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"James Miller" wrote
Subject: rrrrrrrrr
I have never been able to trill an 'r.' Has anyone run into this
problem or
a way to fix it? Some people have told me it's genetic, but I don't
believe
them (maybe I just don't want to!).
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James and other Vocalists,
After several months of lurking, I am going to make myself known. I
have enjoyed reading the list especially with regard to the "hows" of
singing. I have currently being taking voice lessons for the last 2.5
years. Singing has always been a part of my life but more so as a
chorister, than a soloist. I have now in the last couple of years
sung a few solos in a church where the choir has several extremely
good soloists already. Quite an intimidating thing to do when one
has just entered her "50's". I also enjoy reading the list because
my 23 year old son is planning on becoming a professional singer and
I like to hear the viewpoints of other "youngsters" :-) pursuing this
career.
Anyway, a couple of months ago, after a lifetime of not being able to
roll my 'r's, and because our Renaissance choir has an Italian
concert coming up, I decided that this was going to be the time when
I learned to roll them ... and ... I did in a matter of 2 weeks and
lots and lots of hours ... in the car, in the bathtub ... in the
street ... I'm old enough to be a little eccentric, if I wasn't
already.
Here are my particular insights:
1. After reading on the this list the "pot o' tea" idea and "edited
it" which gave me an idea of tongue placement, I practiced just
flapping my tongue back and forth on the alveolar ridge singing up
and down a '1-2-3-4-5' scale. I tried to get it as light and relaxed
as possible (like butterfly wings), and a sense that the air was
controlling the tip of the tongue movement. I recall an awareness of
the tip of tongue in the hollow behind the alveolar ridge. This was
actually farther back than I had envisioned the roll of the "r".
After doing this at every chance... while cooking, washing dishes ...
suffering comments from my husband that I sounded like a tribesman on
the warpath, I noticed that presumably because of tongue relaxation
and possibly a consequently lower larynx, my singing sound had a huge
increase in volume. At this point, if nothing else I had stumbled on
a good singing exercise. But still no rolled "r".
2. Surfing the net brought me to a linguistic site that mentioned the
Bernoulli effect being part of the trilled "r". Eureka! The bright
light that turned on was that I needed some airflow under the tongue
as well as over the top. (Kind of like the airflow going over the
upper and lower, but differently curved surfaces of an aircraft
wing.) So laying in bed one night, one last try with this idea in
mind ... there it was ... a brief tongue trill. I went to sleep
peacefully thinking, "I know I can do it tomorrow".
3. Yes, I could. It was pretty crude and percussive at first, and I
could only vocalize 3 notes without running out of air.
4. With more practice, the trill is getting more and more comfortable
and relaxed and lasts longer. It is still difficult to put in the
context of speaking or singing words, but every once in a while it
works. I am now (this week) experimenting with curling the tongue
longitudinally a bit, and this sometimes works enabling a more gentle
roll.
To sum up the surprises I had with respect to this activity:
a. Tip of the tongue farther back in the mouth than I thought.
b. Air flow under the tongue.
c. The back of the tongue vibrates as well and kind of feels like the
French "r" which I could already do.
I hope that this helps, and probably won't be everybody's experience.
Here's hoping that soon, you, too, can phone your friends and family
soon with the thrilling news, "Guess what? I learned to roll my "r"s
this week."
Enjoy your posts everybody,
Sandy Willott
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