Emily F. lesson 2/19

Emily F. lesson 2/19: I came to the lesson having warmed up some, but it was a weird morning so I wasn't as prepared as I usually am. My mind was scattered and slow. We started with some cross-over exercises and energy work. Then Laurie had me do a low, primal "uh" ascending into a 54321 on [o]. We did the wobble all over the range. I did inhale on [u], thinking 8, singing 5432123454321, then on [i]. Laurie had me tuck my top lip down under my front teeth and sing [u] on 1854321, then [i], then [u] again. Then I did pencil mouth [i] on 123454321, and reached A5.  We did [vi ni] on 13-35-58-85-53-31, then on [vo no], then back to [vi ni]. My accompanist came, so we started working on "Mandoline". Laurie asked me to sing with lots of facial lift, going so far as to tell me that if I needed to think "singing in the mask" that I should do it for now, even though she wouldn't normally say that. I was struggling with my phrasing and breath management. She had me try [bip] again. I had difficulty navigating the French. I'd been speaking through it lots, but French just takes me a long time to get comfortable in. I needed to work on my internal image. I had a scene in my mind, but it didn't include me. It was kind of an abstract picture, so I then I changed it to think of a scene that wasn't exact, but something relate-able. I was much more focused, with better connection and sound, but it took a ton of effort to be able to really "see" my picture and maintain it while singing. Laurie noticed some weirdness in my mouth/jaw/lips with some of my vowels. I practiced going from [u] to [ø] and [y]. I was having trouble keeping space and consistency when switching vowels. I watched my face in the mirror, and I was indeed doing weird things. Practicing in the mirror was helpful. I ran through "Die Mainacht" with my accompanist, Laurie coaching Brooklynn with how to play the piece. Overall, I felt really sluggish and off. It may have been hormonal, or because of just recovering from my cold, or emotional. I don't know, but it wasn't a free, easy lesson. My goals for the week are to continue exercising and alignment, drinking water, and preparing my songs for NATS.