The Singers Thread

[Tessar]

My dad and I had a great breakthrough lesson!

Tonight he did the lip bubbles, and we took it up to a C#4. I always stop him as soon as the voice starts to thin out, and it seems to have worked!!! His voice would always get thin as soon as he bubbled up to a B3, but today he did a solid C#.

He didn't do quite as well on the 'woo' 'waa' 'wee' exercise. The tone was a little better, but he couldn't get it to pulse as freely. So we're trying something new, where he gently reattacks 'ah' very quickly. That went better, and I'm hoping it will be more effective. It's also a very quiet exercise, which I like because I know it will make him less self-conscious to do.

Then I had him trying to sing 'Il Mio Bel Foco' and I realized the recit was just too low for him. He has the notes, of course... I THINK he's a baritone just like me, but for the moment his low notes are still so throaty that I'm afraid they'll pull back his placement all through the voice. So I switched him to 'Alma Del Core'.

To see if he could hit the C# and D# for the song, I had him try attacking the notes and it WORKED!! I AM SO EXCITED! Now his throat is finally free enough that he can do the attack exercise my Bass teacher showed me. It really brought the voice into a better alignment. I had tried the exercise at the beginning of our lessons, but quickly realized that his throat was just too tight, he didn't have enough support, and he was not ready to start doing the hard attacks.

We tested his range after that, once he'd gotten the knack of the hard attack, and he did it up to a very thin F4. The E4 was so-so, but up to the D#4 it was VERY solid! I'm certainly not going to have him trying to sing anything over a D# for now since I'm assuming he's a baritone, and it does sound like he has a break there. I want to get the middle voice more solid before we venture into an area where he needs to blend.

I also had to stop him to explain that the hard attack is just a temporary thing. It's a great warmup and gets the voice aligned, and at first it's how we'll be attacking every phrase he sings, but I showed him how eventually the hard attack turns into a gentle attack.

It was a little bit of a pain to have to fiddle-faddle around working to get the throat open, and using exercises that I knew we would eventually do away with once their purpose had been served, but I am SO GLAD now that they worked!! In fact, when he was just 'half-singing' to remind my mom of the piece their choir is doing on Sunday, I noticed that his voice is better placed and fuller. That's when you know that the muscles are starting to get used to making good sounds... when you can sing off the voice and it doesn't sound horrific . Used to be quite frightening when he'd sing off the voice, but now it sounds good!

His support is also getting much better!! I keep having to remind him to attack notes from his support, not from his throat, but as soon as I remind him he'll do it right. He's also singing 'through' the exercises instead of letting the support drop off, so I'm very proud of him for that. I'm constantly reminding him to support, but he can actually do it now! Very exciting .

I'm still not entirely sure about the vibrato thing. I think I can hear hints of it trying to creep in, but it's still very straight tone. I'm hoping we're headed in the right direction on that one. I'm not too concerned since we've only been working together for... a month? A little less, I think.



We got the speaking program today and I listened to some of the first CD. Sounds fantastic! I think this guy really knows what he's talking about. I love the way he words things, the suggestions he makes, and his exercises are often variations on ones I've done with my good voice teachers. I'm going to start working with the program, so maybe in a week or two we'll see if I've made any progress at all .



I realize that I just blab on and on, but I can't tell you what a relief it is . Most of my friends, if I try to mention technique stuff, just don't get it. It's nice to have someone I can talk technique to who actually understands what I'm talking about!

[Voronwen]

Originally Posted by Tessar

My dad and I had a great breakthrough lesson!

Wonderful!!

I'm sorry i'm a bit late in answering your posts, i haven't been on much in the last few days. But from the sound of it you've had a real concrete experience with singing by sensation. It's a learning experience, isn't it?

today he did a solid C#

we're trying something new

This is a good thing. What works for one voice won't always work for the next and vice versa.

To see if he could hit the C# and D# for the song, I had him try attacking the notes and it WORKED!! I AM SO EXCITED! Now his throat is finally free enough that he can do the attack exercise my Bass teacher showed me. It really brought the voice into a better alignment.

Very good! I'm happy for him, and for you!

I want to get the middle voice more solid before we venture into an area where he needs to blend.

Good thinking, that is safest. The middle voice also has to be stable before the outer ranges can be.

I also had to stop him to explain that the hard attack is just a temporary thing. It's a great warmup and gets the voice aligned, and at first it's how we'll be attacking every phrase he sings, but I showed him how eventually the hard attack turns into a gentle attack.

I'm glad it's worked for him. Personally my teachers have discouraged anything except the gentle attack, but for us light sopranos i think they tend to handle our voices with extra tender care.

In fact, when he was just 'half-singing' to remind my mom of the piece their choir is doing on Sunday, I noticed that his voice is better placed and fuller. That's when you know that the muscles are starting to get used to making good sounds... when you can sing off the voice and it doesn't sound horrific

Ha! Yes

His support is also getting much better!! I keep having to remind him to attack notes from his support, not from his throat, but as soon as I remind him he'll do it right. He's also singing 'through' the exercises instead of letting the support drop off, so I'm very proud of him for that. I'm constantly reminding him to support, but he can actually do it now! Very exciting

Wonderful! You know, i'm reminded now of your mention of working on your own support, and i can't say enough how this is a great example of how teaching others helps us to learn. The things you're teaching him are reinforcing what you know to do for yourself.

I'm still not entirely sure about the vibrato thing.

Vibrato will come naturally, in time. In many cases, too straight a tone also has to do with throat tension (Empress, are you listening? ). Once the voice opens up a bit more and he gets a better handle on tension release, it will come.

I realize that I just blab on and on, but I can't tell you what a relief it is . Most of my friends, if I try to mention technique stuff, just don't get it. It's nice to have someone I can talk technique to who actually understands what I'm talking about!

Oh i completely understand! Blab on all you want, that is part of what this thread is for!