Moving Past Technique to Performing Artist

Well, here we are just beginning the final month of the first quarter of 2026. Our February blog post really seemed to hit home with many of you. The experiment of “Taking a Beat,” according to most of the singers I heard from, awakened a focus in you that brought your vocal technique full circle.

Your audience doesn’t want to know how you did it; they just want to “Be” within the music. Your job is to transport them to the story. Let them stay there awhile, and then gently set them back in their seats, with a knowing smile on their face.

This month, we are going on an even deeper dive into that process. And again, this was pulled from the AriaReady archives. Back from the early 2000’s. Invest a few minutes of your time, and what you’ll learn could save you years of worry, anxiety, or fear.

This will be a bit longer, but I believe, if you stick with it, you’ll agree that “the juice will be worth the squeeze.” See if you can identify with the singer in this opening story…

There is no reality except the one contained within us. That is why so many people live such an unreal life. They take the images outside them for reality and never allow the world within to assert itself.

Herman Hesse in his book, Demain

So, how do you move past obsessing about perfecting technique in all the different aspects of performance and just become the artist?

First, of course, you must be completely prepared vocally, musically, and dramatically. Only when that is all in place is it possible to trust in the moment and allow something beyond your thinking self to move through you as you observe this magic happening.

Often, we make the mistake of controlling our thinking brain, believing we can manipulate the outcome. How often do you catch yourself thinking instead of performing? How can you possibly be totally invested in the character, the story, and taking the audience on your journey if you are busy thinking about vocal technique?

You can think and then act, but you can't do them together and expect the result to be considered artistry. When we think while we do, we lose touch with our intuition—that deepest part of ourselves which, the AriaReady process believes, affords us our creativity.

So dare to trust yourself. Ignore the critic, the "Brat" that lives inside you and distracts you from staying present. Avoid the "act" of thinking. When you hear your inner voice prompt a high note, or remind you what so-and-so told you about that closed [e] vowel, or cautions you to sing sixteenth notes and not eighths here, let it go. It is the past distracting you from what you are doing right now.

Avoid reflecting on how a performance is going. To find your way toward becoming an artist, you need to tune in to and pay closer attention to each moment as it shows up.  Simply, let all thoughts of the past and future go.

You don't really know what will happen in the next moment when you perform, but you must trust your preparation and be ready for whatever comes. Becoming an artist is about being more of you and knowing something about who that is. It's coming to the realization that you are on a path. You can be in the zone.  You are the traveler. If artistry is your goal, you cannot rely on imitation or reproduction. You must accept yourself where you are because there is no escaping you. As Jon Kabat-Zinn says, "No matter where you go, there you are." Carol loved that saying. No one else can make you an artist. It is up to you. It’s your dream to wake up from and be mindful of.

Only that day dawns to which we are awake.

Henry David Thoreau

Mindfulness, above all, concerns attention and awareness, which are universal human qualities to be nurtured. It has everything to do with waking up and experiencing what is happening in this moment. It's about stopping the inner critic's behavior, or Brat, and accessing full consciousness and all its possibilities. It's about offering the world your authentic self rather than imitating someone else. It's about changing mindlessness into mindfulness. Have you ever taken the time to observe yourself performing from the inside instead of the outside? It's a trip, well worth taking.

Here's what I want you to experiment with:

1. First, sit up straight in a chair with your hands in your lap and your eyes closed. Take a couple of deep breaths. Relax. Sit up straighter. Now relax the back of your tongue. Simply experience yourself sitting in the chair. Feel your weight in the chair, the clothing against your skin, and notice your breathing as it slows and becomes more rhythmic.
   
   Now let the listening go out so you hear absolutely everything in the room you are in and beyond, without naming anything. Just sit and listen. As thoughts come into your head, let them float out like clouds in the sky and return to listening and rest here. Stay in this state for several minutes, then open your eyes and return to your physical surroundings. Get up. Walk around. Experience being present!
   
   This state is being in the present moment. This is a tool Carol used just prior to going on stage.
   
   
2. Next, go back to the chair, sit up straight with your eyes closed. Now, in your imagination, perform your aria, or even an entire role, in the same manner as you did when you just practiced listening. Become fully vested emotionally, physically, and psychologically in your character as the story unfolds. As thoughts come into your head, let them come and let them go like clouds drifting through your mind, and continue performing in your imagination. Allow yourself to feel the full impact of the performance from the core of your being. It flows from your center and fills your personal space with energy. Do you feel it?

This is also a tool used by Olympic athletes, Formula1 drivers, and others whose careers and reputations are built on muscle memory and repetitive motion.

When you are done enjoying this performance, open your eyes and notice that you were not judgmental, anxious, or worried. Your performance was perfect and complete. The freedom you felt was from being present and truly offering yourself to the experience of performing. You didn't try to become anything, you just were. You were in touch with your deepest nature, unimpeded by the thinking mind. This is incredibly empowering for both you and your audience.

By being with yourself. By watching yourself in your daily life with alert interest, with the intention to understand rather than to judge, in full acceptance of whatever may emerge, because it is there, you encourage the deep to come to the surface and enrich your life and consciousness with its unique energies. This is the great work of awareness: it removes obstacles and releases energy by understanding the nature of life and the mind. Intelligence is the door to freedom, and alert attention is the mother of intelligence.

Nisargadatta Maharaj

What is the best way get to this awareness on a regular basis? How many hours have you spent perfecting your technique? Now it's time to spend the same amount of time on immersing yourself in the character and story as we have suggested. Practice your performance without limiting where it goes or how it unfolds. Listen, feel, and observe what is happening on the stage, all around you. It may change from time to time. You may gain some new insight into your character or the situation each time you perform the role in your imagination. You will come to understand your interaction and relationship with the other characters on a more personal level. This is being present and prepared for whatever comes next.

Here’s a wonderful saying: "Don't just do something, sit there." Love it. It's not really about just sitting there either. It means stop the thinking mind and be present, that is all.

You become the observer, not the doer. Stop doing and shift into the being mode. Think of yourself as an eternal witness, as being timeless. Just watch this moment without changing it in any way. What is happening? What do you feel? What do you see? What do you hear? What would happen if you did this while you were singing and performing? Experiment with it! It IS within you. Be brave and let it shine.

By stopping and becoming the observer, you make the doing more vivid, richer, and more textured. It helps keep all the things you worry about and feel inadequate about in perspective. It keeps you present. Give yourself permission to let your singing and performing be exactly as they are right this moment.

Totally immerse yourself in the character and story. Don't attempt to adjust or change anything. Let go and fully accept what you are doing right this minute. Keep asking yourself, "Where am I right now? Am I awake and performing in the moment?" Observe yourself. Just sing. Allow yourself to be exactly as you are.

This is it. This moment is all you get, one by one. So let go of the past and stop fixating on the future. Encounter each moment as it is. Start now.

Don't bother to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.

William Faulkner

Next quarter, we’ll focus on the *second of the four cornerstones, “Knowing who you are, from the inside out!”

*The Four Cornerstones of the Aria Ready Process are:

• Having a solid and consistently dependable vocal technique (Jan, Feb, Mar)
• Knowing who you are, from the inside out. (Apr, May, June)
• Having a destination and a solid plan to get there. (Jul, Aug, Sep)
• Maintaining personal accountability in all areas of your life (Oct, Nov, Dec)

Let me know if I’ve missed anything, or if you’d like to go deeper in any aspect of building your Personal Roadmap for success.

Ciao, until next time.

DNA