Patrice- McCoy- Ch. 6

  Better Late than Never McCoy Ch. 6

Analyzing the voice was really cool! To see spectrograms of what I hear was very intriguing. I recently recored a solo for a song and watched the solo be edited. It wasn't a spectrogram to be specific, but it had a similar reading. I was able to see some habits of mine that aren't helpful in my singing. These are habits I have been told about, but to physically see it happening was really interesting and helpful. I could see how consistent my vibrato was, the shape of my vibrato, my onsets and offsets, and my pitch accuracy and consistency. Through looking at a spectrogram-type of recording I learned a lot about my voice and my habits. I think analyzing the voice in different ways with different senses will help me be a more effective teacher. I can use sound to hear what my students are producing, touch (when appropriate and consented) to feel the movement of certain muscle, and sight to not only see how their body is reacting, but to visually see the sound they are producing.

Patrice- McCoy- Ch. 5

  Better Late than Never McCoy Ch. 5

Resonance. Man this can be an issue! I remember one time I was in a choir and the director had each of us sing a scale. I didn't realized he was trying to see how smoothly we shifted from one resonant space to the next and I was very obvious in one of my shifts. I often think back on that experience when the topic of head and chest voice comes up. I didn't realize how many shifts a single voice has. Formants were a bit confusing to me- but, if my understanding is correct, certain vowels are standard resonator in certain harmonic sets. The singer's formant was pretty neat to read and talk about in class. The think I found incredible was how resonant the voice is. Didn't realize that a voice can literally out-sing an orchestra, and that is just because of the resonance and the Hz the voice produces. I would love to dive more into the singer's formant to gain a better understanding of it.

Patrice-McCoy- Ch. 4

  Better Late than Never McCoy Ch. 4

The intricacy of the larynx is INCREDIBLE. However, because of that intricacy it is easy to overthink and try to control every bit of the larynx and one's vocal folds. In my mind, the purpose for this chapter is to understand how they larynx and the folds work, then an instructor can know what to teach or focus on to have the larynx and folds work properly. Knowing what the body is doing when certain sounds are made (like onsets, offsets, and phonation modes) is crucial in teaching. But it will be not help in telling the student to fix their aspirated offset they need to make sure they stop the air all the way and not let air pass through an open glottis. We cannot consciously control each muscle in our larynx, so know what it is doing and know how to adjust in other ways is crucial.

Patrice- McCoy- Ch. 3

 Better Late than Never McCoy Ch. 3

The part that interested me the most in this chapter was breathing methods, especially the differences between breath support and breath control. Support is a pulmonary function and control  is a laryngeal function. Breath control is determined by the efficiency of the regulation of airflow through the larynx. Breath support enables production of beautiful sound, breath control allows those sounds to last to the end of long phrases. I think these two concepts get mixed up in my brain with my own singing, so I would like to understand them a bit more and focus having the right control along with the proper support. I feel like the root to a lot of strained singing is improper breath control and breath support. That was the most interesting part of this chapter for me.

Annika-VRH-September 23

 

September 23, 2021

Kat

• So much more power in your upper range compared to masterclass

• Breath support was better

• Still need more emotion

Amelia

• Breath support was great

• Emotions were very easy to see and read

Alyssa

• Diction, attitude, support are all great

• Really fun acting

Sierra

• Very accurate pitches

• Wish I could see more emotion!

Ethan

• Very emotional

• Well supported

Braeden

• I can feel your emotion--so good

• Voice is so soft and soothing but still strong

• Love the falsetto

• Growl!!

• Strong belt

Kylee

• Strong, relaxed belt

• Such a beautiful upper range

• Very controlled riffs

Kaden

• Diction is amazing and so clear

• Emotions and acting are very easy to read

• Very well supported

• Vibrato is stunning--very even

Logan

• Great breath support

• Nice open mouth-- lots of sound

Tim

• Support and emotion were there

Nalani

• Tone is sooooo clear

• Facials and body movements tell the story

• Diction and articulation is very clean

• Sound is very supported

Brianna Skeen- Smith- Chapters 10-14

 Summary

-These last few chapters focus on how the techniques discussed in the previous chapters can be applied in the real world of singing and performance. It discusses what makes a good audition, and how to be successful as a singer. One of the best ways that you can be successful as a singer is to figure out what you want out of your life. What is important to you and stay true to that as you pursue a career in singing. It is important to take care of your physical health as a singer by staying hydrated and by keeping your body healthy. The best performances and auditions are when a singer enjoys what they perform and personalize it to themselves, wether that is choosing repetoire for an audition that speaks to you personally and suits what you love in your voice. Finding balance and freedom in your voice can help you to find balance and freedom in your life. You need to create your own definition of success and always seek to improve and become your best self while accepting and loving where you are in your growth process today. 

Application

-I loved reading these chapters and learning what Smith thinks about application in what makes a successful singer. I don't agree that it is better to err on the side of arrogance when it comes to auditions but rather that a singer should seek to be confident in sharing an unapologetic performance with the people they are auditioning for. I definitely agree that a singer gives the best performance when they are authentic with what they choose to sing. I for one have learned to enjoy the songs that I have learned to sing over my univerisy studies but the songs that I still sing today and the ones that I choose to sing for my recital are the ones that I feel more of a personal connection to and just throughly enjoy singing. Each time I get a new student, I always like to ask them what they want to sing. I don't even care what genre it is necessarily because I know that the work that we do in our warm-ups and with the repetoire is going to be fruitless if they don't enjoy what they are singing. I also agree with the value of discovering your own voice and not trying to become a caricature of someone else or a past version of yourself. I actually had a conversation with one of my students about that very thing this week. She was singing a song that she really liked by an artist called Birdy. I had her sing the first verse of the song and noticed that she was imitating the original artist. So I had a discussion with her on how I wanted to hear HER sing the song and not her trying to sound like Birdy. She was a little frustrated with it because she really wanted to imitate it because that's how she learned the song. It's still a work in progress. I know that I still have a hard time trying to connect to my own unique voice. I love how each singer needs to define what they want out of their career and then go for it. I for one would like to focus more of my career on teaching, but I think it would be a good goal to try to audition to perform in one production a year knowing how long it takes me to adequately study and learn a role. I love that learning about your voice helps you to learn more about yourself.

Vocal Masterclass with Laurie Hart

 Gideon Benge - Andrew Lloyd Weber (The day starts, the day ends)

• Very theatrical, and I love that about how Gideon performs!
• He sounds best at little moments when the emotion is more intense.
• Raw passion
• Higher and lower range
• Belting healthily - I agree, that can be difficult for singers to figure out.
• How do you practice?
• Singing all the way through, but in section three or four times
• Helps get all the parts just right and obligates connection.
• Really relaxed, drony singing.
• “I think you can stretch that even more.”
• Say the lines like a normal conversation.
• Experimentation - yes, Laurie does that a lot with me, and that’s something we’ve talked about in class.
• Plan where your breath is going to be.
• Gives you more time to swell.
• Choral directors, I believe, often don’t like to breathe when singing a phrase or have people breathe at particular spots... If that’s the case here, I understand the struggle in translating into solo singing. I speak from experience, haha! :)
• Lip trill
• I do this a lot, and it tickles! Not as much when I’m playing a high brass instrument though, since I have a small mouthpiece on my lips.
• Breathe only when you have to when you do this.
• Silent breath
• This is crucial in choral singing, too!!! My high school choir teacher has a whole exercise pertaining to this!
• It can be harder if you have a habit of using a noisy breath.
• It can be very hard when you run out of air too quickly.
• When locking knees, you can find a partner and push against each other’s hands.
• Felt easier!
• Oh, it is? Interesting!
• Keep the knees soft.
• Happy quiet “Ah”
• That helps raise the air up and over instead of back and down.
• Practice in front of the mirror a little more ;)
• Yes! Laurie tells me to do that all the time!

Amelia Kearl - Vie Melodien

• “I love it! It’s my favorite!” I’m so glad!! It’s always so nice to sing a song you absolutely love!
• The high F in the beginning really rang!
• The diction is very nice and soft (in a good way, of course)!
• The words are the most beautiful words in the world!
• The song is kind of about everything.
• Beautiful things in childhood and in the world
• Ideas of things
• Not like you’re singing this to someone, but you’re just talking about beautiful things in the world.
• Vowels only
• Circle around like a windmill.
• Keep winding around.
• I think this helps with keeping the larynx stabilized and keeps it from shifting
• “It felt really easy!”
• It also releases tension in the body, which is SUPER important!
• The body was more connected
• Let the jaw release and be free!
• Laurie drilled this with me!
• Creating a new neural pathway takes a lot of repetition. JUST LIKE IN THE TALENT CODE!!!!
• Don’t sing two different vowels when you don’t need to.
• Interesting. I think I do that sometimes…
• It can be hard to focus on multiple things at once.
• Flash cards with different emotions?
• This sounds like a really fun acting exercise!
• I can’t remember exactly what Laurie had her do specifically, but it looked like switching off between being hysterical and being happy.
• “I was all in with that exercise!”
• It helps free up the voice!