Date sent: Wed, 26 Jan 2000 19:57:11 EST
Subject: Re: Exercises for Breathy Singers
To: vocalist
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

Laura Sharp wrote:

< breathiness, but one that has been drilled into her as a member of a choir
where that hooty sort of white sound was considered desirable and she has
taken it to a painful extreme. Young girls are my bread and butter and I am
familiar with working with breathy girls. But I have never worked with one
who has already worked soooo hard and diligently since childhood, and been
praised so well by her choir director, for "acquiring" that sound.>>


Laura,
I know all too well what you are going through with this young girl. I
too was the product of a choir director who adored a light hooty sound from
his sopranos, particularly the sopranos of the chamber choir I was in.
Though I was taking voice lessons both before and during the choir
experience, my instructor and I just thought the lighter, breathier sound was
my voice growing up and never took into consideration that I was bringing
choir habits (though perfectly fine in their own place and time) into my solo
singing. It's taken almost two years for my current voice instructor and I
to rediscover my "real" voice and I'm still in the process of unlearning some
of the habits I had in high school.

One thing that greatly helped me was listening to recordings of singers I
liked. I would throw in a CD of Arleen Auger, the soprano goddess that she
was, and imitate her sounds...the richness, the legato line. (Note: I do not
mean I would try to exactly duplicate her sound, only imitate those IDEAS in
my own voice) Little did I know that the full open sound I was making while
singing along with CDs was the same sound I SHOULD have been making in my
lessons. I also thought my voice was a lot smaller than it really was,
stemming from being praised by my director for giving him the small, light
sound he wanted. (Okay, I admit it, I was the director's pet) Anyway, I was
intentionally singing so forward in the mask and with a dropped soft palate
it was impossible for me to achieve any depth or resonance to my sound. My
instructor now tells me to sing with lots of space and resonance, pretending
I'm a mezzo, which has helped tremendously in creating pharyngeal space and
helping me keep my larynx low and relaxed. The first few times she had me
try this I thought she was nuts. There was no way my little tiny soprano
voice was supposed to be that powerful and dark (to my ear, anyway) and LOUD!


Most of the vocal problems this young woman is having in solo singing will go
away in time if she's persistent enough, receives instruction in proper
technique and truly wants to venture into the solo world. However, a
technique that she's known for so long, been praised for and has prided
herself on having may very well make her resistant to changes. The most
important thing is to make her comfortable with the new sounds she is making.
It may take a long time, but will be well worth the effort.
Best of luck!

Nicole Zurek, soprano
The Ohio State University
Vocal/General Music Education
Class of 2002
NicNac63-at-aol.com