Emily C. Lesson Summary 4/14/14

Emily C. Lesson Summary 4/14/14

(It’s a really long summary, but it was such a good lesson that I wanted to write a bunch about it.) 

Today we started out with simple lip trills going down on 54321. We then quickly moved on to doing “thee thay” on 53421. We focused on keeping the vowel forward while descending since I have a tendency to move back into my throat on descending pitches and to swallow the vowel. We extended the vocalize to an octave exercise afterwards. On the sustained “thay” at the end, Brianna had me look in the mirror so I could see what I’m doing as I go down the scale; I noticed that I had a tendency to close the molar space in the back of my mouth as I go down, and the tongue position changed because of that. Being conscious of that alone fixed the problem.

My tongue was feeling just a tad bit tight in the back, so Brianna had me stick my tongue out and bite it to stretch it out. We then moved into the “li le la lo lu” on 53421 and the octave counterpart, focusing on keeping the energy in the breath and maintaining an open sound. Brianna reminded me a couple of times to keep the sound up higher. She told me that I was closing off the nasopharynx just a bit, so she had me smell some peppermint so I could become aware of that space as I sing. 

While I was doing these vocalizes, I really focused on taking good breaths that were silent, open, and “beginning of a yawn” in nature. I felt really released in the throat and the tongue. My jaw was a little bouncy, but it still felt much better than it had before. A couple of times, Brianna had me do the “three sniff breath” to engage my breathing a bit more. 

We then moved on to my pieces, and we just went through all three of them to help me determine which piece I should use as my “starter” piece for juries. I started with the Italian piece, and Brianna told me that I needed to focus on keeping the vowels forward on the descending pitches and to pay attention to the ritardando and rallentando areas for more expression. She said my breathing was still good, but I felt frantic with all of the quick breaths that I had to take (at least I can fake it well? haha). So Brianna told me that the quick “three sniff” sensation should help with that. She kept reminding me to sing in the “higher” place. When I sang in the place that she liked, I told her that it felt shallower (than before) and that there was an “airy” and “dry” sensation in my voice when I sang like that. It was difficult to explain because it didn’t sound that way to her. I told her that everything about singing that way felt great except for the sensation of dryness and air flowing through my chords. It was weird. So she told me to sing the way I would sing “if I was nervous” (which means reverting to some of my old ways) so she could see what the difference was. I tried to sing it the way I would sing if I was nervous, and was shocked to find that I could definitely feel more pressure on my voice that I hadn’t noticed before. When I sang in juxtaposition to good technique, my bad technique was even more apparent and uncomfortable. Even so, it still felt “comfortable” despite the weird pressure sensation in my throat. My vibrato was more swallowed, but there was more color in the sound (according to Brianna). And most importantly, when I sang that way, I didn’t get the sensation of dryness in my vocal folds. So Brianna challenged me to synthesize the two singing techniques together, combining the depth/color and the freedom/vibrancy/height. 

I then moved on to my German piece, and I tried to keep the same depth but vibrancy in the sound. It’s easier to breathe in this piece because there are more opportunities/breaks in the music, so my tone was much better. I felt really released, especially on the open sustained vowels. In the middle section of the piece, Brianna pointed out to me that I had a tendency to sing with really good balance, and she wanted me to try and apply that to the entire piece. I liked having this “model” to go off of. 

Then I sang my French piece (which I found to be the most challenging), and I really focused on releasing my throat and allowing the sound to come out. It was the most “trust” I had applied to my voice, and the high notes were much easier and a lot more “free flowing” than before. I still had a tendency to chop up the descending notes on “quand la lune est aux cieux.” I guess it’s just a bad habit. I focused a lot on releasing the tongue, the jaw, and the throat, and sort of letting everything just hang while maintaing some height in the cheeks. Brianna actually said that this was her favorite piece out of the three that I had prepared, but I don’t feel comfortable singing it in front of audiences because the technique isn’t always there (yet). 

Brianna noted that the more I sang, the better my technique got, so we went through my Italian piece one more time to give it another chance. I was more released, but I still felt frantic in my breathing (even though they were quiet inhalations). 

For my practice this week, Brianna wants me to remember the height sensations and synthesizing it into my previous technique and then to determine which piece I would like to start with in juries.