Vocalist.org archive


From:  Gina <classicalsinger@e...>
Gina <classicalsinger@e...>
Date:  Thu Feb 1, 2001  4:51 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] PED--The upper break


Hi,

When I put my fingers gently on my larynx and swallow, I notice that
first the larynx raises with a corresponding tension in the surrounding
muscles. There is a stiffening of the tongue temporarily until the
swallowing motion is complete and the larynx drops back down lower
again. Is this what you were experiencing?
In the passaggio, many teachers advise a student to keep the larynx
stable and low, as it would be with a deep, relaxed inhalation. If you
inhale as if you were smelling flowers and place your fingers on the
larynx and feel how it gently goes a bit lower. If you can leave it
there but not force it by pressing down on it with the back of the
tongue, I believe it will help your passaggio.
I think that however satisfying it is to find something that seems to
work, if it goes against what needs to happen, maybe we need to rethink
that direction. IMO, if you sing with the larynx high, it will end up
slowing your progress.
Appoggio is very important to help with this area. Stand tall with
"noble posture" and sternum high. When you inhale, feel the ribs go out
horizontally. Maintain this elevated sternum even during the phrase.
As I noticed in Richard Miller's book "Training Soprano Voices" (which
still applies to tenors in part), he states that it is common for
singers to lose the appoggio in the passaggio zone and that's what
causes problems. If you find that the ribs are squishing in when you
sing in the passaggio that may be something that if you make sure to
think of remaining in the inhalation posture as long as possible, it
will help you not to have glitches or yodels. Perhaps thinking of the
ribs out-out-out while you are descending on the arpeggios you talked
about will make them smoother.
Another traditional approach to the passaggio is to round and darken the
vowel in this area. For me, it is a very "contained" area, and it
sounds very small in my ears. Try adding a bit of OH vowel, AWE vowel,
or OOH vowel mixed in with the regular vowel. Maybe if you think of
singing it full voice but not pushing through the small, condensed,
focused pinpoint, but still have relaxation and pharyngeal space, it
will help you.
In short, a relaxed, gently low larynx, good appoggio, and modification
of the vowel will greatly assist you in navigating the passaggio. The
result is seeming to have no registers because they will be so seamless
they will seem not to exist at all.
I hope this is of some help... please let me know.

Gina


> For me, it seemed I had to tilt my larynx forward and to modify the
> vowel to
> a brighter more forward sound. Paradoxically, it feels a little like
> the
> first half of a swallowing motion. Not sure if this makes sense. It
> seems
> the converse of what I had thought one was supposed to do. So I was
> wondering what experience(s) other singers have had; and what the
> Pedagogues
> think. What exercises can one do to ensure that the upper break
> transition
> remains smooth seamless under any conditions? Thanks for reading
> this and
> sorry if it's an old topic, but I can't seem to access the old
> Vocalist
> archives anymore.


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