I would tend to agree with Deanna on this. As she says, it's impossible to know what's going on without another experienced teacher hearing you. All I can do is relate my own experience.
My first teacher had me working in head voice only -- she was convinced that I was a lyric coloratura soprano, and so attempted to make me sound like one by banishing every remnant of chest voice. (She used to call me a "lyric coloratura with a volume problem.") Naturally, this didn't work well at all.
When my first teacher decided to return to university, I found a new teacher, who at my first lesson had me open up and really *SING* for the first time. What did I do differently? I started using chest voice, mixing it with the head voice. And my throat hurt. A lot. It scared me to death, because I was just SURE I must be doing something terribly wrong. But I decided to stick with it and see what happened, giving it 6 weeks to work itself out. I was doing 1-hour lessons, and every week my throat hurt. But in time, after about 4-5 weeks, it got better.
I'm a dramatic soprano, you see. My natural voice, the one that "comes out" when I'm singing correctly, is a big honkin' dark ringing sound. And I know for a fact that I "mix" chest up to about a high C on a good day; certainly a B-flat. It's a continuum, from "all chest" below middle-C to "all head" around B or high-C and above. There's no "pushing" at all -- it's more *letting* the chest voice form the core or foundation of the sound, kind of relaxing with it and allowing it to thin out naturally as I move up in range. The pain I felt after those early lessons was likely the result of relaxing some muscles when I sang, and using others in new ways. At any rate, it was temporary, and my voice developed into something that, apparently, people were willing to pay for (surprised the heck outta me when I got my first paid comprimario role in an opera).
The only problem area I had when I moved to Seattle 4 years ago was at the point where my head voice starts really blending with chest -- around D or E above middle C. My teacher here in Seattle helped me work on that, and guess what? My throat hurt again for a few weeks as we worked on exercises specific to that area. So I suspect that, for me, whenever I introduce a different technique, there's likely to be some discomfort until the new technique gets solid. Every singer (and teacher) is different, though, so I'm NOT saying that this is what's going on with you.
Only you can decide if you want to continue with this teacher when she's able to teach again. I don't know how long you've been studying with her, but if it hasn't been very long, you might want to consider it a "fresh start" if you decide to continue. Meanwhile, I'd probably try to cut her a little slack, given her situation. Yes, she should have called you back, but if she's worrying about her own and her baby's health plus dealing with existing children, she may not have the energy to focus on what you should sing in a recital, or even if there should be a recital at all. I'd definitely bail on the recital, though -- there's no law that says you MUST perform in it, right? :-)
A A / \_---_/ \ Lana Mountford { } Kenmore, WA USA ( O O ) l.s.mountford@a... ~( v )~ * - * - * - * - * - * ~+~
----- Original Message ----- From: "EdgewoodVoiceStudio" <EdgewoodVoiceStudio@a...> To: <vocalist-temporary@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Friday, March 22, 2002 8:25 AM Subject: RE: [vocalist] to Lea Ann, connecting threads..
<<<do you think it's possible to push a chest voice up to an a flat below high C? That has become the question of the week for me. It is probably the answer to why my throat is hurting.>>>
No, I don’t think you’re pushing chest voice up. It’s impossible to advise correctly without hearing you, but I’m thinking you are flexing muscles in your throat and around your larynx while you are singing in your head voice. Chest voice singing isn’t the only place singers flex throat muscles! Your teacher (current or new) needs to observe how you are using your body when you sing and what you are doing with jaw, throat, tounge and larynx muscles when you are singing and then help you learn how to relax those muscles so they don’t get in the way of your vocal cord action and cause sore throats. I’m meaning the kind of “soreness” singers complain of when they sing through a lesson or practice with lots of neck tension.
And beyond and before all that, the teacher needs to focus on how you are using breath pressure to sing.. Generally neck tension is a result of not enough breath pressure to support the pitch/resonance.. the brain says “hey, there isn’t enough pressure! Let’s flex the neck muscles!! Lea Ann subconsciously thinks that’s how to power it up.. let’s flex!!” (our brain has a mind of it’s own.. (joke)…
Lea ann wrote:<<<I hope I didn't offend you with my earlier posts. That was not my intention at all. :)>>> No.. I wasn’t offended.. but I was a little embarrassed when I FIRST read the post “I wouldn’t pay someone with just a B.A.”… then realized you weren’t directing it at me … but I didn’t forget about it, obviously… I still feel self conscious about my resume’, I guess.
Deanna
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