Lesson Summary and Take-Aways 1/14/15

Take-Aways:

SING HIGH
SING SIGH
SING SUPPLE

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When you're singing [i], you need to have more of a sense of a "steeple," a higher point of origin for the pitch. Use [ng] as well. Cue height mentally, but don't think of what muscles you have to use in order to get what you want. Just let the brain do the work and trust the body to follow. Height must be accompanied by an unimportant mouth.

[ng-i] Slow 54321 descent. Soft and supple unimportant mouth. Think of the dumplings with the wonton wrapper with the pinch on top as you sing for the top roof of your mouth. As you go down the scale, let each descending note keep the height. STRETCH BEFORE YOU SING. Do wayyyy more than you think you need.

I described my sensation when I was singing with better technique, using the "teardrop" imagery and resting the sound on the fat part of the teardrop.

8531 "why not." Unimportant mouth. STRETCH. Keep the tear drop high. Do more and not decrease it as you go down.

[bli bli] loosen the tongue and lips using the consonants. 54321 in quick succession. Closed vowels really help as well.

[whe....i] 87654321. Start high on the keyboard. Use the "wh." Modify the pattern to 8-876-654-432-5-1 so the descent doesn't "run away from you." The lip rounded voiceless "wh" is a lip rounding cue, which helps to release the back of the tongue.

12345678987654321 Slowly on [i......e]. Start on the bottom "plank" and go up the scale, remaining secure on that plank but opening up as you go higher, like a garbage can lid. It sort of feels like the transition from the [i] to [e] vowel happens naturally as the jaw is released. Cindy also played the bottom note as I went up, and this helped a lot. Really sing into the bottom note; it's your anchor/floor.

Edginess is a result of a hardening in the tongue or the soft palette. Use a stretching motion to remind yourself. Use a purr to also help remind yourself of release (esp. around the transition zone around A-C).

Vocalizes going down is to help with easy onset, blending of registers, sigh-like motion in the voice, working on a laryngal level. Going up is to work on resonance, due to not tightening the muscles in the larynx and those above it.

"If you've got ten feet of ground to cover in ten steps, you should probably walk a foot per step." When going up the scale, don't get lazy on "comfortable" pitches. THINK HIGH ALL THE TIME.

When modifying the vowel, learn to modify in the mouth, not the soft palette. Don't feel the energy in the back of the mouth; the energy of the muscles should be in the roof of the mouth--the hard palette.

If in doubt sing MUCH higher inside than what you think you really need to sing. Reiterate the highest note in your hear THE ENTIRE TIME.

As you go down, take the pressure off for lower notes. Have a secret smiling moment on the inside for the lower notes. If you start to hear edge in your voice, SOFTEN YO FACE, YOU FOOL. Watch that you don't snarl--it's an external substitution for internal lifting. Maintain high, roof of the mouth sound as you go lower.

Don't scoop/swoop into high, turn over into high. Keep the board down! Esp. on those [o] [a] and [u] vowels. Don't think necessary of altering the vowel, but you're so supple that space can increase on its own.