Mariah Master Class 9/10

Mariah Master Class 9/10
Hannah Lovato
Hannah had nice balloon breathing and good intonation. She had a rich and vibrant timbre that was feminine and lovely. Her diction was fine, but I think it could be more clear. Since she was still learning the song, she was more focused on the music than expressing the piece. She tended to give it away with her facial expressions when she messed up. Her posture was somewhat slumped and she held her head too far down to look at her music. This problem was addressed in master class, though, by holding the music up or raising the stand to help her stand up straighter. Hannah's lower notes weren't quite as strong as her higher ones, so it was suggested to build more strength in her lower register by keeping her teeth apart and creating more space inside her mouth.  During master class, Hannah worked on trying to keep her teeth apart while singing and holding her fingers on her cheeks to help with this technique. Hannah worked on this and lowering her jaw. Her voice is very beautiful and the song is coming along well.

Taylee Beckstead
Taylee was very into character right away when the music began. She had some balloon and some bucket breathing. During the second half of the song, she had a few loud breaths. Her intonation and diction was fine but her timbre was a bit dry on her higher notes. She tended to not be very connected during the interludes of the song. Her eyebrows instantly raised when she began to sing after an interlude instead of growing into the emotion. Taylee tended to move her shoulders up and down from right to left while singing. She also fiddled with her thumbs and bounced her knee. These were all subtle but they were a bit distracting instead of useful movements to express the song. During master class, Cindy showed that Taylee was moving her upper back while breathing. She had Taylee do the gorilla exercise to loosen up while standing upright. Taylee also worked on not scooping on her consonants by singing "bup bup bup bup" and then going into the word. Taylee improved during master class, but she could continue to work on these techniques.

LaeKin Burgess
LaeKin had a fluttering timbre but was somewhat constricted. Her breathing seemed shallow and her intonation was good but a bit off on her higher notes. Her expression was good, but there could be more variety. Even in a sad song, there are some hopeful moments that can be expressed to show contrast and emphasize the sadder moments even more. She also tended to look down to get her emotion instead of changing to a different focal point in the audience. During master class, when she was advised to have a more confident posture, she instantly had more confident singing. She also practiced an exercise where she would flop down on her intake of breath and then rise while singing. At first she was still a bit stiff on the release, but she improved and was able to let her head flop along with the rest of her body. This exercise helped her to have a more open, full timbre.