Courtney Fairbourn- Voice Lesson- April 20th

• Overall this lesson was incredibly exciting. A lot of things I've been struggling with the last couple weeks clicked into place for me. I understood not only how I wanted things to feel, but why things didn't always feel great, and what wasn't working about my practicing. 
• 1358531 on a lip buzz 
• So great for just getting me to release sound without trying to manufacture anything. I focused on feeling my stomach release between each set and that was successful. 
• 54321 [bla bla bla] 
• Once again, I just focused on releasing sound and feeling my throat stay nice and open and relaxed. 
• 1232123212321 [u o a]
• [u] feels really dome-y and hooty. I naturally was letting the [o] stay in the space and started the [a] the same way. The problem was that I was overcorrecting the [a] as I moved through the exercise.
• I also can start my warm-ups with these lighter sounds. It doesn't need to be loud with lots of spin in these exercises. I can use these to untie the knots and just let things be loose and flexible. 
• 1353146413531 [uyu]
• I absolutely love the feeling of keeping my [i] vowel in an [u] space. 
• Umlauting the vowel also helps keep my teeth apart.
• 135878987654321 [u a/i]
• Instead of being afraid of [a] energize it. Feel it at the front of your face around your nose
• Use [i] to find the place for a inside the [u]
• Don't worry about backing the vowels, rather let your tongue fill the front of your mouth and think/hear the vowel. Vowel is compressed at the front. Thinking about space in the back is not currently helpful. 
• Tongue is fat, let it take up all the space.
• Say [ajiaji] or [ajeajeaje] then sing 1358531 with mouth open and a smile.
• 12321 [z] 
• let the energy/pressure from the body stay the same and trust the larynx.
• 12321 [za] 
• focus on one thing at a time in my practicing. 
• Keep the pressure the same when the vowel opens. 
• Takes energy and trust the body.
• Changed to [zo] to keep the vowel tall
• [no] 54321 then to [ni] 
• Let the [n] be more forward in my mouth. 
• Focus on feeling the buzz
• Hear the vowel, open your mouth. 
• As you come lower, the vowel compresses more in rather than down 
• Takeaways:
• Just hear the vowel
• Let the tongue fill your mouth
• Think less... Instead focus on feeling something in your practicing. Let the exercise do the work for you. Choose one physical thing to focus on.
• Breath trajectory moves to the top of my forehead, but sound is just being released. 
• [u] creates the right amount of back space. 
• The Light in the Piazza
• Just speak in the [u] space. It's more forward than you think. 

Patrice- Smith- Ch. 13-14

 Better Late than Never Smith Ch. 13-14

Here are some things that stood out to me in these chapters.

How to remain a healthy singer! Hydration, hydration, hydration. Do not smoke, do not scream, avoid smokey bars or places. Do not use drugs. Diet and exercise, be healthy, but not extreme. Get your voice checked when you have concerns. Take care of yourself when you are sick- do not sing, hydrate hydrate hydrate. Be caution with prescriptions that may cause inflammation to the larynx. You will have a nontraditional lifestyle, and that will be hard. Mental health is and will continue to be something to manage. Gain confidence, but stay humble. You can have success. You are the only one who can sound like you. Your voice is unique, have confidence in that. Keep learning and growing. You've got this.

Patrice- Smith- Ch. 10-12

 Better Late than Never Smith Ch. 10-12

Here are some things that stood out to me in these chapters.

Chapter ten was about performing and the difference of practicing and "playing the game". This chapter was  all the things that make singing emotional. Techniques to help with legato include: vowel definition, vowel substitution, what to do with french vowels, how to work with consonants, how to work with shadow vowels (sing them when needed and when not to sing them). Other techniques to "play the game" include: diction (don't over-pronounce, but makes sure it is understandable (aurally and emotionally)), musicality (adding different dynamics, especially on stagnant parts or parts with runs), dynamics and how to sing softly (THIS NEEDS TO BE LEARNED, if not, soft singing will not be done with the correct technique), and singing staccato with legato. There are some things that need to be dealt with in different ways, such as: wide intervals, stylistic differences, or singing in nonclassical styles.

Chapter 11 is about finding your own path. This includes choosing appropriate rep. I have found finding appropriate rep for myself has at times been difficult. When I first started, I had never sung any classical music so I picked song that I thought sounded nice. Turns out, I needed a simpler french songs. but the more and  more that I have sung the more complicated my songs have become. I have become more confident in my rep choices and it has been cool to see my personal progression. Steps to learn rep: study the text, speak the text, speak the text in rhythm, get the pitches in your ear, sing it. Remember you are an actor as well as a singer!

Your voice is yours. But because of there there are thing that can be difficult to manage. You need to take responsibility of your own singing choices. You need to know how to deal with directors and conductors. There will be times you need to say no and know how to say no. Know what you are willing to do and what you are not willing to do and how you will compromise. Be prepared, generous, know when it is appropriate to mark and when you should sing.

Patrice- Smith- Ch. 7-9

 Better Late than Never Smith Ch. 7-9

Here are some things that stood out to me in these chapters.

Spontaneous combustion has to do with the onset. I found recently that once I am on a note, my voice is very consistent and stays- but I need to make sure I am ON the RIGHT note, not slightly sharp, or slightly flat. An exercise that help with spontaneous combustion is five detached [a]'s. Releases are not cutting off the vocal folds, rather just stopping the phonation while the air flow continues. The wobble helps with flexibility of airflow. It stretches your vocal folds long and thin and then releases them to become short and thick. How to get high but not with drugs? Mix chest and head voice, start low, perfect the techniques with your students before they try them on their own.

Patrice- Smith- Ch. 4-6

Better Late than Never Smith Ch. 4-6

Here are some things that stood out to me in these chapters.

Qualifiers of speech: projection, line, defined vowels, on the whole instrument (using the whole body). Simply speaking simply is eliminating the complications of speech and enables the most pure and simple vocal expressions. Different phases to simply speak simply are: one, vernacular speaking; two, speaking with projection; three, speaking with line; four, speaking with projection and line on pitch; and five, refining the vowel. Remeber- bring the tongue forward! The bass of the tongue can become an issue. Free-flowing air will help with falsetto. Muscles need to be disengaged. Here are ways to master free-flowing air: one, downward sigh; two,  siren; and three, descending five-tone scale. How do you balance it all?  The extremes don't work every day. Classical technique is a great foundation for any kind of singing. Warming up is to help the voice feel relaxed.

Patrice- Smith- Intro-Ch. 3

Better Late than Never Smith Intro-Ch. 3

Here are some things I pulled from these chapters.

"The Naked Voice" is to represent authenticity and the purity of one's actual voice. Singing should be like breathing and speaking. Make sure you understand how your instrument works. You do not want a passive resonator, but an active one. The sound of our instrument will change from day to day because our bodies change from day to day. Sing in a wholistic way- that is with your whole self and body. Speaking is so natural and we don't think about it, but we think about singing. Sometimes you need to teach in such a way that students begin to think of singing like speaking, that is, think less. Don't sing/speak the way you think you should, but the way you do. Breathing is the essence of life. The more simply we think about breathing the better we do it. We need good body alignment to breath correctly. The word support can be counter productive. Teach free flow of air and to feel the sensation of flow instead. Releasing the air includes releasing the abdomen muscle. Release all you air all the time. We do not need to control our breath, our vocal folds regulate the airflow.

Patrice- McCoy- Ch. 8

  Better Late than Never McCoy Ch. 8

I kinda talked about this in my chapter 5 post on resonance. Registers are neat to me. Depending on how the resonance sits in one's body and what register it resonates can determine voice type. When I was reading about the woman's voice and classical versus belting I was intrigued. I thought about when I sing the two different styles and how I need to shift my registers or approach note differently depending on the surrounding notes. Recently I have found I better know how to sing in different registers and bring a register up or down depending on the need of the style, sound production, and my needs as a singer. The modes were interesting as well. Depending on how the glottis forms depends on the mode and register. I  love knowing how the body works and functions. I find it helpful in my personal sound production.