It all started with a place mat. I was sitting in a diner with a new client, a talented young singer I’ll call Debra. [Author’s Note: I have changed the name of my client to protect her identity.] She was enumerating her career challenges: She couldn’t get management, she didn’t know what arias were appropriate for her voice type, she wasn’t coaching because of financial stresses, and most importantly, she couldn’t learn her arias and she didn’t know why. She also wasn’t exercising because of time constraints, she was not eating well, and she was generally overwhelmed and unable to act creatively on behalf of her own career.
I asked her all the things she had to do that week. We started with the “Have To’s.” I sketched them out on a large calendar on the place mat in front of us. I entered all those pesky little necessities—her day job, laundry, meals, food shopping, travel, etc. She told me that she was going to need to prepare Mimì in La bohème in the course of a month. No problem! When we added “Want To’s,” we had an overview of all the things that have to do with being a singer and a creative artist.
I worked backwards, entering the performances and final rehearsals onto the schedule, and then showing her how she needed to learn all four acts methodically. Then we added voice lessons. I also insisted she coach at least one time a week, if not more. (By now, this was one full place mat!)
There wasn’t much time left on the calendar, but still we needed to extend the 24-hour day to allow for study and learning, not to mention all the other needed activities—language work, exercise for her health—all the important elements she needed to prepare for all these activities! This is where we had to become quite creative. We had to make the next month about Mimì, but still had to factor in her day job, her church job, and any auditions she might have. We had to stretch time!
Eureka! We found little 10- and 15-minute windows of time, which I fondly call pockets of time. No one thinks we have them, but we do—hidden away, in between all the “Have To’s.” Debra, for example, had a 45-minute ride to and from work every day. I had her create a study tape of Mimì to listen to on the way to work. For the trip home, Debra created a tape of her aria accompaniments, to prepare arias for auditions.
Enthused by all the time we were finding, we decided she would get up an hour earlier each morning to allow for a vocal warm-up before going off to work. Then we strategized that she would find a venue for rehearsal at lunchtime. (She found a church that was thrilled to have her come and sing.)
Another problem: By the end of the day, Debra was exhausted, so she couldn’t exercise, cook dinner and practice. Another challenge! We sketched out on the place mat an exercise program she would do three days a week. (She joined Curves.) Later, she discovered that when she exercised and ate properly, she had more energy to sing and was less tired in the evening.
Within a month, Debra had become very familiar with Mimì, and was ready to start the process of memorization. Her process was so successful that she was raring to go, ready to learn a new slew of arias in the same way she prepared Mimì.
That’s where “placematting” all started. If I had to define placematting (my new verb), I’d say it’s all about time management, and about using your ingenuity in the most efficient and effective way. Oh yes, and you must have fun and laughter along the way—a lifesaving tool!
Debra was already a talented young singer with lots of skills and potential. She was a quick study and she really wanted to perform—but she needed help with organization and efficiency. And she needed to have someone to help her be accountable. Any singer needs this, either with a career coach, a trusted friend, or a colleague. Classical singing is a challenging business—we all need someone to help us stay on track.
It’s a complex process—especially if you need to work to pay bills, etc., but it’s not impossible. Placematting helped Debra bring the “whole” (as in holistic) of her singing life into focus. With better time management, she was able to transform her goals into reality.
She decided to save more money so she could work with two different coaches. She also let go of negative self-criticism. So between spending lots of preparation time on her roles and arias, increased lessons and coachings, and improved organization, she began to feel more like a real singer. Now that she was happier as a creative artist, she became even more focused and concentrated in her day job as well, which made her more confident and feel better about the whole project.
Debra began to use all the sides of herself, including her wonderful sense of humor, both in her day job and in singing. She felt even more confident and sure in her performing when she could “be herself.” As she met her goals, she made new ones. She laid the groundwork for getting singing work, and then for getting a manager, and then for even more work.
It’s now been two years, and Debra performed five new roles this season! She has also discovered what a fabulous performer she is—a real stage creature. That’s where she really comes alive. Now we have been trying to create that feeling in her auditions. The aliveness permeates her entire life, and all because of our monthly placematting. It has helped focus her internal dedication, which was always there but just needed a channel.
This fall, I decided to create a class for placematters. (Now it’s a noun, too!) ’Up until then, I had only worked with singers one-on-one for this particular project. Now we broke into groups of six and seven. To keep it light and enjoyable, we met at a restaurant, and even though we were laughing all the way, we got to work.
I was thrilled to find that placematting worked with a group. The group members became a team, almost cheerleaders for each other. They joined their commonalities and differences, and shared ideas and concepts. Everyone came out stronger for it. They also liked networking, sharing information about teachers, coaches, and auditions.
Try placematting, whether you placemat it alone, with a partner, or a group. I’m confident it will help you pull together all the elements you need to advance your musical career.
Here are some steps:
1. Make a large calendar for the next month. Have a big page for each week. You can do it on a regular calendar, typed onto a piece of paper, or even scrawled onto a place mat.
2. Make a list of “Have To’s” and “Need To’s.” Add all the stuff you must do in a week, day by day: travel, laundry, cooking, childcare, day job, etc.
3. Now this is the important part! Make a list of your “Want To’s”—voice lessons, coachings, rehearsing, learning new music, performing whole operas, exercising, taking care to eat good meals, etc.
4. OK, now comes the fun part! Put all the things on both lists (“Have To’s” and “Want To’s”) onto your calendar or pieces of paper. Make it fit! Even if you study that aria in a car, waiting to pick your child up from school. Make it fit, whatever time you have in between activities. You can study an aria for that 15-minute pocket of time, for instance, and then create another 15-minute pocket later before bed. Already, you’ve studied that aria for half an hour. Over a week, these little pockets of time add up to make you a better singer.
Everything comes into focus even more if you are brave enough to give yourself a doable goal, or set of goals, for the week or month. Then every activity for the next month can be centered around that goal. It can be anything—one success builds confidence to achieve other goals. Your goal can be arranging a recital, learning new arias, finding a coach, even learning a completely new role, like Debra. And it all starts with a place mat, and your determination to make something happen.
