

 I LOVE the story Coyle shared about the cello teacher in Chapter 8. Reading how a professional teacher changes their pace is absolutely astounding. I've always wondered how someone can be so spot on in listening to what their student needs--whether that be musically or technically speaking. I'm always in awe during masterclass and in my lessons when voice teachers point something out that I've never noticed before. They talk a little about it to the student, and then ask them to slightly change something in their performance. I remember one time a student sang in class, and the instructor asked her to think about being a puppet and being pulled upward by a string. Immediately as she started singing the excerpt again, her tone, resonance, and breath control changed in a good way. Everyone in the audience (including me) sat in our chairs with our jaws dropped onto the floor. There were gasps and lots of head-nodding. It was so cool to see that someone could find the tiniest detail and tweak it a tiny bit to create a huge difference in a performance. One day, I want to be able to hear the little things in people's voices, and be able to help them grow as a performer and musician.

My takeaway from Chapter 9 is that vocals cords are "just muscles". I love the short story about young Jessica Simpson, and how she had to work hard from where she started. I really like how the author emphasized that although she had a beautiful voice, her vibrato was all over the place, and that she worked hard for over 5 years to become a public sensation. Including this, my all time favorite quote from this chapter is this: "Your voice can be incredible, but if you can't connect, it doesn't matter." Making the audience believe in your songs and stories is the most important aspect of performing. You can be an incredible singer, but to be impactful and really stand out, you have to make connections with the lyrics and music you perform. That is what making music is all about. This is what I strive to work on as a musician. 

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