Why I Quit Singing In Front of Mirrors (for a while)
I have (quite a lot of) thoughts about props in the singing studio. This post is the first of my series on the various props that find their way into the singing studio! Today I want to talk about one so ubiquitous it is usually forgotten: the mirror.
As an undergrad student, I came to know the room where I took my voice lessons very well. We were lucky to have a nice big window facing a lily-covered pond. There was a model of a skeleton, a piano I was not allowed to set books on, and a mirror that took up an entire wall. The mirror arrived my sophomore year and became a third party in the lesson. I watched myself constantly, looking for visual feedback that I was shifting my weight between feet, tensing my shoulders, etc. I took this habit into the practice rooms and before long I hardly ever sang without a mirror.
It’s strange, but that mirror was my nemesis, even though I didn’t know it. I graduated, then did a study abroad over the summer with Si parla, si canta!, an Italian language and opera program in Northern Italy. Our rehearsals, coachings, and available practice spaces were in a government building, not a music school. There were no mirrors anywhere, only the whisper of a reflection on a window. So then, I was forced to try to apply and discover the things I was learning in my coachings without visible feedback.
This new “blind” singing experience entirely transformed my mental process. I couldn’t look to see if I was doing it right, I had to notice the way the new exercises and ideas felt in my body. In other words, I had to use my kinesthesia. More significant than the growth in my technique, my mind began to quiet when I sang. I no longer had a check-list of “shoulds” in my head. I could connect to the character and the music. I could perform and be accepting and encouraging towards myself after a performance.
I still use mirrors. I still encourage my students to sing in front of mirrors. I still think mirrors are helpful. I also think it is always useful to take a break from the mirror, simply stare at a blank wall (or out a nice window!), and feel what it is to sing.
Props Cannot Save You (But They Can Help)
As a hoarder of any prop I hear people say can be used for singing, I have a complicated relationship with them. You can read about my experience with the common full-length mirror in my previous post, but here are some examples of other common props you may find in the studio: straws, a big bouncy ball, elastic bands.
Natalie Baker, soprano 