{"id":498,"date":"2013-05-23T07:08:51","date_gmt":"2013-05-23T15:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arthurcoddington.com\/?p=498"},"modified":"2017-11-21T09:38:10","modified_gmt":"2017-11-21T17:38:10","slug":"the-melody-of-coaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arthurcoddington.com\/the-melody-of-coaching\/","title":{"rendered":"The Melody of Coaching"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"7183<\/a><\/p>\n

My coach, Ann Betz<\/a>, and I were talking yesterday about vocal range in coaching. As an introvert, one of the things I’ve noticed about coaching training is that when range is mentioned, the training is toward going big. Being louder. Being more animated. Being crazier. What’s missing is equal emphasis on the companion lesson of being more quiet, more still, more grounded. Challenging territory for an introvert – and ripe with growth opportunities. Not as challenging territory for extroverts, and the omission of stillness deprives them of a chance to expand…or is that condense?
\n
\nAuthentic Range<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a coach – and a student of coaching – my job is to explore my limits to bring an ever larger, lusher and more accurate quiver of skills to the time I spend with clients. It’s also my job to be Arthur. It’s essential that clients who bring themselves fully to our sessions are rewarded by me bringing myself fully. Not a cookie cutter coach. Not a stereotyped coach. Not anything but Arthur the coach.<\/p>\n

A Symphony of Neurons<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ann’s got this wonderful neuroscience perspective on coaching, and as she was describing some of the physiology of what happens when we hear one another’s voice, a different way of thinking about vocal range emerged. One that transcends loud and soft, fast and slow, animated and grounded. What if we thought of our vocals in musical terms? When we meet someone, we’re hearing their words as a melody. It has a rhythm. It has timbre. It uses pitch and dynamics. Each vocalization creates not only the communication of words but the communication of intent, of one’s presence, of who we are through its melody.<\/p>\n

Melody. All the elements of vocal range are contained in it. The choice of style. To play punk rock or easy listening. To amplify like The Who or command through understatement<\/a>. Or combine the two like Bjork in “It’s Oh So Quiet<\/a>.” To play a complex and epic piano concerto or relish every bent note of a blues song. To surrounding the conversation with harmony or use dissonent tones for a purpose. <\/p>\n

Variations on a Theme<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this video, a simple tune – “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” – is transformed through the lenses of more than a dozen musical styles. Same underlying message, vastly different deliveries.<\/p>\n