RECORD:
We began by stretching.
S: How does your voice feel today?
K: Good, I haven't really sung today.
S: No dryness or icky-ness brought on by the wet weather?
K: Nope, I had a bit a sore throat at the beginning of the week but it went away fast.
S: Good! Ok let's start with some lip buzzes. (I had her do some unvoiced and then added pitch. I jumped all over the keyboard. I noticed that she was very hunch over.) Will you stand against the wall with your arms up? (She did it.) Why do you think I had you do this?
K: I am assuming to open up my chest.
S: Yep! It is a good way to counteract that tendency to hunch over. Let's do some warm ups in this position, let's do the mmmm, mi descending five. (I demonstrated and she did a bunch. I chose this to open up the sound and to release it a bit. She was still fairly tight even up against the wall.) Ok shake it out, let's do a few toaster shoulders. Ok let's do some more and see if we can keep that up feeling without being against the wall. (She did some.) Good, I like how you are very up! (She did more) How did those feel?
K: I feel like I am kind of struggling today for breath.
S: The thing that I liked about those is that they were very present and the posture looked good. You were energized and alert. Let's figure out how to connect you to your lower breath. I want you to sit in this chair and reach for the leg of the piano (It is kind of like the thing Cindy does where you reach across to the other person.) Do you feel that pull through the back? (I did it along side her to demonstrate) Let's just do a few un-pitched "Sh's" (I demonstrated and we did a few) Where are you feeling your breath now?
K: I felt it here (pointed to stomach).
S: Good, I want to do a few more and notice if you feel it through your back. I always imagining the air escaping through a hole in your back. (We did some) Does that makes sense?
K: Ya.
S: Let's do some warm ups in this position, Let's do 1-3-5-3-1 on an ah. Thing of it as fluidly as you can, one note melting into the next. (She did some.) Take a nice breath in. (She did a bunch. Probably too many.) I liked that one, it was more connected and fluid. Alright let go of the leg, shake it out a bit. Let's do some sighs on ooh. (I wanted her to release her sound more and not push so I had her do this one. She did a bunch, but was still having trouble releasing) It can be as light as you want, it doesn't have to be loud. (She did another and it was a lot better) I liked that. I noticed that when you do it a little bit softer from the beginning it was more released. When you are singing that high you can use that lighter voice to build up your stamina. (I should have said childlike. She did another) That one was good but not quite as good as the other one) Good, now see if you can go even higher. (She did a few.) I like that light voice, that is what we will use to extend your range higher. Let's do an ooh, pantomiming the top note and then descending. (I demonstrated, she did some.) Did you feel how that one stuck a bit?
K: Ya...am I breathing in on an Ooh?
S: Yes, and then pantomiming that first note. (She did more. ) Ok, let's work on a piece. Somewhere Over the Rainbow?
K: Yes.
S: Alright. I kind of want to take a different approach to it. We have talked a lot about the technique to help you through this piece, but I am curious to look at this in a different. I think a lot of technical problems get fixed when we just sing from our heart. So I want to look at this piece and kind of figure out who you are, what you are singing about and what this piece means. What do you envision with this song?
K: It is definitely a song of hope, that there is something better. I kind of envision it as a general view of hope. I don't envision myself as Dorothy. It is like keep going cause there is something better on the other side.
S: I like that. Hope is a good word. What are two other words that you can use? (I waited for a bit and she couldn't really think of anything so I jumped in) To me this is a song of freedom. I loved the Wizard of Oz growing up and I always envision Dorothy out in the field singing this, with total freedom. I think that word will help your singing voice as well. Another word?
K: It is....just about hoping for the better and knowing it will come.
S: So is optimism a good word?
K: Ya, that is probably the best word.
S: Ok now I want you to sing it with those words in your head...Hope, Optimism and Freedom. Breath these words in before you start and just sing it don't think about being perfect. (She did it.)How did that feel?
K: It felt alright.
S: What percentage did you feel you committed to those words?
K: 75ish.
S: Ok let's shoot for 99%! Make it personal, make it about you! What are your hopes and dreams? What do you wish for? You are getting married in a few weeks, think about that dream that is coming true! (She did it again. As she sang it sounded good and she had more conviction but it still wasn't what I knew she could do) I liked that, that was closer to the 99. I liked that all the pitches were correct and that you were more committed. How did you feel?
K: I liked it but not until after the jump at the beginning.
S: This time, I want you to sit in this chair and imagine that you are telling a story to a bunch of children. I am seeing the emotion in your eyes but not in your face. So this is just a way to try to get you to be more animated. This song is joy! Feel that joy in your body as well. I am not going to watch so you do whatever it is that you need to do to find that joy and excitement ok. Then I will ask you how it went so be prepared for that. (She sang it again) How did it feel?
K: A lot better.
S: It was natural and free!
K: I felt a lot more comfortable.
S: Exactly and your words came out more as well. Your diction was great. Notice how we didn't talk about anything technical we just thought about the meaning and it helped you be more free. Well done!
REACTIONS:
I feel like I am still very unsure of how to approach things with Kathy so I kind of threw the rule book out today and went with a different approach, I think that it worked well and helped her. I think that the ooh's also helped her to let her voice be light and larynx low. I feel like there is a lot of tension in Kathy that I still don't know how to approach. She pushes a lot and I am not sure how to combat that. I also noticed that she has a tendency to scoop from note to note, so I think I need to spend some time in trying to get rid of that. I will probably use more staccato exercises with her. I think I could also move from vocalize to vocalize faster. There were a few vocalizes that I did for too long because I wanted to see if she would self correct. She didn't most of the time so I think I need to build up her model more. I need to figure out what does and doesn't work for Kathy, I feel like I can't quite get a hold on what is helping her or not. I need to experiment with her more to find things that work.
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