1. What is wrong with the sound I am hearing (and what am I seeing)? The timbre is extremely breathy (hypofunction?). There is also a lot of breath escaping through the sound, rather than the feeling of the inner suck. Jaw seems to be tense. She doesn't seem completely upright, and her shoulders are rounding in. She is fidgeting like there is a lot of interfering tension in her body.
2. What is causing this problem? I think there is fidgeting because she is not free in her body, and nor is she completely upright, which may be inhibiting her breath from a full release. Some pitch issues, but I think this is because she is not fully released or approaching the pitches from above. I also didn't like her weird ballet arms.
3. What would I do if I were the teacher? I would start with some release exercises maybe a forward fold while releasing the neck and swaying while bent over. Next I would do the stretch and yawn/sigh to release the jaw. When she felt upright, with an open chest, I would begin to do add vocalization starting with "Wow" or "Whooo?" and ask her to feel as if she is trying to bit a huge apple while she does this. This would help with releasing and opening the jaw, and to help approximate the vocal folds. It would also help familiarize the speaking voice with the singing voice. Once she had some successful repetitions we could add the piano and pitches with descending exercises involving a voice consonant (i.e. me. thee). Whilst frequently assessing her and asking questions.
4. How well prepared was the performance (musicianship, diction, style, etc.)? Give specifics that support your answer. Diction was unclear due to the closed and tight jaw. As a result, vowels weren't necessarily clear. I could hear that she had some insight in the shaping of her phrasing due to the strong/weak syllables on most of the words. I did think that her introduction was strong, although, I didn't like the nod to the accompanist.
The Roadside Fire
1. What is wrong with the sound I am hearing (and what am I seeing)? Weird twitchy and unimportant/meaningful body movement. Straight tone followed by a strange vibrato. Breath is rigid and stagnant. Nasality and intonation problems. Overall a ton of tension in his body, breath, neck, and jaw. High larynx.
2. What is causing this problem? The breath is not deep enough, and he is holding the breath, so the sound is being directly affected. This may also be causing the high larynx because of his lack of tracheal tug. The soft palate isn't being raised nor is the space between his upper molars so there is nasality in the sound. Tension in the body may be causing intonation problems. Breath needs to be freer and
3. What would I do if I were the teacher? I would, again, begin with some release exercises. Stretching while focusing on his breath. Easy and grounded breathing. I might try to have him do a forward fold and swing back and forth. Then I could have him try squatting to find that release in the breath and lower back. I would ask him to think of his favorite place while he breathed there. Next I would stand him up and ask him to feel as if there was a string on the top of his head holding him up. Assess how his posture is now. I would then ask him to yawn and stretch. When he looked released in his jaw I would ask him to begin to add vocalization with words on "What?!" or "Wheee". Then begin with descending vocalizes to promote singing from falling from above. This would help keep the larynx low, and be easier on his not so coordinated breath.
4. How well prepared was the performance (musicianship, diction, style, etc.)? Give specifics that support your answer. I couldn't really understand any of the words. Any expression that he might have felt was completely masked by tension in his body. His vibrato didn't fit the style. I did like that he didn't have to look back to the accompanist to begin.
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