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From:  RRicciardi@S...
Date:  Fri Mar 31, 2000  5:24 pm
Subject:  RE: [vocalist-temporary] Re: Tenor High Notes


Karen,

Great explanation. Thank you.
love the imagery. I'll try it out myself.


Rick

> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Alexander Blyth [SMTP:BLYTHE@B...]
> Sent: None
> To: vocalist-temporary@o...
> Subject: RE: [vocalist-temporary] Re: Tenor High Notes
>
> Karen,
> This seems to be the best description of this that I have read,
> and
> for me it is something of a revelation that what happens for a mezzo is
> analogous to what happens for a baritone, leaving aside the acoustic
> necessity of vowel modification higher in the female range. Thanks for
> this,
> and also for keeping the list going (thanks to I.B. too). john
>
> At 10:04 31/03/00 -0500, you wrote:
> ...
> >Learning how to produce big, lush high notes has been a two-stage process
> >for me. First, I had to learn how to produce easy, unforced high notes
> >that "spin", without squeezing ribs, tightening jaw or tongue, or doing
> >any of the other things that would "force" out the note and make it harsh
> >and edgy. To this end, my former teacher and I spent a lot of time
> >teaching me how to truly "float" the high notes way up in my cranium
> >(that's the imagery and sensation) - it was a combination of images,
> >actually - the first was the "floating" image, the second was a laser,
> the
> >idea being that the sound was very precise and focused, rather than
> >spread. When I accomplished this, I was able to produce very "lyric
> >soprano-like" high notes (in my mezzo range, of course) - clear,
> >bell-like, very easy to sing, almost "whistle-like" but with vibrato-spin
> >on them. In my head, the notes sounded very small and focussed, but my
> >teacher assured me that acoustically they were definitely audible and
> rich
> >enough sounding.
> >
> >I started with a new teacher a little over a month ago, and one of the
> >first things she started working on with me was to get to the next stage,
> >which was to, as she put it, fulfill the promise of my middle register
> >when I moved into my upper register. The idea here is to bring the
> weight
> >of my middle register into my high notes. This is a matter of adding
> >compression and support, and also allowing the larynx to descend more
> when
> >I move higher - basically, the imagery she uses is that of a
> counterweight
> >- as the note ascends, there's a kind of vocal counterweight that must
> >descend, so the whole aural spectrum actually gets wider as the notes get
> >higher (and the result is that wonderful texture of overtones you hear
> >when big voices sing high notes well). So the idea isn't to take exactly
> >the same production you use on the middle register and move it, like a
> >ball bouncing up a stair step, to the upper register; instead, it's a
> >sense of opening up and down vocally as you sing higher.
> >
> >It's very hard to convey these ideas in writing, but one thing I do know
> >is that I could NOT be doing Stage Two without having first succeeded
> with
> >Stage One to the point where I was always producing those "floaty" high
> >notes consistently well, without tension ever.
> >
> >Hope this helps.
> >
> >KM
> >=====
> >Ich singe, wie der Vogel singt,
> >Der in den Zweigen wohnet;
> >Das Lied, das aus der Kehle dringt,
> >Ist Lohn, der reichlich lohnet.
> >- J.W. von Goethe, WILHELM MEISTER
> ...
> >
> >
> >
> John Blyth
> Baritone, inter alia.
> Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
>
>
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  Replies Name/Email Yahoo! ID Date Size
82 Re: Tenor High Notes Alain Zürcher   Sat  4/1/2000   3 KB

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