Vocalist.org archive


From:  Patt Sealy <pds_w@y...>
Date:  Sat Mar 1, 2003  6:44 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] Re: Support and lowered larynx

Hi katherine:

I sang tenor with a classical choir for a about 4
years. I was singing incorrectly from F4 to A4 for as
many years as I tried to sing these notes fully in
chest voice. I am now trying to learn to sing
comfortably in that region and It seems to require
effort and lots of patience. However, my experience
with SLS and the lip trill has given me some hope as I
have been able to vocalize up to E5.
I don't make a conscious attempt to Place the voice
anywhere so I will try to explain what I "feel". When
i start the siren using the lip bubble I am about C3
and lower some days. I feel that vibration in my
chest. next, i feel the vibration mostly in my mouth.
I believe( never checked it precisely)when I reach my
first pass agio point, about E4, my nose starts to
itch. The sound seem to lift behind my nose and my
nose feel as if it is closed off from inside my mouth.
The last stage when I connect to E5 the sound feels
as if it is in my head near the top. I don't know if
this is what singers mean when the talk about going
behind the soft palate. This works for me because I
make a conscious effort to relax my throat and tongue
as much as is possible. In addition, my larynx is
slightly lowered. I also try not to let any air
pressure build up on the vocal folds either. My aim
is always to make a connected sound from C3 to E5.
To summarize, I feel the sound transition from chest
to mouth to nasal to head when I do the lip thrill.
This feels right to me and I am now working at
increasing the volume. Before i knew of the lip
trill, I use to experience a huge build up in pressure
around E4 and F4 which made it difficult to reach
notes beyond with a quality similar to earlier sung
notes.
I recognize this to be a non-technical description of
my experience but it is what I feel. Hope I was able
to answer some part of your question(s).

Patrick

occasionally--- "katherine94040 <modulate58@a...>"
<modulate58@a...> wrote:
> I have a couple of questions, please.
>
> First to Patrick: Can you describe how you move the
> sound into
> different resonant
> (resonance?) chambers as you go up and down? What
> resonance chambers
> are used for what pitches and by what process the
> sound is directed
> from place to place. This is something I have never
> understood and
> you seem to be having success with this, so perhaps
> you can help me.
>
> Second (to Mr. Hanson): When you use the puffy cheek
> exercise on an
> ascending arpeggio, do your students sing the top
> note on a pitch or
> just sing the 1-3-5 and then puff with an 'ah' shape
> or an 'oo' shape
> of some kind? Could you please clarify this
> exercise? It would seem
> difficult to puff and sing at the same time. I guess
> I am not getting
> it. Thank you so much.
>
> Lastly, to anyone: The only way I can do lip trills
> is without
> singing, just making a baby noise. I cannot do this
> while singing.
> Perhaps I don't have the right physical structure
> for it.But it seems
> to me that if I can lip trill without pitch, then I
> do not see a
> connection between lip trilling and anything going
> on with the vocal
> folds. I can see that someone could lip trill AND
> engage the vocal
> folds at the same time, but I cannot see how one
> influences the
> other. Can someone help me with this also, please? I
> am always
> looking to learn.
>
> Thanks to all,
> Katherine
>
>


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