USU Pedagogy 3630: Courtney-Voice Lesson/Master Class-Week of October 7th

Voice Lesson:

The week leading up to my lesson I'd been experiencing some breathiness and my speaking voice and some "fatigued cracking." This seemed to mostly be due to over-pressurizing or overblowing air. Some things that we discussed to help with this.

I've also been experiencing a lot of anxiety about how to use my practice room time. We talked about prioritizing and procrastinating. We need to prioritize the things that are most important to us and procrastinate those that aren't. Another way of looking at this is using Stephen Covey's urgent/important matrix.
Diagnostic Exercise: (for use to diagnose, not for practice use)

inhale then stop chords
once the student can do that have them follow it up by starting with an [ʔa] to notice whether their folds are coming together and how, whether they have full range of sounds, and whether they have adequate breath support.
remember what that felt like and see if you can move it to exercises

keep the movement/energy consistent. The tube and pressure stay the same.
Start where you want to stay
Listening to this I can hear that I'm starting lighter than I thought I was and it's creating a breathier sound

Add four repetitions of a markado [a] on 1 at the beginning, hold out the fifth to find a mixture, let stomach release between each if needed

do both these exercises in the middle range of my voice that has been struggling
wobbling is okay, let the larynx figure itself out
even when I have a fuller sound, it's more suspended in the upper register than I thought it was. It is not just mode 1. (15:44 has a couple great examples for comparison)

use [f] to get the air moving
imagine the [a] is in front of you
start light then let it crescendo as you come down
when the [a] is spinning faster there is a little more movement between the notes and it sounds more legato
Instead of listening too much, focus on a goal. I thought a few of these sounded terrible when in lesson but as I'm listening back I realize they are actually really close to the sound I want. I was most successful when I was focusing on the directions/goals of the exercise. E.g. starting quietly but intensely, moving through the pitches or feeling it in front of my forehead

auront=[orõ]
quand=[kãt] I'm currently voicing the [t]
disparu=[dispary] muguet=[mygɛ] there's not enough [i] in my [y]
elide the [z] not the [n] of /irons/ there should be no [n]
[u] in courses needs to be purer, practice the vowel and then just touching the consonant [r]
égrenant=[egrənã] schwa for the second e, not [e]

memorize the slight differences between each stanza/strophe
you know the opening notes, just go for it instead of hesitating and you'll probably be right
choose something specific to think for your entrance so that you get it every time
hold /sous/ for two count

remember that when you sit in the passaggio area for a while, it should stay essentially the same space-wise and in the throat, the resonance just might change a little.
It sounded better than I thought! I just started to get more pressed as the lesson went on. Practice keeping it open through out the entire song, even as I'm thinking about other things.

Assume you are always right, then when you are wrong admit it, learn and go back to assuming you're always right
You. Know. These. Notes. Snaggermaggot. Just. Trust. Yourself.

Master Class 10/12/2021

had great stylistic in her diction and voicing
I liked her manipulation and use of registration to get the various colors for the style most of the time
There's a lot of throat and neck tension. Possibly use something opposite of what she's currently doing, like small head shaking no neck movements (instead of big circles) to help her find more release and alignment. "Head gear," holding her ponytail, leaning head against wall etc. could also be helpful in finding a place where she doesn't need those neck muscles to make the pitches.

USU Pedagogy 3630