W1D2 - 5 steps to learning how to sing a recit by Megan Brown

Well folks, it was another long day, starting at 5 in the morning (after 4 hours of sleep) I peeled off my covers, feeling fairly well rested after my nap. It was off to the city early for the BREAKFAST TELEVISION segment featuring NUOVA summer opera intensive on Edmonton's Local CITY TV. It was like Canada AM but local. Two other fellows (Ivan, Alfred), and I sang a Broadway trio called "Brush up your Opera." Which is a rearrangement of "Brush up your Shakespeare," from Kiss my Kate. The Host of CITY TV morning show was Michelle, and it was hilarious to watch her chat with the tv, while we only hear her side of the conversation. It was funny to actually see the person on the other end of the morning show, the one who is out there reporting on a specific story. Despite the early morning, it was actually a ton of fun to be apart of the show. I got to sing and hear some other stunning pieces.

(side note: Cat Affleck, keep that name somewhere in your brain, because she will be a superstar someday, she is absolutely splendid, from head to foot)

It is just fascinating to be around such unbelievable talent. It's like this gas that is just filling the whole program. Everyone is just bursting with talent, it's very inspiring. And I had a few convo's today about the cross over between Musical Theatre, Acting and Opera, and how that is a good combo of things to keep at your finger tips. I have lots of thinking about what I'm doing in the future, and I know this program is going to help me make a few decisions.

Today I embarked on another life long journey called Alexandre Technique. Now I have studied a little bit of Alexandre in Winnipeg, but this was taking it to a whole new level. Alexandre is about everything in your life, somewhat broad, eh?? So what the heck does that mean then, everything. Well, today we just started with our body posture, the typical performer ways to tighten and stress muscles. The instructors name is Candice, and she basically told us that we might in fact not know ourselves at all, and could possibly be a completely different person. Many people live there lives, but aren't actually living inside there own body. To live in your body means to learn how to be aware of it, and to be present in it in the NOW. How do we be present in the now you might ask? Well it starts with thinking about what is going on in your body at this very moment. Even as you are sitting here reading this blog, think about what your knee's feel like, your head, your spine, your ankles, your shoulders, your neck, what is going on in your body. That awareness is called being present in our body. Of course we can't always be thinking about our bodies, but we could certainly be more aware of what is going on. There is far more I could say about this first Alexandre Technique lesson, but you are probably getting bored, or have already decided to quite reading...STOP...the day isn't done. I had a sing through of Romeo and Juliet, and I sing the part of Gregorio, and Chorus. Well lets just say things didn't really go as planned. I pretty much bombed my part during the sing through, in front of many faculty and fellow NUOVAnites. Oh Well, that's life, eh? And then to top it all off, I missed a lesson today - man Justin, get with the program, literally! In the end everything was fine. I will probably be able to reschedule my lesson.

The most rewarding part of my day was learning Megan Browns 5 STEPS TO SINGING A RECIT:

1. LEARN THE TEXT, WITHOUT RHYTHM OR ANY EMOTION
2. AT THE RHYTHM TO THE TEXT, AND BE VERY PRECISE
3. TAKE AWAY THE WORDS, AND JUST MASTER THE MELODY, WHILE PLAYING THE ORCHESTRAL REDUCTION UNDERNEATH TO GIVE YOU YOUR NOTES
4. ADD THE WORDS BACK IN, BUT WORK SMALL SECTIONS
5. (the last step will tell you if you need to repeat any of the previous steps) BE ABLE TO SING THROUGH THE RECIT FROM TOP TO BOTTOM 5 TIMES IN A ROW, PERFECTLY. No Cheating!!!

-Also mark up your score like crazy, but very neatly. You want to make it as easy as possible for your when you are doing your run throughs. You don't want to have to be thinking about simple timing issues, or if you come in on the downbeat. These are things that can be marked in the score to help you remember so you can better embrace your Recit in a public situation, Example, a first sing through!

Wow, I'm sure that made a ton of sense to all you readers, all 5 of you!
Megan Brown was amazing tonight, and I am utterly grateful to her for spending a few hours with me tonight, helping me as I attempt to learn how to sing my Romeo and Juliet recits. We had a blast tonight. That girl is a special one:)

Well folks, I think it's time to get one down to bed. Gotta be up by 6 tomorrow. Time to get me a parking pass, enough of this 14 dollars a day, completely ridiculous. This is Justin signing off.

Over and out!