Emily F. lesson 4/2

Emily F. lesson 4/2: I came to my lesson not super warm. When my kids are home (spring break) it's hard to focus on my regular school stuff. My mind is distracted with family things. So anyway, Laurie helped me warm up better. We talked about what I had worked on in masterclass with you, Cindy. We talked about some of the things I need to do to be successful in my singing, specifically having confidence and believing in myself more. We did hum-chew and I tried to really activate my facial muscles and let them work independently of my jaw and everything. We did some down-up-down on [o], then [i]. We did some "wobble" work. We did some primal [a] slide up to [o] on 54321. Laurie had me put my back to the wall, arms up and sing [i] on 123454321, fairly high. It took definite concentration to not move my neck and jaw. I wasn't rigid but had to just let go of the desire to manage pitch. My accompanist came so we worked on "The Last Word of a Bluebird". We spent time on my energy and focus on the story of the song. Laurie had me do quite a bit of speaking. I didn't like some of my vowels. When I had expression and animation in my face I felt like my pharynx was squeezy. I recognized that a lot of it was jaw, and I thought that some was probably lack of good nasopharyngeal resonance. After that song we moved onto "Faites-lui mes aveux". It felt even better since masterclass. We tried a couple things, then Laurie had me slump my arms on the piano and let my head kind of fall back--totally lazy posture, with scrunchy shoulders. I decided not to worry about text or my face or anything and just focus on allowing my voice to come out if it wanted to. I found my upper back muscles and back neck muscles trying very hard to "manage" the sound, but I focused and requested them to stay easy, and let my A-O joint be free to move, bobbly. Laurie laughed because the difference in sound was distinct. It was the easiest that song had ever come out. I couldn't feel anything in my throat, and it felt really resonant and free. It was quite refreshing! I didn't realize until I got into that position how much my back neck and upper back work when I sing. It's something I'll be able to pay more attention to now. It was a great lesson. I felt like having a lesson the day after working in masterclass was very productive. I'm actually sad to see the semester ending because I feel like I'm making progress in my voice and I don't want to lose it. My goals for the week are to pay close attention to my A-O joint and neck and back muscles, practice releasing and balancing that area, even when I'm not singing. I also want to work on having a feeling of huge inside nostrils when I sing. The idea of accessing that nasopharyngeal space really seems important to me and like something I don't do well enough. When I do, I sing better.