Mariah MC 10/1

Mariah MC 10/1
Amber Denslow
Amber boldy sang a very difficult piece for master class this week and did quite well with it. Her timbre was clear and glassy but somewhat breathy throughout. Her intonation was off at times, but this is very difficult without accompaniment. A specific moment that was weaker than the rest was when she went high on the word "still." Her diction started out great in the beginning but became less clear as she continued through the song. During master class, Cindy helped her have stronger intonation in the song. She had Amber focus on always having intervals that belong to a scale even if it may be the wrong scale at the moment. They worked with having a drone in mind where Amber can revert back to to stay on pitch. Cindy also had Amber make short breaks between the intervals to help clarify them more and to practice very clear rhythm.  Amber was able to improve her intonation significantly throughout the masterclass. Three main things Cindy suggested that Amber work on were to practice in different keys, locate tonal centers and practice without consonants.

Ben Shaw
Ben had a very powerful sound, especially on his higher notes for his song in masterclass. His intonation and diction were good but he seemed to have some bucket breathing throughout and looked as if he was holding his breath at times between phrases. During masterclass, Cindy had Ben sit on a chair and fold over to show that he was breathing in his upper back more than in his lower back. She also said that he tended to have "breath farts" where he would let go of a rush of air quickly instead of having constant breath from the beginning. She also had him fold over into the rag doll position and drop his head to help release some tension. Ben needs to work on freeing muscles that don't need to be working while singing. Once Ben breathes more with his lower abdomen than in his upper back, I think his sound will be much more rich and vibrant.