Mariah MC 10/15

Mariah MC 10/15
Brooke Meyers
Brooke has a very rich, full and mature timbre. Brooke seemed to have balloon breathing, but her breaths did not fill up as much as they could. Her jaw was dropped for the most part but seemed tight on "ee" vowels. She also seemed a little constricted on her o vowels also. Her high note was lovely but didn't seem to connect with the rest of the piece. She tended to turn her head to reach her high notes which Cindy helped her with. Cindy had her distract herself on the high notes by flopping her head down so she wouldn't be tempted to turn it to the side. This really helped Brooke's sound. Cindy talked about bringing the sound from your mind to your mouth and not from your throat to your mouth. She also had Brooke speak "ee uh" and then sing. They also did the ghost exercise to help reach Brooke's upper voice more freely. Brooke's sound improved a lot and I think she can continue to work on distracting herself and speaking before singing.
Laekin Burgess
Laekin has a lovely timbre: clear and fluttering and good intonation. She tended to shift from side to side and played with her hands and jacket a lot when she got nervous. During masterclass, Cindy taught to that counting intros can be dangerous. She had Laekin "sing" something during the intro to help her remember where to come in. This helped Laekin's entrances. For the most part, they worked on the song and not expression but Laekin's expression in the beginning started out very well, but she could go even further with it. Laekin has a great timbre and I think these exercises will really help her entrances.
Emily Floyd
Emily did very well in introducing her name and song. She had a pleasant expression while singing, but her sound was a little quiet. Her breaths were low but seemed quick and shallow. Her jaw was a little tense on ee vowels and her sound was a somewhat constricted on "ay" sounds. Cindy helped Emily work on speaking the text and transferring that sound to singing. Emily spoke the words very well; her voice was lovely and tender.  Cindy had her speak the text in a higher voice and try to still sound like herself. After this exercise, Emily had a great tone to her voice. Cindy advised to talk ten times before you sing, break the song into chunks and work on having refined and precise vowels. When Emily can fully translate the sound of her speaking voice to her singing voice, I think this will really help her overall sound.