identity

Been a while since I blogged - I missed it!  Been very busy with Groupanizer and Realtime's third album, so Owning The Stage has been on the back burner.

However, I've been coaching quartets a lot and I continue to be amazed at how effective it is to coach through the vehicle of story. I don't choose that vehicle with every group, but if they have a baseline level of skill and they have been working at their craft for long enough to acquire some bad habits, I always start with story - not for any philosophical reason, not because I have a point to prove (although I do), but because in my experience it's the most efficient and pragmatic way to get a singing group to the next level.

I've been working a lot lately with "the basics" of story planning - the infamous "four things" that you need to understand in order to express a short piece authentically, every time. Those things are:

1. Who are you, in the scene
2. Who are you talking to
3. What is your objective
4. What happens, or what changes

All four elements are interesting, but recently the power of point number one, you might call it "identity", came up in a session in a memorable way. We were working on the ballad "Masquerade." The group being coached had created a story something like this: you have fallen out of love with your spouse, and you want to end the relationship, and right now you're breaking the news to her. Here are some of the lyrics:

Your eyes don't shine like they used to shine
And the thrill is gone when your lips meet mine
I'm afraid the masquerade is over
And so is love, and so is love
Your words don't mean what they used to mean
They were once inspired, now they're just routine
I'm afraid the masquerade is over
And so is love

The first few times through, the group sang those lines with a lot of anger. It was very authentic, because they were committed and they had a strong story, but it occurred to me that nobody wanted to see this angry story! So I suggested that instead of being angry, they might try being compassionate towards their former love. After all, you're breaking off the relationship and you might be breaking her heart! She is no threat, and she's a good person.

The effect was immediate - instead of looking like jerks as they sang the song, they came across as compassionate and wise, and deeply conflicted, and the presentation of the song instantly had more depth. It was very compelling!

So the moral of the story is, since you can pick any identity you want, consider picking an identity that you can be proud of.