Emily F. Sarah F. lesson record/reactions for 2/6

Emily F. Sarah F. lesson record/reactions for 2/6:
E: Have you practiced?
S: Not really.
E: What have you been doing in choir?
S: Mostly five-note scales up and down.
E: How is your body feeling?
S: Well, my throat has been feeling yucky. I have a cold.
E: Alright, let's try some yawning. [I modeled yawning, and she was resistant to trying what I was asking. She was feeling self-conscious. So I asked her to vocalize a descending [u]. She was trying pretty hard and had a quite high larynx. Her voice was resisting.] I want you to picture your throat being this big open tube. [She continued the exercise and it was improved. I then asked her to hum-chew and she had a really hard time with that as well. She felt silly, and was trying hard again, but this time she tried to apply herself better. I modeled it for her and was silly with it, and I think that helped her free her inhibitions some. I taught her the inhaled k exercise. I let her experiment for a little while, asking her to try it without moving her body so much, because she was caving in her chest and pulling back.] What do you feel in your throat when you do that inhaled k?
S: Um, nothing in my throat except cold air.
E: That's good. That's what I want you to feel. It should feel open. [Then I added a quick 8-5-3-1 immediately following two inhaled ks, beginning on C5, then D5, E5. I noticed her pausing between the inhale and the singing, so I asked her to make it an immediate transition. I tried to play the arpeggio with better timing and faster so she could follow easier, and I modeled again. It was better. We did E5, F5, then back down to C5, D5, E5, F5 again. She got better as the vocalize went on and her sound was fairly free. I remembered that I wanted to work on breathing.] Take a nice deep breath, and tell me where you feel that breath.
S: Where should I feel my breath?
E: Just tell me what you feel. [I watched her breathe and her whole upper body rose.]
S: Um, my chest. [I asked her to sit on the exercise ball and lean over her legs, then breathe again. She said she felt her breath in her abdomen. I had her try the squat breath. That didn't seem very effective. We moved back to the ball. I put my hands on her lower back and asked her to breathe and if she felt her breath in her back. She agreed that she did. I asked her to sit up straight, still on the ball, and asked her to imagine breathing into her back. She was still raising her shoulders quite a bit, so I gently put my hands on her shoulders and had her try again. She was able to get some low breaths.] What do you know about the lungs and breathing?
S: Um, the lungs get big when you breathe in and smaller when you breathe out.
E: Good, do you know where they are in your body? And what happens to the rest of your body when you breathe in? [I gave a brief explanation, asking her questions as we went, about the action and nature of breathing. I used my hands to illustrate what goes on, and it seemed pretty effective. We talked about the diaphragm, ribs, and visceral displacement. We talked about the relationship of the lungs to the shoulders and collarbone.] A lot of times when we think about breathing in, we raise our chest, but we don't have to! So, I don't want you to think about keeping your shoulders still, but think of allowing the air to fill your back and lower body. Breathing through my nose makes it easier for me to take a low breath. [I asked Sarah to stay on the ball and we went back to inhaled k with 8-5-3-1 on C5, D5.] Ok, this time I want you to just let the air come in. It'll come in when you need it, you don't have to suck or force it in. The k can make that hard, but just let it come in. [Same vocalize, E5, F5. I had her do a few repetitions there at F5.] Good. I liked that last one the best. There was a lot less movement in your chest.
S: Oh, really? [I asked her to try [ssai] on any descending tone. She was tense through jaw and neck, so I asked her to let her jaw fall open on the [a]. Then she was trying to make it sound pretty, but it was airy and disconnected, so I asked her to make it an ugly cry. We practiced crying for a bit. That was hard for her. We went back to a quiet [ssai].] Good. What do you feel in your body when you do that?
S: Well, I feel some tensing in my abs.
E: Aha. A lot of times we think about singing from here (larynx) and that's it. But what we want is to feel like we're singing from here (core) and feel nothing here (larynx).
S: Oh. [puzzled, amazed face]
E: Yeah, that's something we all struggle to figure out. But the cry is really good for that because you can feel it in your body. [I asked her to hold the [ssai] out for a long time. We moved on to 1-3-5 on lip trill, open to [a] on 8 with a major third trill/flip (Tarzan), back down 5-3-1 beginning on C4. I modeled a couple of times, then let her try a couple times. It was a little messy, pitch-wise, but the overall technique was what I was looking for. Her [a] at the top was fairly free and clear.] What did you feel in your body?
S: Let me try it again. [she did.] It felt strong in my core.
E: Did you like that?
S: Yeah. [We did a few more, C4, C#4. She lost the connection, so asked her to just try lip trill on random pitch for a little bit. This is hard for her. She gushes out air, her lips are really flappy, and a little bit of sound comes out. I tried a couple ways to get her to improve it. I asked her to have more [u] in her lips, more pout in her lips, sing it quieter. I didn't know how to help her. I asked her for more pitch, less air. I asked her to try a staccato [bi] with pouty duck lips. We both got a kick out of how silly we looked.]
E: Ok, what song do you want to work on?
S: I really want to sing "Let it go" from "Frozen".
E: Well, we'll need to get the music, but for now let's just try singing the chorus. [I picked a middle pitch between what we each wanted, starting at E4. She sang a couple lines, and the sound was diffuse and airy. (I did think "buckshot" just like you said about my singing, Cindy.) I asked her to sing it ugly and forward, in her "nyah-nyah" voice. This made her do really weird stuff--a strange combination of forward and swallowed--I don't even know how she did it!] What did you feel when you first started singing?
S: It felt tight (larynx/ neck).
E: Then when you sang it ugly?
S: Like, back. [my guess was bunchy tongue]
E: Let's try a couple different  things: sing it like a little girl. [not effective] Ok. How about "ni-ni" [not effective] Ok. With your head back a little on "i". [not effective] Ok. Tip your head down a little, and sing on "i".
S: Oh, I liked that one!
E: What did you like about it?
S: Um, like, it didn't feel like it was in the front of my face, so it was like, back, but not gross.
E: Not swallowed?
S: Yes. [I asked her to sing the phrase standing on one foot, head down, on "i".]
E: Ok. That was my favorite so far. The first one was a little airy, the other ones sounded kind of swallowed. This one sounded a lot more open, and more focused. [I asked her to continue the song, being comfortable, switching feet if necessary, and feeling free to move if she wanted. She sang a little bit, and I realized asking her to sing on just [i] was probably difficult, so I asked her to add a [b] to each syllable. It was improved. As she continued, the connection got lost. I stopped and asked her to add a low "uh" groan before the phrase. We were past time, so I asked her to practice lip trill, staccato [bi] with duck lips, and paying attention to how she feels when she sings her song. She asked me some strategies for dealing with a tired voice in school choir. I recommended swallowing, releasing and relaxing shoulders, neck, and jaw, and taking breaks when she needs to.]
Lesson reactions: I'm pleasantly surprised at the progress we made today. Sarah came in with a lazy and uncooperative attitude, but left asking questions and laughing. I'm happy about that. I felt like I might not have done enough vocalizes, and maybe not far enough through her range. But I'm pleased that we were able to discover some things together, and that Sarah finally started feeling and paying attention to what is going on in her body when she sings. I think the lip trill can be a very effective exercise for her, but she really has a hard time with it. Do you have suggestions for how to help her do that more efficiently? Overall it was a good lesson, much better than I expected.