The best way to tell somebody how to figure out how to relax the tongue is to just say, well, notice where it is when you aren't doing anything. That's the relaxed tongue. It's not about putting it somewhere. It's about letting it be where it wants to go.

I remember when I finally figured out how simple one aspect of singing was, and I looked at my voice teacher and I said, is that all it is? And he put his head on the piano keys, and he said, why do I do this to myself?

Sometimes a musical imagination is as important as singing itself, you know, the voice, what you do vocally, the vowels. So there's a percussiveness that can sometimes be quite energizing and useful in singing as an expressive device.

Singing is connected to the body. So there's a - there's a depth in the body that's necessary to perform this kind of music. And a lot of that expression comes from a kinesthetic awareness. And it's - that's one thing that I think people identify with, and of course there's the moment that you're in.

Singers are experts at keeping things from dripping on their throats. Believe me, they're experts.

The most important person is the audience and the composer. The rest of us - and even the composer is a servant to the audience. And of course, the audience is a servant to the higher art.

The best way to tell somebody how to figure out how to relax the tongue is to just say, well, notice where it is when you aren't doing anything. That's the relaxed tongue. It's not about putting it somewhere. It's about letting it be where it wants to go.