Hello,
I have been busy singing in a production and met a very nice soprano who
is doing the lead, who I have developed a friendly rapport with. She
had nice things to say about my singing (in a prominent comprimario
role) but suggested some interesting things which I wanted to throw out
there and see what you all think.
FYI: I am a very full voiced soprano, spinto or larger with an extension
up to a G above high C with many years of lessons. (Don't think I am a
dramatic coloratura because I don't move my voice that easily.)
The first thing was to suggest that I not open my mouth much.
Currently, on my high B's I open about 3 fingers widths. This soprano
also suggested I sing UH on this note to "ease the register
transition." (I am unsuccessful at singing UH on a high B. My voice
likes AH or AE.) She also said not to think about the throat, larynx,
or soft palate. She suggests I get rid of the U shape which occurs with
my tongue. She also suggested pushing out the lower abdomen but
increasing the amount of air flow on the top notes. "The top notes are
almost all air."
I find as I practice this, that when I do not allow the space on the
high B's and up, I get a cracking sound in the pharynx, which I think is
the soft palate falling or the space collapsing. It's not a full blown
voice crack but more of a crackle, crackle sound. I feel a little loss
of power, control and thrust if I don't "yawn" on the top notes.
Is there truly any benefit to learning to sing a full voice tone on a
high B or C on an UH vowel and with the palate not raised?
Her reasoning is that when people open the mouth significantly, it is
because they are forcing a lower register up instead of allowing the
tone to shift to the next higher register. I think B natural is too
soon to go into whistle, because you lose the power and color. I don't
think that I truly sing in whistle register alone even when I sing a
high F... it's more just the light mechanism with very little heavy
mechanism involved. What do you think about what she said and my
experiences? I need some feedback on this.
Regina
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