"PUT DOWN THE RULER AND STEP AWAY FROM THE MIRROR!!" the command pierced
through the darkened hallway.
"Good heavens, I'm being invaded", I thought to myself. How can I defend
myself? "I HAVE A TUNING FORK...AND I KNOW HOW TO USE IT!!", I screamed at
the tall figure entering into my studio.
"PUT DOWN THE RULER AND THE TUNING FORK, AND STEP AWAY FROM THE MIRROR!!!"
came the command again as the figure entered into the light.
"Ohmygosh...it's...it's...it's....the Voice Cops!" I was busted! There I
was, at the mirror trying to measure just how much my larynx rose when I
sang up the scale. Later, I would bring all of my Richard Miller books and
copies of posts from "Vocalist" to court. Surely the judge would understand.
Seriously, I am very much enjoying all the hooforah and repartee' among the
pedagogues on this subject. It might be nice to revisit a student's
perspective, however, especially since this subject was initially raised by
a beginning student I can't consciously control what my larynx does. A
few years ago when I first started voice lessons, little did I realize what
a journey I was undertaking. I thought that a few tricks and embellishments
here and there and everything would be fine. But as the lessons went on, my
teacher removed one by one a lifetime's accumulation of bad habits and vocal
crutches used to get me through high school, college, and church choirs, and
the coffee-house folk music circuit (how I earned pocket money in college).
With every lesson, that first year, my voice seemed to me to sound worse.
But then things started to turn around. Little by little I started to sound
better until one day...."You're raising your larynx too high", she said.
"Try to sing on the yawn"; and later, "Now you're sounding 'woofy'." And
still later, "Don't try to control things so much!" I read somewhere in one
of Miller books (I think) that the larynx does normally rise with ascending
pitch but to only a limited extent, perhaps 1-2 cm. "Larynx,
schmarynx!" I cursed in frustration. "Mebbe a turtleneck sweater would help."
My teacher now talks in terms of pure vowels, and keeping the back of the
throat open. He says "When the back of the throat is open, the larynx is
low, the vowels (particularly [O] ) are pure, and the intonation is better".
I found one image helpful: I try to focus on a painting on the far wall in
his studio and as I sing out, I pretend I'm pulling the notes out of the
painting. It seems to work, or so says Dr Marshall, my teacher. And
finally, I don't have to remember the 15 things to do and the 25 to avoid,
anymore; just suck the notes off that painting over there.
I can't imagine what Marti is making of this controversy, or maybe I can
(being a voice student myself), and perhaps that's what drove me to share
this. Perhaps a unifying overview can be reached? Just a thought.
GWendel
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