My Musical Code of Conduct.

[pantsie]

After a tough couple of weeks, it's time to get back to basics. I now have tendinitis in my left wrist, so Quote of the Day went out the window. I'm just thanking my lucky stars that I'm not a professional writer or pianist. No recreational typing, texting, or piano playing. Then I lost one of my church jobs due to budget cuts. Not the end of

Comments

[jendaviswilson]

That's pretty awesome that you wrote all that down. The part about not beating yourself up in lessons made me think that I bet singing is the same as a sport. Meaning that there is a lot of evidence out there about mental visualization practice and positive thinking (celebrate when you do right, shrug off when you screw up) to help improve performance. after all, singing is a physical skill!

[pantsie]

You're absolutely right. Singing is an athletic skill as much as it is an artistic one! The body is just as important in the mind, and all the same psychological performance dynamics apply.

[stolen_tea]

Those are great goals! Not just for singing, but in general. I can see how they apply to learning just about anything, at least in an environment where learning is the goal.

[pantsie]

Yeah, they're more about my learning process - what conditions set me up for success.

[pantsie]

I was going to write that one down, but then it occurred to me that I can't really help but be that. My primary strength is that I don't sing quite like anyone else. :-)

[sexybadpnomamma]

This is a really great code of conduct. Also, sucks about the church job: which one was it?

[pantsie]

It was All Saints, sadly! My first Big Girl Pants (tm) music job! It became clear after the Annual Meeting that there wasn't going to be enough budget money in the coming year for my role. They're keeping me through Easter and then setting me free. Don praised me for my work and has offered to give me references, which is really nice.

The good(ish) news is that two Catholic churches are willing to pay me more money for less preparation. Plus, solo cantoring is more aligned with the skills I'm trying to develop. Being a choral section leader does really great things for my musicianship, but nothing tests me better than shoving me out in front of a congregation with music that I'm seeing for the first time. :-)

[sexybadpnomamma]

Ohmigosh, that is TRAUMATIZING about All Saints! Really not something I would have seen coming! But good that you have cantoring possibilities lined up. :-/

[pantsie]

I didn't see it coming, either, especially because I received the news on a night that I was rehearsing a solo aria I'm performing at church this coming Sunday. It went something like, "You sound great. I can't disagree with your interpretation of the piece. We'll do it Sunday. I have some bad news..." There's never a good time for news like that and I'm glad he didn't wait to tell me, but the timing was particularly surreal.

[kenjari]

That's an awesome code of conduct. And not so awesome about All Saints, but I'm sure other great things will come your way.
Don't forget to ice your wrist after any piano playing or extended typing (consistent icing has done my right elbow heaps of good).

[pantsie]

I told my coach about the All Saints situation and he said, "I see this as pure opportunity, Eileen." I agree with him. Onward. Upward.

Ice is so awesome! I can't take NSAIDs because it's really bad for the voice; I've been icing three times a day and it's a terrific help. I also am bracing my wrist 95% of the time.