RESPIRO E MOVIMENTO®

DISCOVER YOUR REAL POTENTIAL

Rising Strong (After An Injury)

By · Follow us: Facebook · Twitter · Instagram · YouTube

Social scientist Brené Brown has ignited a global conversation on courage, vulnerability, shame, and worthiness. Her pioneering work uncovered a profound truth: Vulnerability—the willingness to show up and be seen with no guarantee of outcome—is the only path to more love, belonging, creativity, and joy. But living a brave life is not always easy: We are, inevitably, going to stumble and fall.

Before Booking An Out-of-town Show, Ask Yourself These 5 Questions

By · Follow us: Facebook · Twitter · Instagram · YouTube

When evaluating each out-of-town gig opportunity, go through these five questions. If you answer yes more than no, it might be a trip worth pursuing.

Will I be returning in 3-6 months?

There’s not much point in taking the gig if you don’t have plans to build upon whatever buzz you create the first time around.  Even if there’s only 10 people in attendance, the object is to get that to 11 or 50 or 100 on your next visit. But that won’t happen if it takes you a year or more (or never) to roll through town again. So, if it’s a “market” you plan on hitting with frequency, take the gig.

Is there a local artist who can open or headline?

If you don’t have a (big) draw, local bands can save the day when it comes to filling the room. And if it’s a good musical pairing, their fans might become your fans too. Things can be tough when you’re the only act on the bill or if you’re touring with another out-of-towner. Which leads us to…

Do I have fans there?

Have you played there before and drawn a crowd? Do you have subscribers on your mailing list that live there? Do you have social followers who live there? Have you checked your Spotify and Apple Music trending reports (when touring internationally), Google Analytics, or CD Baby accounting and sales data to see how your music is performing in that geographical region? If the answer is no, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t tour through that town (you gotta start somewhere), but it’ll make answering yes to some of these other questions all the more important.

Is there a PR opportunity?

I once drove all the way from Portland, Oregon to Los Angeles in a straight shot with a 6-piece band to play at a crap dive bar just because my publicist had arranged for an LA Times critic to be there. Yes, we played more shows on our way back up north, but still, that’s TERRIBLE tour routing. I ended up feeling like it was worth it though, since it yielded two separate stories in the paper: one about the show and a separate album review. Maybe you won’t have a big turnout at the gig, but if there’s an angle to get attention from local radio, press, or blogs, it might be a relationship worth nurturing.

Can I afford it?

Is there a better way to spend your time or money? Will you have to take a day or two off work to make this show happen? Do you have the vacation time? It’s tough to say what’s “worth it” when it comes to music-making, especially gigging; a show with only five people in the audience sometimes DOES lead to more opportunities if you impress the right folks. BUT… that doesn’t mean every gig is worth taking. Money and time are, of course, limited resources — so be careful how you spend them.

(via)

Why Classical singers Are Like Elite Athletes

By · Follow us: Facebook · Twitter · Instagram · YouTube

Opera Olympics

Adrenaline, anticipation, and years of training culminating in just one chance to get it right; an evening at the opera has much more in common with a sporting event than you might expect. As well as a world-class musician, the singer is an athlete – and it’s a discipline that is by no means created by talent alone.

‘Opera singers need focus, stamina, flexibility, endurance, determination and adaptability,’ says Kevin Thraves, Deputy Head of Opera at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM). Most elite opera singers consider their training to be lifelong – undergoing years of studying with teachers at school and completing a postgraduate degree to hone their skill.

‘An athlete can compete when they have a cold or sore throat, but a singer shouldn’t,’ warns McCulloch. ‘Swellings develop on the vocal folds, nodules or cysts which prevent full vocal fold closure and means that singers are unable to phonate successfully.’

Photograph by William Goldsmith.

(via)

How to Give Students Critical Feedback Without Crushing Their Confidence

By · Follow us: Facebook · Twitter · Instagram · YouTube

Praising a student is easy. Giving critical feedback is much tougher. So sometimes we run the risk of overpraising mediocre performance because we so badly want them to become confident young musicians, chemists, or swimmers, and are afraid of how they will respond to challenging critiques of their work.

But research suggests that offering praise for sub-par performances can actually backfire – by giving the impression that we have low expectations of them, and don’t believe in their abilities.

And “feedback sandwiches” (praise-criticism-praise) have their issues too.

So I’m psyched to see that there is research which suggests that we don’t have to lower our standards. That we can empower and motivate our students (and perhaps also our colleagues in small ensembles or orchestras?) to dig a little deeper and strive for greater heights, simply by making sure our constructive feedback is accompanied by a reminder of where it is coming from.

Not from a desire to put them down and make it clear just how far they have to go. But to extend a hand and help them take the next step towards whom they are capable of becoming, even if they may not (yet) fully believe they can get there.

(via)