RECORD:
We started like I did with Dacy a few days ok: I had her close her eyes and check in with her body. I asked her where she felt tense and if she had any soreness anywhere. She told me her neck and upper back so we stretched those out accordingly. I next had her sit on a chair and do the same thing with her voice. I asked her where she was that day with her voice and how it felt. She said it felt normal and the only singing she did was in the car. I had her stay seated as we began our vocalizes, I checked her posture and had her fix a few things in order to make her posture more erect.
S: Let's start with.....lip buzzes. Can you just do one without pitch? (She did) Good now let's take a nice breath in and do another. (We did it together.) Think that you are smelling something really strong and take a nice breath in and then go. (We did another) Good. That is a really good way to get in touch with your breath. That deep smell in let's the air just come right is. The lip buzzes can only happen if the air is consistent so that is also a way to detect how in touch you are with your low breath. I want you to go again and this time think about your breath and record how it feels. (She did) How did it feel?
K: It felt pretty good. I was trying to keep it low and it felt pretty low. There were a few times when it went a little higher and I did run out at the end. I think I started out well but then fell out of it.
S: Any constriction?
K: Nope!
S: Ok let's add pitch to it. (I wanted to see if she could do it healthily before adding pitch once she had it I added the pitch. We did a bunch and I kept trying to remind her of her breath..."You are smelling in a bouquet of flowers from your fiance". I took her all around the keyboard and noticed that her onset was very abrupt. I told her to buzz without pitch and then come in as seamlessly as possible. It helped a bit but she still had an occasionally abruptness.) Let's have you stand now. Let's do "sh" "sh" sha. (I thought this may help with her onset if she had a sh before it.) Can you just "sh" like someone is being too loud in the library? Good. Where did you feel it?
K: Right here (pointing to her chest)
S: Can you think a bit lower in your body and ground the sound more? (She did it again)
K: Now I feel it lower.
S: See how that feels more energized? (She nodded) Ok let's do "Sh" "Sh" Shaa on a descending five (I demonstrated. She did a bunch jumping around the keyboard. She had one that kind of got stuck at the top. I told her to think about the pitch and she was doing the "Sh"'s and then come in. I played the note while she spoke the sh's and then she came in) Good. I liked that one because it didn't stick as much. Ok next, I want you to take a breath of surprise. Can you feel it opening up your body?
K: Yes. (We did a few)
S: I want you to do that breath of surprise and then sing Mi (1-3-5-3-1) on staccato. (I demonstrated. I thought this would be good because her onsets were pretty harsh and her sound was a bit forced. We did some but they were still pretty forced. I had her "mmmm" and move her lips around before she came in. The entrance were a bit clearer. We did a bunch) Good, those are really nice, present and supported! I am gonna introduce something new here (I did this because her jaw was still very tense) You know how old people fall asleep with there mouth open and their head tilted back? I want you to do that. Your jaw should feel so relaxed, like you are sleeping and there is drool coming out. I want you to tilt it back before you come in and then bring it forward. Trying to keep that jaw in the same relaxed place. Then sing a descending 5-3-1 on ah. (Demonstrated. It helped loosen her a jaw a bit but her sound was still pretty forced.) Can you make every note feel like it is melting into the next? (She did it) Let's try it again thinking about the melting. (She did it) That one was good, did you feel that connection? (She nodded. Next I tried to get her to talk in pleasant voice to help free her sound up a bit. She was too embarrassed so we did some sighs. I had her take it has high as she could.) You made it up to an E! Now I want you to do the ah's on that E. (She did it, it was pretty tense still) Remember how when we did the Ah's it was so nice and light, try to bring that quality into the vocalize. (She did it and it was still kind of sticking. I had her add the mmmm to it before and it came out better.) Good, that is starting to free up a bit. I think you have a higher range than you think you do. One of my goals is to find sounds that you make natural and comfortable in the high range and then get you there in your vocalizes. So we will do a bit of that each lesson. Let's work on a song!
K: Let's do Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
S: I want you to lean forward and slowly move up as you sing (I demonstrated.) When you take your next breath drop again and move slowly up. (I thought this may help to free her up a bit. She did it and was still very tenative on that octave leap) Let's try it again....Let's go a bit faster and think that your roll up is propelling you up to that high note. (She did so) Did that feel different or sound different to you?
K: Ya, but I still don't feel like I have enough breath.
S: What I noticed that second time was that there was more energy propelling that octave jump. But yes, it is hard to feel your breath connection when doing this! Let's try it again, upright. (I told her the diver analogy. I had her bounce for a second like she was on the edge of the diving board) Take a nice breath in. Feel it?
K: Ya, I bet it down here.
S: Was it expansive or just in your stomach?
K: Mostly in the stomach but a bit in the back.
S: Think of the air lifting you up and dropped onto that top note. It isn't something you have to reach up to or push at. (She did it. It still was sticking.) You got this, think energy energy! Do your diving board bounce. (She did and it was lots better) Do you notice a different?
K: Ya, that felt good.
S: Good, that was great. Let's keep going. (She sang a longer phrase) How did it feel?
K: Good, but I still didn't think I had the breath at the beginning.
S: I liked that it was present, and clear. What I saw was the locking down of the body. I am trying to figure out what is tense. Let's just do it and pretend like you are doing a hulu hoop. Move that torso and she if that loosens everything up a bit. (She did it) Did that feel more relaxed?
K: It felt better then the time before.
S: Yes, it was better. I think there is still some locking down there but I am not sure! I want you to concentrate this week on singing freely, and just letting the sound come out whether it is good or bad and I will study up and think of some ideas that will help loosen the body up a bit more ok?
REACTIONS:
I feel like I am still struggling a bit with how to help Kathy. I can't quite pin down what it is that I need to do to help her. Her sound is pressed and forced. I think I need to do more with primal sounds to get her larynx low. I also need to find a way to successfully get her to release her jaw....I am not sure what that will be though. I think she is clamping down on the sound and not letting it be free. I am not entirely sure what to do to make her relax and just let the sound out. Suggestions? I think the "mmmm" chew helped her a bit, especially with onsets so that was good. Like with Dacy's lesson this week, I realized I need to be better at answer questions, even when it breaks my train of thought. I think it was a poor move to tell her that she was locking down her body...now she it probably going to do it more than before. I should have told her the desired behaviors instead of what was happening. My bad!!! I haven't quite figured out how to help Kathy yet or what kind of a learner she is. I need to keep experimenting and playing around with different techniques to hopefully help her!
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