Vocalist.org archive


From:  "lestaylor2003 <LesTaylor@a...
Date:  Wed Feb 5, 2003  4:06 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] SINGING HIGH NOTES EASILY

I'm not sure that the same technique will always work the same way
for everyone. In order to make the most sense of how to sing high
notes, perhaps it would be a good idea to first list all the things
we can think of that might influence how we sing them?

Mouth opening bottom to top, front to back and lip rounding:
In my experience, different people sense how they open their mouths
differently. I have had students swear that their mouths are wide
open, when they are really only slightly ajar. I have a mirrored wall
in my studio that I have them face as they sing and you should see
the looks on their faces when they see what they're really doing!

I have found that in general, opening in gradually widening
proportion, as one ascends the scale works pretty well for most
people. But, I prefer to call it "opening the mouth" rather
than "dropping the jaw". I see them as slightly different different
things.

I am not convinced that pulling the jaw back so as to effect an
overbite is the best solution for everyone. It might be the greatest
thing since sliced bread for some but i doubt it is for everyone. Ms.
Sutherland has a "lantern jaw", it is quite large and situated more
forward than most. It may be that she has to pull it back in order to
get the opening she needs for her particular anatomy. People with a
tiny chin and an underbite probably wouldn't need to do the same
things Ms Sutherland does.

Lip position also influences high notes. I have found that placing
the lips in a more bell-shaped (trumpet bell) position often "allows"
more resonance to escape the mouth, creating a clearer, more robust
tone.

I must confess, I don't care for Ms Sutherland's high notes. They are
too "noisy" or "hissy" for me. I prefer voices that produce a cleaner
signal, but that's just my preference.

Other things that affect how we sing high notes are the shape of
buccal cavity including positioning of the soft palate, pharynx, and
tongue. Things like the shape of the hard palate (depth, width),
tongue size, jaw size, dental health and configuration of one's teeth
all influence how we go about the business of singing high notes.
Onset, sostenution and release effect high notes. If there's too much
grunt or glottal grabbing, there can be too much tension. The effort
needed to sing in the lower ranges exhausts the singer to the point
that the muscles won't work when it comes time to sing the high
notes. If there's too much aspiration, the tone becomes too "airy" to
keep focussed. The singer may not have enough air to fuel their high
notes. The person's ability to manage and modify their vowels is
important too. If the high note is in the area of transition from one
register to another, there are fewer manageable vowels from which to
choose. A singer may not be able to resonate on the written vowel and
pitch in a transition area, so they may have to modify their vowels
until they can.
Regards,
Les




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