The courses, workshops and Master Classes on offer will cover both theory and practice and will be based on some of the core concepts that have been derived from practice.
The act of singing is an encounter between opposites and a game of contrasts. The voice is both INTERNAL and EXTERNAL, it is immaterial, volatile and fragile. It cannot be seen.
It is interesting to realise that the body does not have an organ whose sole function is to speak or sing. The voice is produced by an intricate mechanism that is formed by the larynx, the ear, the tongue, the diaphragm and tens of additional muscles and limbs. The workings of this instrument are not accessible to the naked eye and our perceptions of speech, and even more significantly singing, are consequently shaped in a blind spot dominated by our subjective senses. These senses are difficult to identify and replicate. To control such a mechanism we need to integrate its use into our subconscious so that we don’t think about the different pieces that make it up while we sing. So that we can forget them and automate them.
Whether the ultimate aim is musical, expressive, poetical or communicative, everybody can sing well and enjoy experimenting with the voice without damaging the instrument. To let go and release your voice freely, beautifully and genuinely training is essential. This discipline should have three pillars: educating the ear, controlled breathing and corporeal awareness.
WHAT is sung is not as important as HOW it is sung. Technique for technique´s sake, however perfect it may be, is not enough. Technique is of crucial importance, how could it not be? But singing is not an aimless act, and the aim is not to exhibit talent in a compulsive or strictly experimental fashion as if showcasing capabilities to an audience. “As long as there are signs of technique at all, the picture is unfinished” wrote Oscar Wilde. The same happens in singing. It is through a conscious effort and repetition that different, new and genuine sounds can be reached. This is the only way to transcend technique and leave it to memory.
Due to maintenance work on this website, for some time, this section, which is under repair, will not be updated.
For additional information please contact studio@fatima-miranda.com If you are only interested in receiving information on upcoming concerts, courses, workshops, etc., please send us an email to Notifications Mail Box
Thank you very much. Sorry for the inconvenience
Photo: © Mika Schiffer
Thematic Courses
- THEMATIC COURSE I Posture and vocal gesture / Laryngeal gymnastics and related anatomy :: 15 HOURS + info
- THEMATIC COURSE II Breathing / Gymnasia and related anatomy / Repetition and the creative process :: 15 HOURS + info
- THEMATIC COURSE III Listening and bone sound / Resonators / Vocal tract health and hygiene :: 15 HOURS + info
Full Instruction Course
- FULL INSTRUCTION COURSE The Complete Voice :: Includes all 3 Thematic Courses lasting 15 hours each :: 45 HOURS in total + info
Requested Courses
- COURSES REQUESTED by ORGANIZATIONS, MUSIC, ART and CULTURAL CENTERS, etc.
These will adapt to the interests, length and conditions required by each group or artist.
For more information and proposals contact us at studio@fatima-miranda.com - COURSES REQUESTED by GROUPS, ARTISTS, PERFORMING ARTS COMPANIES, CHOIRS, etc.
These will adapt to the interests, length and conditions required by each group or artist. The content of these courses, in addition to being based on the approach set out in the general introduction of this section, will stress more technical or creative aspects, according to the specific needs of each artist or group and the current situation of their working or creative process.
For more information and proposals contact us at studio@fatima-miranda.com
CONTENTS
- These theoretical and practical workshops are based on a methodology that uses core concepts derived from vocal and artistic practices of the voice, as well as Fátima Miranda’s research.
- The workshops will explore a comprehensive range of topics relevant to all types of singing, whether it be popular singing, “throat singing”, lyrical singing or extended vocal techniques.
- The subjects covered will not only be determined by the length of the workshop and the number of students that have registered, but also the different backgrounds, journeys and aims of the group.
- Based on the variables outlined, the workshops will offer either a comprehensive or summary education in the following subjects:
Postural Correction / Breathing / Listening / Warm-Up Exercises for the Body and Voice / Relaxation / Resonators / Un-Learning Habits of Postural Alignment or Flawed Vocals / The Voice as an Instrument: Popular and Unknown Tones, Textures and Registers / Projecting the Voice / Enunciation / Basic Anatomy of the Vocal Tract / Introduction to Vocal Techniques Inherited from Different Cultures / Protecting the Vocal Tract / Improvisation / Rythm / Concentration / Stage Presence / Presentation Versus Representation / Stage Fright / Confidence / Expressive and Communicative Abilities / Expressing Emotions / Defining Your Personal Vocal Repertoire / Graphic Music Sheets. - The workshops include individual and group work. Any student who would like to demonstrate their vocal ability will receive technical guidance, enabling them to identify their aptitudes and limitations. This guidance will help students optimise the vocal resources at their disposal and use them to create a space for reflection where they can apply the concepts covered in the different lessons. Demonstrations by students will also be used in group activities.
AIMED AT
The workshops are aimed at all types of people, not just music and vocal professionals. They are equally appropriate for those interested in pure vocal practice for the simple pleasure of singing, exploring and experimenting with their voice to enrich their everyday and creative processes, as they are for those interested in pursuing musical, theatrical, poetic or pedagogical professional development. The groups could therefore be diverse and interested in an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the voice. The ability to read music sheets with traditional annotations is not a requirement. Students will receive guidelines to build graphic music sheets using an abstract, personal and intuitive language.
These workshops are often delivered in collaboration with the organisers. For vocal advice and personal training sessions or workshops for actors, singers or solo performers you can email studio@fatima-miranda.com
The number of students in each session will vary between 10 and 14, depending on the length of the workshop.
AIMS and GOALS
- Identify the right breathing patterns and learn to regulate air intake as the foundation to mastering vocal release.
- Liberate and reCreate the voice, exploring concepts from abandonment and intuition to conscious technical control.
- Increased ability for deep listening and to recognise overtones and microtones.
- Increase the confidence of all students by promoting their genuine attributes, encouraging self-reflection and critique to avoid gregarious attitudes.
- Encourage students to develop working practices aligned with their interests, qualities, preferences and nature. This will enable students to see the results of regular and conscious practice in the medium term.
- Learn to recognise bad habits so that they can progress and correct themselves independently using simple practices and guidelines.
- Increase the vocal, musical, poetic and performance potential of students by enabling them to experiment with new sounds that they find attractive, however strange or wild they may seem, while protecting their vocal tract.
- Learn to find inspiration in other vocal cultures, practising them through deep listening rather than mere imitation – with the aim of breaking them down, transcending them and turning them into something new and personal.
- Use group exercises and improvisation to help students reach and recognise a sense of creative enthusiasm.
Photo: © Mika Schiffer
TYPE OF WORKSHOPS
Weekend Intensive Workshops in MADRID
VOICING AN OPEN SECRET… VOICING, AN OPEN SECRET :: Singing away your ills :: 14 HOURS :: 8 places maximun + info
Requested Workshops
TAILOR-MADE WORKSHOPS :: requested by art centers, organizations and private groups :: (please write to studio@fatima-miranda.com)
Number of students and hours to be determined in each case
PRESENTATION
-
The focus of these Workshops is fundamentally practical and they include a general theoretical and technical introduction.
-
The difference between the COURSES (which combine theory, technique and practice and in which skills related to various aspects of the vocal tract are provided), and the WORKSHOPS, is that in the latter the subjects are not dealt with in great depth, nor are participants provided with workout routines and sets of exercises for mastering vocal tract mechanisms or specific muscular development. However, In each individual presentation and in the general introduction, technical questions do indeed appear, are outlined and orientation is given.
CONTENTS
-
The first session of the workshop provides a general theoretical-technical introduction so that when technical matters are broached subsequently during individual interventions, participants will be familiar with them and find them helpful for their future personal practice.
-
Participants will sing together in group exercises and improvisations following a set of precise guidelines provided by the teacher.
-
Individual attention will be given to the participants who wish for it. Each of them will perform a song (either traditional or original), a text or an individual vocal rendition in order to raise questions about their personal interests in relation to their vocal practice or to a work already in process.
-
The effect that derives from the attention that the other students pay to the solo presentations while observing and taking notes of the orientation, guidelines and tips that the teacher gives to the “soloist”, is very significant.
-
Each performance will be re-worked by the teacher who will point out the key factors to which each student should pay particular attention (posture, vocal gesture, breathing, articulation, tuning, resonators, etc.). In this manner, students will be able to realize which areas of technique they need to pursue further, how they may optimize their vocal resources and their conceptual and performative approaches in their individual presentations.
AIMED AT
-
The workshops are aimed at people interested in a mindful and unprejudiced vocal practice, whether for the mere pleasure of singing, exploring and experimenting with the voice in order to enrich the creative or vital process, as well as for an interest focused on professional, theatrical, performative, poetic or pedagogical musical practice.
-
Group numbers will be limited in order to facilitate both individual and group work.
-
The workshop is open to all levels of training or vocal experience.
AIMS and GOALS
-
Liberate and reCreate the voice using self-release, intuition and experimentation -without prejudice or fear- as a starting point.
-
Increase the vocal, musical, poetic and performative potential of each participant by means of an exploration -and not a mere imitation- of traditional, atypical or invented vocal sounds that seeks to turn them into something new and personal.
-
Group exercises and improvisations are proposed using the premises of “mindful play”, some with rules and others without, with the aim of enhancing concentration, musicality, sense of rhythm, imagination, disinhibition, grace and a language of one’s own in which the seriousness of a systematic work is allied with ease, freedom and a sense of humour.
-
Increase students’ self-confidence in their inner authenticity.
-
Help students to identify their aptitudes and limits as well as their bad vocal, respiratory, postural habits, etc., thus becoming aware of the need to correct them and of the benefits of regular practice.
-
To arrive to understand ear training and breathing training as fundamentals of singing, speech and any vocal emission.
-
Encourage students to develop their own work methods according to their interests, qualities, tastes and natures and to understand the importance of a mindful practice, both to lose the fear of damaging the vocal tract, and to effectively avoid damaging it, and to stimulate creativity by combining experimentation , game, chance, repetition and rigour.
-
Awaken in the students the pleasure of singing and get them to identify the feeling of creative enthusiasm.
Photo: © Mika Schiffer
MASTER CLASSES
- Content: these sessions will cover both theory and practice and will begin with a lecture by Fátima on her understanding of the Voice as Art. This will be followed by attendees wishing to present their own piece or song using any type of vocal technique. The aim will be to raise questions that they may want to explore further, either technically, musically or conceptually. Fátima will redirect, guide and/or correct each intervention, making it inclusive and dynamic at the same time.
- Aim: to enhance the vocal and performative potential of attendees while helping them discover their own additional vocal resources through demonstrations.
- Length: the master classes can take place over one or two days and each session will last 3 to 4 hours.
- Number of attendees: the number of attendees could be relatively high. The number of students able to present individual pieces of piece or songs will vary and will depend on the length of the session.
NOTE: for a broader format that includes an introductory concert, please see the section under Concert-Master Class