Emily C., Lesson Summary, 3/3/14

First off, I'm going to preface this lesson by saying it was probably one of the weirdest lessons I have ever had (as far as sensation goes--in a good way). I spoke to Brianna about how my practice went this week; I admittedly over sang a couple days in a row, and on Wednesday, when I went in to practice, my voice had this strange twinge/really intense tickling sensation that was so uncomfortable that I honestly thought I had done something horrible to my voice. The next day, I experienced some swelling, but I wasn't sure if it was because of my practice or from acid reflux. My performance in vocal recital hour wasn't horrendous, and after a couple days of vocal rest, I started to feel much better. 

Coming into the lesson, I was feeling exceptionally dry from both the weather and most likely acid reflux. We started out with simple lip trills on 54321 then the octave. Then Brianna had me do "mmmmeeee," focusing a lot on the simple sound and the location of the resonance during the hum section. She said to keep that light sound, and I told her that if felt almost as though I was singing airily, but she told me that to her it sounded healthy. 

I asked her about how to properly do the child-like voice because I can't seem to do it without getting tense, and she told me to speak as if to a child, not necessarily as a child. She said to listen to toddlers speak. When I attempted to demonstrate what she was telling me, I again felt as though I were singing too airily, but again, she assured me otherwise. (This is just where it was weird). We did lilelalolu with that same high sensation. 

Working on "Pur dicesti," she told me to speak the words in that high place (and she told me to practice speaking on this high place) and sing it with the same sensation. She said that it should almost feel as though we're singing straight toned because I'm so used to feeling the vibrato inside me. I need to try and keep the sensation of "huh" even though I'm singing in the simple high place. However, I can't think too much about it or else my tone goes back and my voice becomes too pressed. 

When practicing, I can use the vocalize "thi the thi the tha" on triplets going down.

Brianna told me to practice solely with this high simple sensation. I need to make it my "home base" even in my speaking voice. When I did it correctly, it was felt in between my eyebrows.