Vocalist.org archive


From:  Imthurn Melinda <mimthurn@y...>
Date:  Mon Jan 7, 2002  6:23 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] re: Raised larynx, Crowded throat


This original post could have been my teacher
describing me a couple of months ago (and on occasion
now). Here are some things that worked for me (I know
some have already been mentioned):

1. Bend from the waist (look for contact lens on the
floor kinda thing) while singing. An ocatve slide on
[i] works well for me, changing to [i] on the bottom
then [a] on the top once I get out of comfortable [i]
range.

2. Exaggerate the tongue position so it is
grotesquely forward and sing. I also like [i] for
this. The entire middle of the tongue will be
visible. This helped me to get the feeling of the
sound being "out there" instead of stuck in the back
of my mouth. Also, couteract the tongue pulling back
with it pushing forward. I needed to feel my tongue
pressing against my bottom teeth at first to fight it
wanting to pull back. I also needed to watch this in
a hand mirror.

3. Remember to emphasize the lifted soft palate in
all of this, as a low palate seems to accompany a
depressed tongue. Explain the working together, that
as the tongue comes forward and the laryx lowers, the
soft palate raises.

4. I agree that breath is probably NOT the issue.
BUT, she probably thinks it is, since she may have
been told or assumed that this was related to breath.
SO, let her know that when she thinks it's breath,
it's probably NOT! Remind her to go to one of the
other places (palate, tongue, low larynx) instead.
Once she is comfortably incorporating all of these,
you can focus on any compensations she was making with
breath in thinking that she had a breath issue. Most
likely that means she was applying MORE breath
pressure than necessary.

I hope some of these are useful to you.

Melinda Imthurn

__________________________________________________



emusic.com