Lesson Transcript:
First we stretched and massaged tension in our backs and jaws while discussing his singing for the week. Sam had been working on some songs that day, mostly rock. He had not warmed up before hand. I told him that the best thing he could do for his voice was to warm up every morning in the shower or before his first class so that his voice was ready for the demands of the day. I asked him how his singing went, what he liked and problems he encountered. He said that he liked finding music in his range. He didn't have any particular problems.
Then I tried a posture experiment. Instead of directing his posture step by step, I demonstrated aligned posture and had him imitate what I did. Either his posture was fabulous to begin with (which is definitely possible) or it worked really well! His sternum was raised, his knees were not locked, his hips were not back or too far forward, and his head was floating on top of his neck. I felt like his shoulders looked tense but he said they felt fine. I even gave his arm a shove to see if he was holding his neck stiffly and his head was all wobbley! I was really impressed.
Next we started warming up.
-We did some yawns first, and I was pleased that he has not shied away from singing in his falsetto since the first time we discussed it.
-After a few yawn stretch combos, we did some chewy descending triads. I started in D major and then descended down to A flat major. Then I went back up to E flat major and then down. I commented that I liked the way he was not singing loudly or softly, but was allowing the sound to be what it was. I told him that this warm up is easy on the voice and should not be pressed or squeezed and he seamed to understand very well. He was getting a nicely focused sound to my ears. We continued to descend down to A flat again.
-Then we did some [bi bi bi bi bi] descending five note scales starting on C major this time. I noticed that Sam was bouncing his shoulders up and down for each syllable. I asked him to stand and look in the mirror and tell me what he noticed. He didn't catch on to what I was looking for. I asked him if he noticed that he was doing that and he said he was trying to keep time. I teased him about that a little and then told him to keep his metronome inside his head. I also explained that, as singers, we have to pay attention to the way our bodies are moving when we sing. When we sing, the audiences eyes are on us the entire time, and any movements will be noticed, so they had better be intentional and reflect what we are thinking and singing about. He fixed the bouncing. As we descended down to G2 Sam got a shocked look on his face. He got really excited, saying that usually his voice gets unfocused and raspy that low, but it "just popped out" this time. That made me really excited! I'm doing something right! He said G2 is a whole step lower than he usually goes. Yay! I told him how the [bi] exercises help us let our voices do what they need to do without us interfering. I explained that when we "try" to sing we usually do exactly those things that will prevent us from creating a healthy tone: using too much air or too little, elevating or pushing down our larynx, clenching our muscles, over adducting etc. We continued with the [bi]s for a little while, carrying his voice up to C sharp 4.
-Next we did [ni ne na no nu] because I wanted to help Sam with vowel definition. His speaking was very clear. His projection was good. But when I tried to get him to release his jaw more we had some trouble. He wouldn't open his mouth very far. I tried to get him to find the released jaw position by tilting his head back and letting his jaw fall. I still didn't get quite the openness that I wanted. I demonstrated [ni ne na no nu] with a released jaw. Sam imitated me, but I noticed that his lips weren't wrapping around for the [o] or the [u]. I told him to watch my mouth as I did it and tell me what he noticed. He said that he noticed my mouth moving. Which was vague. I showed him how I wrapped my lips around to form the [o] and [u]. He did much better on his next few attempts. After that I started having him speak [ni ne na no nu] on specific pitches. Starting with D3 then moving around in that area. He kept adding [i] into his [u] so that it sounded like "eww." I corrected him and he would fix it but eventually he would go back to [u]. I tried to keep reminding him but the [i] kept creeping in. I did the exercise in a 13531 pattern. Sam did very well with this. I kept it in a safe range and his tone was very speech like and focused. I complemented him on that. One thing I did notice was a tendency towards nasality. I wasn't sure what to do about that because I haven't really struggled with that a lot. So I decided to figure it out and address it next time.
Next we looked at some repertoire. I had brought a few books for him to look through. We sang a few of the songs together while I played the accompaniment and ended up choosing "Homeward Bound" and "Into the West." I'm excited about these songs! I think Sam will sound very good on them. After that Sam showed me what he had been singing that morning. He played while he sang an alternative rock piece. I think his voice is very well suited to the genre. I hope I can find some music that suits his voice. I told him to keep his eyes open for songs he wanted to try out, because singing something he doesn't like would be a waste of our time. I told him I would keep my eyes open for something as well.
End of lesson!
Reactions:
i really enjoyed this lesson. I think some really good things happened! But there's a lot of room for improvement still. I'm really glad that Sam and Emma are so willing to try things. Their trust in me is very encouraging. One thing that worked really well with Sam was modeling instead of instructing. I think that he is the type of learner that will learn better by doing than by verbal instruction. I'll have to remember that and make sure he's singing more than I'm talking. The [bi] exercise worked really well for Sam. Looking back, I am realizing things that I could have done better with the [ni ne na no nu] exercise. When trying to get Sam to release his jaw, I should have explained that it needs to go back as well as down. Like a C shaped hinge. Next time I'll have to remember that. I also realize that I should have changed the consonant from [n] to a non nasalized consonant when I heard the nasality creeping in. That might have helped.
For next lesson I want to learn at least one warm up that helps with nasality.
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