WHAT'S IN A VOICE? :: blanca

Coming from a place where the prevailing mentality was that of "people are that way, they don't change", New York has been the nurturing environment I thought only existed in my dreams.

One of the most exciting things in this profession is to witness a student's immediate improvement after a teacher's correction. Whether that student is myself, a classmate or a student of mine is equally gratifying. The courage of the student to open his or her mind to new ways of learning, to push his/herself beyond his/her own capacity often fills my eyes with tears and my heart with indescribable joy. The generosity, intelligence, dedication and ingenuity of the teacher fill me with admiration, pride and inspiration.

This week is full of new wonders as I pushed myself beyond my limits and began to sing in front of a group. Not just any group, mind you. I'm taking part of Tom Burke's NUTS AND BOLTS weeklong workshop and my classmates are amazing singers. Some of them have graduate degrees in voice performance, some are voice coaches with published books on the subject, some have toured the US singing.

And here I am, a dream come true: I can stand in front of them and actually produce a song with my voice. I'm strong enough not to allow fear to grab me by the throat (literally).

My first attempt at an acting career was at the age of 6, when my older brother was trying out his new camera. I put a veil over my head (actually, a towel) and took this huge metallic scorpion that my mom had for decoration, pretending I was some sort of scary creature as I spoke to the camera. I was so into it! I was so excited to see the result... but got devastated after hearing my voice on the TV screen.

Unable to understand that the sound quality of that camera sucked, I decided that my voice was hideous. I decided to bury it. I decided that there was nothing I could do to change it or improve it or learn to love it (thank the gods dancing is usually mute!)

After moving to New York I began to take voice lessons with wonderful teachers. They were very supportive and great teachers, but being my own worst critic, it was almost as if the more I practiced and studied, the worse I felt about my singing. Perhaps my ear got better, making me more aware of my lack of perfection. Every note was a judgment: "Was I off pitch?" I would ask every 2 measures.

Today in the workshop I realized that the main reason why I'm now able to sing in front of an audience is because Tom never judges me. He doesn't patronize me or baby me either. He is very matter-of-fact, and simply tells me what to do to achieve the results we are looking for. Today he was telling the group how research has shown that students learn better by positive reinforcement every few attempts. That correcting a student after every single attempt is actually counterproductive. How true this is!

Tom treats me like a professional, and I'm starting to behave this way. His extensive and varied background allows him to combine speech pathology, Estill Voice Training (a mind-blowing / high-tech method of voice training), chakra/energy work, and other disciplines to craft each student's performance at a fast pace.

He often tells me after coming up with a mind-blowing correction: "Try that with your bellydance students and let me know how it goes"

And well... that's exactly what I have been working on! I'm very excited about my upcoming workshops:

SENSUAL VARIATIONS (starting February 1)
and
DRUM SOLO: TECHNIQUE, MUSICALITY AND SHOWMANSHIP
with Blanca & Carmine (March 29)

I could write some about these workshops... but that's another blog.

...

If you are a singer or just curious about your voice and looking to improve, discover or have fun with it... or if you want to become an amazing singer, Tom is available for coaching at the awesome Singer's Forum in NYC.
www.tomburkevoice.com