Here's something you might be interested in.
The aforementioned Josh Vincent and I set a Daddy date for the beach today. I took my two kids aged 7 and 4 to meet Josh and his 17-month-old at Powerhouse Park in Del Mar.
We discussed the Pelican issue, managed a few collisions, dug in the sand, ran away from knee slappers, and stood talking about singing and yoga.
We stood because there's no sitting on the beach with a 17-month-old and four-year-old trucking about.
In my limited exposure to yoga, I noticed that the breath meditation is almost identical to how the breath is used in singing.
In yoga, you're to take a deep breath down to the floor of your pelvis, just like singing. This column of breath in yoga is called the Sushumna Nadi.
The Sushumna Nadi is used to access the thousand-leafed lotus through the soft palate, up and back through the crown of the head.
Many voice teachers want their singers to raise the soft palate and put the voice, via the breath, up and back through the crown of the head.
I asked Josh about this.
"Ya, it's pretty much all there."
Why aren't you teaching a yoga class for singers?
"I did when I was with Lyric Opera of Chicago. I offered a class to the chorus and got a good response. I must say they did the worst chanting I've ever heard. They just didn't know what to do with 'ohm'. It was more like 'OHMM'". The sound Josh made for this ohm was a mix of fog horn and braying donkey.
What about San Diego?
"I offered a class last summer. I had over 20 singers say they were on board but when it finally came down to it, only two were left standing when the class was scheduled to start so we canceled it."
Here, Josh has stumbled onto a key component of San Diego society.
In San Diego, if someone says they might show up for for something, that means they won't. If someone says they will be there, that means maybe. If someone says they'll "totally be there", that also means they won't. If they say they'll be there and they actually show up, they're new in town.
The aforementioned Josh Vincent and I set a Daddy date for the beach today. I took my two kids aged 7 and 4 to meet Josh and his 17-month-old at Powerhouse Park in Del Mar.
We discussed the Pelican issue, managed a few collisions, dug in the sand, ran away from knee slappers, and stood talking about singing and yoga.
We stood because there's no sitting on the beach with a 17-month-old and four-year-old trucking about.
In my limited exposure to yoga, I noticed that the breath meditation is almost identical to how the breath is used in singing.
In yoga, you're to take a deep breath down to the floor of your pelvis, just like singing. This column of breath in yoga is called the Sushumna Nadi.
The Sushumna Nadi is used to access the thousand-leafed lotus through the soft palate, up and back through the crown of the head.
Many voice teachers want their singers to raise the soft palate and put the voice, via the breath, up and back through the crown of the head.
I asked Josh about this.
"Ya, it's pretty much all there."
Why aren't you teaching a yoga class for singers?
"I did when I was with Lyric Opera of Chicago. I offered a class to the chorus and got a good response. I must say they did the worst chanting I've ever heard. They just didn't know what to do with 'ohm'. It was more like 'OHMM'". The sound Josh made for this ohm was a mix of fog horn and braying donkey.
What about San Diego?
"I offered a class last summer. I had over 20 singers say they were on board but when it finally came down to it, only two were left standing when the class was scheduled to start so we canceled it."
Here, Josh has stumbled onto a key component of San Diego society.
In San Diego, if someone says they might show up for for something, that means they won't. If someone says they will be there, that means maybe. If someone says they'll "totally be there", that also means they won't. If they say they'll be there and they actually show up, they're new in town.