Gary is one of my very special students worth sharing with you. He is a highly spiritual being, brilliant scholar and tone deaf...at least so he thought when we began out work together four years ago. We have not worked for a full four years because of various time lapses, but perhaps in his comments he can tell you just how many lessons he has actually had. For certain not enough to make up a full month of a usual 40 hour work week which actually means 160 hours. ( Imagine achieving a voice is less than a month of work hours on a normal job...quite amazing if you look at it that way).
We have certainly proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that his 'tone deafness' is a non-existent myth and no more than a disconnect from the instrument and that what he actually heard when singing in the 'shower', was not what really his tue voice. Once the connection was re-established, what he hears 'inside' and what actually manifests 'outside' becomes one - the sounds are completly on pitch.
Since the voice is a highly demanding mental process which ultimately controls the physical, being brilliant is great in one way because 'getting it' intellectually is easy, but all the same, because of the real ' simplicity' of it the true 'complexity' becomes self evident.
Yesterday we made an incredible breakthrough. Gary has no idea of how big his voice really is. From the very 1rst lesson I told him that this is major, large instrument and I think he thought I was totally crazy. Today it made itself evident to such a degree that it actually blew him away and all of our conversations came back to haunt him.
It's interesting for me to see how the human psyche works in conjunction with the voice. They are intricately connected to each other and one does not do well without the other being supportive. In other words, the mental, psychological and emotional self has to merge in order for the entirety of the instrument to become 'visible' and 'audible'.
Most singers have no idea about that because they actually never get to hear and listen to their REAL instruments playing. What you think you have, is certainly not what comes out once the actual instrument is connected to the player, the speakers and the resonator. To find out what that means, you have to know the work, sorry, but in Gary's case we made huge strides in achieving the final connection - which will ultimately change his whole being.
This work is transformational in every way with all of my students. " When the voice comes together, your life comes together"...and that's the way it is.
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Kabbalah speaks of two special lights. Orot Makifim - surrounding lights, energies and wisdom that are connected to us but due to their power are outside our conscious understanding and integration and Orot Pnimim - internalized lights - matters that we have grasped and understood or wisdom within us that we have mastered.
Lessons with Miriam over the years have been, remarkably enough more like Orot Makifim - surrounding lights - I know something powerful is going on and it is connected to me - but there is some magic beyond that seeks integration within.
Perhaps that itself is so much the core of Miriam's teachings - step out of the way - remove 'our already knowing' 'our blocks' and allow something higher, something divine to flow in and through us... and that is when the voice emerges...
Every student brings out teaching on a very different level depending upon what he himself needs in order to bring the voice to life. Gary demands, in his very being, a different approach. The idea of teaching him technique and expecting him to " just do it, and grasp it, is not what will work.
From the very beginning he demanded a very special intellectual and spiritual approach which would combine his soul knowledge with the realities in his life. Since he is a highly evolved human being, complex and covered with light and dark penetrations, the voice was for the most part covered with "clipa" - outer coverings which represent a negative force. Hence his 'tone deafness'.
Over the years we have been able to remove a great deal of that clipa and get down to the essence. He has freed himself from a great deal of limitations which are inherent in 'clipa'.
The inner and outer levels have to come together in order for the voice to emerge...if you cannot go beyond yourself and are caught up in the mundane business of "self" the truth of voice cannot emerge no matter how "technically" outstanding you are. What I have seen happen in Gary's situation is that the size, the beauty and the brilliance of the instrument as well as it's release is due to the fact that when his "life" allows the forces to emerge they do and the voice stays in line, when his life is bogged down with more dark then light, we have to trudge through the mud and brush of the dust and help the voice return to the light....an ongoing, elevating, illuminating and extremely gratifying process for both of us....stay tuned....
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