Emily C., Listening Assignment 4, 2/27/14

Emily C., Listening Assignment 4, 2/27/14

“Les berceaux”

When her arms stay behind her back, this contributes to her low sternum (but even as her arms return to normal, it stays low). Her shoulders are slumped in, and her head is straining upward. She constantly shifts her weight and can’t seem to find a balanced position. Inhalation is accompanied by an upward heaving gesture from her waist up, and as soon as she starts to sing, she collapses again. It almost looks as though her abs contract upon inhalation, which is counterproductive. Her head looks “stuck” on her neck and very tense. 

Her ends of phrases in particular seemed to be pushed/straining to squeeze out any air available in the lungs because of her initial “breath farting” at the beginnings of each phrase. Her higher notes were shaky and tense because of this “squeezing” as well. 

"Sebben crudele”

The first thing I noticed was that his head started out pushed forward, out over his sternum. He needs to work on A-O joint balance. As soon as his singing stops (this is evident after the first phrase), he releases and goes into a much better posture for singing. Everything—his neck/head, shoulders, sternum—align much better during the wait than when he’s singing. He also shifts his weight around a lot. When he’s running out of breath, he leans backward, which is another method for “squeezing out” the last bit of air to last through the phrase (I’ve done this before…). 

I think the most detrimental postural issue is his A-O joint balance (or lack thereof). It means his neck muscles have to work to keep his head up, and that results in a slightly pressed sound. I think his vibrato could come out more if he released this tension. 

“Roadside Fire”

His shoulders are rolled forward and his sternum is low. I’m guessing that his abdominal muscles and back muscles are firm throughout this entire song; I feel like his inhalation isn’t as deep as it could be because of that. On quick breaths, his breath is especially audible and there’s an upward twitch of his shoulders. I get the feeling from watching him that he’s really stiff from the knees up. When he moves, it’s not a flexible/free movement; it’s a tense, stick-like movement. 

Because of his tensed abdominal muscles, his tone sounds pressed, shallow, and tense; it sounds like he’s constantly flailing for air the way he’s breathing. He’d sound so much better if he could get a deeper inhale.