Karen Mercedes wrote:
I've
> already given up actually appending the final consonants in an effort to
> keep the vowel open and the palate raised. But even so, and even being
> careful to breathe with the end of the phrase in mind, I'm still not
> consistently able to "make it" through the entire duration of the note.
One way is to take a faster tempo, at least in practice - take it as fast as
necessary to
make the phrase, then slow down the tempo gradually until it feels comfortable.
Another idea is to feel the belly going in toward the waist as the breath goes
out, and as
long as the belly hasn't reached your spine, think that there's still breath in
there. As
a teacher of mine has said - your brain is making you think you have no more
breath, but
really you do, so even though you feel like you've run out, keep on singing and
just let
the note grow softer.
Also, for me, the key is starting with the right breath - the kind of breath
that I feels
like I can make it as loud as I want, as soft as I want - the kind of breath
that makes me
feel I can sing endlessly. The kind of breath I take when all the air has been
expelled
(as on a long, hissed "S"), and I release my abdominal muscles, and the air
just rushes in
on its own accord, and I sing on that breath. Any tension at all on singing
the note, and
the breath won't work - either as long as I want or with the dynamic freedom I
want. So
fix the tension, and the breath takes care of itself.
My toughest problems are the high (G and higher), sustained notes. I still
tend to grab
and hold the long note, and I rarely feel free enough to vary the dynamic, etc.
One idea
that has worked for me (but not consistently) is to think of my palate shape as
a dome and
the tone as moving along the dome. Another thought is the renewing "bloom",
the spinning
tone, etc.
Peggy
--
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh@i...
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