Karen Mercedes wrote:
> Any advice, hints, tricks, etc. people can offer would be greatly
> appreciated. Here's my problem:
> Then there's that high B in the Bizet - a whole different kettle of fish.
> I don't know whether it's because it's at the end of that final run of
> rapid "la la la"s or what, but I find that I can't
> consistently produce it
> My suspicion is that, because of the lightness and rapidity of the whole
> phrase preceding it, I'm not managing to create the full resonance that
> just comes naturally when I sing the same note in the Verdi (actually it's
> a high C flat in the Verdi, so arguably a hair's breadth HIGHER than the
> note in the Bizet, which is a high B).
A teacher of mine likes to say, when working with singers on
high notes: "The problem is never the high note. The
problem is always the note before the high note." Then he
works with the student to improve the singing of the notes
preceding the high note, and "voila", the high note works
every time. I've heard him work this successfully with many
different singers, in a studio performance class
environment.
I can think of two things that could be messing up those
notes before the high note.
(1) Thinking "light" is not working for you. Stop thinking
"light", and sing the phrase preceding the high note with
your best technique - ignore what you think it "should"
sound like, and just make it sound as good as it can sound.
When the phrase is worked into your voice with your best
technique, including the high note, only then try to find a
way to chnage the dynamic or the timbre while still keeping
the optimum technique and the high note working. Sometimes
the idea of "soft" or "light" messes my technique up, and I
have to substitute a qualitative thought that has nothing to
do with a dynamic marking, going for the sense of the text,
rather than a piano or pianissimo dynamic, i.e., the reason
the composer wrote the "p" or "pp" in the music. For
example, sexy, seductive, or whatever you have worked out as
the subtext of your "la la la"s.
(2) the "L"s in the "la la la"s may be messing you up. Make
sure the L's are done with just the tip of the tongue, and
you don't even get a hint the idea of the "back" L we
Americans use so often in speech. Perhaps practice on "da
da da" instead and see if the phrase works better.
Peggy
--
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh@i...
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