…Learning is not Performing!
I was recently reading an article by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais (originator of the Feldenkrias Method) entitled “Learn to Learn” in which he lists and expounds on ways to get the best results from your learning to move with more ease. I can’t help but see how related to singing they are as well!
Here’s the list:
“Do Everything Very Slowly”
“Look for the Pleasant Sensation”
“Do Not ‘Try’ to Do Well”
“Do Not Try to Do ‘Nicely’”
“Insist on Easy, Light Movement”
“It’s Easier to Tell Differences when the Effort is Light”
“Learning and Life are Not the Same Thing”
“Why Bother to be So Efficient?”
“Do Not Concentrate”
“We Do Not [Know] at the Start What the Final Stage Will Be”
These are all thought-provoking and warrant further exploration (which I may do in the future) but the one that interests me, right now, in relation to the study and practice of singing is “Learning and Life are Not the Same Thing.”
Here’s what he has to say about that one:
“In the course of our lives, we may be called upon to make enormous efforts–sometimes beyond what we believe we can produce. There are situations in which we must pay no heed to what the enormous effort entails. We often have to sacrifice our health, the wholeness of our limbs, and body to save our lives. Obviously, then, we must be able to act swiftly and powerfully. The question is, wouldn’t we be better equipped for such emergencies by making our efforts efficient in general, thus enabling us to exert ourselves less and achieve our purpose economically.
Learning must be slow and varied in effort until the parasitic efforts are weeded out; then we have little difficulty in acting fast and powerfully.“
The Mobius Strip can be seen as an analogy for this type of learning as it has a non-orientable, one-sided surface.
In relation to singing, this approach is important because we are often asked to perform in “big ways” that require much effort–i.e. a solo recital, a full Opera or show, a 3-hr rehearsal, to sing in a loud, effortful voice quality. Somehow, we think that learning and practicing with comparable effort is what will give us the stamina for such vocal feats but, paradoxically, it is learning in a relaxed, easy, mindful way that allows us to reduce the excess tension in our singing. And then, once we’ve “weeded out the parasitic efforts,” any vocal task–big or small, loud or soft, long or short–can be easy and sustainable!
The premise is that when you endeavor to make what is easy and successful even easier and more successful that ease spreads throughout your entire voice and will make everything easier and more successful even what might have seemed impossible just moments before! It’s amazing how it works!!
Robert
This video helps illustrate some of the fascinating properties of the mobius strip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bcm-kPIuHE
