I hesitate to  write this blog post. Not because it wouldn't be useful to young singers or those who may want to try new techniques, but because even I'm not sure what my process is. You see, the majority of the roles I've been cast for have been in an academic setting, where my only goal was to rush about trying to balance my work, my classes, and my after-class rehearsal schedule. 

   The role I've been recently preparing is my first professional principle role, so I believe I'm not being as efficient about this preparation as I could be. That's ultimately why I've decided to go ahead and list my methods, to serve as a sort of public starting point that I can reflect on and update as I advance throughout my career as an opera singer.  With all of this being said, I can't claim my methods are efficient or the best, and if you have any suggestions for refining my process, I'd be grateful to hear from you. 
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What sheet music you use matters. 
   It's important to reach out to whoever your contact is, and verify what publisher & what edition score has been agreed upon! This means you may need to purchase a new score if you don't already own the one your company wants. 

Marking Music
   Break out those highlighters, it's Personally, I have an incredibly difficult time reading sheet music. You'd think that 6 years of music school would make me fluent, but the only thing it's done has made me realize just how confusing it can be. So, when tackling new and/or difficult music, my sheet music ends up looking like a rainbow. For an idea of what that looks like, check out below:

Pink-
   This is used for any time signature changes. In this particular score, there are many quick time signature changes, so it's helpful for me to have a visual color to remind me that a change is coming. 

Blue-
   Blue is the color I use for key changes and note help. For example, if there's a key change I'll highlight that in my score. If I'm having trouble finding a pitch before a phrase, I can mark where my pitch appears in other parts before I sing so I have something to listen for during my practice. 
  
Green-
   This is what I use to find all of my dynamic markings. Because black and white sheet music can be so confusing for me personally, I often miss dynamic markings, since they aren't within the lines (if that makes sense). Using a green highlighter helps me pick up on the dynamics much easier. 

Orange- 
   Orange is what I use to highlight any tempo markings. It's a nice contrast from green, so I won't get confused if I see them next to each other. 

Purple-
   Because my example is in English, you won't see any purple. This is because I write my translations in this color! It's dark enough to be seen easily, but it's different enough from black that I won't mistakenly read the language my music is translated from when I'm doing acting work, etc. 

Red-
   I use red not only for mistakes that I want to focus on, but also for marking beats when my sheet music uses complex tempos and I need to keep track of beats.

Yellow-
   I use this to highlight my part! It's the most universal highlighter color, so it's easily seen. 

Translations
   I can't stress how important your language training is. After your college years, it gets significantly harder to learn a language. I'm sure that your teachers will stress that the best resource for translating your music will be to learn the language, so you can accurately translate your music in a way that resonates with you. Please, please, please continue your language practice after you graduate.

  You can also translate using a dictionary, word by word. This is tedious, and can miss slang and idioms. 

   I personally use a mixture of my language studies, a dictionary, and Nico Castell texts. Castell (if you don't know yet) was a tenor and prolific translator of librettos. His texts are pricey, but very accurate, and very in-depth. They are definitely worth the purchase! If you're looking for a more cost-effective way to find Castel's books, you can find them here.

.I bet you didn't think I'd be talking about how important daily movement would be, hm? 
​   It's true: cultivating a strong core, practicing your breathwork, and doing cardio are all indispensable to us as singers. We are vocal athletes, and we all know that our instrument is our body. This has NOTHING to do with your size or shape. That is for you and yourself alone to decide if you'd like to change. What doesn't change is that if you're committed to daily movement, you'll notice you can sing better for longer, and you'll have the physical ability to do whatever the staging requires. 

   Personally, I do Pilates, yoga, hike, and roller skate to move my body. Finding ways to move that you enjoy make consistency much easier. Also, please don't beat yourself up if you miss a day or you're too busy to work out every single day. Life is life, and we shouldn't be hard on ourselves if we don't have a perfectly consistent routine. 


Rhythm
   Before jumping over to the piano, it's important that you sit with your music and learn your rhythms. I admit I am not as good at stopping myself from singing through immediately as I'd like, but please do as I say, and NOT as I do in regards to this. ESPECIALLY if your music is difficult. Intentionally taking the time to go through and get your rhythms and words in your body will really help with the memorization process. 

Listening
   If you're so lucky to be learning music with multiple recordings, it's important to listen to more than one recording. If you listen to one recording only, you can begin to embody the mistakes the performers make during the recording, and it can be difficult to fix them once they're in your body. 

There's a website that has instrumental tracks available for you to listen to & download ranging from around £8-£40, and are an incredible resource if you have the financial means to use them. This website is called Opera Learning Tracks. 

Piano Time
   Finally, it's time to sit at the piano. I am hopeless at piano, but I was able to retain enough to be able to play through my vocal line, and add in notes from other lines here and there. As an opera singer, you don't need to be a concert pianist, but it will certainly help if you can play your accompaniment.

   Once you've familiarized yourself with your notes and rhythms, it's time to sing through with either your instrumental track and/or a coach. Please please don't go to your coach without trying your best to learn the music, they can certainly help you but you'd be wasting your money to go to a coach without first learning your music. If you have very difficult music that doesn't have many recordings, try your best to familiarize yourself with your vocal line before going and asking for in-person help. The same goes with your voice teachers (although, I hope I don't have to say this).

   Appcompanist ​is a very popular resource for piano instrumental tracks, but please be careful as not all of their repertoire is accurate. 

I'll be honest, there are a lot of memorization methods out there.
   Flash cards, writing your lines over and over, working through your music backwards, constant repetition. Whatever your cup of tea, memorization is the most stressful part of learning a role.  I personally use a variety of these methods, as I'm always terribly anxious about whether or not I'll be prepared.  What I will say is that if you're taking your time and doing your pre-prep correctly, the memorization process will be significantly easier, as you've formed an accurate foundation and have allowed yourself to really sit with your music. 

Consistency will always be key. Don't wait until 2 weeks before your music rehearsals to begin looking over your music (I made that mistake, once). I was given roughly 2 months to learn the role I'm currently working on, and I've used any spare moment I could...and I'm still not exactly comfortable with where I currently am on my journey. It will take time for you to get comfortable with the music, and learn where your role will live in your body. 
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I hope that this overview of my role-learning methods will give you some insight into your own cultivation of a process for learning a role. It's far from perfect, but I'm happy to share both triumphs and mistakes with you, dear reader. After all, life is never perfect. Mistakes are beautiful, and are what make us human. 

   Of course; hiking with friends is a lovely experience. However, there are many times when a quiet solo hike does one a different kind of good. The serenity of strolling along at your own pace, finding little treasures, appreciating the way the late fall sunlight casts its golden light through the gaps in the leaves, sometimes it's just hat the heart needs.

   I began hiking as a way to reconnect with myself after being displaced when leaving a bad marriage. Picking my way down hills and through the trees, I strived to simply get outside and into nature, to be alone with my thoughts. Perhaps because of this, I prefer to solo hike, as throughout my time spent on the trail I developed a sort reverence for nature, the one thing that could calm my mind. Hiking (no matter how strenuous) has become almost religious for me, it's a way that I can connect with nature and simply exist as myself with no performance. 

   As an opera singer, it can be difficult to take some time away from the craft. Between learning new repertoire, translation, lessons & coachings, the endless rehearsal cycles, etc. it can be an exhausting career to pursue. In fact, it can be easy to lose yourself in all the bustle of the day-to-day in general. Taking the time to walk and be with yourself in solitude can help you remember your goals, and remind yourself of your values. 
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   This weekend, I decided I would explore the Hidden Springs Trail at the Cedars of Lebanon State Park. It was a gorgeous 66 degrees and sunny, which is unusual for late fall in Tennessee. I had attempted this 5-mile loop once before last year, but was unfortunately chased off the trail by the biggest deerfly I'd ever seen. Nevertheless, I packed up my hiking bag and decided to brave the trail once more. 

   The crunch of the fallen leaves under my step made a satisfying sound while I picked my way down the path, the trail getting rocky. It wasn't long ago that I would have laughed at the thought of going on a 5-mile hike for fun. Me, the outdoors? Absurd. I reflected on how much I've grown as a person as I spied some Turkey Tails, and snapped a picture. It's a thrill to find beautiful plants, leaves, mushrooms on the trail. They're marvels of the natural world, each plant, each fungus an integral part of the ecosystem around us. 

   The trail itself is considered Moderate on AllTrails (A wonderful app if you're looking to get into hiking), and I would agree. While many parts of the trail are wide and relatively flat, there are also fallen trees on the trail that will require you to step over or duck under them, and quite a few rocky sections that will require some knee strength. For any readers that struggle with their knees, balance,  or bending over, please use caution and take a hiking stick!

   The loop takes you past many sinkholes and a stream in a forested area with lots of different trees. Because the trail is mostly dirt, prepare to get muddy if you go and it's rained recently. This trail is popular, so you're never far from help should you need it. While the loop itself doesn't have any sharp turns, keep an eye out for the white blazes on trees to help you find your way, as there are a couple splits in the path that can be confusing. 

   To conclude, I think you should hike this trail if you're ever in the area. It's definitely on the easier side of the 'Moderate' ranking, and the trail itself is gorgeous. There are bathrooms at the top of the trail and places for picnicking, so bringing a snack or lunch to enjoy before/after your hike is also a great plan. Because this trail is busy, it's a great one to solo hike, because there are a lot of people to help you if you need it. However, always remember to protect yourself and bring safety gear, just in case. 

And, Dear Reader, if you've never had the pleasure of being purposefully alone in nature, I highly recommend it. Sometimes the act of existing alone with your thoughts under the canopy of trees can help inspire change, or comfort a grieving heart. I know it certainly did for me.

    Within Tennessee, there's a wealth of beautiful areas to explore. Between the Smoky Mountains, the waterfalls, the forests, it seems like you could never fully explore all that TN has to offer. There are 72 state and national parks in TN, and many more trails in remote areas!
 
   With the car finally parked, my partner and I stretched. It had been a 2 hour drive from my parent's house in northern Tennessee, and we were more than ready to take on  Old Stone Fort Archaeological Park. Our goal was to hike the Enclosure loop only, but we ended up making a full loop around the park with  the Enclosure, Moat, and Backbone loop! Sitting at a comfortable 2.8 miles, the combined loop takes a little over an hour on average to complete (although hikes always take me significantly longer, since there are always beautiful things to stop and look at). The trail immediately slopes downwards, so the initial part of your hike is easy, and there are many beautiful things to look forward to!

    From old stone ruins of a mill, to multiple gorgeous waterfalls on the park grounds, this area is one to plan to spend a few hours in. I highly recommend exploring Tennessee's parks in the early spring, when it's still a bit chilly but the wildflowers are poking their heads out to enjoy the sun. The trail follows a beautiful portion of the Little Duck River, where you can wade and fish and play to your heart's content. 

   Once you're at the bottom of the decline, you'll find yourself walking alongside calm, gently bubbling sections of the river. Should you decide to take on the Backbone trail, the walk to it will vary significantly! There are sections of flat, wide trail that's well-maintained, but there are also portions (specifically next to the river) that are very narrow, with lots of roots and hard-to-find footing. A walking stick is advised, but not needed if you're a more advanced hiker. The 'backbone' itself is quite steep, and at times only a few paces wide, so please be cautious if you're planning on bringing children along.

  As a beginning hiker with bad knees, I found that I struggled mainly on the inclines and in places with lots of roots lacing across the trail...With that being said, I would still rate this trail as moderate. If you're in better shape than I am, it may be a bit tiring, but since it's a relatively short trail and there are many flat portions you shouldn't have much trouble at all. 

Overall, I would love to revisit this park when it's a bit more green, and I can wade in the river. It's a beautiful area, with lots of gorgeous scenery, so I do hope that you visit if you're ever in the area. Dear reader, it's a pleasure to share the things I love and the things I struggle to improve with you. I think that being human is beautiful, and sharing our triumphs and gorgeous imperfections help connect us. I hope that today, you find a small imperfection to celebrate.

In theory, hiking sounds easy, right? 

   I mean, you're just walking around in nature. How hard could it be? Coming from someone who's spent their entire life overweight and wholly unconvinced of nature, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had always longed to be 'outdoorsy', but between the ever-changing weather, the bugs, the wildlife...Hiking has always seemed rather intimidating. The nicely-paved metro park trails of my college town of Cleveland were a great toe dip into outside, but I was largely content to keep to their curated paths.

   Suddenly in late summer of last year, I found myself in a new state, in the middle of nowhere, and surrounded by Tennessee's many state parks. I had just escaped a bad marriage, and with nothing to do, I needed a hobby. I've always enjoyed moving my body, but for months prior to my sudden move, I had been too depressed to cultivate a healthy lifestyle. So...why not start small? I decided that maybe it was time to brave the bugs, and see what this 'Nature' was all about. 

   For my first few hikes, I kept it small. I was walking easy trails, usually about a mile and a half long. Getting moving after not having the energy was hard. I had no endurance, and my muscles ached whenever I dared to attempt walking on a path that wasn't smooth with no height variation. It was nice to be alone with my thoughts, and spending time alone in the fresh air and sun was a great way to gently encourage myself to heal, to regain some confidence in myself. 

   As I slowly began to challenge myself, my hikes got longer, and I got braver in visiting new state parks in the area. What awaited was a cornucopia of treasures: beautiful wildflowers, animals, and breathtaking views made all the huffing up hills and slipping in mud worth it. Pushing myself became less daunting, and I began to look forward to the next hike. I was less afraid of tripping. I began to smile more. 

   The best part? Discovering new plants and mushrooms to take pictures of!
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   I am by no means more than a casual hiker, to this day. However, I've begun to view life as an adventure, and finding new trails to stumble through has made me feel more confident in navigating adventures indoors, too. Learning to trust yourself and push yourself to new heights (sometimes literally) is so rewarding. Dear reader, even if you're not the hiking type I hope you find something that encourages you to be your best self.