An important, yet under-appreciated, part of mindful learning is the artful use of beginnings, middles and endings.
"Learning is turning darkness, which is absence of light, into light. Learning is creation. It is making something out of nothing. Learning grows until it dawns on you." - Moshe Feldenkrais, The Case of Nora
Beginnings:
What is a real beginning to learning? Where do you start? How do you start in such a way that you can go anywhere in an easy, unpredictable and organic way? Does it really matter where you start?
Middles:
Middle. Even the word can make some of us feel uncomfortable. It’s amorphous, groundless and that’s how it should be! If you are really learning something new it will be inherently ‘unstable.’ The trick is learning to stay with what’s new and allow it to unfold without reverting to something more habitual and “comfortable.”
Endings:
The End of the learning process is about grounding and integrating your new learning into your overall sense of self as a singer and person. Then, you must let it go and let the intelligence of your body/mind take over!
So, what could this look like in terms of a singing practice?
Beginnings:
Often, warmups are used as a beginning in practice and rehearsal. When warm-ups are the same every time, however, they can become very mindless! The secret would be to create a “warmup form” in which the content changes each time! One could begin with meditation (see previous post) then move to a breath exploration, a tuning exploration, a vocal exploration, etc. Each session the content can change based on what you are interested in or working on at the time. Or, it could be spontaneous! Keep it FRESH! See where the warmup takes you. Maybe today your voice feels tired, sharp or very resonant…maybe you get curious about a certain interval. Any of these could become the theme for the rest of your practice!
Middles:
Take what theme has arisen in your warmup and apply it to repertoire you are learning or working on. If you are interested in a certain interval find each instance of that interval in the music and string them all together. If you feel a new sense of full resonance after your warmup see if you can find that same fullness of resonance on every note and every vowel in your piece. Go slowly. Be deliberate. Use your creativity (you could start at the end)! As this comes to a close begin to mix things up. Throw in some new variables. If you’ve been working on intervals and resonance now add attention to your posture (try it sitting, standing, moving, etc.)
Endings:
With all of that attention payed to intervals, resonance and posture (as examples) begin to sing the whole song through–without stopping–while integrating your new awareness. Each time, notice how easy it was to do what you want (without judgement) and aim to be more precise next time. Do this for 3-7 runs through (if not the whole piece than at least a whole section). The goal is to be as aware as you were when exploring slowly, but at “performance speed” (or close enough). You can get creative here too! Perform it “silently” a few times making all of the movements for singing but without the sound. Imagine feeling and hearing the sound as clearly and precisely as you can–perfect it in your imagination! Then return to singing aloud. You’ll find that you’ve improved! Then, most importantly, let it go. You can meditate briefly or just rest before returning to the rest of your day!
See, practicing can be an art in itself as can ANY learning!
Robert
