Dr. Marc Reynolds Performing Arts Studio

Sing Easier - Perform Like A Pro

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Good Risk Taking

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Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far it is possible to go. — T.S. Eliot

I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it. — Pablo Picasso

Discovery, exploration, and art-making, in general, require that artists take risks to make progress in their art. The artist has to push past their current understanding and comfort zone into discomfort and the unknown. The key is to determine which risks are good and which are not when it comes to working on the stage.

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Action!

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Now that you have identified what your character is thinking, what they are looking at and reacting to, and what they want you are ready to go back and decide what action belongs in the circles you drew on the action music on Day 1.

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What we really mean by what we say

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We can make words mean just about anything. Think of the phrase “I love you.” That can mean anything from “you are nice” to “I’m going to kill you when we get home” depending on how it is said and in what context. To make the accented syllables and words we identified with lines and the most important words we marked with boxes in Day 1 come to life we have to decide what the words we are singing mean. It isn’t just a matter of definitions of words or translations. It is identifying what our character is intending to communicate in its most unrefined simple form.

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Action and Emotion Triggers

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What we want is driven by what we sense, feel emotionally, or think. We feel is driven by what we sense or think (yes, other things like hormones and chemicals influence these as well but for since this is a beginning class lets focus on what we see, feel, think, and what that makes us want to do. What we think will be discussed in the topic heading where discuss subtext and inner-monologues. This leaves making decisions about what we sense and feel like our character in response to this context we have created.

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Putting drama into boxes.

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Context is essential but it doesn’t create drama. What creates the drama is the WOTE. Every time there is a significant shift in the music (like where you put boxes in your music as outlined in Day 1) by definition something had to have changed in your characters WOTE to make sense of the musical change. We will discuss why this is in a later lesson. For today it is enough to identify that the music needs to appear to be a natural product of whatever your character is trying to express or do.

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