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From:  John Link <johnlink@n...>
John Link <johnlink@n...>
Date:  Thu Nov 8, 2001  5:01 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] 15 y. o. student with pitch matching problems


>Yes, John, I have tried the first part of what you
>suggested (him matching me). We ran into a little
>trouble because he could only match in my octave, so
>we were a bit limited.

Do you mean that he wouldn't match an octave away from you? If so,
help him to recognize when you match him an octave away. When you
match him sometimes match in unison and sometimes at the octave.

> Someimes he was successful,
>sometimes not. BUT, he did not know the difference!

That's better than I expected. Now it is just a matter of helping him
to refine his ability to discriminate, and then to help him to use
that ability when he wants to match you.

>I am planning on the 2nd (me matching him and him
>observing sensation) in his lesson next week. It
>makes sense to me as a way for me to gain information
>and for him to recognize the feeling, but what next?

Go back to him matching you. I suspect that after he has had the
experience of you matching him (including almost matching and then
sliding in, and almost matching and not sliding in) he will have
improved in his ability to match you. When you are matching him be
sure to have him pay attention to how well you match him. Ask him to
tell you each time how well you matched. Take plenty of time with
each attempt to match, so that both you and he sustain your sound for
a while (five to ten seconds?).

When he attempts to match you I suspect that there are times that you
have the impression that he's just not listening and makes any old
sound. When that occurs, and even if it doesn't, ask him to just
listen to you and to imagine that he was matching you. Have him pay
attention to how he feels as he does that. Have him do that several
times, and then ask him to match you after he has imagined matching
you.

Thank you for letting us (me!) know how it's going. I eagerly await
your report of next weeks's lesson and will be glad to offer further
suggestions if you would like them.

By the way, is your name Imthurn Melinda or Melinda Imthurn?

Good luck!
John

http://www.mp3.com/JohnLinkFeldenkrais

emusic.com