From: Isabelle Bracamonte
Subject: re: teachers: your technique, in a nutshell
To: vocalist
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

Hello! I am thrilled with the interesting and
informative responses that this discussion is
generating.

Mr. Kubiak and others -- of course, students' input is
welcome! How would you describe the technique that
you are learning, or that has worked best for you? I
think we can accept that a) what worked poorly for you
may be perfect for another, and vice versa, and b) a
student's understanding adds another level of
interpretation to the mix, and may or may not be
accurate. Also, I find that students in the middle of
their studies (not beginning, and not "finished"
singers) often only grasp part of the picture, as new
concepts will be introduced as the student is ready
for them.

I also suggest that we refrain from commenting on
others' responses, i.e., "I read your nutshell, and
what do you think about this," and such. This is a
thread meant for sharing concepts, not critiquing
others' techniques (which is sure to disintigrate into
semantics and leave this fascinating discussion by the
wayside).

So have at it, students! Here's mine:

What I *believe* I am learning is focused on placement
(singing a lot on the [i] vowel to "line up" the tone]
first and foremost. The goal up to now has been to
produce a free, bright and ringing tone. Also,
focusing on a "hooking-in" sense of connection between
lower support (we've tried both down-and-out and
in-and-up, and the jury is still out about which is
more effective) and forward placement. Diction,
pianissimo -- not addressed yet; getting the voice
lined up has come first. Now that my [i] and [E]
vowels feel quite free and are brimming with ping, we
have started to address how to get the [a] and [o] and
[u] into the same resonating place. We are also
beginning to use more mouth-space and fuller breaths
(fatter, instead of just deep breaths), to bring some
warmth into my pingy but rather cold tone. Where do
we go from there? I can only guess. I suspect that
pianissimo singing will be the very last to be
learned, as it takes tremendous control and knowledge
to be able to "spin down" a full-voiced tone into a
connected quiet one. I can currently produce only the
"floated," softer pianissimo, which is one I hear
quite often on the stage, but I am more intersted in
the "whittled-down," more difficult kind. I'll wait
for it, though.

Keep in mind that I may have forgotten what steps we
took at the beginning, or steps that I individually
didn't need to take, and don't know the rest of what
is to come. But that's what I'm concentrating on at
the moment. (Also, my descriptive words may leave you
wondering what the heck the difference is between
floated and whittled-down... or you may understand
perfectly... ah, semantics.)

Isabelle B.

=====
Isabelle Bracamonte
San Francisco, CA
ibracamonte-at-yahoo.com



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