First of all, can I say what a HUGE difference it is having the recording from Cindy's new recording device versus her computer or my own voice recorder. The sound quality is infinitely better with her new device and I can actually hear the subtleties in the voice and the quality very clearly whereas my own device doesn't really cover that. So, anyone not yet doing it get an SD card and bring it to your lessons. The quality of the recording makes a difference!
We began with an 'aah-eh-aah-eh" exercise with a focus on keeping open space in the back of the mouth on both vowels. The 'ah' had good space but the 'eh' sound wasn't as open and resonant. At first I noticed my tongue would rise on the 'eh' vowel and I would lose a little space. I will work on that more...
We spent a lot of time on posture. I tend to slouch with my shoulders and I have a closed chest versus the open and strong 'tarzan' stance I should have when I'm singing. Cindy gave me a lot of exercises to help my posture (raise my shoulders, pull them back, and let them drop).
We did an exercise that went totally over my head and I don't think I came close to achieving the purpose of it. We did arpeggios on 'beep-beep-beep' with a focus on pinginess and keeping a stretchy feeling in front of the ears. I'm not sure I did much beyond get tighter but it's an exercise I want to keep trying to figure out.
We worked on another one of my italian pieces and focused on giving even, tall vowels to every word. We also focused on keeping the molars apart and not chewing my consonants. I tend to chew and lose my molar space when I add consonants. I let the text dictate my jaw position. I'm going to practice speaking my text with molar space. Even better, I should just inject my face with novacaine and force my jaw to relax and hang open and practice like that.
Hi Luke. the tongue will rise some when going to a more closed vowel. The key is not to let the tongue bunch up. let's talk more about this in your lesson.
ReplyDelete