Sarah Boucher OB Chapter 20 Summary
Chapter Summary: The two types of functional vocal disordesr are hyperfunction and hypofunction. Hyperfunction is when the singer is oversinging and pushing there voice, Brown defines it as too much. Hypofunction often sounds breathy and has little energy-too little. There are a lot of ways to damage your voice, it is important that we are careful with our instrument! For help with vocal problems we need to seek a professionals help and be patient and willing to slowly return to our normal voice.
Key Points:
-In a lot of cases, vocal problems are derived from misuse in speech. "Speaking and singing rely on the same phonatory muscles." (217)
-"Every voice problem requires its own course of action and its own schedule of treatments. There are no set rules"(224)
-Bad habits that created the damage to your voice need to be eliminated or else the problems will just return.
Key Terms:
-Hyperfunction
-Hypofunction
Making Connections: I think it is always good to be reminded how fragile my instrument is. Reading about all the things that can happen to your voice is frightening but a huge motivator to me to establish solid technique! It is also really great to know that if vocal problems do creep up most of them can be fixed if we are willing to be patient and diligent.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Sarah Boucher OB Chapter 19 Summary
Sarah Boucher OB Chapter 19 Summary
Chapter Summary: The effect of the emotions on the voice is an enigma. It is clear however, that the emotions are directly connected with the voice, that is why often after traumatic experiences people lose their voices. Everyone is different and our voices are effected in different ways by what happens to us. Our job as performers is to keep our emotions in check. They can help assist us but they should never over power us. There is a fine line between emoting and being too emotional. As Brown said "The thinking part of a singer's brain has to learn to control the emotional part." (212)
Key Points:
-If you have a personal problem, you have to face it or your singing will suffer.
-"Your job is to create the illusion of emotion so that the audience can cry. After all, you're there for them, not vice versa." (211)
-Nerves help to improve our performance
Key Terms:
-enigma
-psychogenic
Making Connections: Brown's comments about not letting our emotions overcome us in performance were really helpful to me. I have been in a situation before where I sang a song that related a lot to my life. It was easy to connect to it, but in one rehearsal I became too emotion and could not sing because I was crying so hard. That taught me how fine that line really is between emotionally connecting and becoming a basket case. I liked the suggestions Brown gave to help with emotions, cause let's be real....I am an emotional person!
Chapter Summary: The effect of the emotions on the voice is an enigma. It is clear however, that the emotions are directly connected with the voice, that is why often after traumatic experiences people lose their voices. Everyone is different and our voices are effected in different ways by what happens to us. Our job as performers is to keep our emotions in check. They can help assist us but they should never over power us. There is a fine line between emoting and being too emotional. As Brown said "The thinking part of a singer's brain has to learn to control the emotional part." (212)
Key Points:
-If you have a personal problem, you have to face it or your singing will suffer.
-"Your job is to create the illusion of emotion so that the audience can cry. After all, you're there for them, not vice versa." (211)
-Nerves help to improve our performance
Key Terms:
-enigma
-psychogenic
Making Connections: Brown's comments about not letting our emotions overcome us in performance were really helpful to me. I have been in a situation before where I sang a song that related a lot to my life. It was easy to connect to it, but in one rehearsal I became too emotion and could not sing because I was crying so hard. That taught me how fine that line really is between emotionally connecting and becoming a basket case. I liked the suggestions Brown gave to help with emotions, cause let's be real....I am an emotional person!
Taylee - MC 12/03/13
Jake Spjute:
B: appears to be deep, but looked like the pregnant belly breath and not a true deep breath.
I: sometimes it would go a little flat on the lower notes, probably because he was pushing down onto them.
T: very resonant
D:
E: it wasn't the most convincing I've ever seen (but then Cindy said it was good... Maybe it's because I was sitting on the side and couldn't really see his face)
O:
H: His first note is being changed due to the "L". Once he got the vowel fixed with out the hint of [l] in it, the resonance was much better. This exercise would be very beneficial throughout the piece to take away the "help" of the jaw and tongue.
Taylee Beckstead:
My homework/take away is to practice efficiently. Meaning, allow my body to do what it needs to do, but nothing more and nothing less. I should do an activity while singing then sing a phrase standing and observe what is going on during my (standing) singing. Also I'm trying to compensate on some of my vowels. Instead of just SSS, I'm doing weird things with my mouth to make space. Let it be!
Laura Berg:
B:
I:
T:
D:
E:
O: I was trying to write down stuff for me to remember, so I didn't pay as close attention, but I noticed that the beginnings of her phrases were extra energized, and by the end of the long one she'd run out of energy (not necessarily breath).
H: the arm pointing helped to loosen the body, but I think practicing continuous movement in each phrase would help internalize the feeling that energy needs to be constant.
B: appears to be deep, but looked like the pregnant belly breath and not a true deep breath.
I: sometimes it would go a little flat on the lower notes, probably because he was pushing down onto them.
T: very resonant
D:
E: it wasn't the most convincing I've ever seen (but then Cindy said it was good... Maybe it's because I was sitting on the side and couldn't really see his face)
O:
H: His first note is being changed due to the "L". Once he got the vowel fixed with out the hint of [l] in it, the resonance was much better. This exercise would be very beneficial throughout the piece to take away the "help" of the jaw and tongue.
Taylee Beckstead:
My homework/take away is to practice efficiently. Meaning, allow my body to do what it needs to do, but nothing more and nothing less. I should do an activity while singing then sing a phrase standing and observe what is going on during my (standing) singing. Also I'm trying to compensate on some of my vowels. Instead of just SSS, I'm doing weird things with my mouth to make space. Let it be!
Laura Berg:
B:
I:
T:
D:
E:
O: I was trying to write down stuff for me to remember, so I didn't pay as close attention, but I noticed that the beginnings of her phrases were extra energized, and by the end of the long one she'd run out of energy (not necessarily breath).
H: the arm pointing helped to loosen the body, but I think practicing continuous movement in each phrase would help internalize the feeling that energy needs to be constant.
Brooke VPH 12/3/13
Brooke VPH 12/3/13-
Jake Spjute- flower song from Carmen love his voice and love how free his high notes are getting i notice sometimes when he reaches for his high notes his shoulders lift a little. From watching him a little more I think it comes from letting his ribs collapse just a little and therefore he needs to compensate. I don't notice his breathing a lot which according to Cindy as well as Oren Brown is a good sign. Overall his performance was really good and I liked it. Singing is all mental, you have to sing with a very high level of conviction. She had him do a warm up that i am going to go try. Holding your mouth closed until the last possible moment.
Taylee Beckstead-
Taylee has a beautiful sound and is really fun to watch. I feel like her jaw gets in the way of some her high notes. Some are free and beautiful and others need just a bit more freedom. We get distracted by weirdness in the body- cindy. My question is how does one get rid of that? Do something that engages our body and releases our emotions and intention.
Jake Spjute- flower song from Carmen love his voice and love how free his high notes are getting i notice sometimes when he reaches for his high notes his shoulders lift a little. From watching him a little more I think it comes from letting his ribs collapse just a little and therefore he needs to compensate. I don't notice his breathing a lot which according to Cindy as well as Oren Brown is a good sign. Overall his performance was really good and I liked it. Singing is all mental, you have to sing with a very high level of conviction. She had him do a warm up that i am going to go try. Holding your mouth closed until the last possible moment.
Taylee Beckstead-
Taylee has a beautiful sound and is really fun to watch. I feel like her jaw gets in the way of some her high notes. Some are free and beautiful and others need just a bit more freedom. We get distracted by weirdness in the body- cindy. My question is how does one get rid of that? Do something that engages our body and releases our emotions and intention.
Sarah Boucher Masterclass Critiques 12/3
Sarah Boucher Masterclass Critiques 12/3
Jake Spjute: When Jake first sang, I felt that he was forcing a bit. Sometimes I would notice his head shaking, maybe as a result of the forcing? I thought his breath support was good. He had good posture and nice expression in his eyes. One thing I noticed was that he closes his eyes a lot to evoke emotion. I think that sometimes that is nice but that he should maybe only pick one or two spots to do that. Cindy began by talking to him about placing the sound in his head rather than his mouth. Thinking about nasality, made his sound lighten up a bit. It was still present but not forced. I liked when she talked about the La at the beginning and how he should just think the "a" because the L should not "tell you what the vowel is going to be". I also like what she said about letting the jaw go instead of thinking creating more space.
Taylee Beckstead: The first time Taylee sang, I noticed that she was running out of breath at the ends of phrases, causing her to squeeze the notes at the end of phrases. I heard a little breathiness, I am not sure what that means. I liked her confidence and that she was emoting. Some moments she had a very present ping to her tone that was really nice. Cindy addressed the emotional aspect of the piece. She suggested creating a world, where she was comfortable singing the song so that her body does not try to control the sound. This helped her to get rid of her "twitchy body" movements, wow it was so beautiful that way, everything was so much more free.
Laura Berg: It sound really lovely and free the first time. I think Laura has a really nice chiaroscuro. Cindy had her point at things so that she would not rest her hands on the fronts of her legs. It helped give her more energy. It also helped to get the phrases and sentences more definitive. Cindy next had her do it without pointing but still keep those emotional shifts. This helped to make the emotion in the piece have more depth and meaning.
Jake Spjute: When Jake first sang, I felt that he was forcing a bit. Sometimes I would notice his head shaking, maybe as a result of the forcing? I thought his breath support was good. He had good posture and nice expression in his eyes. One thing I noticed was that he closes his eyes a lot to evoke emotion. I think that sometimes that is nice but that he should maybe only pick one or two spots to do that. Cindy began by talking to him about placing the sound in his head rather than his mouth. Thinking about nasality, made his sound lighten up a bit. It was still present but not forced. I liked when she talked about the La at the beginning and how he should just think the "a" because the L should not "tell you what the vowel is going to be". I also like what she said about letting the jaw go instead of thinking creating more space.
Taylee Beckstead: The first time Taylee sang, I noticed that she was running out of breath at the ends of phrases, causing her to squeeze the notes at the end of phrases. I heard a little breathiness, I am not sure what that means. I liked her confidence and that she was emoting. Some moments she had a very present ping to her tone that was really nice. Cindy addressed the emotional aspect of the piece. She suggested creating a world, where she was comfortable singing the song so that her body does not try to control the sound. This helped her to get rid of her "twitchy body" movements, wow it was so beautiful that way, everything was so much more free.
Laura Berg: It sound really lovely and free the first time. I think Laura has a really nice chiaroscuro. Cindy had her point at things so that she would not rest her hands on the fronts of her legs. It helped give her more energy. It also helped to get the phrases and sentences more definitive. Cindy next had her do it without pointing but still keep those emotional shifts. This helped to make the emotion in the piece have more depth and meaning.
Emily C.: MC, 12/3/13
Jake Spjute
Breathing was good, but at the beginning of the piece, there was some shoulder movement. Timbre is bright and smooth. Intonation is good. Diction was good as far as I could tell. Expression is much better than the first time you performed this for us--much more convincing.
MC: For the first note, take off the “L” to prepare for the “ah” sound. Don’t let the “L” propel you--be prepared for the “ah” with a sob/sigh/cry sound from the onset. It creates a higher focus of the sound. Memorize what the L feels like when it feels great, and then add it in once it’s well learned. For the scale leading up to the high note, take off the words and relate the sensation you get when you sing comfortably and relate it to the high (the way I typed it makes no sense). Sing from above. Let the mouth fall away from the sound, not preset. The sound was so much higher and freer when you did it correctly; the spin is much better.
Taylee Beckstead
Breathing is like a bucket. Timbre is bright and shimmery. I love the evenness of your vibrato. Intonation is good. Diction is good as far as I can tell. For the beginning notes, try keeping more space--I feel like it’s a little closed and that you’re holding out on us. Expression in the music is very good, but I feel like your facial expression stays the same throughout the piece.
MC: Let’s get rid of the distracting extraneous movement by doing something specific to distract yourself from “twitchiness” so you can be able to convey the meaning of the piece more effectively. Wow. Not only was the “twitchiness” gone, but the sound just blossomed. That was gorgeous.
Laura Berg
Breathing is like bucket, but it’s improving. Timbre is warm and bouncy. Intonation is very good. Diction was good as far as I could tell; I think I would like ending “n” more, but it’s not exceptionally noticeable. Expression is good. The neck seems a little tense. I love your consistency of tone.
MC: Point around so you don’t practice that stiff arm position. Expression and body engagement improved exponentially! Speak the text as if it were conversational. Internalize the movement when you actually perform it. Listen to the cues from the music.
Laura B MC 12/3
Laura B
Jake Spjute - He has great resonance in his voice! He also had great flow of air throughout each phrase. He should be careful on the ascending chromatic notes, because they tended to go a flat. Also, the higher notes sounded a little stressed. I loved the commitment that he put into the piece, and he allowed the audience to make an emotional connection with the music. Great expression. Cindy had him work on the beginning to create an "ahh" sigh sense. It took a tries, but he did figure it out. To get the high notes, she had him think the notes coming from above.
Taylee Beckstead - I love her expression that she showed on her face. On some of the high notes, she seemed a little tentative on the initial onset. Cindy had her occupy her something else so that she could create a more sense of ease throughout the body. The sound was glorious and really helped put me more at ease as well. "We don't have to do something special to survive the music." When she sang without occupying her body, it went back to holding unnecessarily, but she had made progress in figuring out what she needs to do to be free, efficient, and authentic.
Jake Spjute - He has great resonance in his voice! He also had great flow of air throughout each phrase. He should be careful on the ascending chromatic notes, because they tended to go a flat. Also, the higher notes sounded a little stressed. I loved the commitment that he put into the piece, and he allowed the audience to make an emotional connection with the music. Great expression. Cindy had him work on the beginning to create an "ahh" sigh sense. It took a tries, but he did figure it out. To get the high notes, she had him think the notes coming from above.
Taylee Beckstead - I love her expression that she showed on her face. On some of the high notes, she seemed a little tentative on the initial onset. Cindy had her occupy her something else so that she could create a more sense of ease throughout the body. The sound was glorious and really helped put me more at ease as well. "We don't have to do something special to survive the music." When she sang without occupying her body, it went back to holding unnecessarily, but she had made progress in figuring out what she needs to do to be free, efficient, and authentic.
Emily F. OB 21
Emily F. OB 21: Every student is different. A singing teacher has to understand the individual needs of each student in order to be effective. "There is probably nothing that has ever been said or written about singing that cannot be misinterpreted." What a challenge! It may take many approaches to a single concept for it to be understood. A teacher should have a good idea of what singing requires and empathy for where each student is in his or her progression. It's important to know the background and goals of the student.
Key concept: An effective teacher is one who knows his student, understands the voice, and is an empathetic problem-solver.
Making connections: I have mixed feelings about becoming a teacher. First of all, it's scary! I don't want to cause any harm or bad habits, and I don't know that I'll be able to really help someone in their singing. But, I do feel like I'm observant and can identify things that happen in the voice, so it seems like a fun challenge. I hope that I can be of help as a teacher.
Key concept: An effective teacher is one who knows his student, understands the voice, and is an empathetic problem-solver.
Making connections: I have mixed feelings about becoming a teacher. First of all, it's scary! I don't want to cause any harm or bad habits, and I don't know that I'll be able to really help someone in their singing. But, I do feel like I'm observant and can identify things that happen in the voice, so it seems like a fun challenge. I hope that I can be of help as a teacher.
Bric Slade DYV Chapt. 11-19
Bric Slade DYV Chapter 11
Chapter Summary: Every day brings with it new challenges for your voice. In warm ups be sure to be aware of what your voice is telling you. Smart practice is essential when preparing to sing. Your body may be tight or you might need water. When you pay attention to the signs you exhibit it makes it easier to know where that line is that you don’t want to cross from smart practice into overdoing it. The idea is always to be in a place of ilignment . Don’t do. Think and let your voice release. You can’t control the outcome, all you can control is the input. There are different things singers can do to make practice less beneficial. They rush practice or they only practice the parts they like. You should learn music from the bottom up by chunk practicing. If you can learn the song in your head before you start you can prepare yourself even better so you don’t have to go back and fix so much of it.
Key Concepts: Warm ups are key to maintaining a healthy voice, just make sure you do them smartly.
Making Connections: I think warming up is the hardest part of my practice because it takes a lot of concentration to listen to your body and act on what it needs. I find myself all the time practicing routely and at those times I have to stop and tell myself pretty much everything in this chapter. Then I have to concentrate and find the areas I am really struggling in. It can be difficult but I can see that the rewards are greater than if I practiced any other way.
Bric Slade DYV Chapter 12
Chapter Summary: Preparation allows us to feel the music even before we practice it. When we can understand the emotion behind the text it allows us to memorize faster firstly, and secondly it provides us with emotional power we can turn to our advantage while we are trying to communicate the message to an audience. Dynamics obviously play a huge role in the emotion the piece is attempting to exhibit. When we ask questions as to why the composer might have chosen to do this here or there, we can begin to understand the true message they must have wanted to communicate. When we understand the piece a lot of the time we are more confident in our performance. Even when we are performing a recital or putting together a program, we need to keep in mind a string of emotions that ties the songs together and relates them to one another.
Key Concept: The art of singing is the emotion in the song. Technique is more of the science.
Making Connections: I have found time and time again that when I focus more on the emotional context of the piece I am singing, I sing much better than if I am constantly worried about if I am singing the song right. Emotion is such a huge part of singing, and even when we graduate and go look for jobs the people who are going to get hired are the people who can act for the most part, rather than the people who can sing because there are so many that can sing but can’t act.
Bric Slade DYV Chapter 13
Chapter Summary: Looking for a singing gig is just like looking for a job. Perception is reality as I always say. Your goal is to look good, act well, sing well, smell well, taste well, etc. (okay maybe not taste well.) The point is you are selling yourself and just like any other job out there you need to own it. People like to hire employees who exhibit signs of integrity, passion, friendliness… courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, and reverent. In short, professionals like professionals, NOT amateurs.
Key Concepts: Skill is a given, charm is a commodity.
Making Connections: I can totally see how a person wouldn’t be hired if they didn’t own up to themselves and were confident. When we grow up we need to be able to show it.
Bric Slade DYV Chapter 14
Chapter Summary: Choral singing is a difficult endeavor for the individual voice for the reason that we are trying to get a certain sound. It can be just as difficult for the conductor when there is so much change from year to year as old singers leave and new ones are added in. Conductors should keep in mind the dangers of overdoing it while singing in a choral setting, it isn’t a competition, it’s a team sport. This means regular warm ups to cultivate healthy singing. This means encouraging your singers not to overdo it. This means finding the right set up to achieve the best blend without forcing any one of your singers to change too terribly. This means encouraging your singers to warm up even on the days there isn’t rehearsal.
Key Concepts: Healthy singing is healthy singing and choral singing shouldn’t be any different.
Making Connections: a lot of the habits I feel I have developed came from only singing chorally. I Feel that if I knew what I know now (ironically I feel this about a lot of things) I would be much happier now! Looking back I don’t feel that my conductor forced our voices, it just came from my own understanding. I think when I become a conductor I would encourage my students to take voice lessons along with choir, no matter their skill level. (or whatever they think their skill level is)
Bric Slade DYV Chapter 15
Chapter Summary: Higher notes are, as a fact, louder than other notes and need less amplification. When we force the same amplification we would have on lower notes on the high notes it can be damaging. Pressure becomes smaller in between the vocal folds when air is passed through it. The pressure decreases even more when the folds are brought in closer proximity of eachother and air is still flowing through them. When we are trying to be more resonant we need to keep in mind that resonance isn’t more power, resonance is more space and is defined by the mass of the resonator.
Key Concepts: The idea is to understand physics and use it to your powerful advantage. There are many factors that go into carrying a sound and if we simply focus on one of them we will most definitely exhaust ourselves more quickly than if we used all of them. Resonance is king in the stratospheric registers.
Making Connections: I find this part of singing very very difficult. I am getting there but I’m still no where close to where I want to be in understanding it. It comes with knowing your voice. It comes with experimentation.
Bric Slade DYV Chapter 16
Chapter Summary: When we know and understand the vocal anatomy, we are better prepared to help ourselves and help our students improve singing. It is important to understand where things are and how they function to understand the importance of certain excercises in warming up the voice as well as sensations we need to be feeling while we are singing. Our vocal folds help produce sound, but they also help in breath regulation and preventing food from entering the lungs. The folds are not even the sole producers of pitch. They work in unison with the laryngeal structures and resonators to produce that sound. The entire laryngeal structure is suspended from the hyoid bone. Extrinsic and Intrinsic muscles connect the framework of the larynx together as well as connect it to the rest of the body. These muscles have nothing to do with pitch production and so it is imperative that we release them. That is why trusting, thinking, and letting is so important during phonation.
Key Concept: Understanding the framework of your voice helps us to see into how the voice works and will add to our ability to sing healthier.
Making Connections: Thinking and letting are probably my biggest challenges in singing. There are so many muscles in the neck that it makes things extra hard to differentiate between the ones I should use and the ones I shouldn’t use. However I feel that understanding the anatomy of my own voice has catapulted my abilities this semester. I’m excited to see where it takes me in the future.
Bric Slade DYV Chapter 17
Summary: The brain is even more powerful than we as singers might at first realize. When we think of moving muscles the nervous system sends those impulses to those muscles. When we think pitch, we don’t feel it but the brain sends a pulse to our vocal folds to bring them into the correct vibration proximity even before we have begun phonating. Controlling our thoughts is imperative to successful singing.
Key Concepts: THINK, let, trust. Thinking isn’t just a word, its important.
Making Connections: I think this explains why when I am busy distracting myself from the technique with the emotion of a piece, I am able to sing better. When I think too much my brain is sending off shots left and right and to no sure avail. When I can hone my skills and focus my mind on the emotion as well as pitches, and then just sit back and let my voice do its job, then singing becomes fun and easy.
Bric Slade DYV Chapter 18
Summary: Our ears are amazing instruments with which we can hear things around us with amazing clarity, but because they are our own it makes listening to ourselves a little tricky. Its just like the side view mirrors on a car, "objects in mirror are closer than they appear". Especially when we sing higher notes there is a muscle called the tensor tympani which protects our ears against loud sounds. So, naturally because higher pitches are louder we get the feeling that they aren’t loud enough and so we use more force, when in reality everyone else can hear LOUD and clear that pitch. It is important to understand our voice through experimentation and understand the sweet spot where we don’t need to apply so much force on those high pitches. We need to find that spot that allows for resonance and just let our voice to the talking. Protecting our ears is extremely important especially with the growing noisy world outside.
Key Terms: tensor tympani
Key Concepts: Again we return to the think and let. I think this is the part that gets me hooked. How loud am I actually being? I suppose the only way to actually understand is to record myself singing and listen to myself. I just get to the point where I think its wimpy and quiet.
Bric Slade DYV Chapter 19
Chapter Summary: Stress is a canker for singers. It overcharges us with energy or saps it and we are left with a very unauthentic performance. Recognizing the source of our stresses can come in handy when we are striving to make an emotional connection with our audience. There are many methods out there to help us overcome our stresses. The main thing is to find out what works for us. Positive thinking can help us quite a bit when we are about to perform. Negative thoughts such as what the audience is thinking about us is not a good way to start off on the right foot. When we are too stressed out it makes it nearly impossible to give an authentic performance because we are constantly tailoring our performance to suit what we might think our audience wants to hear. They want to hear us, we just need to be confident to give it to them.
Key Concept: Find and neutralize your stress for a truly authentic performance.
Making Connections: I think stress can be a big thing for anyone. Worrying about what people think about us is only human nature and everyone has felt that way. When I feel that way I tell myself I have nothing to prove other than what I already know. My best is my best and they can't ask for more from me.
Chapter Summary: Every day brings with it new challenges for your voice. In warm ups be sure to be aware of what your voice is telling you. Smart practice is essential when preparing to sing. Your body may be tight or you might need water. When you pay attention to the signs you exhibit it makes it easier to know where that line is that you don’t want to cross from smart practice into overdoing it. The idea is always to be in a place of ilignment . Don’t do. Think and let your voice release. You can’t control the outcome, all you can control is the input. There are different things singers can do to make practice less beneficial. They rush practice or they only practice the parts they like. You should learn music from the bottom up by chunk practicing. If you can learn the song in your head before you start you can prepare yourself even better so you don’t have to go back and fix so much of it.
Key Concepts: Warm ups are key to maintaining a healthy voice, just make sure you do them smartly.
Making Connections: I think warming up is the hardest part of my practice because it takes a lot of concentration to listen to your body and act on what it needs. I find myself all the time practicing routely and at those times I have to stop and tell myself pretty much everything in this chapter. Then I have to concentrate and find the areas I am really struggling in. It can be difficult but I can see that the rewards are greater than if I practiced any other way.
Bric Slade DYV Chapter 12
Chapter Summary: Preparation allows us to feel the music even before we practice it. When we can understand the emotion behind the text it allows us to memorize faster firstly, and secondly it provides us with emotional power we can turn to our advantage while we are trying to communicate the message to an audience. Dynamics obviously play a huge role in the emotion the piece is attempting to exhibit. When we ask questions as to why the composer might have chosen to do this here or there, we can begin to understand the true message they must have wanted to communicate. When we understand the piece a lot of the time we are more confident in our performance. Even when we are performing a recital or putting together a program, we need to keep in mind a string of emotions that ties the songs together and relates them to one another.
Key Concept: The art of singing is the emotion in the song. Technique is more of the science.
Making Connections: I have found time and time again that when I focus more on the emotional context of the piece I am singing, I sing much better than if I am constantly worried about if I am singing the song right. Emotion is such a huge part of singing, and even when we graduate and go look for jobs the people who are going to get hired are the people who can act for the most part, rather than the people who can sing because there are so many that can sing but can’t act.
Bric Slade DYV Chapter 13
Chapter Summary: Looking for a singing gig is just like looking for a job. Perception is reality as I always say. Your goal is to look good, act well, sing well, smell well, taste well, etc. (okay maybe not taste well.) The point is you are selling yourself and just like any other job out there you need to own it. People like to hire employees who exhibit signs of integrity, passion, friendliness… courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, and reverent. In short, professionals like professionals, NOT amateurs.
Key Concepts: Skill is a given, charm is a commodity.
Making Connections: I can totally see how a person wouldn’t be hired if they didn’t own up to themselves and were confident. When we grow up we need to be able to show it.
Bric Slade DYV Chapter 14
Chapter Summary: Choral singing is a difficult endeavor for the individual voice for the reason that we are trying to get a certain sound. It can be just as difficult for the conductor when there is so much change from year to year as old singers leave and new ones are added in. Conductors should keep in mind the dangers of overdoing it while singing in a choral setting, it isn’t a competition, it’s a team sport. This means regular warm ups to cultivate healthy singing. This means encouraging your singers not to overdo it. This means finding the right set up to achieve the best blend without forcing any one of your singers to change too terribly. This means encouraging your singers to warm up even on the days there isn’t rehearsal.
Key Concepts: Healthy singing is healthy singing and choral singing shouldn’t be any different.
Making Connections: a lot of the habits I feel I have developed came from only singing chorally. I Feel that if I knew what I know now (ironically I feel this about a lot of things) I would be much happier now! Looking back I don’t feel that my conductor forced our voices, it just came from my own understanding. I think when I become a conductor I would encourage my students to take voice lessons along with choir, no matter their skill level. (or whatever they think their skill level is)
Bric Slade DYV Chapter 15
Chapter Summary: Higher notes are, as a fact, louder than other notes and need less amplification. When we force the same amplification we would have on lower notes on the high notes it can be damaging. Pressure becomes smaller in between the vocal folds when air is passed through it. The pressure decreases even more when the folds are brought in closer proximity of eachother and air is still flowing through them. When we are trying to be more resonant we need to keep in mind that resonance isn’t more power, resonance is more space and is defined by the mass of the resonator.
Key Concepts: The idea is to understand physics and use it to your powerful advantage. There are many factors that go into carrying a sound and if we simply focus on one of them we will most definitely exhaust ourselves more quickly than if we used all of them. Resonance is king in the stratospheric registers.
Making Connections: I find this part of singing very very difficult. I am getting there but I’m still no where close to where I want to be in understanding it. It comes with knowing your voice. It comes with experimentation.
Bric Slade DYV Chapter 16
Chapter Summary: When we know and understand the vocal anatomy, we are better prepared to help ourselves and help our students improve singing. It is important to understand where things are and how they function to understand the importance of certain excercises in warming up the voice as well as sensations we need to be feeling while we are singing. Our vocal folds help produce sound, but they also help in breath regulation and preventing food from entering the lungs. The folds are not even the sole producers of pitch. They work in unison with the laryngeal structures and resonators to produce that sound. The entire laryngeal structure is suspended from the hyoid bone. Extrinsic and Intrinsic muscles connect the framework of the larynx together as well as connect it to the rest of the body. These muscles have nothing to do with pitch production and so it is imperative that we release them. That is why trusting, thinking, and letting is so important during phonation.
Key Concept: Understanding the framework of your voice helps us to see into how the voice works and will add to our ability to sing healthier.
Making Connections: Thinking and letting are probably my biggest challenges in singing. There are so many muscles in the neck that it makes things extra hard to differentiate between the ones I should use and the ones I shouldn’t use. However I feel that understanding the anatomy of my own voice has catapulted my abilities this semester. I’m excited to see where it takes me in the future.
Bric Slade DYV Chapter 17
Summary: The brain is even more powerful than we as singers might at first realize. When we think of moving muscles the nervous system sends those impulses to those muscles. When we think pitch, we don’t feel it but the brain sends a pulse to our vocal folds to bring them into the correct vibration proximity even before we have begun phonating. Controlling our thoughts is imperative to successful singing.
Key Concepts: THINK, let, trust. Thinking isn’t just a word, its important.
Making Connections: I think this explains why when I am busy distracting myself from the technique with the emotion of a piece, I am able to sing better. When I think too much my brain is sending off shots left and right and to no sure avail. When I can hone my skills and focus my mind on the emotion as well as pitches, and then just sit back and let my voice do its job, then singing becomes fun and easy.
Bric Slade DYV Chapter 18
Summary: Our ears are amazing instruments with which we can hear things around us with amazing clarity, but because they are our own it makes listening to ourselves a little tricky. Its just like the side view mirrors on a car, "objects in mirror are closer than they appear". Especially when we sing higher notes there is a muscle called the tensor tympani which protects our ears against loud sounds. So, naturally because higher pitches are louder we get the feeling that they aren’t loud enough and so we use more force, when in reality everyone else can hear LOUD and clear that pitch. It is important to understand our voice through experimentation and understand the sweet spot where we don’t need to apply so much force on those high pitches. We need to find that spot that allows for resonance and just let our voice to the talking. Protecting our ears is extremely important especially with the growing noisy world outside.
Key Terms: tensor tympani
Key Concepts: Again we return to the think and let. I think this is the part that gets me hooked. How loud am I actually being? I suppose the only way to actually understand is to record myself singing and listen to myself. I just get to the point where I think its wimpy and quiet.
Bric Slade DYV Chapter 19
Chapter Summary: Stress is a canker for singers. It overcharges us with energy or saps it and we are left with a very unauthentic performance. Recognizing the source of our stresses can come in handy when we are striving to make an emotional connection with our audience. There are many methods out there to help us overcome our stresses. The main thing is to find out what works for us. Positive thinking can help us quite a bit when we are about to perform. Negative thoughts such as what the audience is thinking about us is not a good way to start off on the right foot. When we are too stressed out it makes it nearly impossible to give an authentic performance because we are constantly tailoring our performance to suit what we might think our audience wants to hear. They want to hear us, we just need to be confident to give it to them.
Key Concept: Find and neutralize your stress for a truly authentic performance.
Making Connections: I think stress can be a big thing for anyone. Worrying about what people think about us is only human nature and everyone has felt that way. When I feel that way I tell myself I have nothing to prove other than what I already know. My best is my best and they can't ask for more from me.
Emily F. OB 20
Emily F. OB 20: The voice is so delicate and so many things can go wrong, but there is always hope with proper care and therapy. Healthy phonation can prevent or treat many voice problems. Functional disorders include hyperfunction and hypofunction, both of which have long lists of causes. Most of these can be helped by healthy vocalization. If continued, functional disorders can develop into laryngitis, edema, polyps, nodules, dysphonia plicae ventricularis, contact ulcers, or myasthenia larynis. Serious problems like these need the attention of a doctor. So many things affect the voice: hormonal fluctuations, smoking, prescription and over the counter drugs, alcohol, allergies, hydration or lack thereof. It's important to know what healthy and wise voice use means. "Never compensate. It is better to do too little than to do too much."
Key concept; Taking care of the voice is a big job that includes taking good care of the whole body and being smart with voice use.
Key terms: hyperfunction, hypofunction, functional pathologies, chronic laryngitis, edema, polyps, nodules, dysphonia plicae ventricularis, contact granuloma, myasthenia laryngis, ruptured vocal folds, nasality, hoarseness
Making connections: Reading about all these problems makes me a little afraid to speak or sing at all! I know my voice is pretty resilient, though, because I've worked it hard a lot of times and not had too many problems, but I know I can't rely on that forever. I want to take good care of my voice! Most of my problems seem to be hyperfunction related. The biggest one that jumped out at me was imitation of poor voice models. I've imitated my whole life. I also recognize a bunch of other things that I do on that list.
Key concept; Taking care of the voice is a big job that includes taking good care of the whole body and being smart with voice use.
Key terms: hyperfunction, hypofunction, functional pathologies, chronic laryngitis, edema, polyps, nodules, dysphonia plicae ventricularis, contact granuloma, myasthenia laryngis, ruptured vocal folds, nasality, hoarseness
Making connections: Reading about all these problems makes me a little afraid to speak or sing at all! I know my voice is pretty resilient, though, because I've worked it hard a lot of times and not had too many problems, but I know I can't rely on that forever. I want to take good care of my voice! Most of my problems seem to be hyperfunction related. The biggest one that jumped out at me was imitation of poor voice models. I've imitated my whole life. I also recognize a bunch of other things that I do on that list.
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