Student: Stephanie J.
Date of Lesson: 4/2/14
Brief Overview of lesson: I asked Stephanie how she had been since we last met, and how her singing has gone. She said that she has been getting sick frequently from the school she works at, so she hasn't done specific practice, however she has been trying to warm-up in the shower, and do simple things around the house.
I wanted to start with some stretching in forward fold to release the lower back and neck. We did that for a minute or two and then moved on. I asked Stephanie to squat down to see if that would help her feel more released in her breath, I also asked her if she could release her neck. She said that her shins don't really allow her to squat all the way down, so I told her that if she wanted to hang over in forward fold with her head released that would be fine. She decided on forward fold, and we started vocalizing on lip buzzes 54321. I started at A4 moving down and randomly up. After five or six repetitions I could hear that she had some tongue tension. I asked her, "where do you feel your tongue was during those lip buzzes?"
She answered, "I don't know. Kinda floating in the middle." She tried it again and then said, "Wait, no it's at the bottom by my teeth, but I'm not pressing."
"Okay, where is the arch? or is there an arch?"
"I don't really feel like there is one...it might be further back."
"Can you show me?" She had an arch, so I said, "Okay, that's what you want. Let's start again, and keep that arch in the back." As we did that, I think it sounded like there was a lot less bunching of the tongue. The sound also sounded less harsh. After we did 5-6 repetitions we concluded the exercise, and I told her that I really liked the free sound I was hearing with her tongue in that released posture.
I then wanted to do an exercise to release the jaw, but I wanted to explain how to open first, so I instructed her in how the jaw muscles let the jaw drop. I said, "A lot of times we think of our jaw dropping downwards." I made a jaw with my forearms to show her the motion of how to incorrectly open the jaw. "The way that the muscles work to open the jaw freely is to actually swing it back." I demonstrated with my forearms and asked her to do the same. We then modeled the incorrect way together, and then the correct way. "Do you feel a difference?" She answered that she did.
After that instruction I had her sing "me" 54321. I asked her to swing the jaw back and to have a high arch in the back of the tongue. I started her on B4, and I felt like the sound was really swallowed with wobble vibrato. I was trying to focus on release at the time, but now that I listen to it again, I think it was lack of energy that was causing the sound to be all skiwampus. I think if I had been more aware, I could have caught onto that more easily.
I instructed Stephanie on the "rose breath" cause I felt like she was grabbing and holding (this was true although now that I listen to it, it was because of a lack of energy). I said, "We're going to try something different. Can you pretend that you're smelling a rose? Did you feel a sense of openness in your nose and throat?"
She answered, "Yeah, definitely."
"Okay, I want you to breath as if you are smelling a rose before each repetition. If you need a reminder, I will just say 'rose'."
She asked me before I started, "Do you want me to breath only through my nose? Or my mouth?"
"Ultimately, you'll inhale through your nose and mouth, however, for today I just want you to breathe through your nose so you can have that open sense. Remember that it is a slow and easy breath."
I had her breath the rose breath, and then sing the dove-sound exercise on 8531. The first few repetitions it sounded as if she was still singing. I told her that it didn't matter what sounds came out, I just wanted her to think the pitch, and let the rose breath and trust that the pitch would come. After that she improved with her think-let-trust. I could here that she was having a hard time with her onsets, so I told her to not worry if the top note didn't come out, she could come in when her voice did. I stopped her and asked her how she thought those repetitions went. She replied, "When I breathe and think about breathing with the rose breath, I think it helps me feel more released. Cause in the past I know that I've wanted to make this one more singy. So I think with the rose breath it helped me find that sound that was more released and less singy."
I said, "Okay, that's great. That's exactly what I want you to feel."
I then moved on to the wobble exercise and I wanted to continue on the same type of vowel that we had in the dove-sound exercise, so I had her vocalize on "shoe" 535153515351. I think this was a good choice, because the [u] vowel is a low larynx cue, which I think she has a hard time with sometimes. I felt that throughout this exercise I could hear some real "letting go" of the pitch. I was really happy to hear that. It sounded like she was finally letting her voice move freely. I think I will try this again in our next lesson.
For the remainder of the lesson we went through a few church arrangements that I brought. Stephanie said she wanted to sing through "O my Father". I determined that it was a good range, although I saw that most of it was ascending phrases. Stephanie picked that one out of all the other arrangements, so I warned her that it was going to be a bit of a challenge. She said that she was still up for it. So we concluded our lesson by discussing ways in which she could practice her music. I told her to chunk up the different phrases, and sing through a phrase while thinking of the rose breath. Once she feels like she has got a good handle of that she can monitor her jaw and how it is opening.
We then established our 3 take-aways. And I told her to focus on those three in her practice.
Assessment of student: I think that Stephanie had a positive experience with what an open throat feels like today. I was happy to see that I did something right! I do hear now that she has a lack of energy in her breath. So I will focus on that next time.
Goals for future implementation: I am going to focus on energy in the breath in body, and a sense of buoyancy in the sound. I think this will help even out her vibrato, help her to move her voice in an agile manner, and feel a deeper sense of release. I will also talk about our body being a tube, we don't push the sound out, or make it happen. All we do is think the pitch, breath, and let the sound happen. We don't need any muscular help; all we need is breath and the pitch thought.
How will you modify your teaching based off of what you learned from the lesson? I think although some of the instruction in this lesson may have been helpful, I need to teach with more energy so that she can feed off of that. I also need to recognize quicker when low energy is dragging her down. I think I can do this by having better inclusive awareness. I know that I was watching her, listening, and searching for clues, but I somehow overlooked energy, probably because I, myself, was tired. I NEED TO HAVE MORE ENERGY!
Questions for Cindy: What type of vocalizes can I do to help her find breath energy while maintaining a low larynx. I know that dog pants are a good idea, but how do I explain to a beginning singer the concept of buoyancy in the breath and voice?
Takeaways for the student:
1. Rose Breath -- feel the sensation of the open throat.
2. Jaw swinging backward
3. Think-let-trust.
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