A day in the life of a voice teacher gone apeshit

I have to say that I am quite lucky. Not everyone gets to say they have a job they love. Not everyone can say they actually use their college degree every day. But I do. I'm a voice teacher. A lone soul, fighting the good fight for vocal health and stamina every day.

But it's interesting. There are often times that Rob and I will be at a party or get-together. Not a party with people we are close friends to. People who are friends of friends or some such other thing. They always ask us "So, what do you do?". I hate this question. Do we really need to answer this question? This is why I hate parties like this. I hate small talk. I'm getting to a point in my life where small talk is such a mundane part of my existence. Maybe when I was in college, trying to get the hot guy at the party to notice me, small talk was effective. It's like going to those ridiculous studio parties with Rob's colleagues. A room full of 50 pianists... and me. I love my husband, I really do. But he knows I loathe these things. It's always "Oh, I just played the (insert composer name) concerto in M flat cubic zirconia"... "Oh! I love that piece!"... "I find it to be a little (insert music term here) for my tastes." Jesus. Do we really have to talk "shop" all the time? I know that when I get together with actor friends, I probably do the same thing. But we don't sit around talking about scripts or shit like that. We sit around bashing other actors in the community! Are you kidding me?! Or we gossip. Who is sleeping with whom, who is splitting up, what is X theatre company doing next. Touche, I guess, right?

Anyway, it's always at a barbeque for someone who is clearly not associated with the arts in any way, shape or form. They ask "What do you do?" and I reply with "I'm a voice teacher". They always get this blank look on their face. Then ask me "You mean, like a speech teacher?". F#@$ me in the goat-ass. Seriously? You have NO idea what a voice teacher is? Just think about it. VOICE teacher. I teach voices. "You mean, singin' lessons?" (Feel free to think of these quotes with a Kentucky dialect. I do.) Yes, dipshit, singing lessons. Of course, I always smile and nod and explain nicely what a voice teacher is for those impared idiots of the world. But just for a glimpse of what goes through my mind, now you know.

I really do love my job. I'm passionate about teaching, and of course, about singing. A lot of people have no idea what I do during a single day, though. I have to admit that I have it pretty damned good. It is still hard work, but so much damned fun. I have my routine. Get up, eat breakfast, do my pilates, take the dog for a walk. I always warm up in the shower. It's a good warm-up session: about 30 mins. of breathing in steam is good for any singer. I usually go in to teach at about 3pm. I teach 30 or 60 min. lessons, depending on the student. I teach straight through until 6 or 6:30. 7:30 on some nights. It makes for a long day, considering I sing at least 3-4 hours when I teach. That doesn't include singing for three hours at rehearsal. That's 6-7 hours of singing every day. Which is quite a lot. Luckily I have lots of training, so I tend to do things right. I don't need any vocal problems. What would that do to my career?

Many of you have been wondering about the pic attached to my profile. Click on it to enlarge. But it's a photo of me about 25 years ago- my parents were still married, so that tells you how long ago it was. I was around 3 years old. The best part is the shirt. Who else can say they had a shirt with a monkey holding a sign that says "Go Apeshit"? I wonder what happened to that shirt....