It's not like the rose in Carmen's teeth! Have the student hold the end of a
pencil or pen in his teeth at the side of his mouth. This makes him unable to
open the jaw, so therefore the vowels have to be made clear by finding the
appropriate resonance space inside the mouth/throat area. This requires the
stretching open of those inner spaces (palate up, tongue down, etc.). This can
work well throughout the range until he reaches the very high range, where he
will need to have the jaw slightly more open.
---
Dr. Diane M. Clark, Assoc. Prof. of Music
Dept. of Music, Rhodes College
2000 N. Parkway, Memphis, TN 38112
901-843-3782; fax 843-3789
dclark@r... http://www.rhodes.edu
> ----------
> From: Carol Johnson
> Reply To: vocalist-temporary@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Wednesday, February 5, 2003 1:48 PM
> To: vocalist-temporary@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [vocalist] that darned old jaw!
>
> Please explain more about the pencil in the teeth?
>
> Thanks,
> Carol
>
>
>
>
>
> >From: Clark_Diane <DCLARK@r...>
> >Reply-To: vocalist-temporary@yahoogroups.com
> >To: vocalist-temporary@yahoogroups.com
> >CC: Clark_Diane <DCLARK@r...>
> >Subject: [vocalist] that darned old jaw!
> >Date: Wed, 05 Feb 2003 11:33:42 -0600
> >
> > Sharon and Peggy wrote:
> >
> > > Sharon Szymanski <szy@n...> wrote:
> > > >Ed brings up a point that I have often wondered about. I have heard
> >countless folks advocate the dropping of the jaw for various reasons in
> >singing but have found personally, that this actually pulls me out of
> >position and distorts the vowel and tone. Instead, I prefer a sense of
> >moving the jaw more toward the back (creating a sense of "overbite")which
> >seems to create more lift in the palate and a nicer sense of space where I
> >seem to need it for higher notes. Any thoughts on this from the peanut
> >gallery?
> > >
> > > I think this is an example of the sort of thing that's different for
> >individual singers, and the feedback of a teacher is helpful as to whether
> >the dropped jaw is working as hoped. In my case, a relaxed jaw-drop is
> >helpful. But before I figured out how to do that, I'd hold my jaw open,
> >which added tension, and didn't do any good. I now go for a "dog-face"
> >feeling when I drop my jaw, which I think is similar to Sharon's "overbite"
> >idea. (Before I studied voice, I thought singers were crazy, the way they
> >talked!)
> > >
> >++++++++++
> >
> >I agree with Peggy that individual singers have different needs akong this
> >line. I know some people (even professionals) that do what I call
> >"crocodiling" -- i.e., they pull the jaw open so far that it distorts their
> >resonance space and keeps their vowels from matching. Actually, in these
> >cases the jaw is so far open in the front that it ends up being tight in
> >the back and the throat is more closed. (This is the sort of thing that
> >Sharon referred to.)
> >
> >Generally I teach students to do virtually nothing with the jaw and let the
> >work be done inside the mouth and throat. I often use the "pencil in the
> >teeth" tehnique to help them get the idea at first.
> >
> >Just this week, however, I had occasion to make the slightly unorthodox
> >suggestion to a student that he let the lower jaw come slightly forward on
> >his [i] vowels. This worked miracles! For the first time he was able to
> >find enough resonance space for that vowel, and it happened because just
> >letting the jaw do this new little thing unlocked it at the back and helped
> >it be more relaxed! It worked so well for this student that I tried it
> >with another, who had the same problem, and it helped him, too. So, one
> >never knows what will work with whom. This is why it is hard, if not
> >impossible, to learn to sing from books!
> >
> > > ---
> > > Dr. Diane M. Clark, Assoc. Prof. of Music>
> > > Dept. of Music, Rhodes College
> > > 2000 N. Parkway, Memphis, TN 38112
> > > 901-843-3782; fax 843-3789
> > > dclark@r... http://www.rhodes.edu
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
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