When I got to my practice room today, I noticed that I was feeling really good as far as release went, but I could physically tell (? if that makes any sense) that I would going to have to think really high today. My vocalization was released, but it was too "settled" low. That's the only way I can describe it.
Because my voice was a little swollen today, it was extra noticeable when there was "pressure" in the voice when I ascended in pitch, and it was definitely more difficult to stay released and have good vocal onset.
I noticed that sometimes, when I try to find more space behind my molars, I tend to overcompensate with just my jaw, and I need to remember that I should be free enough that it feels as though the head and jaw are free to move away from each other, not just one at a time.
I have still sensation in my voice that feels like a sort of "twang" on my vocal chords; but I'm just attributing it to my swelling because my voice is just coming out airier, and high notes are definitely a little more difficult to find.
I'll probably come back later to the practice room to work on having a "higher sensation" while singing, because I still feel like I'm sort of swallowing my sound.
Showing posts with label November2014. Show all posts
Showing posts with label November2014. Show all posts
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Practice 11/23/14
I did the vocalizes that I did in my most recent lesson. One thing that I tried working on was finding the space above/behind my molars.
I paid special attention whether or not there was pressure in my voice/sound when I sang. I never really paid much attention to it before, but after my most recent lesson, it just suddenly made sense? and if there's ever a feeling of pressure, then there's constriction.
I thought a lot about treating each note as a fresh start; the vowel will change depending on where you are in the scale, and you have to adjust incrementally or else you'll be in trouble at the top.
I also paid attention when there was brassiness--that meant I had a lack of behind the molar space.
I discovered the immense value of recording yourself, because I caught some consistent intonation problems and "constriction" that I had no idea were even there before. And I also noticed that it was a frequently occurring pattern on certain vowels. So that was something to work on.
I paid special attention whether or not there was pressure in my voice/sound when I sang. I never really paid much attention to it before, but after my most recent lesson, it just suddenly made sense? and if there's ever a feeling of pressure, then there's constriction.
I thought a lot about treating each note as a fresh start; the vowel will change depending on where you are in the scale, and you have to adjust incrementally or else you'll be in trouble at the top.
I also paid attention when there was brassiness--that meant I had a lack of behind the molar space.
I discovered the immense value of recording yourself, because I caught some consistent intonation problems and "constriction" that I had no idea were even there before. And I also noticed that it was a frequently occurring pattern on certain vowels. So that was something to work on.
Practice 11/21/14
I warmed up with my lesson recording.
I focused a lot on finding space, rather than making space behind my molars (which was really hard because I kept catching myself trying to "make" the space, and that just ended up making me sound/feel constricted in the throat).
I spent the majority of my time working on my music and treating my music as if it was my vocalization exercises. I'm going to experiment with approaching my music not as music, but as vocal exercises, because I always feel good when I'm just doing normal vocalizes. Over the course of the next week, we'll see how this goes.
I focused a lot on finding space, rather than making space behind my molars (which was really hard because I kept catching myself trying to "make" the space, and that just ended up making me sound/feel constricted in the throat).
I spent the majority of my time working on my music and treating my music as if it was my vocalization exercises. I'm going to experiment with approaching my music not as music, but as vocal exercises, because I always feel good when I'm just doing normal vocalizes. Over the course of the next week, we'll see how this goes.
Lesson Summary and Take-Aways 11/20/14
On "shy" 54321, think about how steady the pitch is, especially on the last note. Hold off the diphthong until the very end to help. Do some very slight inflection at the diphthong.
8531 "Who's in my shoes." Don't worry about the notes, start higher than the starting pitch. Speak above the first note, then eventually join with the final note. Try not to make the first high note the same every time. Have the feeling that you're tumbling/gliding down from above to the top note. The more closed vowel aids in the steadiness of the tone.
867564534231. "why oh why oh." Then eventually use the "wh" just at the beginning and just isolate the vowels.
"gae lae" on 5432123454321. The "g" should feel the same at the top every time. Don't push the "g" at the beginning. Keep paying attention to the final pitch steadiness.
8531358531. [be de be de] The return to the top should be identical to the start. Have more "ugh" in the throat. Don't punch the "b" at the beginning. The only thing you're doing is letting your lips fall apart. It's a change in thought, not what you're doing. Have more "ah" in the throat.
"ay ay yo yo ay ay" 13-35-58-85-53-31 etc. Transition to the [o] vowel around C5; think of where in pitch you're at, rather than where in the exercise. [o] is just small lips in the front, with large space in the back.
Think of the space as being behind the top molars, not behind the nose. Make observations: feels like you're singing out of the back your head. Extend the vocalize to 13-35-58-83-38-85-53-31. Allow for plenty of release/energy in the jaw. Don't think about making space, but think about finding it.
It's not you doing it wrong--it's the brain trying out new things. Determine what you want to feel, ask for it from your body, and look for it as you sing. Try out moving the face/twitch. Be careful not pull your chin back into your neck. Have a sense of looking up "Sistine Chapel" style.
Feel like the head and the chin can move away from each other easily; both the head-jaw are free from each other.
1-51-81-51-81 "ay." Think of the highest pitch as you sing the lowest note.
12345-54321-12345678987654321. "ning ning niiing" The vowel space for [i] should be different for every single pitch. It's incremental. It's not necessarily an external space, but an internal space--it should be adjustable, not static. "bigger bigger biggest." If it's accompanied by pressure, that means there's a narrowing somewhere. Every time there's upward motion, space is increasing (sense it). Space is what happens when I expect it to be there, not when I do something. It's as if the sound vibrations themselves take up more space, rather than making more space. If the sound needs more space, it just passes through what ever is "in the way."
Each note is an entirely separate entity. "shake finger" at each note.
12345678987654321 [i e o e i]. "Conscious vowel change." Jaw feels like it gets looser and looser as the pitch gets higher. Remember the vowel formant chart and ovals.
Because I felt best on the bottom fifth of the exercise going down, we started just going down; then we added in "soft" ascending slowly back into the exercise. Pay attention to the space at the beginning of the vocalize to when you come back.
"Brassiness" in the sound even when you feel release is due to a lack of behind-the-molars space.
"Feel the cool air on the roof of the mouth before you sing." 8-7654321-2345678. "hey"
Once you get used to that space, you can add in more energy while you're experimenting with "soft/minimized" sound to get used to the feeling of refreshing, or "starting over."
When you go to work on your music and you're having trouble, make your music a vocalize so you can practice those good sensory snapshots.
Don't allow the contour of the melody to dictate where you approach the note.
Don't sing dot to dot. The voice is buoyant, but the gesture is large.
Take-Aways:
- Space behind the molars
- Each note must have its own adjustment
- Know your pitfalls so you can go back and fix them
- Have the feeling of "refresh" every time you go to sing.
It's so weird listening to these recordings, because even when I feel pretty good singing, I notice a lot of problems that didn't seem like a big deal to me before. It's a real big eye-opener.
Practice 11/19/14
I warmed up with my most recent lesson recording.
When I got to my music, I tried out doing a "sing-song" voice, because yesterday in my practice, even though I felt like phonation was really easy and without effort, I felt as though my tone? vibrato? was unstable/inconsistent.
I also worked on freely accessing my chest voice after watching the Master Class yesterday, by falling down to a pitch in speech-voice and just counting out numbers (i.e. "ahhhh--one. ahhhh-two. etc.).
When I got to my music, I tried out doing a "sing-song" voice, because yesterday in my practice, even though I felt like phonation was really easy and without effort, I felt as though my tone? vibrato? was unstable/inconsistent.
I also worked on freely accessing my chest voice after watching the Master Class yesterday, by falling down to a pitch in speech-voice and just counting out numbers (i.e. "ahhhh--one. ahhhh-two. etc.).
Practice 11/18/14
Today, I focused my practice on release in the jaw and consistency of air flow. I did some scales on random vowels, and I worked on not "pushing" for the top part of the scale--it should feel the same as the bottom of the scale in terms of "effort."
I also worked on making sure that my vowels were relatively uniform and didn't have any dramatically different "shapes" from each other. My consonants were also a point of interest for me because I found that I have a tendency to expel way more air than necessary/push for sound more than I need to. (I practiced getting out of this habit by singing just the vowels, then adding very vague consonant shapes to them, then finally adding in the full consonant without any huge change.) I listened to my last lesson recording, and it was really helpful when Cindy said that voiceless consonances are only voiceless for a tiny tiny amount of time, and we spend more time in voice than in voicelessness.
Once again, I'm still working on the breathing thing that Cindy and I did a couple lessons back--when I go to sing, it should be as if I'm just breathing out air. The air should just be uninhibited when I'm breathing and when I'm singing.
I also worked on becoming familiar with being more nasal with my nasal consonants, instead of singing "with a stuffy nose" when I should allow nasality when it's appropriate. My "n" and "m" tend to sound like "d," which obviously isn't right.
I also worked on making sure that my vowels were relatively uniform and didn't have any dramatically different "shapes" from each other. My consonants were also a point of interest for me because I found that I have a tendency to expel way more air than necessary/push for sound more than I need to. (I practiced getting out of this habit by singing just the vowels, then adding very vague consonant shapes to them, then finally adding in the full consonant without any huge change.) I listened to my last lesson recording, and it was really helpful when Cindy said that voiceless consonances are only voiceless for a tiny tiny amount of time, and we spend more time in voice than in voicelessness.
Once again, I'm still working on the breathing thing that Cindy and I did a couple lessons back--when I go to sing, it should be as if I'm just breathing out air. The air should just be uninhibited when I'm breathing and when I'm singing.
I also worked on becoming familiar with being more nasal with my nasal consonants, instead of singing "with a stuffy nose" when I should allow nasality when it's appropriate. My "n" and "m" tend to sound like "d," which obviously isn't right.
Practice 11/17/14
(Sorry; turning in this practice log a little late)
I woke up with a bit of reflux, but it didn't seem like it would be any more of a problem than it usually is. I did, however, find that I had trouble releasing my jaw; it felt very stiff, and while I was singing, I felt as though I didn't have much mobility/flexibility in that area. I spent some time massaging it and throughout the day, I made sure to just check up on it every once in a while to see if it would release. By the end of the day, it was back to normal, but it was weird how tense my jaw was.
I'm not sure if this jaw tension was solely to blame, but I had a hard time getting my sound "out of my head," if you know what I'm saying; I felt okay while singing, but I perceived my own sound as muffled, as if somebody had put pillows over my ears or something. So I wasn't quite sure if I was tense or if I was just receiving conflicting feedback... It was weird. Either way, I thought hard about not "forcing" the sound out, and just let it be.
Lesson Summary and Take-Aways 11/13/14
Some feedback for opera:
Use panting as a way to re-engage the breath instead of just "taking a deep breath." Have really smiling eyes. Have more of a "sigh" sense. Watch the pitch at "of" that you don't fall heavily on that pitch. When playing a male role, be more assertive. Don't stand with your feet together.
We starting vocalizing on "thee" on 564534231, with simple, upward turns, not placing too much weight on the note that's going up. The purpose of this exercise is to have the tongue fatten/spread out over the molars in the back, rather than tucked into the lower teeth. Then add a scale at the end, +123456787654321. Let the horizontal aspect of the tongue remain the same, and released.
Make sure to have no judgement about sound, just about sense. Juxtapose good ones with the ones that you're having trouble with (i.e. low with high repetitions). Beware of the "bracing" at the top of the scale; I have a tendency to push harder for sound, when it should just fall out (esp. on [i]).
Next, we switched to [mi] on 12345432-12345432-12345678987654321. Add an increase in internal space, which would be "about to sneeze," "pre-yawn," "pre-vomit" as you're ascending in the scale. As you're going back down the scale, just think about still going up. Don't think of it as bouncing off the top of the scale and going down; think of it as just passing through the notes.
Trying using that weird "hairball" sound as you go up to find release. Slow down the scale and try it in 1-123-345-567-789-987-765-543-321. Then also try the ich-laut. We have a tendency to engage the tongue a little more because of acid reflux/swelling of the vocal chords, so take your time when working with your voice, esp. with the [i] vowel. Think more about releasing air, not sound. Pitch is just thought.
Try a "hee" and "hah" alternation "hissing" sound and then "accidentally" sing the "hee" as you go down the 8-7654321. Keep the feeling open and start the same. Sort of the same concept as the "bop" exercises. Be familiar with the feeling of "fat neck"/"double-chin." When you're fat, you have to release more air. If there's narrowing, you can squeeze, which is bad.
We worked on "Nuit d'Espagne." Think of "sour face"/drinking a milkshake, with lips puckered forward. Lips forward, space between back molars, etc. Tongue is high. You don't have to hold the shape, just hold the breath energy. Watch that you allow yourself to be nasal in the appropriate areas. "Nasals are the floor of the vowel, not the ceiling." Watch "fuyon" pronunciation.
Watch on "serene" that the [r] doesn't pull you down. On the final schwa sounds, think up. Think of the schwa as still an [e] vowel, so you sing up.
Continuously sing up! It's getting higher/lighter, regardless of the pitch. Snarl a little bit if you have to. Don't shorten on the sides of the nose, just widen the sides of the cheeks and think that your cheek bones are extending outwards. Don't let the voice go (don't let it go breathy), keep things engaged.
Un-voiced consonants hardly last for any amount of time. For "n," just tap with your tongue. The vowel almost feels like it's going all the way through. Cut off sound by slight "inhalation, or turning the air around." Try "blowing boogers" out of the nose (it sort of makes you do the internal o on the inside).
TAKE-AWAYS:
Sing up, regardless of what the pitches are doing
Loosening/lightening the longer you go
Let the voice stay engaged.
Independence of consonant sounds from the whole mouth; isolated to the tip of the tongue.
Blowing boogers.
Use panting as a way to re-engage the breath instead of just "taking a deep breath." Have really smiling eyes. Have more of a "sigh" sense. Watch the pitch at "of" that you don't fall heavily on that pitch. When playing a male role, be more assertive. Don't stand with your feet together.
We starting vocalizing on "thee" on 564534231, with simple, upward turns, not placing too much weight on the note that's going up. The purpose of this exercise is to have the tongue fatten/spread out over the molars in the back, rather than tucked into the lower teeth. Then add a scale at the end, +123456787654321. Let the horizontal aspect of the tongue remain the same, and released.
Make sure to have no judgement about sound, just about sense. Juxtapose good ones with the ones that you're having trouble with (i.e. low with high repetitions). Beware of the "bracing" at the top of the scale; I have a tendency to push harder for sound, when it should just fall out (esp. on [i]).
Next, we switched to [mi] on 12345432-12345432-12345678987654321. Add an increase in internal space, which would be "about to sneeze," "pre-yawn," "pre-vomit" as you're ascending in the scale. As you're going back down the scale, just think about still going up. Don't think of it as bouncing off the top of the scale and going down; think of it as just passing through the notes.
Trying using that weird "hairball" sound as you go up to find release. Slow down the scale and try it in 1-123-345-567-789-987-765-543-321. Then also try the ich-laut. We have a tendency to engage the tongue a little more because of acid reflux/swelling of the vocal chords, so take your time when working with your voice, esp. with the [i] vowel. Think more about releasing air, not sound. Pitch is just thought.
Try a "hee" and "hah" alternation "hissing" sound and then "accidentally" sing the "hee" as you go down the 8-7654321. Keep the feeling open and start the same. Sort of the same concept as the "bop" exercises. Be familiar with the feeling of "fat neck"/"double-chin." When you're fat, you have to release more air. If there's narrowing, you can squeeze, which is bad.
We worked on "Nuit d'Espagne." Think of "sour face"/drinking a milkshake, with lips puckered forward. Lips forward, space between back molars, etc. Tongue is high. You don't have to hold the shape, just hold the breath energy. Watch that you allow yourself to be nasal in the appropriate areas. "Nasals are the floor of the vowel, not the ceiling." Watch "fuyon" pronunciation.
Watch on "serene" that the [r] doesn't pull you down. On the final schwa sounds, think up. Think of the schwa as still an [e] vowel, so you sing up.
Continuously sing up! It's getting higher/lighter, regardless of the pitch. Snarl a little bit if you have to. Don't shorten on the sides of the nose, just widen the sides of the cheeks and think that your cheek bones are extending outwards. Don't let the voice go (don't let it go breathy), keep things engaged.
Un-voiced consonants hardly last for any amount of time. For "n," just tap with your tongue. The vowel almost feels like it's going all the way through. Cut off sound by slight "inhalation, or turning the air around." Try "blowing boogers" out of the nose (it sort of makes you do the internal o on the inside).
TAKE-AWAYS:
Sing up, regardless of what the pitches are doing
Loosening/lightening the longer you go
Let the voice stay engaged.
Independence of consonant sounds from the whole mouth; isolated to the tip of the tongue.
Blowing boogers.
Practice 11/12/14
My voice felt really great this morning when I woke up, but it's kind of unfortunate that I'm not really high enough on energy to do a ton of experimenting with my voice at this moment in time. Even so, I'll just work on staying released throughout the day.
I started my exercise out with simple exercises that focused on breath flow (again... surprise surprise), and especially because I'm low on energy, I need to thinking about not pushing for volume/pitch. I tend to overdo it especially when I'm tired.
I don't really have anything particularly interesting to say about this practice session; it was pretty much the same as yesterday. I did notice that my lungs felt very different today; more open/accessible perhaps? It was kind of disorienting because I suddenly had all of this "sensation" in my lungs, and my abdominal wall was able to release more freely today.
I started my exercise out with simple exercises that focused on breath flow (again... surprise surprise), and especially because I'm low on energy, I need to thinking about not pushing for volume/pitch. I tend to overdo it especially when I'm tired.
I don't really have anything particularly interesting to say about this practice session; it was pretty much the same as yesterday. I did notice that my lungs felt very different today; more open/accessible perhaps? It was kind of disorienting because I suddenly had all of this "sensation" in my lungs, and my abdominal wall was able to release more freely today.
Practice 11/11/14
Happy Pocky Day! (I love pocky...)
My voice was feeling a little raw today (admittedly because I got excited last night and probably over sang just a tad), so I just followed along with my 10/15/14 lesson because that's the easiest on my voice and it makes me feel really good while singing, no matter what condition my voice is in. And it also forces me to take my time while warming up because I can get a little impatient some days.
The thing I really focused on today was not forcing out sound; while I was doing the exercise with lip trills and "touching" a note or two as I thought down the scale, I noticed that I tend to "push" sound out for those notes, even if they're easier without meaning to. So I need to work on just letting sound out.
There's one thing that Cindy says in the recording that I have never really felt in my body when it comes to breathing: "You may be unable to physically allow your abdominal wall to recede in further, but it should feel like it could keep going." ??? Yeah. I understand the concept, but I have yet to feel that in my own body. I wonder if it's because of the tightness of my lower back? I have a hard time balancing between released hips and released lower back. I tend to tighten one or the other.
I worked on on "Cruda sorte" and focused on maintaining that same free feeling that I had while doing the vocalizes. I didn't worry about dynamic level or how it sounded, and I focused on maintaining steady/uninterrupted/unchanging air during my fast runs. That's when I really noticed that I "sausage" my air, so I worked on that. I also noticed that I tend to force out my vibrato a little, so I thought more about just letting the tone be straight if it wants to, and that resulted in released, natural vibrato when I really thought hard about it. Thinking about release takes a lot of effort, ironically.
I felt really good vocally after leaving the practice room. I'll definitely have to come back later to reinforce this when my voice is a little more awake.
My voice was feeling a little raw today (admittedly because I got excited last night and probably over sang just a tad), so I just followed along with my 10/15/14 lesson because that's the easiest on my voice and it makes me feel really good while singing, no matter what condition my voice is in. And it also forces me to take my time while warming up because I can get a little impatient some days.
The thing I really focused on today was not forcing out sound; while I was doing the exercise with lip trills and "touching" a note or two as I thought down the scale, I noticed that I tend to "push" sound out for those notes, even if they're easier without meaning to. So I need to work on just letting sound out.
There's one thing that Cindy says in the recording that I have never really felt in my body when it comes to breathing: "You may be unable to physically allow your abdominal wall to recede in further, but it should feel like it could keep going." ??? Yeah. I understand the concept, but I have yet to feel that in my own body. I wonder if it's because of the tightness of my lower back? I have a hard time balancing between released hips and released lower back. I tend to tighten one or the other.
I worked on on "Cruda sorte" and focused on maintaining that same free feeling that I had while doing the vocalizes. I didn't worry about dynamic level or how it sounded, and I focused on maintaining steady/uninterrupted/unchanging air during my fast runs. That's when I really noticed that I "sausage" my air, so I worked on that. I also noticed that I tend to force out my vibrato a little, so I thought more about just letting the tone be straight if it wants to, and that resulted in released, natural vibrato when I really thought hard about it. Thinking about release takes a lot of effort, ironically.
I felt really good vocally after leaving the practice room. I'll definitely have to come back later to reinforce this when my voice is a little more awake.
Practice 11/10/14
Today, I still felt like I had some tension in my throat? Back of tongue? area that I couldn't quite let go of. I had released more than I had last week, but I could feel like something was still holding on, and I couldn't quite determine what that was.
I focused a lot on letting the air flow freely without interruption, no matter what pitch/vowel I was singing. I also did some "rag doll" stuff that I think helped with my neck/shoulders--I was feeling really sore from lifting my bags yesterday, so I think that's sort of contributing.
To be honest, I was kind of flailing around in my practice without much direction. I knew that I had some tension problems, but because I couldn't figure out what that was, I sort of ended up just experimenting with a lot of things that probably didn't do much to fix my problem. Maybe I'll go in later tonight and try and add more specificity to my practice...
One thing that I noticed was my vocal agility was definitely hindered by something; notes that were usually easy to switch back and forth between were really slow and heavy.
UPDATE:
So, I figured out what my tension was--at the very least, I was able to figure out what fixed it. I focused a lot more on releasing my jaw and letting it swing backward, and there were some times where I almost exaggerated how open my jaw needed to be while keeping it released, but I was able to find good release and my agility came right back! Yay!
Before all of this though, I experimented with singing some pop music because I had lost all sense of how to sing in my chest voice (weird...), and singing random pop music and not caring how I sounded really helped me to find release in my lower notes, and that helped me take baby steps towards my upper notes and finding release there.
I was running out of good ideas for experimentation to help me find release, so I decided to just watch a ton of youtube videos and observe how they sang; ease of production, simple breathing, and extremely flexible and moveable jaws that weren't ever frozen or stuck in place.
I focused a lot on letting the air flow freely without interruption, no matter what pitch/vowel I was singing. I also did some "rag doll" stuff that I think helped with my neck/shoulders--I was feeling really sore from lifting my bags yesterday, so I think that's sort of contributing.
To be honest, I was kind of flailing around in my practice without much direction. I knew that I had some tension problems, but because I couldn't figure out what that was, I sort of ended up just experimenting with a lot of things that probably didn't do much to fix my problem. Maybe I'll go in later tonight and try and add more specificity to my practice...
One thing that I noticed was my vocal agility was definitely hindered by something; notes that were usually easy to switch back and forth between were really slow and heavy.
UPDATE:
So, I figured out what my tension was--at the very least, I was able to figure out what fixed it. I focused a lot more on releasing my jaw and letting it swing backward, and there were some times where I almost exaggerated how open my jaw needed to be while keeping it released, but I was able to find good release and my agility came right back! Yay!
Before all of this though, I experimented with singing some pop music because I had lost all sense of how to sing in my chest voice (weird...), and singing random pop music and not caring how I sounded really helped me to find release in my lower notes, and that helped me take baby steps towards my upper notes and finding release there.
I was running out of good ideas for experimentation to help me find release, so I decided to just watch a ton of youtube videos and observe how they sang; ease of production, simple breathing, and extremely flexible and moveable jaws that weren't ever frozen or stuck in place.
Practice 11/7/14
So, yesterday was probably one of the worst singing days I've had this year. I had so much tension that just came out of nowhere, and I felt like I couldn't get any vocal production out without squeezing something. That, and my voice was cracking all over the place because I couldn't find consistent release or something. My speaking voice felt fine, but when I went to sing, it was like my throat just closed up and I was singing through a brick wall.
After a good night's rest (for the first time in the past two weeks), I decided to follow along with my 10/15/14 lesson recording to get a better idea of what's good for my voice instead of just blindly doing vocalizes. I focused on not getting in the way of the air; pitch is just thought added to breath.
It should feel like sighing but without giving away our posture. This really helped a lot. The air never stops; words are just shapes. Maintain "tumble down" gesture regardless of the pitch.
I worked on my opera stuff, and I really focused on not worrying about how I sound. I did a lot of "sigh motion" things to keep myself released. I did notice that my vocal onset was quite delayed, so my voice was a little swollen. I thought about how air is always flowing and words are just shapes to the air. I switched between "shapes" and "no shapes" to juxtapose the model behavior with the desired behavior a lot with my text; I started on one vowel through the phrase, then all of the vowels, then gentle framing of the consonants, then consonants.
I noticed that I have a tendency to add an extra "push" of air with certain consonants, so I thought about keeping the flow steady and constant and free while singing, no matter what the shape.
I feel SO much better after taking my time and focusing on just letting air out, not making sound. I'm thinking that I should definitely focus on lowering my stress levels and getting more sleep. I feel super tight in my neck/shoulder/back area, so I'll spend some time stretching today too.
After a good night's rest (for the first time in the past two weeks), I decided to follow along with my 10/15/14 lesson recording to get a better idea of what's good for my voice instead of just blindly doing vocalizes. I focused on not getting in the way of the air; pitch is just thought added to breath.
It should feel like sighing but without giving away our posture. This really helped a lot. The air never stops; words are just shapes. Maintain "tumble down" gesture regardless of the pitch.
I worked on my opera stuff, and I really focused on not worrying about how I sound. I did a lot of "sigh motion" things to keep myself released. I did notice that my vocal onset was quite delayed, so my voice was a little swollen. I thought about how air is always flowing and words are just shapes to the air. I switched between "shapes" and "no shapes" to juxtapose the model behavior with the desired behavior a lot with my text; I started on one vowel through the phrase, then all of the vowels, then gentle framing of the consonants, then consonants.
I noticed that I have a tendency to add an extra "push" of air with certain consonants, so I thought about keeping the flow steady and constant and free while singing, no matter what the shape.
I feel SO much better after taking my time and focusing on just letting air out, not making sound. I'm thinking that I should definitely focus on lowering my stress levels and getting more sleep. I feel super tight in my neck/shoulder/back area, so I'll spend some time stretching today too.
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