Of the top o me head I might suggest: your general dynamic level in practice etc. is too low - maybe you're in a small room. Also during performance, maybe you want your piano dynamics to be too small. I personally (girding my loins for flames) think a solo performer should not sing any quieter than still produces a vibrant ringing quality. Piano to me is a matter of the character of the music more than dwindling a tone to the edge of audibility. When composers (cruelly) want you to be at the edge of audibility then *of course* there is going to be a bit of throat tightening or some other strategy to muffle the resonance and projection. I think we hear too many performances that have been subject to the microphone's microscopic attention. On the other hand I was at a performance last night where the singer was able to spin the most delicate concentrated thread of sound, but she was a lyric soprano and they can do things like that! 2cents.john
At 04:20 PM 9/19/00 -0700, you wrote:
>I'm a 23 year old lyric tenor. I'm noticing more and more that practicing >singing - i.e., in voice lessons, coaching sessions, practicing by myself, >etc. - makes me vocally tired fairly quickly, but when I sing onstage in >front of an audience, there's no problem, I've got stamina, range, and ring >to spare. Anybody able to relate to this and/or explain why this might be? >It's alternately frustrating and gratifying. > >In addition, I'm noticing that I have two very frustrating bad habits. I >have not been taught them, in fact I've been taught to not do them, but >evidently what I've been taught to do doesn't totally connect with me, >otherwise I wouldn't do these things. 1) When attempting a decrescendo, >particularly on high notes, the method I'm instinctively using to >decrescendo is laryngeal tightening. 2) When stopping a tone, I do so >glottally, cutting it off with the throat rather than just stopping the >breath. The second one I know what to do about, and simply stopping the >breath is actually the easier way to do it, it's just going to take a lot of >practice to get used to doing it the "easier" way. The first one is stumping >me, however. I'm intellectually able to understand that I need to keep the >throat open and relaxed, but when trying to sing softer than a mezzo-forte, >tightening up is just what my particular instrument *does*. (This likely >explains why I would get vocally tired quickly when I practice, but it >doesn't explain why I don't when I perform.) Anybody have any insight or >suggestions that could help this? > > Thanks, > > Richard >
John Blyth Baritono robusto e lirico Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
|
| |