Judy Rodman

It’s morning and I’m looking at a physical training session in my schedule today. Why do I do this to myself? Partly for my voice!

My recommendation to all singers and speakers is that you do some physical activity that strengthens the body’s core muscles. Without this strength, you cannot apply enough breath support and breath control to your voice to have it work optimally.

Health, weight control, bone building, mental clarity and endorphin release makes you feel so great… all these are fabulous side effects of regular physical training. (Only a vocalist would put it that way…). I’m very busy, but the truth is that I have a physical body that my voice cannot do without.

Find a trainer who understands the special precautions needed by someone who values their voice. For instance, when exercising:

• No grabbing at the glottis (vocally straining or grunting).
• Be very careful not to strain neck and shoulder muscles; strengthening is great, but not straining.
• Be careful not to overtrain and tighten muscles with too much weight lifting.
• Concentrate on core torso strengthening and flexibility (stretching).

Judy Rodman is a singer, songwriter, producer and vocal instructor in Nashville, Tennessee. In the 1980s, she topped the country music charts with the number one single “Until I Met You” and won the Academy of Country Music’s “Top New Female Vocalist” award in 1985. Her recorded songs include LeAnn Rimes’s number-one hit “One Way Ticket (Because I Can)” (co-written with Keith Hinton). Judy has developed “Power, Path & Performance,” a vocal technique she teaches and sells.

Judy Rodman

There are lots of things blooming in this area of the world (Nashville). Beautiful, but for a singer sensitive to those particular flowers – scary.

What do you do when you greet the morning sounding like a frog? Well, because many allergy and cold medications dry the throat and vocal cords out, I recommend trying these non-medical suggestions first (but if in doubt, check all this out with your medical professional).

Nutrify
Start with a drink of lemon juice and water, then I would really recommend a freshly juiced ‘green drink’… put in (as long as you are not allergic to them and can digest them) things like lettuce, carrots, celery, beets, tomatoes, apples, pineapple, asparagus…you get the picture.

Then eat a light, non-mucous forming, protein-rich breakfast. What is non-mucous forming? It varies with the individual, so start to keep a journal of how foods affect your mucous thickness. Should you drink coffee? Observe its effects on you. Even black tea can feel dehydrating to some. Watch how much dairy you consume; this usually encourages excess mucous, as do rich and heavily sugared foods.

Here are breakfasts I eat that my voice likes:

• A fruit smoothie. To a frozen fruit mixture I add soy, rice or whey protein, or a supplement I particularly love called “UltraInflamX.” I add a little orange or other 100% juice and water to cover before I blend.
• Oatmeal with vanilla soymilk, nuts and seeds (especially pomegranate) , raisins and bananas. I sometimes add half an avocado.
• Fresh avocado, pineapple and orange slices, plus fresh nuts and seeds.
• Eggs scrambled with loads of sauteed veggies. I’d call it an omelet but I use more veggies than eggs. Instead of heavy bread, I accompany it with a rice cake with tamari sauce.

Then, I like to:

• Steam…I like to take a hot bath or shower and really breathe in the steam. Then using my Neti Pot helps get rid of whatever is irritating my tissues.
• Exercise…This is a morning you seriously need to warm your vocal cords up if you are singing that day. Warm up slower and longer than usual, and don’t forget… form is everything when doing vocal exercises if you want to make your voice better and not worse! Your vocal exercises should be stretching your sinus openings so they drain… a sign that you are doing it right. I also like to do a physical workout to get the junk in my chest moving out.
• Hydrate heal…I add cayenne pepper and lemon juice to a glass carafe of water and drink it throughout the day, or my ginger tea concoction. I definitely up my water intake, and even bring a shaker of cayenne with me if I need to eat out. This may sound strange, but cayenne is a healing herb for the mucous membranes!

What about you? What’s your favorite way to wake up a thick voice?

Judy Rodman is a singer, songwriter, producer and vocal instructor in Nashville, Tennessee. In the 1980s, she topped the country music charts with the number one single “Until I Met You” and won the Academy of Country Music’s “Top New Female Vocalist” award in 1985. Her recorded songs include LeAnn Rimes’s number-one hit “One Way Ticket (Because I Can)” (co-written with Keith Hinton). Judy has developed “Power, Path & Performance,” a vocal technique she teaches and sells.

Rick DiBiasio

Imagine this: you prepare a recipe from Emeril’s cook book only to have him appear and tell you, “it’s dreadful and you should never cook again.” Or you play guitar on the beach for your friends, only to find out that someone brought Simon and he makes “a face” about the way you play and then everyone laughs at you…Happens all the time, right?

As adults, we are supposed to be right. No one wants to go to a surgeon who “isn’t afraid to make a big mistake.” We are not encouraged to give creative answers to multiple choice tests, no one wants a financial advisor who picks investments only by “feel.” No, our system is built on having the “right” answers.

It’s easy to reach a point where we stop doing anything that we might not get right. What’s the opposite of stretch? Cramp? That’s what we do, we stay uncomfortable, we stick with what we know. So when it comes time to express ourselves creatively, it’s easy to filter ourselves into complete submission. Much easier to watch a reality show than live a little reality.

Does Emeril show up if we botch one of his recipes? Not usually, but someone even harsher does – we do. And we are relentless in our self criticism. “I hate the sound of my voice, I can’t draw, I am a terrible writer.” It’s difficult to pick up new things as an adult unless we have decided we are “talented” or “gifted,” unless we are pretty sure we can do something perfectly right from the start. Mistakes, after all, are not allowed.

And I’m not giving others a pass either; people will give you a hard time. People will “kid us,” they’ll damn with faint praise, they’ll come out and tell us how terrible our work is. Putting yourself out there is risky business if you have a thin skin.

Not long ago I heard a PGA Tour Golfer talk about “amateur” golfers, mocking people who love the same game he gets paid to play. I’ve heard John Mayer, unintelligible-pop-singer-and-musician, mock “amateur” guitar players; I guess he has some security issues. People can be mean; they have their own issues.

Can you play an instrument like a maestro? Paint like Rembrandt? Sing like Sinatra? No, you can’t! No one can – that’s why they are celebrated!

Does that mean you shouldn’t try? Not try to be as good as them – just try. Play a few notes, write a few lines, paint with some of your kid’s watercolors. No one will die. Especially you.

Allow yourself to “suck.” If someone says you aren’t very good, especially you, let it go. You aren’t supposed to be good, at least at first. In fact, you don’t ever have to be a maestro, but you can make art. You can create, you can be open to new things while acknowledging that people are entitled to their opinions. Even Maestros get criticism.

Have you nurtured someone’s gift or have you been a critic? Not just to your kids, to your friends, to your co-workers – but to yourself? Here’s the thing: when you begin a creative pursuit, you will reach a point where you wonder if you will always be doing so in a vacuum. But you develop this fear: “What if they don’t like it? What if they mock it? What if they make that Simon face?”

It’s perfectly ok if you just write in a private journal, if you just play quietly for yourself, or if you just sing your grandkids to sleep. Good things will happen if you do; you will open up new connections in your brain. And, it’s ok to let others see your work. You might be surprised at how easily people are impressed, how supportive they can actually be. You won’t know unless you stretch, will you?

Rick DiBiasio is the author of The Affluent Artist. His new project is MiddleAgedCrazy.com

Virginia-based Furnace MFG pressed Tom Petty's new album 'Mojo.' Although vinyl is only 1% of all record sales, it is a growing niche market. According to Nielsen SoundScan, vinyl accounted for 2.8 million units in 2009, up from 1.9 million in 2008.

Music is sounding better than ever because we can hear it on vinyl again. Millions of music lovers all over the world are discovering and rediscovering why vinyl is the best sound reproduction format. Along with the growth of this historic sound medium is a renewed interest in record companies and manufacturers who produce the vinyl records.

Let’s explore a company dedicated to the quality of their vinyl products and most importantly, the sound of the music. I spoke with Eric Astor, CEO, and Manish Naik, COO, of Furnace MFG. Although the company offers a multitude of sound and promotional services, we will focus on vinyl records. The company has secured exclusive North American partnerships with two of the best audiophile-quality pressing plants in Europe.

Who are you and what does your company do?

“Furnace MFG is located in the Washington, DC metro area and we are a one-stop source for CD, DVD and vinyl manufacturing. Furnace MFG has been hard at work pressing CDs and DVDs for the independent music community since 1996. We have made exclusive agreements with two of the best pressing plants in the world to provide the best sounding records on the planet,” explained Eric.

Why is the vinyl record making a resurgence?

“We think there are two main reasons that vinyl is making a resurgence. The first is that consumers are re-discovering (or discovering for the first time) that listening to a vinyl record is completely different than listening to a CD or a downloaded song. The quality of sound is clearly better with richer tones since a vinyl record plays exactly how an artist recorded the song with no loss of translation to a digital format. There is also an entire experience of listening to a record which is missing from CDs and MP3’s. Selecting the record, taking it out of the sleeve, putting it on the turntable, looking over the jacket and liner notes; these actions combine to create an actual ‘experience’ of listening. Listening to a record is in and of itself, the activity. Listening to an MP3 is generally done while doing something else and is more often than not, a background activity,” said Manish.

“The second reason for the resurgence in vinyl records is that artists and labels are once again embracing the format. Artists love the sound of vinyl and feel it’s a truer representation of their music. Labels are realizing that although the raw sales of vinyl are low compared to CDs, the margins are much higher and are paying attention to this new revenue source in the face of decreasing CD sales and increasing digital downloads.”

“The combination of consumer interest and interest from the labels is what is fueling this growth. One couldn’t exist without the other and we feel that this trend will continue for years. Vinyl will never overtake CD sales but there will continue to be a core group of consumers interested in this format,” continued Manish.

“One thing that the music industry must take into consideration though is that vinyl will only grow and expand if the quality is there. If a buyer’s first experience with vinyl is a negative one, they will not be coming back to the format. There are a lot of poorly pressed records out there that do not enrich the listening experience. If this is what buyers come to expect, they will stop buying vinyl and go back to buying CDs or sharing files.”

Is the PVC made in America and then shipped to the pressing plants?

“Each plant that Furnace has a formed an exclusive partnership with source their own PVC. They are the experts in understanding which products work best with their pressing machines and which products produce the best sounds,” explained Manish. “Both Pallas (Germany) and Record Industry (The Netherlands) have their own PVC formula that is made specifically for their plant.”

“All vinyl is pressed in Europe and then shipped on pallets via airplane to our facility in northern Virginia (just outside Washington DC) where we assemble the final product and finish for retail distribution. Vinyl is usually from the plant to our dock in less than 24 hours which preserves the quality of the product and allows us to offer industry leading lead times.”

What are the costs associated with releasing a vinyl record?

“There are various costs associated with vinyl records. Some of these are mastering/cutting, test pressings, actual vinyl production, jacket & insert printing, assembly costs, and final finishing costs,” said Eric. “The costs varies greatly depending on the weight of the record (120 g, 140g, or 180g), the turnaround time desired (either 4 weeks or 8 weeks), and the complexity of the assembly and finishing.

You tell me the vinyl is pressed in different countries; can you elaborate, why ship the work overseas?

“As we entered the business of vinyl manufacturing, we knew that there was really only one plant in the US that has the quality that the audiophile market craves,” explained Eric. “There are other domestic options but the quality produced in these plants was less than we were willing to put our name on. We signed exclusive relationships with two of Europe’s best vinyl plants (Pallas Group, and Record Industry). These plants have a long tradition in the vinyl business and the craftsmanship of their employees is amazing. To give you an example, the mother plate inspector at Pallas worked as an apprentice for 10 years before taking over that job. At Record Industry, they have produced some of the world’s best selling releases on vinyl including “Dark Side of the Moon” and various Michael Jackson, Pearl Jam and Beatles titles. Record Industry’s main cutting engineer has cut all of the aforementioned records during his 33 year career with a variety of labels and plants. We are confident that any record produced by our partners will be of very high quality and consistency – because that’s what our customers and record buyers demand.”

What is the difference between ‘regular’ vinyl and the ‘audiophile’ releases that are becoming more popular these days?

“It’s all about the sound quality. If you take two plants and give them lacquers cut from the finest cutting studio in the world and ask them to press up some records – you will often times get two completely different products. The PVC material used, the galvanics process and the pressing formulas at our two facilities are the secret weapon to creating some of the best records in the world. If a plant does not put the care and expense into creating superior metal parts, you will hear it in the vinyl. If a plant treats each record the same and doesn’t factor in the cut and the other 9,000 things you need to consider when pressing vinyl records, you can have problems there as well. You will get non-fill, poor tracking, etc when inexperienced people are running the equipment. Both of our plants have been around for decades and the experience on the floor is not something you can buy or learn overnight,” explained Manish.

“Most of the records that are marketed as Audiophile releases are pressed on heavyweight vinyl. 180 g records, for example, are less prone to warp or dish. When pressed correctly, you will get a superior and long lasting product from a heavyweight record.”

Tell me about the picture discs manufacturing process.

“These are really old-school in that they are all made on hand presses, unlike our regular vinyl products that are pressed on automatic presses. The actual playable surface is a laminate similar to the flexi records of yesteryear. These make for great collector items that sell well as novelties. Although they are great for business, they are extremely inefficient and difficult to make and the sound quality leaves much to be desired,” said Eric.

What attracts you to records?

“We are consumers of records much like all other consumers. For us, records enable us to connect with the music in ways that CDs and digital music just won’t allow. We all have MP3 players and love them for the storage capacity and flexibility but there are times when putting on a record is an unbeatable experience. Also, some records I have owned for 25 years plus and I remember the money I saved to buy them, the smell of the record when I opened it and the store I bought it from. Each time I put on one of those records it brings me back to a place and time of my life – most of the time it’s a positive memory.”

Discuss the clear vinyl vs. black vinyl debate, does it matter?

Eric explains: “There is a debate in the audiophile market on whether the carbon in black vinyl creates a magnetic resonance that can be heard in playback. Some labels have gone so far as to start pressing their releases on clear vinyl to sidestep this perceived issue. We have talked to many in the industry about this and feel that with anything audiophile, this is up to each person’s personal experience. From a pressing plant’s perspective, we know for a fact that the sound quality and consistency of pressing with black PVC is night and day difference over any colored vinyl including clear. Considering there is equipment that will help you rid yourself of such carbon created audio atrocities, we feel black vinyl will always be the best choice for the audiophile client.”

What is the best way to clean records, what do you use?

“There are many different ways to clean records from simple soap and water to super expensive cleaning machines and formulas,” said Naik. “At the end of the day, the important thing is to take care of your records, not store them in fluctuating temperatures and handle them with care. Simple things can make records last a lifetime! Internally, we use a VPI cleaning machine because we clean a lot of records, it does a great job and it’s FAST. If you can afford one, they are a huge convenience and do a fantastic job. For normal cleaning we just use a static free brush to get all of the dust off the surface prior to play. That one two combo works really well.”

Do you or can you do the cover art ‘in house’?

“Most of our major label clients (i.e. Warner, Universal) have art directors in house who will prepare all the artwork files and send us the final, print ready files. But for the thousands of other clients we have serviced over the last 13 years, we have a full, in-house creative and production design staff who create unique designs for anyone who asks. Our rates are competitive and we have worked within the entertainment industry for a long time so we’re known for our creative side as much as our mechanics.”

Tell us about some of your clients.

“We have a wide variety of clients from major music labels like Warner Music and Universal to independent labels as well. We also work with licensed reissue labels that focus on high quality vinyl such as Mobile Fidelity, Acoustic Sounds and Original Recordings Group. These guys produce ultra high quality records and packaging that are amongst the leaders in the field – going as far as flying out the original tapes to the cutting studio or going through 3 and 4 sets of lacquers until they have the perfect cut.”

“We also work with a wealth of independent labels and bands. This is where we are put to the test. Everyone is looking to do something different and unique and everyone is on a budget. We have enough experience to work with people to collect their wants and desires, talk budget and then match them up with a package that most closely meets their needs. Since most of our customers are either new to vinyl or new to getting back to vinyl, we act as a consultant sometimes as much as we do a pressing plant.”

Where do you see the record industry in 5 years, is this just a fad or will vinyl continue to be in demand?

“We expect the record industry to continue its growth for the next few years eventually flattening out in about 5 years,” explained Eric. “We do not think the resurgence in vinyl is a fad but rather a new/old format that more and more people will continue to discover. As long as labels are willing to put out a high quality record for their bands, fans will be there to buy them. Vinyl never died. The customer never rejected the format. The labels, seeing higher profit margins, inflated MSRPs for the Compact Disc and shoved vinyl aside and told record stores to make way for CDs and liquidate their vinyl. Indie stores and mail-order houses/websites always sold vinyl and they always will. Let’s hope the labels and bands keep running with it and keep the customer base happy.”

Robert Benson writes about rock/pop music and vinyl record collecting. He runs CollectingVinylRecords.com, where you can pick up a copy of his ebook, “The Fascinating Hobby Of Vinyl Record Collecting.”

Judy Rodman

I have many sweet and amazing young clients, and I adore them. But I was moved, deeply, watching the Carol King and James Taylor concert “Live at the Troubador” on PBS recently. I’ve never heard either one of them sing better, or even as well, as they did on that show.

And check out Tina Turner, Mick Jagger, Ralph Stanley for goodness sake! Singing their derrieres off!

I get older clients all the time who have been told they are past their vocal prime. What we discover together is that the limits are due to poor vocal technique. If you wonder if you are too old to sing, take heart. Here are two things I believe that are important:

• Take care of your body – your voice needs that, after all (this will be covered in a future post)
• Train strain out of your voice…and you can sing better than ever, well into your twilight years.

The course I created (“Power, Path, and Performance Vocal Training”) deals with the issue of ’strain.’ The kernel of the method began to form when I tried to figure out a system where I could put everything I knew that was important about the voice into a system that I could use as a template to work from with every student.

My one benchmark was that whatever I taught vocalists had to work, in practical settings like small-large-indoor-outdoor performance stages and recording studios of all types, for every genre of contemporary songs as well as speaking.

I drew from my own 40-plus years of vocal experience and from sources like doctors, chiropractors, alternative health practitioners, other vocal training methods, and of course, my own professional coach Gerald Arthur.

I happened upon a book called “Secrets of Singing” by vocal teacher Jeffrey Allen. To date, it has been the most influential source I’ve found for my own teaching method. There was a shape of “voice path” he had in his book that set lightbulbs off in my brain, because I recognized that voice path muscle memory in my own best singing through the years.

With that voice path imagery inspiring me, I gradually condensed all that I knew about voice into three primary cornerstones of vocal technique. They were:

• The power of breath
• The voice path through an open throat
• The physical and psychological aspects of communication.

It was some time after that when I noticed that not only was this a logical sorting of information…there was a synergy involved between the three cornerstones. What that means is that if you get something right or wrong in one area, it will affect the other two.

So if your breath support or control is off, you will not be able to keep your throat open. This creates a subtle block to being able to connect with your audience without being distracted by the way your throat feels. Tight throats cause tight breath, with compromised performance. Breath issues create tight throats and hinders communication. It’s all connected!

But the good news was that if I could help a student improve in their weakest cornerstone, the other two would benefit. When I teach a vocalist to integrate all three, the whole voice is available…without strain…to powerfully move an audience.

Judy Rodman is a singer, songwriter, producer and vocal instructor in Nashville, Tennessee. In the 1980s, she topped the country music charts with the number one single “Until I Met You” and won the Academy of Country Music’s “Top New Female Vocalist” award in 1985. Her recorded songs include LeAnn Rimes’s number-one hit “One Way Ticket (Because I Can)” (co-written with Keith Hinton). Judy has developed “Power, Path & Performance,” a vocal technique she teaches and sells.

Judy Rodman

I work with a lot of songwriters, and I love helping them deliver their songs through their voices authentically. To do that, you have to know the difference between your songwriter and your performer voices – which are not the same thing.

Here’s the short answer: Songwriter voice is internal. Performance voice is external. What do I mean by that? The longer answer…

Songwriter voice is a communion internally with yourself. You do it while in the act of writing or rehearsing the song. Performing that communion is an action for the benefit of someone else!

There is a great deal of difference between the two as far as your vocal technique goes…in the use of your body – in your “body language,” which changes your breath and your throat configurations.

If the lyrics you’re singing are most authentic when directed to yourself…you have to be a bit schizophrenic. Try the following exercise:

Stand or sit in one chair and have another chair across from you. Imagine you are in that opposing chair. Sing to the person sitting in that other chair, and make that person feel the appropriate emotion.

Even if we were doing a “Power, Path & Performance” phone lesson with me, I could tell if you were doing this properly. I could tell where your breath was coming from, where your hands are in space, if your eyes and face were engaged, and how open your throat is. Your audience can, too… even though they won’t make those specific assessments, they can tell if you’re really “with them” or just keeping it to yourself.

To get the songwriter voice – “out there” – even if just on a worktape – you have to turn it into performance voice! Have you experienced these voices? Your comments are always welcome.

Judy Rodman is a singer, songwriter, producer and vocal instructor in Nashville, Tennessee. In the 1980s, she topped the country music charts with the number one single “Until I Met You” and won the Academy of Country Music’s “Top New Female Vocalist” award in 1985. Her recorded songs include LeAnn Rimes’s number-one hit “One Way Ticket (Because I Can)” (co-written with Keith Hinton). Judy has developed “Power, Path & Performance,” a vocal technique she teaches and sells.

Judy Rodman

There is a subtle psychological shift you can make to take your next performance out of the ordinary and make it leave a memory in your listener’s heart. I call it “singing from the soul” instead of just from the head. Let me use an old familiar tune to illustrate.

How many times have you sung “Amazing Grace”? When is the last time you ever thought about what the lyrics mean? It’s usually played at a swift clip, sung with about as much emotion as “Row Row Row Your Boat” and if the lyrics aren’t being read, the words come out as mixed up as most people’s un-memorized version of “The Star Spangled Banner.”

But one event forever etched the song into my soul’s memory, and I no longer can sing or listen to this song without emotion. Picture a woman’s prison gymnasium, with an old funky piano somehow situated in a lost corner. This is where it happened.

I used to volunteer at Tennessee Prison for Women for a program called “Better Decisions.” After going through our own training, we each met with one woman prisoner partner for 8 weeks, teaching her a process of making wise decisions, which would help her create the life she really wanted rather than the life that ended her up in such a place. Many times we were the only visitors these women usually had, and you can imagine, relationships of trust and friendship were quickly formed. Then we had to completely disconnect, for their own good, as part of empowering them to find answers themselves.

After the 8 weeks, we held a ceremonial “graduation party” for them. At one of them, an impromptu request to sing something before we all had to say goodbye moved me to sit at that old piano and play Amazing Grace. They all took each other’s hands…prisoners and volunteers, and while tears rolled, a version was created of “Amazing Grace” that I will never ever forget. And after many years, I ran into one of my fellow volunteers out of nowhere…and she remembered it deeply, too.

Sing every song you perform… from your soul. And if you choose to do this, a warning: Check your own song list. Don’t sing anything you can’t sing from your soul. There’s nothing worse to listen to than fake soul singing.

Judy Rodman is a singer, songwriter, producer and vocal instructor in Nashville, Tennessee. In the 1980s, she topped the country music charts with the number one single “Until I Met You” and won the Academy of Country Music’s “Top New Female Vocalist” award in 1985. Her recorded songs include LeAnn Rimes’s number-one hit “One Way Ticket (Because I Can)” (co-written with Keith Hinton). Judy has developed “Power, Path & Performance,” a vocal technique she teaches and sells.

Denise Graveline

This post first appeared on The Eloquent Woman blog. I earlier wrote about Denise’s decision to take up the guitar, for the first time, at 50. Denise is a public speaking coach.

“You can’t stop when you make a mistake,” he said. “You’re pausing to think what you did wrong and how to fix it. But you’ve got to keep going. The pros make mistakes all the time, but they keep going.” 

Call it my once-a-week professional development if you want to. It’s really my guitar lesson, and I’m finding each session rich in insights about the speaker and presenter trainings I do, and what my trainees experience when they’re new to public speaking or trying a new technique for the first time.

Take the stopping. I know full well that “ums” trip lots of speakers up. The speaker’s got a heightened awareness of any mistakes she makes, especially if she’s nervous or not as practiced at it. And ums serve as a verbal pause while you’re trying to remember what it was you wanted to say. 

They’re also a normally occurring part of everyone’s speech. Nonetheless, if an um throws you off and you stop, you’ll find your momentum and focus tough to recover. Easy for me to know about public speaking, but new as a concept to learn on the guitar. 

And I’ve learned that I’m just like anyone else: Anxious to do well, aware of how difficult the skill is to learn, not happy when I miss a note or lose the rhythm; all perfectly understandable feelings that do nothing to help me get through “Wildwood Flower” or “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” In fact, they’re my biggest roadblocks.

When I was thinking through whether to take up guitar, my pal Leah Garnett of the website Music After 50 gave me great advice (she’s a lifelong guitarist and jazz guitar is her passion) — and she interviewed me right before I bought a guitar and started lessons. She asked about similarities between performing and public speaking, and I can now say from experience that I understand even better what’s going through the minds of trainees who get nervous just speaking in front of only me! 

Performing for my instructor is nerve-wracking enough for me for now, although he gently reminds me that my goal is to get good enough to play with other people. Music, like speaking, needs an audience to really thrive. Performers, whether guitarists or speakers, need to stop underestimating themselves and plunge in.

Case in point: I predicted for Leah that I wouldn’t be able to handle a dreadnought, the largest acoustic guitar, but it’s what I own now. It’s truly a stretch, but the sound is incredible. And in the last month, when I let go and anchor my playing with rest, practice and a willingness to risk, it sounds great–even when I miss a note.  (I also know from speaker coaching that it’s the performer who notices their nervousness and mistakes, not the audience, most of the time.) 

My instructor, who informed me I just got myself a hobby for life, says with confidence what I say to would-be speakers: If you practice, you will get better.

So these days, I think of my guitar instructor when I get a comment like this one from a woman who participated in one of my workshops focused on creating and delivering a message: “Thanks for making me step out of my comfort zone and for the warning that I would be expected to step out of my comfort zone. Without that discomfort, I don’t think the message would have been as meaningful.” 

Denise Graveline is a writer and communicator whose Washington, DC-based consulting firm, Don’t Get Caught, provides strategic communications plans; training; and editorial and creative services. A former journalist and communications director for several major nonprofits and a federal agency, she is the 2002 Washington Women in Public Relations “PR Woman of the Year” and a former member of the White House Council on Women.

Mark Miller

Jeanne Kelly is a professional singer, conductor, and pianist who has worked for many years with major opera companies and symphonies in the Washington-Baltimore area, where she lives. In 2001, she was directing the Levine School of Music’s Arlington, Virginia, program when Dr. Gene Cohen approached her with an idea.

Dr. Cohen, who died in 2009, was one of the nation’s leading researchers on the effects that creativity can have on older adults and the aging process. He directed the Center on Aging, Health, and Humanities at George Washington University, where he was a professor of health-care sciences, psychiatry, and behavioral sciences.

Cohen helped to create a national movement around positive aging and argued against the old stereotype that aging leads inevitably to a decline in physical and mental capacit. His pioneering research demonstrated that life after 65 can be an important period of creativity and intellectual growth.

Encore chorales are made up of singers 55-plus. Some read music; some don't. The goal of the groups is to sing, rehearse, perform, and have fun.

Cohen wanted to talk with Kelly about a new research project that would attempt to measure the impact on older adults of participation in a professionally run arts organization. He asked Kelly to help get the project started by forming several chorales for older adult singers that he could study. She’d need to start two new singing groups to join with a seniors’ chorale she already was directing at a local senior living facility.

Kelly formed the groups, which embarked on an ambitious and professionally oriented program of rehearsal and performance. Cohen’s research—conducted over a three-year period—focused on comparing the singing seniors with control groups that didn’t participate in similar activities.

The key finding: Sustained involvement in Kelly’s program resulted in a measurable, positive impact on overall health and longevity, doctor visits, medication use, falls, loneliness, and morale.

Meanwhile, Kelly—who was 51 herself when she first got involved in Cohen’s work—got hooked on arts programs for older adults. In 2007, she founded a not-for-profit organization called Encore Creativity for Older Adults to manage and develop the senior chorales. “I decided that I wanted to simply do art for older adults. We’ve expanded enormously since then, which tells me that people are retiring and they want sophistication, and that they want to carry on what they were doing in their careers or find something wonderful they have never done before.”

Jeanne Kelly

When Kelly first formed the chorales, the average singer’s age was 80, and many of them are still singing with Kelly 10 years later. Chorales have been formed in 10 locations around the Washington-Baltimore area, with singers ranging in age from 55 to 97. Encore Chorales are “no-cut”—anyone can join—but they’re dead serious about performance and professionalism. “Some have a background in singing, and some have never sung in their lives—someone at some point told them, ‘You shouldn’t sing.’ But if you teach someone to sing they will get it. We just seat them next to someone who is strong.” The chorales rehearse for two 15-week sessions each year; they give eight concerts in May and another eight each December. Their performing venues include the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Encore Creativity for Older Adults also runs 206 camps for singers at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York and at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and a dance-and-movement program in Arlington, Virginia. Most recently, Kelly launched a singing program designed for residents of assisted-living facilities. “I hated the idea of assisted living being a real dead end, especially artistically,” she says. “Many people are there because of mobility problems, and the program has had excellent results.”

Mark Miller writes the nationally syndicated newspaper column “Retire Smart,” and publishes Retirement Revised, featured recently in Money Magazine as one of the web’s top retirement planning sites. This article is excerpted with permission from Mark’s new book, “The Hard Times Guide to Retirement Security” (Bloomberg Press, June 2010).

Elizabeth Anne Middleton

I spent many years playing the piano and not getting much better at it, although I had a natural flair for it and began lessons at a very young age. 

There were no competent piano teachers in my small town in Kansas; my first teacher was the grade school principal who knew a little about music, then a relative who just wanted me to play hymns, and then a high school English teacher who taught piano on Saturdays. 

My mother drove my sisters, me, and my younger brother many miles every Saturday for piano lessons when a teacher could be found. I taught myself, mostly, banging away at grand pieces by Chopin, Liszt, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff.

At the University of Kansas, in Lawrence, Kansas, I majored in voice. My voice teacher, Mirabah Moore was a great teacher. I loved her because everything she asked me to do made perfect sense, felt good, and made my voice stronger. I had little interest in practicing the piano and just wanted to play for my own enjoyment. 

Finally, I was privileged to meet and study with Nigel Coxe, at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. He told me at our first meeting, after hearing and watching me play, that I was gifted but had some problems that needed to be rectified. 

He made piano technique crystal clear. It involved practicing scales and arpeggios in a certain way, with correct posture (including the right way to sit at the piano!), totally relaxed arms and flexible wrists, relying on the strength of the fingers for power and control. When I’d go to the practice room I knew exactly what to do. I saw clearly the value of having a good technique and how that would set one free to really “play” the piano. 

Nigel Coxe was kind, patient, encouraging, witty, (sometimes wickedly hilarious) and inspiring. He was also a world class concert pianist! It was always exciting to hear Nigel Coxe play; he made music come alive, visually and viscerally, and sing to my own heart. 

When he demonstrated a passage to me, it was revelatory. Practicing began to be enjoyable. Then it began to be positively addictive! Soon I began to look forward to my piano lessons with anticipation instead of with dread.

It takes only one good teacher to set a talent free. I had one good teacher and I have been forever blessed.

Elizabeth Anne Middleton composes and performs piano music. Inspired by work with the Iroquois Confederacy in the 1970s, Elizabeth began writing songs about animals and the natural world, a theme that continues in her music today. She has recently recorded the 10th album of her Pianorama CD series.