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A Soprano On Her Head: Right-Side-Up Reflections On Life And Other Performances

(Foreword, by Lorin Hollander, concert pianist) Eloise Ristad deals here with complex problems which torment and cripple so many of our most creative and talented people, and she does so with compassion, wisdom, and wit. The problem of stage fright, for instance, is a suffering of epidemic proportions in our society, and involves modalities of thought and projections that rob spontaneity and enthusiasm in artistic performance. Those interested in creative education have long felt that an entirely new, holistic and nurturing process of allowing individuals to discover and express themselves is needed if our educational system is to avoid the neuroses and creative blocks of the past generation. This book illuminates through its conversational style the destructive inhibitions, fears, and guilt experienced by all of us as we fail to break through to creativity. This story is told to me day after day in conservatories and college campuses around the world. Indeed I felt at times that she was telling of my own most petty and debilitating fears. But what is important, A Soprano on Her Head supplies answers and methods for overcoming these universal psychological blocks--methods that have not only been proven in her own studio, but which trace back through history to the oldest and wisest systems of understanding the integration of mind and body. The work bears scrutiny both scientifically and holistically. This is a wonderful book. Read it. You are not alone.

Paperback: 203 pages

Publisher: Real People Press; 1st edition (June 1981)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0911226214

ISBN-13: 978-0911226218

Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches

Shipping Weight: 12 ounces

Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #58,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #15 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Forms & Genres > Opera #58 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Instruments > Voice #97 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Musical Genres > Opera

I really don`t know how to praise this book enough, and I highly recommend it to anyone, who would like to increase their results in playing the piano, the cello, the oboe, singing or playing any other instrument, and surely the book could be more than interesting to other people practicing "performance" like actors, entertainers, footballplayer and so on. I was a bit puzzled by the title of the book, and bought it curious to find out, what was hidden behind these words. What I found was the most interesting book about practicing I have ever read, and I am amazed and sad about the fact, that the author is passed away years ago, wondering how the principles of this book can remain unknown to all the teachers I have had. The book has 16 chapters, each chapter taking you on a fabulous journey in practicing in a lot of different ways. The author gives you all the material you need to explore the music and more important your everyday life in a new and different way. She talks about handling inner judges, inner clowns, dancing your music, handling your symtoms of stage fright, giving up "playing it the right way" and finding out your way to play and sing the music, and gives plenty of examples of students finding their way through. And when it all comes down to final it is strictly about being aware. During the authors experience teaching, she makes you realize, that often we are so busy and messed up thinking about what people will say, how we will sound or what someone else would have done in our place, that we don`t even have the ability nor the energy to make a single decent tone, whereas if we put all that energy into awareness of what we are doing, we could really make something out of it.

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