The Classical Voice Studio of Diana Farrell

Friday, June 18, 2021 by Diana Farrell | THOUGHTS FROM THE STUDIO

I was speaking with a fellow voice teacher last week and commiserating/laughing over the number of times we've had new students come to us and be upset that they couldn't "learn singing" in one or two lessons. Well, I have a secret for you... Even though I teach and work professionally, I still take lessons and coach with other professionals! When will I be done learning? Never! I still study because having the ears of a knowledgeable technician and the insight of an experienced pro prompts more thoughtful questions to be answered. Sometimes those questions are about technique, sometimes they are simply philosophical and build upon my mental and theoretical practice. Education, in all its forms, is beautiful because the more you learn the more you realize *how much you don't know* and that there is always room for growth. That is important for our sense of well-being, our confidence, our humility, and our evolution in life and in our craft. Our voices change as our bodies change and learning to embrace that constant change empowers us to continually improve and never feel stuck applying old lessons and goals to our current abilities. Just as a professional sports athlete continues to train to build stamina, efficiency, and refine their technique, we must do the same as vocal athletes!

📷: Modeling my favorite teaching/life uniform from Sing Pretty Designs 💗

Tweet

Monday, June 14, 2021 by Diana Farrell | THOUGHTS FROM THE STUDIO

Life is slowly returning to normal, with live music and theater events being some of the last venues to emerge from pandemic restrictions. Many actors and singers are scared about starting their careers again and finding opportunities to work and engage with an audience. The fear for many people is that they are out of practice or that their instrument no longer works or sounds the same way it did in March of 2020. I'm here to tell you that your fears are shared, but I hope they are not holding you back. Here's a story for the seasoned singer or emerging professional who is concerned about their place in the musical world as life reopens and theaters are filled with music again: there was a period in my life where making music was simply not viable at the level I'd hoped. Financially it had become a strain, constantly paying for lessons and traveling for auditions, but not booking performances that paid enough to sustain a healthy life. I was told my voice was "too large" for the opportunities available at my level, but my voice had not yet reached the maturity required for the roles and music everyone told me I should be singing. I found myself living in a circumstance where I had to make a personal choice. I walked away from music, not knowing if it would be temporary or permanent and it was one of the hardest things I've ever done. It took a toll on me physically and emotionally and I was not in a good place. Without further baring my soul to the internet, I will tell you there was a 3-year period where I had no music in my life. I even stopped listening to music and seeing performances because it was too painful to be reminded of what I'd given up. If you are not a performer yourself, then that probably sounds dramatic, but it was a very real and dark time for me. At one point I knew it was no longer sustainable. Without the fear of failure and the weight of expectation, I started making music for the joy of it and my life changed. I put away all the music that I was told I "should" be working on, and started to explore music I loved because it spoke to me and it *felt* appropriate for me to sing. I didn't worry about whether or not something was too big or too small for my voice and I pursued opportunities for fun, as well as created some of my own. Over the next year, I felt more fulfilled by my artistic life than I ever had before and was presented with opportunities I'd always dreamed about. It became a career when I let myself be honest about what I wanted and how I wanted to do it. That sense of empowerment is something that cannot be taken away by anyone or any circumstance and I still carry it with me. Embrace what is new and possible in 2021 and beyond and I hope you will love the opportunities that unfold before you!

Tweet

Monday, June 7, 2021 by Diana Farrell | THOUGHTS FROM THE STUDIO

Dana School of Music, Youngstown State University 2007

 

What do you like about your own voice? What do you L O V E  about your voice? What do you do reeeeeally well? These questions are HARD to answer and I make each new student I take on think about these questions. Having an answer doesn’t make you narcissistic or egotistical. After all, no one knows your instrument the way you do because no one can *feel* what you feel (physically or emotionally, but I'm talking physical sensation here). The things that I think are special about my own voice have changed over the years but that is part of the joy of this singing journey! The more you master your own instrument, the more exciting you can be in your storytelling and the more ownership you feel over the communication choices you're making with your audience. Please use the comment section to tell me while your voice is so awesome!

Tweet

Monday, May 24, 2021 by Diana Farrell | THOUGHTS FROM THE STUDIO

People who know me well know that I have a love of learning and collecting foreign language words that have no single word translation in English. A lot of times these are feelings or situations that are universally experienced and of such value that they require a succinct and referable word for certain languages or cultures. One that I was reminded of this week (and I'm thinking of framing from my little studio wall) is the Greek word, meraki. 

Meraki (n.) /mɛɹ̩ɑki/ To do something with soul, creativity, for love; to put something of yourself into your work.

#Meraki is something I think all creatives begin their artistic exploration with, but many of us lose as we move into a more serious observation of technique and execution. Singing is so much about breathing and using our bodies to express ideas. I constantly beg my students to find their own examples of memory or sensation to consider when working through a new technique or passage. Sometimes it's artistic and sometimes it's simply recalling our bodily response to a moment or experience. That is how to keep your music alive, even when you are focusing on a tough technical excerpt or exercise. We must use our humanity to literally breathe life into what we are doing. Oftentimes it makes the technical undertaking easier to repeat properly and gives us our "why" behind those grueling moments. How have your life experiences informed your creative practice lately? Please share!

📷: As Magda Sorel with Sandra Ross as Mother, PC Jeff Ridenour, designer for 2017's The Consul with Nightingale Opera Theatre

Tweet