Vocalist.org archive


From:  "Margaret L. Harrison"<peggyh@i...>
Date:  Thu Dec 12, 2002  10:03 pm
Subject:  Re: was [vocalist] Is vibrato important? for peggy


On Thu, 12 Dec 2002 21:13:45 -0000 "mimimemeus <mimimemeus@y...>"
<mimimemeus@y...> wrote:

> You said-"However, sometimes in the process of
> moving from an inability to sing with vibrato (which once was me) to singing
with an
> attractive vibrato (which is now me), one might pass through a stage with an
unattractive vibrato
> (which I did)."
> How did you achieve this. I am in that position
> ritght now and am wondering about any exercises or anything that would be
helpful.

I'm sorry to say I don't have a quick and easy answer, because for me it was
not a quick and easy process! There was not one specific exercise that got me
there.

What a teacher of mine says about vibrato is that lack of vibrato is caused by
tension in the vocal aparatus, and that when the tension is removed, the
vibrato appears all on its own. This teacher deals with vibrato issues in a
number of ways. One way is to ask the student to sing a simple excercise,
like a descending 5-note scale, a up and down triad, or several vowels on a
single note, and just "listen" for vibrato. In some students, that will allow
the tensions to drop away and the vibrato appears on its own. Then it is a
matter of the student learning the feeling associated with the desired sound
and being able to reproduce it all the time.

This is simple to say and write, but hard to do, at least for me. My teacher
explains it this way. You've been doing one thing your whole life, and this
new thing only a short time. So your body naturally will want to revert to
its accustomed way of doing something, and it takes a lot of mental energy to
get the body accustomed to its new way. Also, sometimes, we overcompensate
for the new way, and the teacher helps us move back to the happy medium.

For me, when a lot of vocal things started to come together, including
vibrato, was when I learned the feeling in my body of the proper, low, breath.
Again, that's easy to write, but for me, hard to execute, because I found the
feelings to be very subtle, and I'm a "kinetic learner", so until I "got" the
feeling, it was hit or miss getting the "right" way.

It took time, patience, and perseverance. It took an ability to give myself
permission not to be perfect, while remaining confident in my teacher's
ability to help guide my becoming better. It took an ability to be satisfied
with my small successes, knowing that I was moving in the right direction,
albeit slowly.

And over time, I've exceeded my expectations. I started as a choir alto who
just wanted to sing her alto high notes easier. Now I'm a soprano with a
reasonably good techique - a nice vibrato, I can make a long phrase on a
single breath when I need to, I can make a nice tone sofly and loudly. I get
paid to sing in church. I'm a valued leader in my community chorus soprano
section. I'm able to sing a solo recital and invite my friends to come and
know they will enjoy themselves.

Good luck with your own studies!

Peggy



Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA.



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