No Limits

Blisterleaf- or Anemone vesicatoria, a dainty plant with the hidden ability to burn with its toxic oil, a skill it uses to protect itself

Don’t limit yourself.

It’s so easy to apologise or make excuses as to why we think we aren’t good enough - but does this help us improve?

I have a rule in my teaching room that we aim never to make negative comments about our voice or our singing as these can make it very difficult for us to achieve our goals. Our negativity holds us back, our apologies begin our session on the back-foot with the suggestion we will fail. The mere suggestion that we are not good enough will infiltrate our ability to achieve, and possibly succeed in areas that are new to us.

How many times have you told people you are doing something but that you aren’t very good? It’s a particularly British thing I’m overly guilty of!

“If I were not able to separate the art from the artists, I think I would limit myself a great deal, and life wouldn’t be nearly as interesting.”

Jessye Norman

In the world of learning, we have to be brave. We have to put ourselves through the experience of admitting we know little, and learn more.

We have to play and experiment without fear of judgement or failure.

This process is done with the aid of books, online research, published papers from experts, film and recordings, and of course, teachers.

A good teacher will be willing you on. They will set you challenges to help you succeed. Some of those challenges will lead you to better ability and understanding, and some will count as experiments that did not work out, maybe just not yet.

In nature - where I often like to take inspiration - plants do not limit themselves. They develop and adapt and try according to their surroundings. They succeed in all sorts of places. Sometimes this might not work, but every so often it will and leads to the development of the plant in a new way.

If you are a gardener you may be familiar with this already - we have all tried to plant something and watched it fail, only to watch nature self-seed and thrive in an area that every textbook tells you should not work! Some of the healthiest plants are the weeds growing in an unlikely place, growing without fear of failure. Their success unaware of the ‘rules’.

We need that experimental and positive attitude when learning to bring about our new skills.

Have you ever been set a new piece by your teacher and found unexpected success?… Hold on to those moments as you continue onwards!

autumn

Sink into autumn with my listening playlist, full of autumn inspired music from the world of classical music.

What’s your favourite season? I know a lot of people would say autumn (or ‘fall’ in the US). Would it surprise you to I love every season and the changes between them?… sad to see the previous season go, and to welcome the return of the new season like an old friend.

There are many depictions of the seasons in art and music, so I thought I would add a few here and link it to a youtube playlist for you to explore more.

Feel free to add your favourite pieces in the comments section below if I’ve missed something out! You’ll see I’ve included a range of instruments/emsembles/styles/periods and I hope a few that you enjoy exploring for the first time as I have.

1 Chant d’automne, Faure

Sung by soprano Mary Bevan, accompanied by Joseph Middleton

2 Four Seasons, Autumn, 3rd Movement Allegro, Vivaldi

Played by Voices of Music, with solo baroque violin from Carla Moore

3 ‘October - Autumn Song’ from The Seasons, Tchaikovsky

Solo piano Olga Scheps

4 ‘Now the Leaves are Falling Fast’, from On This Island, Benjamin Britten

Sung by Peter Pears, Accompanied by Benjamin Britten

5 ‘September’ from Das Jahr, Fanny Hensel (Fanny Mendelssohn)

Solo piano Diana Sahakyan

6 ‘The Fall of the Leaf’, Imogen Holst

Solo cello Amily Airhart

7 ‘September’ from Vier Letzte Lieder, Richard Strauss

Sung by Renee Fleming, at the Proms, in 2001

8 The Seasons: 1. Autumn, Thea Musgrave

Solo clarinet Concerto played by Victoria Soames Samek, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Conducted by Thea Musgrave

9 Pensee D’automne, Massenet

Sung by Huguette Tourangeau, Accompanied by Richard Bonynge

10 Autumn Gardens, Einojuhani Rautavaara

Played by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy