Ugh. Some days are just a bit naff, aren't they? Having slept fitfully, run slowly and breakfasted unsatisfactorily - mainly because I'm missing the copious amounts of sugar that I normally load into my body throughout the day - I was feeling frustrated by lockdown and emotional about all the performances I would have been …
Day 22: We’ll eat again
Today had the potential to go either way. I woke up with hayfever, feeling like I could sleep for a thousand years. I didn't, but made it to a pretty strong 9.45am before dragging myself out of bed to find an antihistamine. Thankfully, I perked up after that and got on board with Nobby's 90-day …
Day 21: Hey y’all
I'm pretty proud of myself for one of my little lockdown achievements... I've been working on one of Lady M's arias from Verdi's Macbeth which is traditionally sung by sopranos. As a mezzo who started out not being able to sing above E5, I didn't think I'd ever comfortably trip out B flats and top …
Day 20: All the admins
I've been trying to cram lots of short sessions on lots of different things into each day. Every day in lockdown comprises at least 30 minutes each of yoga, piano practice, German, vocal warm-ups, score learning, vlogging, cycling/running etc. The problem is, I was finding that I was making small gains in each task but …
Day 19: Spinning lines
It's the start of a new week in Lovelassland and I'm trying out a slight tweak to the 'singing from home' format, especially now I'm learning more about video editing. I hope you can forgive me for what might be tasteless experiments with filters and sound effects! So, on day 19, Pete (the bike) and …
Day 18: Girls on film
Today marks the 18th blog post in the 'singing from home' series and having videoed myself talking nonsense for the vlog that many times, I was feeling reflective about the process. What started off as a way to structure my days during lockdown, has become a massive learning curve. Not only am I learning more …
Day 17: Let it go
One of the first things my teacher, Patricia Taylor, taught me was to SPLAT. She picked it up from an American singer who was judging at the Bournemouth Music Competitions Festival and I've since heard it used by many coaches. SPLAT is an acronym for 'singers please loosen abdominal tension' and is aimed at achieving …
Day 16: Should we put the chocs away?
Happy Easter! Those of you following me on Facebook and Instagram will have seen my Good Friday greetings and I'm back after the holiday weekend with a new and very topical topic for today's blog post. Do singers really need to avoid chocolate and dairy products? I aim to offer singers and non-singers, opera-lovers and …
Day 15: Tummy trouble
From the age of 14, I was big into rowing and spent my spare time messing about on the river. I carried on with sport into my 20s and whether it was running, hockey or Zumba, I had developed a habit of tensing my rectus abdominis at the start of a race, match or workout …
Day 14: To vibrato or not to vibrato
Today I was asked by my neighbour and friend, Simone, what the blog would be about. I was hell-bent on discussing phlegm (in what will probably be the grossest blog post yet)! But the accompanying tip involved touching your face and since the message around protection against COVID-19 is very much "don't touch your face, …
Grace Lovelass 