Caro mio ben.
What is wrong with the sound I am hearing (and what I am
seeing)?
The sound I am hearing
was very breathy and not low enough in her body. I could see that her shoulders
were constantly moving upward, indicating that breath was in her chest. I see that her arms, specifically her elbows,
were moving outward causing her posture to be off and forward. Her arms and
upper body seemed to carry a bit of tension.
What is causing this problem?
Her swaying and her posture could be causing the breathy quality in her voice.
She is not getting a supported breath because of the tension is her upper body
therefore leaving the voice ungrounded with no vibrato.
What would I do about it if I were the teacher?
I would work on her
posture and the release of tension. I would ask her to sit down and do some
breathing exercises to get the breath lower in her body then make our way
to standing up. I would use model
behavior in this case to let her feel how my back expands when I breathe and
then ask her if she could feel the same motion in her body. For posture, I
would ask the student to move her shoulders up, back , and down.
4. How well was the performance prepared
(musicianship, diction, style, etc.)? Give specifics that support your
answer.
I thought that
musically she was well prepared. She tried to express some emotion of the piece
but there could have been more. Caro mio ben has an infamous reputation. I
think she probably needed 5x more of the energy for this song so that her own artistic ability could show during performance. there needed to be more preparation with the diction because sometimes it sounded too American. I
did feel like she was confident. She did take time learning the piece but
there needed to be more time with her internalizing the meaning of the song.
The Roadside
fire
What is wrong with the sound I am hearing (and what I am
seeing)?
The posture of
the performer was awkward before he even sang. I thought the twist that he
started off with was strange. His timbre
was richer in his lower notes creating the potential of a pleasant sound but
there was bit of scooping and strain leading up to the higher notes. I saw that
his shoulders often went up consistently with audible breathing. I honestly had a hard time understanding the
text. The sound was too far back making it hard for me to understand what he
was singing.
What is causing this problem?
I want to say
that his vowel placement is causing the problem. The diction is very unclear
which is distorting the quality of his tone. His unnecessary movements with his arms and
mid-section can be causing the problem with his breath as well as the strain in
his sound. There looks like there is
some space between his molars but there is tension in his jaw.
What would I do about it if I were the teacher?
In order to work
on diction, I would ask the student to speak the text a few times and then sing
it like how it was previously spoken. To work on his breath and phrasing, I
would play the pitches and then ask the student to just sing ah on one pitch.
For posture and unnecessary movements, I would ask the student to roll his
shoulders and then put his arms up and drop them. I would also ask the student to
try to emote the song with out hand gestures. I think this student was trying
to express the song too much with his body and hands, making the movements look
forced and unnatural.
How well was the performance prepared (musicianship, diction,
style, etc.)? Give specifics that support your answer.
The performer showed good energy and interest in the song. I
think he could’ve used a better understanding on how to set up the phrasing and
its relationship to the dynamics. He could’ve taken more time deciding
where he was going to take his breaths because they often came across as
choppy. The text of this piece was not spoken enough making it hard for the
listener to understand what he was saying.
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