Voice lesson
Aug. 22nd, 2004 04:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
days_unfoldingI had my first voice lesson up in San Francisco yesterday. I didn't want to drive because I hoped to spend the travel time reading and writing, so I wound up driving to Fremont and then taking BART.
I was impressed by BART. The trains leave on time, and are comfortable and air conditioned. I didn't spend much time reading and writing because I was too busy sightseeing-;) I was worried that I'd be late for the lesson because I left the house late, but I arrived in the City 20 minutes before my lesson--perfect.
The lesson went well. My teacher was a little more scattered than I expected, but she really knows her stuff. (Apparently she's drawing students from all over the Bay Area, including Napa!) I found myself singing much better than I have been at home. (Funny, how when I play guitar in front of an audience, my playing falls apart, but when I sing in front of an audience, I rise to the occasion.) She thinks that it's reasonable that I should be able to get a spot in a chorus. I also found myself wanting to learn piano even more; she was blocking out the accompaniment to a song that I was working on, and it was a thrill to hear the song take shape.
My teacher is worried about how tense my shoulders and neck are. I think part of the problem is the heavy purse that I carry, so I'm looking for a leather backpack to use instead.
I felt lighter and freer the whole rest of the day. Something about singing satisfies me in the way that nothing else can.
After eating dinner, I took BART over to Berkeley. I'm mulling over the idea of moving to Berkeley and buying a little cottage up there. Berkeley has always been my favorite spot in the Bay Area, with the City a close second. My voice teacher, of course, is in the City, with my second-choice teacher in the East Bay. There's a guitar/violin teacher who intrigues me in Walnut Creek. If I lived up there, I could walk or take public transportation much of the time, which would suit me. Etc....point being that there's a lot of amenities up there that I would enjoy. Also, there are some little houses (the size of my condo or smaller) up there, although I might have to look for a while to find the right one.
I felt a little like a weird old person when I was walking close to campus, but Downtown Berkeley feels exactly like the place that I want to be. It has a mixture of affluence and funk that suits me.
I wound up at Moe's Bookstore, bought a ton of books, and had to haul them a mile back to BART -;)
For a while, someone was playing the guitar and singing on BART, which was kind of cool. Then BART was packed with football fans; it wasn't a really good atmosphere to write in. So I gave up and read one of my many new books. (However, I've been working on a personal essay in my mind, so I need to find time to write it.)
I found myself collapsing when I got back, skipping guitar practice and the gym. I don't know if it was from the tension of trying something new or all the walking. But it was a good day.
I was impressed by BART. The trains leave on time, and are comfortable and air conditioned. I didn't spend much time reading and writing because I was too busy sightseeing-;) I was worried that I'd be late for the lesson because I left the house late, but I arrived in the City 20 minutes before my lesson--perfect.
The lesson went well. My teacher was a little more scattered than I expected, but she really knows her stuff. (Apparently she's drawing students from all over the Bay Area, including Napa!) I found myself singing much better than I have been at home. (Funny, how when I play guitar in front of an audience, my playing falls apart, but when I sing in front of an audience, I rise to the occasion.) She thinks that it's reasonable that I should be able to get a spot in a chorus. I also found myself wanting to learn piano even more; she was blocking out the accompaniment to a song that I was working on, and it was a thrill to hear the song take shape.
My teacher is worried about how tense my shoulders and neck are. I think part of the problem is the heavy purse that I carry, so I'm looking for a leather backpack to use instead.
I felt lighter and freer the whole rest of the day. Something about singing satisfies me in the way that nothing else can.
After eating dinner, I took BART over to Berkeley. I'm mulling over the idea of moving to Berkeley and buying a little cottage up there. Berkeley has always been my favorite spot in the Bay Area, with the City a close second. My voice teacher, of course, is in the City, with my second-choice teacher in the East Bay. There's a guitar/violin teacher who intrigues me in Walnut Creek. If I lived up there, I could walk or take public transportation much of the time, which would suit me. Etc....point being that there's a lot of amenities up there that I would enjoy. Also, there are some little houses (the size of my condo or smaller) up there, although I might have to look for a while to find the right one.
I felt a little like a weird old person when I was walking close to campus, but Downtown Berkeley feels exactly like the place that I want to be. It has a mixture of affluence and funk that suits me.
I wound up at Moe's Bookstore, bought a ton of books, and had to haul them a mile back to BART -;)
For a while, someone was playing the guitar and singing on BART, which was kind of cool. Then BART was packed with football fans; it wasn't a really good atmosphere to write in. So I gave up and read one of my many new books. (However, I've been working on a personal essay in my mind, so I need to find time to write it.)
I found myself collapsing when I got back, skipping guitar practice and the gym. I don't know if it was from the tension of trying something new or all the walking. But it was a good day.
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no subject
Date: 2004-08-22 04:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-22 07:41 pm (UTC)I bought a book yesterday at Moe's that I thought that you might find interesting. It's called The Beauty of Gesture: The Invisible Keyboard of Piano and T'ai Chi. The back of the book says "The author draws on memory, reflection, works of philosophy, art, and literature, and her own parallel practice of piano and t'ai chi in a lyrical meditation on discipline as the gateway to freedom and gesture as the expression of spirit in action." I haven't started it yet, so I don't know more about it.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-22 10:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-23 07:08 am (UTC)I hate the idea that we're weird old people on college campuses.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-23 07:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-23 07:29 am (UTC):P