Mental Health Monday
I took today off from active VO work.
I’ve been working rather consistently (I see you spider!), if a bit haphazardly. It’s been a mix of general voice work (freeing the natural voice exercises as well as my more traditional singing exercises), practice copy, reading VO books, and listening to as many VO videos/podcasts as possible. Has it been streamlined, no. But I’m working to get some guidance to get things going in a more economical direction.
Regardless, I was a bit burnt out today. It was a busy (read: emotionally and physically draining) weekend for me and my family. I didn’t get great sleep last night and I needed a day (read: a day when the kids are at school and I can actually take a mental health day).
I found myself sitting at the piano today.
I wouldn’t consider myself a pianist in the way my wife and brother are (my wife has a doctorate in piano performance and my brother was an extremely gifted pianist), but I probably am by non-snooty standards.
Over the last year or two, I began studying jazz piano on my own for fun. More than anything, I was really interested in all the colorful and/or spicy chords in jazz. I began a little project in making my own arrangements of kids songs with more complex harmony - a combo of classical art song and jazz harmony.
As my focus shifted to voice over in the last few months, I haven’t had consistent time to spend at the piano. I knew this was a necessary sacrifice.
So, when my wife asked me to write her a simple harmony for “This little light of mine,” I was excited to bust out my arrangement chops. In typical me style, I initially made a way over the top, chromatic second voice. After all, she has a pretty successful early childhood music social media presence and it probably wouldn’t be the best choice. So I calmed it down.
But! My creative juices were flowing and I wanted to see where they would take me. So I spend a good chunk of my kids-at-school time to write. Naturally, it was too complex for two voices. I needed a third!!
Even though I didn’t get much done in the way of VO—though I did vocalize—today was important and healthy for me. I got my arrangement done and it did wonders for my mental health. It was also just plain good for my soul.
And now I’m off to literal therapy—gotta do that, too! 😅
