{"id":147,"date":"2020-11-02T11:44:24","date_gmt":"2020-11-02T11:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.demetrafogazza.com\/?p=147"},"modified":"2020-11-03T05:29:00","modified_gmt":"2020-11-03T05:29:00","slug":"147","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.demetrafogazza.com\/en_us\/147.html","title":{"rendered":"Change? You can!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Questa<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m often contacted by people who want to learn- but apparently already know it all! IMPARATO!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their first sentence during their first lesson usually goes something like My name\u2019s John\/Jane and I cannot sing in tune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or worse \u2013 There\u2019s nothing I\u2019m good at, I have troubles learning stuff and serious time-keeping issues. I\u2019m lazy, I\u2019ve got six kids to look after, I suffer from heartburn, and I smoke; I\u2019m a teacher, my voice is messed up for good; I can\u2019t read or write properly, I\u2019ve got anxieties, I\u2019m stressed and traumatised. I hate English and can\u2019t sing in it; I\u2019ve got an ingrown toenail and \u2013 most of all \u2013 I\u2019m only here to let off some steam, SO don\u2019t expect me to work hard because I just won\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other wannabe students are affected by the well-knownNun-provoked trauma (which you can read about here: https:\/\/www.demetrafogazza.com\/2020\/10\/21\/introduzione<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The worst is yet to come \u2013 I\u2019m a paying customer, so it\u2019s up to me to decide what you are going to teach me and how. I expect to be showered with attention and sympathy for my every issue \u2013 including my ingrown toenail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This last claim has to be the most frustrating of them all!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d be a liar if I denied having at least one of these thoughts when confronted with these types of students:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

- RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

- Apologies, honey, but this is a singing class \u2013 if you think you can\u2019t cope, that\u2019s the door!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

- I\u2019M NOT PAID ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH THIS CRAP!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, in the real world my reaction is way different \u2013 I encourage my students and tell them that it\u2019s all just preconceptions and that they have all it takes to improve their current singing skills, as poor as they may be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At times it might take some fighting to change a student\u2019s mind, especially when they are determined to prove you wrong and that they actually do suck at singing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article clearly refers to people who take up singing as a hobby \u2013 I will dedicate specific blog entries to professional singers or advanced learners who can sing from sheet music andcome to me to hone their technique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But let\u2019s go back to our main focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to learn fast, the best thing you can do is be in the moment and block out all sorts of preconceptions, prejudices or limiting beliefs. If you go to someone to be taught certain skills, I assume you must be aware that your knowledge is NOT advanced enough to judge your own level of said skills. Otherwise, you wouldn\u2019t need a teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TRUST AND OPENNESS\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 is what you\u2019ll need plenty of when you embark on an artistic development path. \nBy openness I mean a mind free of prejudice, and NOT holding on to the idea of being useless at something!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does this mean one CAN change?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure! Ever since ancient times wise men have taught us that relentless tenacity, perservance, consistency and passion are the real building blocks of any successful warrior\/athlete\/musician\/singer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

But you do need talent, right?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll deal with talent in future blog entries because I\u2019d like to delve into the idea of talent in scientific rather than abstract terms. We\u2019ll first need to understand whether there is such a thing as talent at all, and then try and define it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The secret of passion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I understand passion as an unconscious drive to wake up every morning with a one-track mind focused on our goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Passion is where motivation meets one\u2019s ability to endure pain and boredom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Passion is what fuels self-discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Passion is what makes our goals worthwhile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s our only true virtue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Passion is getting up before sunrise, not because we\u2019re forced to, but because we want to look after our bodies (i.e. our tools of the trade as singers); it\u2019s spending all our little money on classes, courses, auditions, books, instruments, gym subscriptions and personal trainers and haircare products \u2013 amazing hair is paramount on stage (story of my life!). It\u2019s eating clean, not smoking and keeping smokers at arm\u2019s length, staying away from cold draughts, keeping safe social distancing so as not to catch the flu (well before Covid) and not going anywhere without a hygrometer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you do all this, you\u2019re either a Premier League footballer\u2026 or a singer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Passion is consistent practice, daily training, keeping in shape even when your body is begging you for mercy, even when you\u2019re bored to death, it\u2019s too hot or too cold\u2026 even when you practice like crazy to be able torise up to the occasion of a big gig or part \u2013 which in the end you don\u2019t get chosen for!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still you don\u2019t give up, you keep going and get back on your feet each time you fall, no matter what people say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are the staples for anyone wishing to embark on a \u2013 hopefully successful \u2013 learning path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hiring a trainer is not enough<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you hire a trainer at the gym but don\u2019t eat sensibly, it won\u2019t be your trainer\u2019s fault if results fail to materialise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same applies when learning how to play an instrument \u2013 no matter how much money you spend, you will not go far without the right mindset<\/em> .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how to approach \u201cproblematic students\u201d who believe they\u2019ll never learn how to sing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone can improve their pitch, time keeping, sound quality, stage presence \u2013 no one is a lost cause, there\u2019s a chance for everybody!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

But you first need to take ownership<\/strong>of the changes you want to make and decide you want that improvement and you want it bad \u2013 so bad that self-discipline will effortlessly grow in us like moss in an alpine forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Capita molto spesso che arrivi qualcuno da me per imparare ma a quanto pare\u2026 \u00e8 gi\u00e0 \u201c imparato!\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.demetrafogazza.com\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.demetrafogazza.com\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.demetrafogazza.com\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.demetrafogazza.com\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.demetrafogazza.com\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.demetrafogazza.com\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":165,"href":"https:\/\/www.demetrafogazza.com\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147\/revisions\/165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.demetrafogazza.com\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.demetrafogazza.com\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.demetrafogazza.com\/en_us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}