Mike:>it could be argued that the voice, and its workings, is just a medium
for expression so, those who prefer to think of it as a mechanism, rather
than a mental illness, probably would rather save all of their multiple
personalities for the expression of their vision rather than wasting a drop
of it on the 'how' of singing.<
It doesn't matter what they'd rather do. The important is what they SHOULD
be doing. I'll give you another example of the limitations of this bottom-up
approach:
It's hard for most of my English students to pronounce the English
th-sounds. They bite the tip of their tongues, say it like retarded people,
etc. Once I tried something different: I asked them to imitate someone with
(a?) tongue-tie ( I'm not sure I'm using that noun correctly. It's a short
frenum ) saying "paçoca doce" ( it's local peanut candy ), which would sound
"paTHoca doTHe", as in "THink".
They could do it immediately, so all I had to do was expand that ability by
having them say "paTHink", "paTHree", etc. I've used that strategy eversince
and it's never failed me ( or them ). After some classes I first did it I
had to introduce them to demonstratives ( that, this, these, those ). I was
really worried, since we don't have a "pazoca doze". To my surprise, they
could repeat my voiced TH perfectly, and they didn't even notice it was
different. They generally just realize TH represents two sounds, voice and
voiceless, when they're in the high-intermediate or advanced level and learn
the difference between "bath" and "bathe". That is, without noticing they're
doing it, they PRODUCE the voiced TH, probably "using" the s versus z
background they already have from Portuguese.
If I thought exclusively with the "bottom-up approach", I wouldn't have
tried that strategy.
IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO EXPLAIN, AT THE ANATOMICAL LEVEL, WHY THEY CAN SAY
"PATHOCA DOTHE", BUT COULDN'T SAY "THINK" OR "THREE" BEFORE. The "th-sound"
is produced the same way in all those examples, but THEIR NERVOUS SYSTEM
USED TO DEAL WITH "PATHOCA DOTHE" differently from the way it deals with
"THINK", "THREE", etc.
That's what I mean by "fooling the nervous system". The only logical
explanation is one that involves the nervous system, not only the organs
specifically related to voice production. I'm just saying nasal sounds
"triggering" head voice MAY be such a case. The reason why people say it's
impossible IS NOT BASED ON FACTS. IT'S BASED ON THE IMPOSITION OF A MODEL
ONTO REALITY. THAT'S NOT SCIENCE. THAT'S RELIGION! Science works the other
way round.
>one question i have for you: do you have a falsetto that is clearly
distinguishable from the rest of your voice? (curiosity, not a trap)<
Yes ( or should I have said NO??? Give me a hint! ).
Hugs,
Caio
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