Courtney teaching song writing masters class at Idyllwild Arts Academy!
I am super excited to be teaching a song writing workshop as well as giving a performance at the Idyllwild Arts Academy in Idyllwild, CA. Since I myself attended a performing arts high school (Interlochen Arts Academy), I know first hand how amazing the opportunity is to have amazing teachers at your fingertips.
I learned so much from Interlochen. At Interlochen, the focus is on western classical music and jazz. At the time, these genres were widely accepted and most schools frowned upon learning to sing other kinds of music. A vocal major at Interlochen learns all the foundational healthy singing techniques and through peers and teachers, one hones in on their craft. There is a composition element but it is much more formal than the writing that I do now as a professional performer. The only piece that was missing was an opportunity to explore other genres of music and gain knowledge from performers and writers alike outside the classical and jazz realm.
I learned so much about reading music and performing already composed pieces. But, the one thing I missed in that early education was learning how to let go as a performer and forget what is written. I didn't gain the knowledge of writing my own music and having a creative outlet for my life experiences. I also didn't learn how to write with other musicians. I learned these aspects of music from playing in rock n roll bands. I learned to collaborate with musicians who taught themselves. I gained their musical language used in this musical setting. So much understanding and freedom came from riffing on a few chords with the band mates while I explored vocally. We could jam for hours. I spent a long time thinking about the message in the music and the message in the words as well as their relationship to each other. Later, I started working with both classically and non-classically trained musicians in different settings. How diverse they were. It was hard for them to speak to each other. I felt so lucky to have an understanding of how to communicate between them as well as how to integrate the two worlds together.
In college I had a desire of having a broad musical understanding and experience. I chose to find expert teachers in the music of cultures outside the US. I focused on the Hindustani style of Indian Classical music and southern African folk but was blessed to have college professors available in the Ethnomusicology department to teach me about various Asian music as well. I found it to be incredibly important to open my vocal repertoire to the music of the world. Singing music from other cultures has its own set of desirable attributes. Paying attention to sound, tone, feeling, and how it felt physically added a whole new perspective to my musical palette. Its a strange sensation for a western classical singer to learn how to throat sing with Xhosa women in South Africa. The women that were teaching me didn't speak English. I learned completely through imitation. I remember distinctly the first couple of times that I started singing and trying to make the sound they were making. They giggled at me but in the most loving and supportive way.
Although the focus of the master class at Idyllwild will be pop music driven, I hope that some of the things I have learned in my experiences will open the eyes of these students in a way that they weren't open before. I will be instilling in them the feeling of being open in writing, in singing, and in performing so that they may continue on their journey with the world wide open. I think the fact that a performing arts school is now able to value other genres of music outside the classical and jazz world, we can begin to feel the shift of music education in our country.
I learned so much from Interlochen. At Interlochen, the focus is on western classical music and jazz. At the time, these genres were widely accepted and most schools frowned upon learning to sing other kinds of music. A vocal major at Interlochen learns all the foundational healthy singing techniques and through peers and teachers, one hones in on their craft. There is a composition element but it is much more formal than the writing that I do now as a professional performer. The only piece that was missing was an opportunity to explore other genres of music and gain knowledge from performers and writers alike outside the classical and jazz realm.
I learned so much about reading music and performing already composed pieces. But, the one thing I missed in that early education was learning how to let go as a performer and forget what is written. I didn't gain the knowledge of writing my own music and having a creative outlet for my life experiences. I also didn't learn how to write with other musicians. I learned these aspects of music from playing in rock n roll bands. I learned to collaborate with musicians who taught themselves. I gained their musical language used in this musical setting. So much understanding and freedom came from riffing on a few chords with the band mates while I explored vocally. We could jam for hours. I spent a long time thinking about the message in the music and the message in the words as well as their relationship to each other. Later, I started working with both classically and non-classically trained musicians in different settings. How diverse they were. It was hard for them to speak to each other. I felt so lucky to have an understanding of how to communicate between them as well as how to integrate the two worlds together.
In college I had a desire of having a broad musical understanding and experience. I chose to find expert teachers in the music of cultures outside the US. I focused on the Hindustani style of Indian Classical music and southern African folk but was blessed to have college professors available in the Ethnomusicology department to teach me about various Asian music as well. I found it to be incredibly important to open my vocal repertoire to the music of the world. Singing music from other cultures has its own set of desirable attributes. Paying attention to sound, tone, feeling, and how it felt physically added a whole new perspective to my musical palette. Its a strange sensation for a western classical singer to learn how to throat sing with Xhosa women in South Africa. The women that were teaching me didn't speak English. I learned completely through imitation. I remember distinctly the first couple of times that I started singing and trying to make the sound they were making. They giggled at me but in the most loving and supportive way.
Although the focus of the master class at Idyllwild will be pop music driven, I hope that some of the things I have learned in my experiences will open the eyes of these students in a way that they weren't open before. I will be instilling in them the feeling of being open in writing, in singing, and in performing so that they may continue on their journey with the world wide open. I think the fact that a performing arts school is now able to value other genres of music outside the classical and jazz world, we can begin to feel the shift of music education in our country.
posted by Courtney Kaiser at
12:21 PM
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