Practice 9/1/16

Last night (around midnight) my throat began to swell a bit, and I think it's from stress. I've got (what feels like) some lymph node swelling with a runny/congested nose, and it just feels like something you get when you're sleep deprived. Lymph nodes feel a little tender, but otherwise, my tongue doesn't feel particularly tight, and my voice just has a little swelling. My body's also been under some stress since I've been doing a lot more physical activity than I'm used to. AND it's been Shark Week as well. So it's been sort of a triple whammy.

• Lesson 2/26/16
• (I keep coming back to this one because it feels good every time I do the vocalizes. It's good to warm up with these ones in the morning.) 
• Don't tilt chin down; have balanced A-O joint. 
• Novocaine Jaw + gummy molar space. 
• Watch the "frown" as you descend. 
• Loose lips/"space" between lips and teeth
• (~15-20 min.) 
• Side note: I've been sitting for this practice session since my lower back is so tense. 
• Lesson 7/18/16
• (And I like the vocalizes in this one because [if I'm focusing like I should] it helps with alignment pretty well.)
• Watch snarl vs. smile
• If you feel too much fuzz in voice, you're not high enough. (Tongue [ng])
• I took a moment to pause and stretch my neck and lower back, just to loosen things up a little. It wasn't terribly affecting my singing, but I just wasn't comfortable in my body. 
• Don't punch air for anything (especially) above C5.
• (~40 min.)

I think this was a very successful practice session. I had a lot of focus on my breath (which I usually neglect), as well as having internal smile (rather than a frown, esp. as I descend), and loose jaw for molar space. My closed vowels [i/e/u] are doing much better, but now I have to get my open vowels [o/a] into the same place every time. I get it sometimes, but it take a couple trials.