Karen wrote:
<<Something I have observed is that people who can curl their tongues (think of
a taco shell) seem to have an easier time with rolled r's than people who can't.
>>
Karen, good theory. Except I'm one who can curl my tongue, but I have never
been completely successful rolling my "r"s. Personally, I think it's because I
learned the Japanese "r" as a child (when I lived in Japan) before I ever tried
to roll an "r" and that's gotten in my way. But who knows.
For me, no trick or method to develop a rolled "r" has ever worked. Perhaps
because the mental effort makes me tense up whatever needs to stay loose. I'm
most successful when I "think" rolling an R from time to time when singing
Italian, but don't try to keep it going too long. Because as soon as I think
about it, it stops working. The same thing happens to me with lip trills - I
can do them more successfully than rolling an "r", but as soon as I "try" to
sustain them, they go kablooey.
I figure that if I concentrate on good vocal technique and making sure
everything is relaxed, and don't worry about the rolled "r", one of these days
it will start working on its own. Sort of like the way trills have recently
started working for me.
Peggy
---
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh@i...
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