Caterwauling..

I had my first singing lesson today since leaving high school, and it was certainly very different from what I'd experienced all those years ago! This afternoon, in a vain attempt to get me to 'raise up my larynx', my teacher had me singing scales in the manner of a bored preacher (an American accent was called for, for some technical reason?), a Smurf (when I explained I had been brought up on the German version of smurfs, i.e. Die Schlümpfe, she said I should try singing as though I had just inhaled helium in stead!) a bored robot (again the American accent was paramount) and finally a Siamese cat, much to the bemusement of her ageing tabby.. who must either be deaf or has just been worn down by the continuous torture of having to listen to her mistress' students tampering with their vocal cords all day long, as she didn't flinch at all, but just gazed up at me from the edge of the piano stool with a puzzled look!

Amazingly though, all this laryngeal gymnastics seems to work, as when we finally attempted an old jazz favourite of mine, "Misty", at the end of the lesson, there were moments (only a few mind you, and brief at that) when I managed to sound less like a choir boy and more like an approximation of a jazz diva. Of course there was the small problem of the piece being hopelessly out of my range (it stretches down to E below middle C), but my teacher reassures me it's just a matter of time before age takes its toll and I'll be able to reach that note effortlessly.. So I guess there's some comfort in getting old.. ;)