Whoo Hoo!! I believe that I have memorized Mandoline thanks to Dr. H's advice which was to put pictures and actions to the words so I at least have an idea about what I'm singing about even if I don't know what each word means exactly in English. I tried doing that - thinking of every French word as the English word but it just made me frustrated because then I just wanted to sing the English words. Putting actions with specific words really helped because then I have a sequence of movements to think about and not just words that come right after each other. For example: one phrase talks about how the serenaders are serenading people outside, where there is a breeze under the light of the moon. So my sequence of actions is: reference the piano (as the serenader), then move my arms like they are flowing in the breeze, then reference the moon up above my head. This makes it easier for me to memorize, while also making me more comfortable onstage and also giving the audience something to watch, not just hear.

I think I am ready for tonight, though some of my vowel sounds could probably use a little cleaning up. But it will be fine. Can't wait to run through it in my lesson today before our big studio recital tonight at seven in Ley Theater!! :)

This week I practiced Mandoline intensely and even worked on memorizing some of it. :) I realized that I don't have to spend countless hours in the practice room at a time, but that if I refresh my songs daily it is a lot easier to remember what you worked on the day before and just keep things going even if you don't spend a ton of time all at once. Memorizing the first two or so pages of Mandoline really helps take a lot pressure off me for the French recital that I am kind of stressed about.

This morning in my rehearsal with Mr. Phil, I realized that our French studio concert is next week!!! Soo that means that I have some memorizing to do!!! Not to mention not even all of my vowels are solid so I have a lot of work to do on Mandoline in a week and a half. I also noticed during rehearsal that there are times when I do a really good job of keeping my mouth wide open and changing the vowel with my tongue and nasal cavity and there are times when my mouth is really flat (which is bad).

So I will continue focusing on keeping a wide open mouth and nasal vowels. And memorizing!

Last week I worked mostly on Mandoline and Voi Che Sapete. Last week was not a good practice week because I was trying to catch up with everything else. Dr. Hepworth did help me identify one run that I was singing wrong so now I need to buckle down and learn the slight differences between the first run and the second run. I should also start hammering An die Nachtigall since I don't know that one very well.

So much to do and so little time!
Luckily I feel physically fine other than a little flem now and then but I am very fortunate not to have suffered from any colds or the like this winter. Knock on wood.

This past week we touched on all my songs in my lesson with Dr. Hepworth. I was really comforting to do that because now I don't feel so much pressure to learn them because it turns out I knew them better than I thought, except for the German piece.

So far, I am loving the French piece "Mandoline"!! It is so pretty. I am also pretty wiped vocally from six to eight hour musical rehearsals one after another so I won't be doing any extra practicing this week. However, after this weekend I will fill the extra hours with lots of practicing!!!

This week I have been working show songs as well as the French song: Mandoline. I really enjoy this song, especially because it is so pretty. Some of the vowel sounds are still giving me trouble but they can be worked out, no sweat. What I am sweating about though is the musical. When we are a week away from opening night, I feel like we should be farther along, though things are getting better from night to night. I need to stay focused on MY things and the things I can fix and not get too involved in trying to fix a problem musically that is out of my jurisdiction. That is a very stressful situation for me because I want to fix everything but I just can't.

Thanks for being so understanding. See you on Saturday, Dr. Hepworth!! 10:00am!

Well here comes spring break. over spring break i will be working on finishing up voi che sapete, keep going on the French and beginning on the German piece. I am not too worried about the German other than all the "flem" sounding vowels and consonants because it is not too long but we will see. This past week I have been super busy with midterms, intercollegiate band and such so I haven't had much time to practice, let alone the drive to work on new things but this week will definately be different.