Student: April A.
gender: female
age: 23
Experience: sang in choir growing up.
Since April is my room mate, I didn't begin with an introduction. I explained to her that these lessons would be for the benefit of learning in my vocal pedagogy class, and that we would meet 7 times throughout the semester for a half hour each. Then I told her that there would also be an opportunity for me to teach a mini lesson in front of the class on February 14, where I could get instant feedback on my teaching.
Next, we had the questionnaire:
Q: What are your singing goals?
A: To become more comfortable with my voice, and be more confident while singing. I forgot a solo in choir in HS, and since, I haven't felt confident while singing in public.
Q: What is your previous singing experience?
A: I sang at school in choir. I haven't had any formal voice training, though.
Q: What kind of songs do you enjoy singing?
A: Church, country, and folk songs. I don't enjoy singing opera or higher songs, because I don't feel comfortable holding my voice out for a long time.
What do you hope to gain from studying with me?
A: Confidence while singing in church and in front of other people
Are you aware of any specific vocal problems you have?
A: No.
Any health concerns I should be aware of?
A: I have heart problems, but breathing isn't a problem unless I've been running or climbing a lot of stairs.
Do you play any instruments?
A: No. I tried playing the clarinet for two weeks, but I stopped because my instrument was old, and I lost interest. I don't read music very well, but I have picked up a little bit from singing in church.
What are your hobbies or pursuits?
A: Horseback riding, cooking, reading.
What do you like about your voice?
A: I like that it sometimes sounds whole. It's warm and round when I sing lower like in the men's parts. Sometimes it gets more breathy, and I don't like that so much.
Do you do a lot of speaking at your job? Does your voice ever feel tired after a day of work?
A: When I am teaching, yes. However, I only teach occasionally. My voice is only tired when I haven't drank enough water.
What kind of family dynamic did you come from?
A: A loud family. I felt like I had to be loud to be heard over my sister growing up. I'm not a quiet person. I often realize when in public that I need to not be so loud.
April then sang "Country Roads" accapella.
My notes that I made while she was singing were:
1. her stance and posture looked nervous and not upright. She was shifting her weight and swaying.
2. breath was shallow, and didn't seem connected to her lower body.
3. voice in return was not connected to the breath.
4. pitch wasn't ever really exact, and seemed to lack tonal clarity.
5. She was primarily using her modal or chest voice and bringing it up in the higher range of the song.
6. timbre was breathy, flat, and lacked depth.
7. although, she did seem like she was swaying and moving to the music.
My verbal reaction to her song: "Thank you for being brave and singing for me. I really liked how you had fun during your performance. That is something that a lot of singers forget to do, so great job!"
I then asked her:
Q: What did you like about your performance?
A: I like the song. I have a hard time finding where to start singing, without music or someone playing. I feel like when I stand up and start singing my voice automatically goes higher because that's how I sang when I was younger. I liked it, I know that I don't have an amazing voice, but I enjoy my voice. I also liked how I could move to it.
I then said: "Okay great! Well I think that we can definitely make some goals for you and your voice. Let's start with the basics, so we can help you look and feel confident while singing."
1. Confidence in posture and stance
2. Low easy and free breathing
3. Letting the sound come out freely (matching pitch).
4. Learn to read music more efficiently.
"These goals are the building blocks of singing. And are a great place to start when beginning formal voice lessons."
The next half of the lesson we worked on different exercises.
Q: How do you think you should stand when you sing?
A: Standing up, not crossing your legs or hunching over.
"Right! We should be upright with a confident and loose posture so that our voice can travel freely. I want you to pretend as if you have a string connected to the top of your head, and it is holding you up. That's how your posture should feel when you are singing."
"So while we are keeping this ready and free posture, our breath should feel like it is easy and free as well. Breathing while singing is a little different than everyday breathing. We don't want to have movement in our upper body, or have our shoulders rise up. For now, I want you to pretend as if you have a swimming tube around your belly. When you breath in this tube will inflate. This breath should feel connected to your lower body."
I then had her lay on the floor, so her posture was upright while she was laying, and she could watch the movement in her shoulders while she breathed. I told her to breath in and inflate the swimming tube, and then exhale on a "sss". I told her to try this three times a day, and see how long she could sustain the air after a week.
I then asked her to stand and try some vocalizes. I asked her to say "No. never. no." and then follow along with the pitches I played on the piano. I began at A440 and spelled out the triad and octave in a descending pattern. I felt like she engaged herself when speaking, but when she sang she didn't match pitch at all. I realized, maybe that this might be too advanced, so I stopped the exercise and asked her to sigh a little bit, and yawn. We did this a few minutes to find release in the articulators.
Next I decided to test her hearing. I told her that I would play her a pitch, and I wanted her to think the pitch, and then when she was ready I wanted her to sing that pitch on an "ah". I began on E329.63 and found that she wasn't on pitch. The timbre seemed really breathy and lacked clarity. I asked her to try it again at D293.66, I had the same result. I wasn't sure what to so I concluded the lesson, and gave her the takeaways of:
1. Feeling like there is a string attached to the top of her head.
2. low easy and free breath (swimming tube).
3. sighing and yawning to release the jaw, tongue, and mouth.
Some personal feedback for myself after listening to the lesson:
1. I need to be more energetic. I felt normal and alert during the lesson, but I sound really dreary and lacking energy in the recording. Having energy is important not only in my practice but also in my teaching.
2. I need to practice having an awareness of what's going on beyond my hearing.
3. I need to be more direct and take out unnecessary explanations, and allow the student to process the information.
Subsequent information:
1. I'm unsure of how to gently tell April that she can't match pitch.
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