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 > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Good friends, school spirit, hair-dos you'd like to forget. > Classmates.com has them all. And with 4.4 million alumni already > registered, there's a good chance you'll find your friends here: > http://click.egroups.com/1/2622/3/_/_/_/954519188/ > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > vocalist-temporary-unsubscribe@o... > >
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