Practice 8/21/16

I haven't updated in a while, but some interesting things have happened with my voice in the more recent days.

I've been finding release easier than I have been the past few months, which is nice, but I somehow still feel as though it's not quite "up to par" with how I do in my voice lessons.

Anyways, a couple days ago, my friend from New Jersey came home to visit me, and she took me out to dinner for a belated birthday present. Since it was to celebrate my 21st birthday, we ordered a cocktail to share. It was some sort of vodka blend with fruit. The reason I detail this in my practice record is because of the side effects that I have been experiencing as a result of me drinking half the glass of alcohol. I noticed that the right side of my throat?/larynx? felt irritated, and as the night/days wore on, it felt like a really intense globus, except it felt more raw. Normally, I would have been really concerned, but the sensation was a little familiar since I've had these symptoms before with bad acid reflux days.

The next day, I attempted to practice singing, but I may have pushed a little too hard, since the globus became particularly annoying halfway through, so I stopped.

Swallowing was a little painful, with a lump-in-throat sensation that eventually subsided after a day and a half. Now, I'm left with some very obvious swelling in my vocal folds, and it feels pretty sensitive when I speak. I'm taking things pretty easy, but I've done some small tests to see if there was any inconsistencies when I do a vocal glide up and down in pitch, and when I do short, staccato "beeps." There doesn't seem to be anything particularly alarming about my sound production, except that it's a little uncomfortable and raw feeling.

However, my onsets are the most uncomfortable, with the sensitive/raw feeling being the most pronounced at these times. I've limited my speaking for a bit, and I focus on having very precise onsets whenever I use my voice, with no squeezing or excessive air pressure. It's good that I don't have any work this week, so I can give my voice a rest.

Practice 8/29/15

4/14/14 Lesson Listening

Smile on the inside.
Don't drag up to pitches. Flip instead.
Pay attention head position
Posture and breathing
Let vibrato happen; don't force.
ALWAYS SING AS HIGH AS POSSIBLE. No special tongue, neck or anything.
Everything is in the mind.
As you change pitch, allow the tongue to release each time.
As you go down in pitch, keep the tongue up and released and fat.