Mariah Lesson Summary 10/24

Mariah Lesson Summary 10/24
     I felt fairly prepared for my lesson, but I wish I had memorized my songs a little more so when I did them with the accompaniment I could practice them completely memorized. Also, I think I could have gone over the intros and interludes more to have a better sense of what the accompaniment was going to be like.
     We began my lesson by going over a couple of my song analysis forms and I handed in my last one, "D'un Genio." We also discussed what my pass-off lesson is going to be like next week and Laurie reminded me of all that I needed to have done. Then we went into some vocalizes. We talked a lot about keeping the space. On the exercise when I pull my tongue out, it kept wanting to retract in and I was having a hard time connecting with my body. She suggested to work on that exercise every day. I then sang through Music for a While with her playing because I hadn't sung it with the accompaniment before. From the recording, I sounded really tight on this song. I wonder if it was partly because I was just focusing too much on getting my entrances right. We moved on to Clair de Lune and we started by working on my French a bit. She suggested going to Spotify and listening to a lady on there speaking French to help me understand the accent better. I had a really hard time coming in at the right times for this song because I hadn't done this song with the accompaniment before either. I sang through it with her playing a few times to get the feel of it a little better and then we moved on to This Little Rose. My entrances had issues on this song as well. Laurie suggested to work with the phrasing and dynamics more as well. My high notes were very weak going through these songs so we decided for me to sing "Clair de Lune" and "This Little Rose" in a lower key.
     One of the key things I learned for this lesson was that I need to work on my entrances quite a bit for "Music for a While," "Clair de Lune," and "This Little Rose." I also need to do the tongue exercise more in my practice to help stop that retraction and to connect more with my body.
     My goal for my next lesson is to have it ALL memorized, including the poems and literal translations.
New Vocalizes
4 inhaled ks, kaa
descending on different vowels
na ni na ni
honndoo i oo i oo i oo i
wobbly ah, light on top heavier on bottom
siren up stop siren down with body