Mary Beth I think it is interesting to ponder Charlotte Church's
quivering jaw when considering vowel production. I've no doubt
we have all at some time engaged the lower jaw in trying to
"make" the tone instead of singing the vowels with the feeling
that it is ALL happening with the upper mouth area while the
relaxed lower jaw couples the tuned system to the outside world.
I feel it is an ACT OF FAITH to allow the lower jaw to have its head
(NPI) and concentrate only on the vowel, because when that happens
everything seems to fall into place, at least that is my experience.
This makes me wonder if Charlotte is continuously alternating
between the two states. Making the tone with the rigid jaw and
then relaxing from that condition because she has learned that
she cannot survive vocally unless she does. I think consonants
are a threat to free vocal tone and as long as we recognize this
we can take steps to escape the potentially detrimental effects.
As an additional consideration, I have always been fascinated by
this comment from Bjoerling, the consummate professional, that he
always found it very difficult and frustrating when, for whatever
reason, he could not get the rib cage to hold in the "manly"
stance. It seems that even the best have bad days and if he
tells me that in order to support the tone effectively, this stance
is necessary, then of course my experience has taught me that
he was totally correct and I too can expect to have off days.
I mention this because in order to ensure that the relaxed
vowel production is allowed to happen, it is essential that the
artist learn to identify just when the support is working, and
when it is NOT.
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