Sometimes one of our tutors does something remarkable, and we’re happy to get right behind them.
Trixi Field is a multi-talented voice, piano, musicianship and language tutor who has a profile on The Tutor Pages here. She gives lessons and workshops in and around Hemel Hempstead.
She’s just been on the local Cambridgeshire radio station 209Radio explaining her unique approach which help adults get into singing. Here’s a part of what she had to say:
Now I run something called ‘Song Meditation’ … To begin with, I get them in a place where they start to appreciate rather than hate their voices because, very often, people begin by hating their own voice … The world is full of all sorts of different pitches of voices, and they all have their own beauty.
The other thing I would say is, we all have a lot more range than we think we have – you know, people often think ‘I’m a soprano’ or ‘I’m a tenor’ or something – I have never met anyone, not one person has so far passed through my door, who hasn’t had at the very least two ranges and half of another one. We have a lot more range, it’s just that we don’t exercise it – in much the same way that, if you never touch your toes, you never know that you can touch your toes …
When people apply to come on workshops, one of the most cited reasons that they think they can’t sing is that somebody early in their life told them to shut up in the choir, told them just to move their lips, and then they’ve gone through their whole life not daring. And then in the workshop, what I try to do is make it a safe place, where it’s ok to get it wrong but do it. They actually find that, hey, they’re not so bad and that they’ve been singing in harmony… The minute they’re given permission to get it wrong in order to find out what getting it right is, I would say very very few have not been able to do it …
You can hear the complete interview with Trixi on John Levine’s Happy and Healthy Hour here. The interview with Trixi is about 24 minutes into the programme.
As well as all her other activities, Trixi’s also recently just published a book Your Song Your Joy which has already been getting excellent reviews. Click on the book cover below to see it for yourself on Amazon:
If you know of any tutor with a remarkable story to tell, just let us know, and we’ll help spread the word.