The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #152589   Message #3571355
Posted By: Jim Carroll
30-Oct-13 - 06:48 AM
Thread Name: Criticism at singarounds
Subject: RE: Criticism at singarounds
I've quoted this before, but I think it worth repeating here.
It comes from a series of interviews we did with Ewan MacColl which stretched over a period of six months from mid 1978.
W had raised the question of 'work getting in the way of enjoyment of singing', something that was raised every time we tried to promote the idea of working on singing.
Jim Carroll

"Now you might say that working and training to develop your voice to sing Nine Maidens A-milking Did Go or Lord Randall is calculated to destroy your original joy in singing, at least that's the argument that's put to me from time to time, or has been put to me from time to time by singers who should know better.
The better you can do a thing the more you enjoy it. Anybody who's ever tried to sing and got up in front of an audience and made a bloody mess of it knows that you're not enjoying it when you're making a balls of it, but you are enjoying it when it's working, when all the things you want to happen are happening. And that can happen without training, sure it can, but it's hit or miss. If you're training, it can happen more, that's the difference. It can't happen every time, not with anybody, although your training can stand you in good stead, it's something to fall back on, a technique, you know. It's something that will at least make sure that you're not absolutely diabolical
The objective, really for the singer is to create a situation where when he starts to sing he's no longer worried about technique, he's done all that, and he can give the whole of his or her attention to the song itself, she can give her or he can give his whole attention to the sheer act of enjoying the song."