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Subject: Re: TECHNIQUE: singing "ah" -THANKS!
From: "jjh"
To: Vocalist <vocalist>
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On Fri, 28 Jan 2000, Randy Buescher wrote:

>There is something intrinsically wrong with this. It distorts the vowel and
>takes the ring out of the voice, and that's what its whole intent is. Many
>choir directors will dumb down good voices (by eliminating vibrancy through
>this method) rather than elevate the poor ones in an effort to create blend.
>In fact, in a NATS column, Jean Westerman Greg addressing ethics in voice
>teaching stated that choir directors that use the hung jaw method were
>unethical because the litereature/research has pointed out the hazards of
>this approach and many continue to use it despite this fact.

Randy:

In the article you refer to (Journal of Singing Vol. 54, No. 1,
September/October 1997), Jean Westerman Gregg discusses several aspects of
technique, under the general topic of "first do no harm." In other words,
if the teacher's first responsibility is to "do no harm," (taking a quote
from the medical community's Hippocratic oath), then it behooves
professional teachers to know as much as they can about anatomy and
physiology before beginning to teach young singers.

Mrs. Westerman Gregg's criteria for a healthy sound is "ease," which happens
to be one of my favorite words in talking about technique. On page 55, she
suggests that voice teachers "should have the ethical responsibility 'to do
good'--to teach in such a way that a student sings with ease, and also has
instilled in him or her a love of music and of singing which will last for
the entire life."

Aspects of vocal technique that could potentially harm a young voice (by
encouraging too much muscular tension) include a larynx that is forced into
an unnaturally low position, over-work in the extreme parts of the range,
and premature tracking of a young singer into a vocal classification or
fach.

In one paragraph of the article (page 56), Mrs. Westerman Gregg gives one
final example of a potentially harmful vocal technique: choral directors
who instruct their students to "have every singer put two or three fingers
vertically into the mouth, to ensure a loose jaw." She goes on to point out
that "The shape of each individual palate has a distinct bearing on the
amount of jaw 'drop' that is necessary to produce any given vowel as does
the frequency (pitch) of the sound. The various shapes of the human palate
range from a relatively flat palatal arch, some even with wide alveolar
ridges, to a cathedral arch that is so high that the individual can hardly
touch the top with the tongue--plus everything in between. To assume that
everyone in a chorus is the same is to commit a grave error, which can
result in creating a great deal of vocal tension."

Mrs. Westerman Gregg makes a very good point in that last sentence. I've
been teaching Vocal Diction for 7 years now, and I like to devote a little
class time to having the students experiment with vowel shapes. I ask the
students to try different vowels, such as [a] and [i], and report what the
shape of their vocal tracts feels/looks like (a small, hand-held mirror is a
required purchase for the class). Vowel shapes always vary a little from
person to person. This always surprises them a little!

We then spend some time working on vowel "blend" (singing some familiar hymn
on the vowels only). The student learn that they can shape vowels
"similarly" to each other, but not "the same," and still achieve a pretty
nice, blended sound--with no one in the room writhing in pain. We also talk
about the old saw of "two fingers' space for [a]." I have a small jaw bone
and a small mouth, so for me the instruction "make room for two fingers'
space on [a]" causes extreme discomfort! In order to comply with this
instruction, I have to overextend my jaw and stress the jaw joint to the
point of pain. Other people have larger mouths or jawbones, and can execute
this with more ease.

So Randy, I would like to thank you for bringing up this article. With that
said, I would also like to point out that Mrs. Westerman Gregg does not
state that choral directors who use this method are unethical. In fact, she
mentions voice teachers in the article, as well as choral directors. I feel
the distinction is an important one to make.

Cheers!

Jana
--
Jana Holzmeier
Dept. of Music
Nebraska Wesleyan University
5000 Saint Paul Ave.
Lincoln, NE 68504
jjh-at-nebrwesleyan.edu
402-465-2284