Your whole instrument: Your voice, your feelings, your tastes, your tensions, and your obstacles. All are welcome. But also bring a mind open to possibilities which you do not yet hear. Hearing them is part of my job! Please hang your inner critic with your coat at the door — you are free to make whatever sounds come out without judgment in my presence. Evaluation, practice, and improvement do not have to evoke negative feelings! The goal is to sing more comfortably, more powerfully, and more expressively, relative to where you are rather than measuring yourself by others. One of my students was overheard explaining to a friend, “Mr. Slade doesn’t want you to sound like someone, he wants you to sound like YOU!” That is the highest and most perceptive compliment I could ever receive.
