Going Through the Motions

Welcome, Solfa Slayers!

Many of you may already know that I have tremendous appreciation for all things Joss Whedon (and I am not particularly concerned with outside judgments of this appreciation, so if you need to roll your eyes, know that it doesn't bother me -- I am, after all, a graduate of K-12 homeschooling AND a person who blogs about solfege on a weekly basis, so coolness is obviously not a central part of my life), and in particular, I LOVE Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the TV series, naturally...I've actually never seen the movie).  Many of you also know (because of my running commentary here and elsewhere) that I'm in the midst of preparing for my written comprehensive exams, which are now 10 days away.  If you've been through this process, you can probably make a good guess about my head-space at the moment, and if you haven't...well, I am in no place to have great perspective right now, but I can tell you this:

I'm doing a lot of stuff right now that feels like it's not accomplishing much.  I'm looking at pieces of information, reading a lot, typing a lot, trying to make sense out of many things, and feeling like I have a skull full of Malt-o-meal rather than a functioning brain.  In fact, I feel like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO7J2knk4Ew

[For the uninitiated, here's the backdrop.  Buffy (the singing woman...she doesn't usually sing, this is just a special musical episode, for which someone has diligently taught her Julie Andrews' approach to internal r's in English diction) is a vampire slayer, meaning that she was born with super-human strength and fighting ability and it is her sole responsibility to save the world...a lot.  Well, a few months before the time of this episode, Buffy saved the world and died in the process, but then her friends used a powerful spell to resurrect her, because they thought she was trapped in a place of unspeakable torment.  However, Buffy was not where they think she was when she was dead, but instead in a state of bliss and rest, and now she's been yanked back into her daily grind of world-saving and demon-fighting and isn't too pleased.  She hasn't told her friends any of this, though, and none of them can figure out why she seems so disengaged from life.]

My point is that I feel like I'm going through the motions, too.  Unlike Buffy, however, I am not a once-in-a-generation chosen one.  I have the advantage of knowing lots of people who have gone down this road before me.  So, I already know the moral of the story, even though it pains me to admit it:

Just keep going.

Work doesn't always feel satisfying.  Pushing through is sometimes lacking in any kind of immediate reward.  The point is to have faith that the reason you set out down this road is still there someplace, just beyond where you can see.

And, while this is all particularly applicable for my specific situation at the moment, I suspect everyone has been through this kind of thing before.  It can be a real drag...I mean, none of us became artists because we cope well with the feeling that we're just slogging through.  Probably we all hear a lot from folks who work outside the arts that we're lucky, and I agree that we are.  However, that luck does NOT exempt us from this kind of trial-by-sweat-without-much-satisfaction.  Inspiration can be flighty.  Rewards and reinforcement can come too infrequently.  And in those times, sometimes you have to go through the motions, let your body and your discipline take over when your spirit and your emotions are dragging, and trust that your mind and heart will ultimately work themselves out.  What's inside is always changing.  What's outside is always changing.  Even when it doesn't seem like it, what you do in the meantime still always matters.

Rising Level 2's


Begin with a little set-up exercise:

Using your tuning fork, find the key of F major and sing a tonic triad.
Then, sing a V7.
Then, sing the resolution of everything in that V7 that needs to go someplace:
f-m
t,-d
s,-d


Repeat this process in F minor, still remembering to resolve your tendency tones:
r-d
si-l
m,-l


Now, go to Ottman, Chapter 11 and sing through one major (section 1) and one minor (section 2) per day, setting up each example you choose with the exercise above, first in solfa and then in letter names. Believe me, this will make these exercises seem like a piece of cake, and it'll go a long way towards helping you think in fifths, which will come in very handy when we start talking about chromaticism next summer.

Rising Level 3's


Begin with our favorite chromatic scalar exercise:

d   d t, d   r    r di r   m   m ri m  f....etc.,

Sing both the ascending and descending versions, with "wringing" motions at the half steps if you have any trouble with intonation.  If you have lots of trouble, find a friend and get him/her to sing a major scale in long notes along with you to help you stabilize your chromatics.  If you don't have a singing friend handy, as a last resort, you may play the tonic in octaves along with yourself.

Now, try singing the exercise from la instead of do...shazzam!  It's a minor chromatic exercise!

Look at the following Ottman examples:

15.86
15.90
15.92
15.94
15.95

Before you begin singing each example, set it up with the appropriate incarnation (from la or from do) of the chromatic exercise in the key of the example you're singing (if you want, you may use letter names, but that might be more trouble than it's worth).  Scan each melody ahead of time and pay attention to what chromatic syllables you'll need and how they resolve.  Remember to anchor yourself in the diatonic, because (after all) chromaticism is just a splash of color!

Rising Level 4's


Use the set-up exercises outlined for BOTH the rising 2's and 3's, but use these more challenging Ottman examples:

16.39
16.41
16.42
16.44
16.51 (look at the end so you're not tempted to pick too fast a tempo!)

Go through the motions, my friends...sometimes it's the only way to get to the end.

Like cures like

Hello, my dear solfa singers!

It's a three-day-weekend! Hooray!!!

I have lately had occasion to have a bit of exposure to homeopathic medicine. You know, I've taken echinacea and goldenseal before, maybe even used a tincture or two, and my mom had this friend when I was growing up who grew her own kombucha (long before this video came out), so I'm not a total neophyte, but this time around (prompted by yet another round of extremely unpleasant abdominal pain...and can I just take this moment to say that when one's body wants attention, it frequently chooses not to fight fair), I encountered this principle:

Like cures like.

Ok, so in my case, I have these really nasty pains that come on without warning and feel like there are iron bands digging into the sides of my stomach while an army of angry chihuahuas also chew on it from the inside. I couldn't find anything specifically for the chihuahua problem, but thanks to a dear friend, I've been taking something that can actually cause a pain like iron bands if taken by a healthy person, but when taken (in extremely diluted and small quantities) by someone who already has those pains, it's supposed to cause the body to right itself. Essentially, it's the same principle as vaccines (or the hair of the dog) -- give yourself a little poison, your body rushes in to deal with the intruder, and in doing so, it fixes the problem you had to start with. And, while I retain a little healthy skepticism about the whole thing, it did work for me. Maybe it's placebo...but I feel better, so I'm ok with that.

And, just in case anyone is worried, I do promise to get myself fully checked out by a gastroenterologist soon.

So, naturally, I thought of this concept in terms of musicianship, and as it turns out, the principle appears to hold true. If you have trouble with rhythms, you have to give yourself rhythmic exercises to work on. If speedy solfa is your Achilles' heel, you have to sing more fast passages in order to improve. And so on. So, this week's battery of exercises will be organized a little differently with this principle in mind, and feel free to select from multiple categories as you feel the need.

Rhythm Intensive

Take a look at Ottman, chapter 15....and let's have some fun with syncopations!

Speak through while conducting: 15.3, 15,5, 15.6, 15.10, 15.11, 15.16, 15.19, 15.20 (plus more, if desired)

On p. 257, look at the text on the bottom of the page, and select 2 melodies from each category to prepare and sing. If you are a rising level 2 and the chromaticism has you worried, you may choose from only the first two categories.

Melodic Leap Intensive

If you get stymied by leaps, either because applying the solfa quickly is hard or because you're afraid you won't sing the correct interval, this section is for you!

First, there are several interval exercises you can do to help yourself -- I like this one because it's all pentatonic, but actually pretty challenging:

Sing (the solfa, and then the interval name on the same notes -- I'd start in A or B-flat):

d r major second; r m major second; s l major second;

m s minor third; l d' minor third;

d m major third;

r s perfect fourth; m l perfect fourth; s d' perfect fourth; l r' perfect fourth;

d s perfect fifth; r l perfect fifth; s r' perfect fifth; l m' perfect fifth;

m d' minor sixth;

d l major sixth; s m' major sixth;

r d' minor seventh; m r' minor seventh; l s' minor seventh

Sing that exercise until you can do so fluently -- if you have trouble decoding it from the text above, call me, and I'll sing it for you.

Additionally, sing through these Ottmans:

9.3, 9.6, 9.8 (note that it goes on to the following page), 9.26, 9.37, 11.25, 11.26

Quick-draw Solfa Intensive

If you feel like spitting the syllables out accurately in scalar passages is your particular cross to bear, look no further.

First, practice pentachords in sequence:

drmfsfmrd rmfslsfmr mfsltlsfm fsltd'tlsf sltd'r'd'tls ltd'r'm'r'd'tl td'r'm'f'm'r'd't d'

Start out at a moderate tempo, and gradually increase your speed. For added challenge, leave out the last note in each grouping and go immediately on to the next grouping.

And, sing through these Ottman examples:

12.4, 12.7, 12.24, 12.27, 12.52, 12.58 (pretend you're in F major in treble clef)

Enjoy!