Courtney- Smith- Chapters7-9

 There are a lot of things about this book and Smith's method that I really like. One of these is the way he uses imagery, physiology, and feeling to help describe the goals in our singing. I really like the way he thinks about words like chiaroscuro, support and falsetto. They made them more concrete and like I've mentioned before, help me wrap my head around a lot of concepts we've heard in other books/from teachers. I also love the focus on ease, trusting the voice, and finding as much balance and release as possible. The way he scaffolds these concepts is also great. I love that he starts things so simply. With every other instrument we must start our learning at the beginning and I love that he gives a way to do that for singing. However, these chapters seemed to take a big leap for me. The wobble and the spontaneous combustion exercise are simple enough and seem easy enough to implement in the same context as we learned from the first three inventions. "Getting High" on the other hand seems to jump really quickly. 

Not only is "Getting High" more difficult harmonically than the other exercises, it requires a firm grasp of the previous concepts in order to find release in the air and folds for that long. This raises one of my biggest questions about the book and the method: What parts of his method are we missing. I can't imagine that everyone follows this exact pattern of learning to sing in his studio. Every student has individual needs, strengths and struggles so he'd have to use more exercises than just those included in the book in order to tailor to a particular students needs. I think the most important thing I've had to remember as I've read this book is that it's not the complete picture. It has a great foundation in a lot of ways, but it's also missing a lot in my opinion. Another thing is he hasn't really talked about how long to spend on these exercises or how to practice these concepts in rep. Are these exercises we use to warm-up our voice everyday (my preference) or do we spend multiple sessions on one exercise until it is mastered? I get the feeling that it is kind of this second one because he hasn't mentioned rep yet (although I may feel differently as we go through the book). If this is the case, it concerns me for a couple reasons. Many students would get quickly frustrated not learning new music and focusing on the same exercises for so long. If we focus too much on "perfection" we get stuck and discouraged which I could see happening with a number of personality types (including mine).