Elizabeth T Gavin N 2.21.14 Lesson Record/Reaction

Lesson Record/Reaction 2.21.14

I started out our lesson with looking at 3D models of the spine on the body mapping websites.  I told him that looking at pictures of how our spine actually works can help our posture.  we looked at a side view of the whole spine, and I pointed out that I sometimes have a faulty view of the spine that it is a completely straight thing that starts at my shoulders.  I showed him that it actually has gentle curves, which changes the way I do my posture.  Instead of trying to hold my spine straight, I’ve been trying to rest my body on my spine, which is designed to hold the weight of the body.  I also pointed out that the lumbar vertebrae are very wide, and that the weight bearing portion is ½ way into the body.  My whole body is resting on what’s deep in the center of me.

I then showed him a 3D model of the head, and how the atlas connects to the skull.  As we were talking about these things, I realized that he already had a pretty good understanding of this, and he told me that he actually took the atlas out of a cadaver in his Human Anatomy class.  So body mapping might not be the most helpful thing for him.  I pointed out that when you don’t know how your body works, you hold yourself much differently.

Then we moved on to breathing exercise, breathing in for a certain count, and breathing out for another count.  4&4, 4&8, 8&4, 5&5, etc.  We ended with 4 & 12.  I explained afterward that he shouldn’t have anything left over at the end, but I rephrased it so that he shouldn’t try to push out extra breath, but fit the exercise within natural breathing.

We then started with [ni ne na no nu] 54321 starting on middle C.  After two repetitions, I noticed he had a scoopy and harsh entrance, so I changed it to [ha] instead.  He still had the scoopy entrance, but it got better as we went down in pitch chromatically.  It also got better just as we did more exercises.  I told him to look at himself in the mirror, and as he did that to think of the exercise as one big thing, not 5 notes.  I did this because he moves his head on each pitch.  Each time he breathed, I noticed there was some clavicular breathing, so I used the analogy of breathing is like dropping the grocery bags on the table, instead of picking them up.  It didn’t make sense to him, so I demonstrated good and bad versions of what I was talking about.  He was still a bit confused, so I told him to imagine breath coming into his body, not taking in breath.  We continued on 54321 on [ha], but it wasn’t really noticeably better.  The [h] became less and less noticeable as we went on, but it caused him to sound like he was doing a great initial vowel with no glottal!  Cool!   I instructed him to look at himself in the mirror again, because his head started to move on each pitch again.  When he looked, it almost immediately went away, and I pointed that out to him.  I was surprised that moving his head was still a problem, and I told him that it was, but it was a lot better than when we started. 

Next exercise: [fi] on a fast 5432123454321, light on everything but the bottom note.  When we first started, it all sounded equal in weight, and so I demonstrated a good and bad version of what I wanted.  After that, he got a lot lighter while keeping the bottom note “droppy.”  Now, it seemed that his ascent back up to 5 wasn’t as light as the 5 he started on.  I demonstrated what I was hearing, and then what I wanted.  He tried it again, and the lightness was much better on the ascent.  I noticed that as he did more and more exercises, it got worse and worse, so I tried to stop when it wasn’t working anymore, so he wouldn’t practice bad things.

The next instruction I gave was to do the same exercise, but pretend to yawn on his inhale each time.  He tried to clarify by asking if that just meant opening his mouth wide, and I told him to not think about that specifically, but to literally pretend a yawn.  The high range seemed a lot less pinched when he did that.  I added the instruction that he should continue his pretend yawn as he sang (even though that can’t literally happen, because yawning is inhaling.)  As he did that, his high range changed in timbre drastically for the good, and he noticed as well.  He said, “That actually makes it easier to hit the pitches in tune.”  I pointed out that it sounded a lot easier to me as well.

We switched exercises to “him” on 53421, keeping that same yawny feeling we were using in the last exercise.  I also reminded him to keep it light at the top and heavy on the bottom exercise.  I reminded him to use a lot of “h.”  This exercise was a lot more heavy and squeezed than the last exercise, which was so successful, so I reminded him to yawn more!  I stopped him after a couple repetitions to remind him that yawning isn’t a static and motionless thing; when you yawn, it’s always moving and growing/relaxing, never still (“It’s always changing) I told him that when he pretends to yawn and sing, he just stays stuck in one place, which isn’t natural.  Listening back, I didn’t really like the [I] vowel for Gavin, it seemed to be swallowed and undefined.

I asked him, in conclusion, to tell me what felt different when we added the yawning to the singing.  He said that the pitches were more in tune, and he didn’t slur to the pitches as much.  He also thought the yawning helped him open his throat.  I told him that I thought the yawning helped his jaw stretch and open more as well.  I asked him to make yawning his focus this week in practice.

I brought him “Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal” by Quilter to sing for our next lesson, and I listened to a recording by Ian Bostridge with him.  I also gave him the “Steps to Learn Music Quickly and Correctly” pdf that you gave us at the beginning of the school year, and told him to take a look at it, and let me know what he thought.  I pointed out that actually singing the piece is much later in the process, most of the process is thinking about the pitches and rhythms. 

I also told him I had a no bull shit policy: If he didn’t like the piece, or doesn’t practice, he can just tell me.

Reaction: I was really happy when Gavin recognized that the higher pitches were easier with the yawning.  He seemed to recognize exactly when he sounded the best, and I noticed it as well.  That was a good moment of learning.  I want to work more on getting that jaw released all the time, and perhaps getting his head a little unlocked.