Hi,
Yes, I am younger than 35. That's all I'm saying there! ha ha.
As far as dynamics go, what you have described is exactly the approach
we are using... the same quality, with my voice, but softer. Doesn't
feel like much change to me, but reads out there.
The lyric-coloratura thing...I can relate to this! I spent 2
unfortunate years at a University with a supposedly terrific teacher who
kept trying to get me to lighten up and be a lyric-coloratura. As
recent as 3 years ago, someone tried to get me to be one. At the time,
I had 2 ways of singing... all light mechanism and full voice. Now I
have learned to sing with my whole instrument throughout my whole
range. I can vocalize up to an F but I am not a coloratura of any
kind. Singing with my whole voice all the way up is not "harmful" or
"dangerous" and it is right for me.
I too can peel paint. When I am in a lesson, you can hear me out of the
closed windows, across the lawn and past the pool into the parking lot
at the end of the row of condos. There's lots of squillo here.
I'm learning to sing softly with my whole voice, without pulling back
the energy or letting the sound go back.
My teacher says when the top isn't forward, it does get a little less
beautiful but when it's forward it is beautiful. I struggle with the
concept of forward, because I _know_ scientifically you can't put the
sound anywhere and all that mumbo jumbo, but the fact remains, that when
it is placed forward, the tone has colour and you can feel it there.
Who cares what's actually happening. There comes a time when you have
to let go all of the other opinions of people, book knowledge, old
teachers, and junk and trust your own teacher. The proof is in the
pudding, and I am having success.
It's so hard to record my voice, though! Aargh! When a competition
asks for a tape, I make myself crazy!!! Can't stand it.
I trust my teacher because she's been around, sang professionally
internationally and has the toughest ears I know. I worked so long to
learn to get it right and now she says I do. I had a lot of teachers
before her and so it was hard to learn to trust and now and then the
doubt pops up again but for the most part I am dealing with it.
Sometimes I wish I weren't so analytical and could just sing without
having to _understand_ everything.
Lana Mountford wrote:
> You don't say how old you are, but if you're less than 35-40 years old
>
> or so, and if you're truly a dramatic soprano, then it's very likely
> that your voice isn't "finished" yet, and it will likely change in
> tone
> quality/color over the years. Concentrate on healthy production, free
>
> and easy -- you'll know when you're doing it "right" because it'll
> feel
> like you can sing forever without getting tired. (One other "sign" I
> get when I'm doing it right is that my ears ring, from my highest
> notes
> to my lowest, and at all dynamics.) You indicate that you like and
> respect your teacher -- then trust her to keep tabs on your technique.
>
> She may be having you "round" out your tone in preparation for the
> next
> step in the natural maturation process. The main thing is to trust
> her.
>
> One word of caution -- it's natural for a dramatic soprano to have a
> big
> voice that sounds "loud" even when you're singing soft. I was
> "diagnosed" as a lyric coloratura soprano with a "volume problem" by
> my
> first voice teacher (when I was 42 years old - yes, I was a "late
> starter"), who then spent 18 months trying to "lighten up" my voice.
> My
> second (incredibly wonderful) teacher, who made the diagnosis that I
> was
> "some kind of dramatic soprano," used to joke that I could peel paint
> off houses 3 blocks away. But in time, I learned to control the
> dynamics while still singing "big." So, be careful of using the fact
> that you're a dramatic soprano as an excuse for not developing the
> skills necessary to control the volume (I'm NOT saying you're doing
> this
> - just a caution that it's easy to fall into that little trap because
> I
> nearly fell into it myself). You CAN keep the "fatness" in your voice
>
> and still sing softly. But REALLY be careful if someone tries to get
> you to "slim down" your voice, or make it smaller than it naturally
> is.
> It took me almost two years to undo the damage caused by my first
> voice
> teacher.
>
> All the best!
>
> Lana Mountford
>
>
> Gina wrote:
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > I finally found my rep, my fach, and my teacher. I am a dramatic
> > soprano and I have a great teacher. Luv the stuffings out of this
> > person and respect her too. So what's up, you ask? My teacher has
> me
> > keep my voice forward but "dark" which really means "round." When
> I
> > listen to myself on recordings, it seems I have a brilliant quality
> on
> > top. I dream of being able to have more warmth in top. I have
> checked
> > all the technical things that I know of to make sure I am singing
> > correctly. I make sure the tongue is not retracted, jaw isn't
> locked or
> > stiff, I am supporting, not spreading my mouth position, the palate
> is
> > up, body in good alignment. It just seems that I have a lot of
> > penetrating power and not too much "float". Part of the technique I
>
> > have been taught is not to "lift". No lifting cheeks or smiling or
> > lifting the lips off the teeth. The breath style is "lean out"
> though I
> > don't push out all the time. I find on top I stop pushing out/down
> and
> > let the abdominals come in and up. I have been taught low larynx,
> open
> > throat and one voice all the way up, no registers or adjusting
> anything
> > for the top. All works well, very reliably and I am happy, but I
> want
> > prettier high notes. There's good spin in the tone- no wobble and
> no
> > glaring technical things going on. Am I just asking for too much
> here
> > or can I get a prettier, rounder, clearer tone? Not to say that it
> is
> > breathy, which it isn't. One thing that occurred to me is pressure
> on
> > the base of the tongue. What would that sound like in the sound?
> What
> > would that feel like? Could the vowel AWE in the top cause this and
>
> > would AE as in CAT be better without spreading the mouth into a
> smile?
> > We're talking minor, minor adjustments here cause not a lot is
> wrong.
> > I also carry like mad- you can hear me in Timbuktu. Maybe when I am
> on
> > the stage it will correct itself, but right now the venues I sing in
> are
> > all small. I have been told not to sing so loud (NOT by my
> teacher),
> > but I can't help it. If I sing "correctly", it's just loud. What
> do
> > you knowledgeable people think? I am just being picky but I want to
> be
> > perfect!
> >
>
> --
> Explain it as we may, a martial strain will urge a man into the front
> rank of battle sooner than an argument, and a fine anthem excite his
> devotion more certainly than a logical discourse.
> ~ Henry Tuckerman ~
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> Lana Mountford lana@a... Seattle, WA
>
[Thirteen Days in theaters 1/12]
Thirteen Days in theaters 1/12
>
>
>
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