Sarah Boucher Kathy Lesson Record/Reactions 1/21

Sarah Boucher Kathy Lesson Record/Reactions 1/21
TRANSCRIPT:
S: Let's start and stretch out a bit.
(I took her through a series of stretches that I find helpful. Including "toaster" shoulder movements.)
S: Feel good? Feel more loose?
K: Yes.
S: Ok so last lesson you talked a little bit about how you know you are supposed to breath from your diaphragm but you don't do it. So I would like to start with you laying on the floor. This is a method I use to find and feel my breath when it is low and I am using my diaphragm. So what I do is lay down on my back with my legs bent, and just get comfortable. (I demonstrated and she followed suit.) Now just breath paying attention to what is moving where you feel it. Breath in through the nose, out through the mouth. Where do you feel it?
K: I feel it lower.
S: Good. So that is a nice comfortable breath, as if you were sleeping. That is how our breathing for singing should feel, very natural and low. (I should have said expanded here) Do you notice anything in your back?
K: Not really.
S: What about your ribs?
K: I don't really notice them.
S: How about chest?
K: My chest isn't moving.
S: But it is lifted right? Not collapsed at all?
K: Ya.
S: Good, because when you sing your chest should be open. This allows the air to flow better. (Haha, I suck at explaining things!) Ok so now I want to try to help you find that sensation while you are sitting.  Sit in this chair and bend over but do not let your neck fall. (I demonstrated, she followed) How does this feel differently than the floor?
K: I feel tighter. (I didn't ask her what she meant but I was pretty sure that she meant she could feel the breath working in her lower abdomen better)
S: Do you feel it through your back this time?
K: I feel it through here (pointing to her lower abdomen)
S: Good. I think a lot of the time people say breath from the diaphragm and we think only our stomachs. It is really an expansion of all of this (pointing to the whole lower body and around through the back) When the air is in the right place, you will feel it through the back and everything from the rib cages down should be expanded. A lot the time be think of breathing as a forward and back motion where we stick out our stomachs, but it isn't it is an expansion coming out from our very core. Try going down to your elbows to see if you feel it more in your back.
K: I feel it.
S: Ok so now come up some more and try to find that again. Feel it?
K: Ya.
S: It should feel like a balloon. So the air is coming in and just expanding (I made a swooshing sound and gestured this expansion with my hands) Now can you find it if you sit all the way up? (She nodded. I had her remain seated while she took a deep breath and exhaled on a s.) As the air is leaving your body, you should still feel that expansion. (I noticed that while she seemed to have a nice even flow of air her chest was collapsed. So I had her stand up and do it while holding a chair behind her back to force her chest open) Did you noticed any difference from sitting to standing?
K: Not really.
S: What about your chest? Did the chair help keep it open? I noticed when you were seated that your chest was collapsed, so I wanted to see if the chair would help you have that openness through here. This time when you release do a staccato s, and try to keep that full expanded energy. (I demonstrated. She did a bunch) Awesome! So that is just a way to establish your breath, before you even begin singing. It helps to start with that good basis of airflow. I really want to carry that over into warm ups. (By that, I meant that expanded energized low breath) Now that we have found it in your body, let's try to find it while you sing. Let's start with a nice yawn. (We did a few) Now release it as a sigh.  (Did a few) Ya, nice and light. Think about that air, and that center. A yawn is great because you can feel that expansion through the body and it is something we do everyday. (Did another) How did that feel? Could you feel the air flowing?
K: Ya.
S: Let's do a yawn and then land on a pitch and descend on ah. (Played descending five tone. Demonstrated. We started on a and moved all around the key board. I didn't go any higher then an e. I had to stop and re-explain it a few times because I wasn't being clear enough, but I finally said it in the right way and she understood. We did a bunch of those) Ok now let's get you more energized, this is a descending 5-3-1 Oh-no-no.  (Played it and demonstrated it. We started on C and worked down the keyboard and then jumped around. I still didn't go very high because she tenses up a lot and tries to push notes out in the higher range.) How did the breath feel?
K: I wasn't really noticing, I didn't feel like I was out of breath. It didn't feel bad.
S: Let's try a few more and I am going to watch you more. (We did a bunch more. We got a little higher.) Does that one feel tight?
K: Yes.
S: Ok, let's yawn before this one. (She did it and it was a lot more free.) Did that feel better?
K: Yes.
S: If you are moving higher and you start to tense up, utilize the yawn because it will help free up your sound! Ok we are running out of time, but let's look at some of the music you brought. What do you want to work on?
K: Let's do Somewhere Over the Rainbow. That will be good cause it is kind of higher.
S: Alright well let's just have you sing the first line for me. I don't want you to start singing until you feel like you have taken a really good deep breath. (I demonstrated and then she sang it for me. I noticed that her posture was very slumped over) Good, now I want you to feel like someone has got a hold of your ponytail. Imagine you have got a really high ponytail--like eighties style and someone has the top of it. They aren't hurting you but they are just helping you to straighten out cause I am seeing a little bit of hunching over. (Sang it again, with improved posture. I was noticing jaw tension so I had her sing it on o. I realized that this was probably a bad choice because she closed up her mouth more tightly and the jaw got more tense. I decided to change the vowel, to an ah) I want you to pretend like you just went to the dentist and he numbed you. You are just so relaxed you can barely move your mouth to talk. (She did it) Good! Did you feel any difference?
K: I think that last one sounded better.
S: I heard more space and freedom in the sound. I really liked it, it was nice. Let's try it again and try to duplicate it with that feeling. Remember you are numb! (Did it again and it sound good) Let's do it with words now, but still have that numbness. (We spoke the text in our dentist numb voices and then she sang it) Was there a note or a part that stuck out more to you? Good or bad? (I probably shouldn't have asked for the bad huh?)
K: I thought the leap at the beginning was bad.
S: I really liked your notes on "the rainbow", they were really lovely and free. I didn't even notice anything wrong with the jump to be honest! Let's try it again! (We did it again, this time I did notice the jump sticking a bit. First I tried modifying the vowel a bit, having her think more british but it only helped a little bit and I am not sure if it is good to do that!) Let's pantomime that jump, so I want you to sing all the notes in the rest of the phrase but not the jump, just pretend. Imagine, what it should feel like in your body, very open, very free, expanded breath.Think the pitch. (She pantomimed it) One more time, to get it in your brain. (Then she added it in, there was a marked improvement) Beautiful! It seemed like you are less scared of it now.
K: Oh ya, it felt good.
S: I think there is a lot to be said about thinking the pitch before you sing it. Too often I am just trying to sing the notes right and the best way to fix them is to stop and pantomime and really get your brain going! So time is up, but next week we will start off with hearing you sing this whole thing and then we will keep working at it! Thanks!

REACTIONS: I felt like I had a lot of ideas in this lesson, which gave me a little more confidence. I think that the pantomiming especially really helped Kathy to have more breath energy, more freedom and more pitch accuracy in her singing. It was definitely a trial trying to find the right words to explain breath to her at the beginning. I know I still really struggle with using the right words to describe things. As I went through it again to write the transcript I noticed a lot of times that I worded things wrong and probably confused her. I tried to ask more questions this time but I think I asked too many....or asked the wrong sort of questions. I think I may have prompted her too often on what I wanted the answer to be instead of waiting for her reply. I need to ask more specific questions and not prompt so much. In working with her voice more, I think that freedom in her voice is lacking. She holds the sound and doesn't let it release. I think I need to incorporate more speaking to help her find that freedom.