I love to feel feminine, and am always creating my own
inspiration. I find that introducing
little pockets of femininity into my day helps everything run smoother. I feel more ladylike and life is enjoyable –
even when I’m doing mundane tasks.
The fourth post in this series is on using the sense of hearing
to be more feminine.
Classical music
The right kind of classical music instantly elevates the
frequency of an environment to me. I
used to think it was boring and old-fashioned when I was younger, and now,
thankfully, I have grown into appreciating it.
I love that our favourite five-star hotel plays elegant sounding violin
concertos and sometimes has a live harpist playing.
At home I have a playlist with lots of classical pieces
which I have gradually curated to include only those that I love. If anything is too clangy, strident or
cannon-y, I delete it. As a result I now
listen to a mix of soothing strings and calming adagios. Listen to the one below on YouTube, it’s glorious. I feel instantly more elegant and refined
when I have music like this playing (but I still love many other genres too!)
Having a lovely voice
In my book Thirty Chic Days, I mention that I strive to keep
my voice pleasant. I have horrors of
turning into a shrewish, screeching fishwife; so to avoid this I try to
remember to walk into a room to talk to someone rather than yell for them, and
endeavour to speak as much as necessary and not dominate the conversation. I don’t always manage it, but at least I try,
right?
Instead of fishwife, I’m going to aim for Lady Mary Crawley.
And another thing: do you ever leave somewhere thinking ‘I
couldn’t stop talking; whatever must they think of me?’ I do!
Or rather, I did. I think (I hope)
I am better at this now – the two-conversation thing where you ask questions of
others and actually listen to what they say.
The two ears, one mouth thing is so on point, as always.
Do you enjoy classical music? Is it boring or elegant to you? What about your voice… fishwife? Or Lady Mary?
Your secret is safe with me.
fiona
PS. It’s not too late to get some inspiration and enthusiasm
for Christmas with my book A Chic and Simple Christmas, available from Amazon
in print and on Kindle. Inspire
yourself! Here is what readers have to
say:
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hand and saying it's okay that Christmas stresses you out, it's okay if you
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I'm glad I gave myself permission to disappear from family for a bit and relax
and read it.’
‘Fiona is like your
best friend that you have over for coffee and a little chat. Her books are so
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she is direct, honest, and delightful in her writings. Christmas time has
always been such an exciting time of year for me but I cannot say that it was
ever a Chic or Simple Christmas, by the time the Christmas Celebration arrived
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short of any holiday cheer. I sat down with a cup of coffee and my warm knitted
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approach to the holiday season that keeps the season what it truly should be:
Chic and Simple. With Fiona's suggestions and a great deal of holiday cheer, I
am confident that this year will be a very Chic and Simple Christmas as I
celebrate this season with grace and ease. Thank you Fiona for another great
book!!’
I have loved classical music since I was a small child simply because it was always being played in our home. In those dim and distant days of the late 1940s, just after WW2, and the early 1950s, my uncle (a bachelor who lived with my parents and myself, and my granddad, we were all one family) used to play the piano, and he played beautifully. Indeed, his ambition as a young man was to become a concert pianist, but in a working class family in Lancashire during the 1900s, and then after WW1 (in which he served in the Army) it was the Depression era and he had to try and support the family when my granddad was unemployed, like so many people. But he played beautifully and so my earlier recollections are of him playing Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was young I was also told I had a good voice and subsequently I had singing lessons with a very good teacher. Indeed, and I don't want to sound like I'm boasting because this is fact not fiction, she told my parents that she didn't teach children (I was about nine at the time) but she'd give me a music test, picking out notes together on the piano and I'd have to sing the high note or the low note or the middle two or three notes. It turned out I could do this and she said I had not only a good voice (it was like an adult voice) but perfect pitch. And so I was her only child pupil. Many years later I sang with the local choral society (after sung as a soloist as a child/teenager, but gave up when I was in my teens, when other things occupied my time). And so classical music is just part of me, I've not had to grow to love it. But this doesn't preclude other kinds of music - I love Elvis, Abba (far better than the Beatles in my opinion for their harmonies), Neil Diamond, Andy Williams (who would think I'd love a chap singing falsetto, as he could?) and many others. I've not mentioned opera, which I also love, in particular Mozart operas and Beethnoven's only opera, Fidelio. The prisoner's chorus in this, as they come from their dungeon into the light is magical. My favourite female singer of all time is Jessye Norman, and my very favourite songs are Richard Strauss's (not the waltz family!) Four Last Songs. I can't listen to them without crying. As for orchestral, Mahler's 2nd symphony ... when I bought this many years ago, the very knowledgeable woman in the shop said "buy this and you won't need any other orchestral music!" and I think she was (almost) right. Then of course, there's the wonderful Verdi Requiem and Mozart's Requiem ... but I must call a halt, I will bore you with my wittering about classical music!
As for voice, when I arrived in Devon from Lancashire, the accent in Devon was quite different from what I was used to and therefore, so as not to stand out among my peers, with dropped aitches, and pronouncing words like "singing" and bringing" with a double g sounds in the middle so they ended up as "sing-ging" and "bring-ging" (this drove my singing teacher mad, she asked me, "Margaret, where is the 2nd g in the middle of the word?" I had elocution lessons. I'm glad I did as I now know how to speak correctly, with a modulated voice.
The downside of having elocution lessons is that I'm very aware of how others speak, and their accents, indicating there they have come from.
The only thing I would say is I couldn't stand Lady Mary Crawley's voice, an awful upper-class (or what the film maker thought was upper-class) drawl. Few people have good voices today, the best ones I can think of are Bridget Kendall, a BBC reporter, and Frank Gardner, also a BBC correspondent.
Sorry this is so long!!!
Margaret P
www.margaretpowling.com
I totally agree with the sublime Four last songs.
DeleteI think what I most enjoy about the way Lady Mary speak is that she is very calm and measured.
DeleteHow wonderful that you have a natural singing voice, Margaret, you are so lucky :)
I think Pachelbel's Canon in D is the most elegant music I have ever heard. That's probably why so many brides walk down the isle to it. I could listen to it all day.
ReplyDeleteI agree, simply beautiful :)
DeleteHi Fiona, My classical favorites are Chopin, Mozart, and Rachmaninoff. I'm pretty eclectic in my tastes though, a lot of it not very feminine! Sometimes I crave jazz, 80's music, anything from the 1920's, 30's, 40's....
ReplyDeleteAs far as my voice, I have always been soft-spoken - to the point where sometimes I need to repeat myself to the listener, because of this I actually try to speak louder than I feel comfortable doing. I really dislike walking into a store and they're blasting music (almost always screeching pop music) and I have to yell to whomever I'm talking to to be heard. It's almost as if we're being trained to become obnoxiously loud. I've also witnessed (every day) people speaking very loudly to someone down an aisle they're in and I'm usually right in between them. I do what you do when I have something to say, I walk over to the person and speak, especially in my own home :)
D.
Oh, one more thing I want to add is that I have my alarm clock set to a classical station so I wake up gently every morning.
DeleteD.
Oh I can't stand loud music in stores either, and it's true, sometimes you have to shout to be heard when talking to a staff member. Every so often I go the passive-aggressive route and talk to them in a normal loudness of voice and they can't hear what I am saying :)
DeleteHi Fiona, I am listening to Christmas classical music right this moment. I always wake up to lovely music....I do of course, enjoy other music genres but yes, classical music certainly elevates and beautifies the atmosphere and surroundings. Often, it transports me to a more regal time......
ReplyDeleteI sometimes, play the piano when I am at my parents' too. It's beautiful to have music in the house. Different songs create different soundtracks for my day or life.
I realize the tone of the voice is vital to deliver any message or just being in a conversation. So, I intentionally soften my voice to be heard. Yes! I am making an effort to talk less and be a better listener too.
And you are so soft spoken and have such a melodious voice... Charmed!
Playing an instrument is very feminine too :) I learned the piano for many years but haven't played in a while.
DeleteI teach yoga, so I really do get so over hearing my own voice! And I can, & do, sing yoga chants, for crowds. I did a pose called the roaring lion for about 6 years, because I was told that I had a dreadful voice, & to be honest...I think that I did!! But this pose, & learning deep breathing really helped. I love quiet, the sounds of the wind, the sea, birds, bees, chickens, rain, trees rustling, &
ReplyDeleteespecially the sound of children laughing - so magical. I love the words "Mum" & "Granny" too.
but all music...if melodious....I love old style jazz blues like Dinah Washington, Nina Simone, Sam Cooke, I grew up hearing them. And Bach, Beethoven, Mozart...all the greats!! I cannot comprehend what it is like to be so gifted as to have such beauty come out of oneself. And The beautiful Pokarekareana song.
DeleteYou give so many great examples. I am a big Nina Simone fan :)
DeleteMy music teacher in high school (many many moons ago now ;)) introduced us to the beauty of Baroque music and even now, 30 years later, when I hear any of the pieces associated with her I am taken back to that time. Given we were a noisy bunch of cheeky teenage girls who loved all things Duran Duran she did well to teach us to appreciate classical music. She also taught the choir many of the traditional Christmas carols which I loved singing - I loathe and detest those tinny sounding modern Christmas songs played on the radio - and religious songs in Latin which was quite out there for a public school out in the suburbs. I enjoy singing but do so only for my own benefit - in the car, the shower. It is a great mood lifter. My mother is tone deaf and loves to tell me stories of when she would sing to me as a small child and I would cry !
ReplyDeleteOur local community radio station plays mostly 'hits' from the 60s, 70s and 80s. We have our radio on constantly and tuned to this particular station - even leaving it on when we leave the house as husband believes the cat likes it too. Music is a good companion.
I love baroque music too, it is so unique. Duran Duran, still good!
DeleteGosh, classical music changes everything doesn't it? I love how calm it makes me feel and the atmosphere is so much more sophisticated when it is playing.
ReplyDeleteI know, it's fascinating how music can change the way you feel. I also feel more sophisticated when classical music is playing, and calm too.
DeleteI love to play spa music in the morning too, it really sets me up for a serene day. Such nice memories of your aunt's house :)
ReplyDeleteI agree! I have a Mozart channel on my Pandora station and listen to it while working in the office. I know that some of my co-workers appreciate it! I learned to play Sontina in C earlier this year during one of my piano lessons. Wonderful post as usual!
ReplyDelete