A singing teacher pours forth her rage and frustration.
12:38 p.m.
She came here from somewhere in the Middle East where her parents have a very well-paying job (probably in oil, I�ve never asked) and started the music programme at the tender of age of 17 because, in her own words, she �wasn�t good enough at anything else.� The usual reason kids give when you ask them why they took music is that they wanted to learn to play their horns better. At least, when I went to school, that�s what it was. So, not having been good enough in highschool to consider doing anything else in university, she came here (where she gets low tuition because she was born in this province) and enrolled in the music programme.
She almost immediately realized her folly. University music does not merely entail learning how to play your horn better. It involves taking theory and history courses, becoming proficient at musical skills and taking part in ensembles. The latter was the only thing she really enjoyed. She bombed out of first-term theory and decided to drop her music major and go for a drama major instead. BUT her singing lessons are a whole-year course and in order to get her four credits, she had to complete two semesters. So she downgraded her major to a minor, which meant she could continue with the lessons and choir and shift everything to the drama department, dropping the minor completely when she registers in the fall.
Today, through tears, she revealed that she didn�t realize that taking singing lessons involved �changing� the way she sang. She is convinced that the way she sings and the way her voice is now are absolutely sufficient for what she wants to do, i.e. sing karaoke at The Lion on Tuesday night (or whenever). Just because her friends think she�s fantastic is enough reason for her to NOT want to change. I, on the other hand, as a person whose job it is to know these things, hear in her voice the potential for something really great, and that is what I try to develop as her teacher. She has fought me all the way on this. The sickness was very convenient, as it meant that her lessons were constantly being interrupted by hospital stays and we never got past the learning-notes-and-rhythms stage.
Now, with three weeks before her jury, I am trying to cram some vocal technique into her, and she is resisting. Believe me, when she actually does what I ask of her, a really beautiful voice comes sailing forth. But she is happy with her little-girl, squeezed top end, chesty low end sound. She doesn�t understand the purpose in learning songs in �random� languages (even though I explained that all my students have to learn pieces in French, Italian and German, why should she be different?) and in a style (classical) which she is convinced she will never sing in the �real world�.
You can surely understand my frustration. I told her that I could not, in good conscience, merely teach her notes and rhythms, that I was obligated to at least try to make her a better singer. However, when she out and out says that she doesn�t WANT to be a better singer, I just want to walk away. I feel that my time is being wasted, as is her money, and there is no point to my continuing to hit my head against the piano. So we reached a compromise: Until her jury, she would at least pretend to want to learn how to sing better, and we would get through the next couple of weeks.
And that is that.
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