Emily C., Listening Assignment 2, Student performances, 1/29/14

Emily C., Listening Assignment 2, Student performances, 1/29/14

Caro mio ben:

1. What is wrong with the sound I am hearing (and what I am seeing)?

The sound is breathy with some slight scooping. She does some small body movements throughout the piece as if she’s trying to use her body to adjust for sound or push out more breath for longer phrases. Her neck and shoulders seem to be a little tight, especially when reaching for higher notes. The hand on the piano is sort of bothering me. Sometimes her scooping causes pitch issues (flat). She leans forward as she’s taking a breath, and she’s losing her good posture from before the piece started. Her vowels are also shallow. 

2.  What is causing this problem?

I think her throat tension is making the breathy sound in her voice, and it’s also what’s causing her audible inhalation of breath. Her posture could help some, but her breathing technique overall needs a little work, which needs to start with maintaining an erect/released posture. 

3.  What would I do about it if I were the teacher?

I would probably do a lot of yawning exercises with her to get her to loosen up her throat/tongue tension; I might even do the Oren Brown relaxation exercise where you grab your tongue and say “a” as in cat. I would also do the “shhh” exercise for the quiet inhalation of breath and maintaing space/posture. 

4.  How well prepared was the performance prepared (musicianship, diction, style, etc.)? Give specifics that support your answer.

The diction was… American-sounding. The vowels could be much purer and have more depth. I don’t think she knew exactly what she was singing about as she went through the piece. Stylistically, she had a lot of scooping, and her onsets need to be worked on. There wasn’t very much dynamic variability. I can tell she definitely worked on it, but she needs to go in and do lots of adjustment work. I liked her confidence though. She didn’t seem nervous in the slightest. 

The Roadside Fire: 

1. What is wrong with the sound I am hearing (and what I am seeing)?

There are some intonation issues as he approaches the higher notes (he goes sharp). There’s a lot of swaying and unnecessary body movement. The hand motions seem a little choreographed. There isn’t very much vibrato, and there’s lots of tension in the tongue. His rhythm is off—he doesn’t seem to be staying together with the accompaniment. His vowels are inconsistent; he oscillates between spreading too much and swallowing the vowels, especially with diphthongs. There’s shoulder heaving and audible breath intake. 

2.  What is causing this problem?

There’s a lot of tongue tension; he seems to project well enough, but if the throat/tongue tension was to be alleviated, I think his tone and vibrato would come out better. His breathing is shallow and in an upward motion. There isn’t a lot of focus in his face either, making the music not artistic. 

3.  What would I do about it if I were the teacher?

First off, I would have him try the same tongue tension exercise from Oren Brown’s book that I would’ve done with the first girl. This would help him a lot, I think. I would do a lot of “huh” breathing exercises to get him to release his larynx. I would also do the “shhh” exercise for his breathing problems. Lastly, I would do that same thing Cindy did with Elizabeth in Master Class about use micro movements to be expressive while singing, rather than swaying from side to side. 

4.  How well prepared was the performance prepared (musicianship, diction, style, etc.)?  Give specifics that support your answer.

I can tell he worked harder to make it more musical than the first student, but it seemed false/artificial. His diction was so-so, but I would definitely work on making sure that his vowels were all in the “same place.” His singing wasn’t robotic, but it lacked emotional drive/motivation. He definitely worked on this quite a bit, but he needs to find a poetic interpretation of the text, not a literal one.