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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