To: "VOCALIST" <vocalist>
Subject: Re: Exercises for Breathy Singer - Update
Date sent: Wed, 26 Jan 2000 20:36:52 -0500
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

Dear Jenie and List:

We just finished her lesson and I think I actually hit just about all the
suggestions posted plus suggested Alexander Technique which is fabulous for
breathing and easy body use. I also asked her to superhydrate if she's
taking any medicine and see a laryngologist to make cure everything's okay
before we consider working on the small recital of sacred music she would
like to do at her church. We also did lip trills because I have found them
to be really good as a breathing exercise besides all their other benefits.
It really was an exciting lesson and she left much encouraged. BTW: Lloyd
and Diane - we quacked and glottaled with much success and to great popular
acclaim - my toddlers in the other room thought we were hysterically funny.
My student's father, waiting in the other room, was so impressed with the
immediate improvement he asked if he could take lessons as well.

Jenie: Thank you for your thoughtful post. I will show it to her next week -
I think it will be extremely reinforcing and positive for her to see the
discipline and creativity of approach which helped you to succeed.

Thanks everyone!

Laura

Jenie wrote:
(snip)
"I wanted to reply to you because when I started lessons at age 18 in
college, I had a similar problem. I still struggle to eliminate the
'airiness' from my tone. I was not in the same kind of choir as this
girl, but all I had ever known was choir singing. Part of that included
blending with a lot of immature and untrained voices. And that caused me
to back down on my air pressure and thus caused incomplete phonation. My
speaking voice is quite unusual as well. This is due to two things, lack
of support and a deviated septum (which causes a lot of my voice to
resonate differently than regular speakers.) I also have asthma and
non-allergic rhinitis."(snip)