Foundations in Singing: Notes from My 2015 MMTA Convention Presentation

Jeannine Robinett

Foundations of Singing--Session Notes

MMTA Convention June 15, 2015

Breathing, Resonance, and Vowels Basics

Breathing, resonance, and vowels form the foundation of good singing.  These are a few of the basics that we talk about early in voice lessons. This is not a comprehensive discussion of these topics and more information and exercises will be given in future lessons.  

Breathing

• Inhalation:  
• Low, deep, relaxed.  
• Shoulders stay down.  
• Expansion occurs in the front, sides, and back.  
• One of these imagery exercises might help you to feel that low breath and the openness we need in the soft palate and nose/cheekbones area.  Circle the imagination game that words best for you.  Please note: not all of these exercises work for every person.  In fact, although they may be helpful for one person, for another person, some of these images might create a higher, tighter breath.  If that happens, simply abandon the image.  
• Smell a flower (or your favorite perfume, or favorite food.  It just has to be something that smells good so you take a big whiff of it.)  
• Imagine your head is hollow.  Fill up the empty space in your head before letting the air descend down for a low breath.  
• Pretend you went to Dairy Queen for your favorite flavor of Blizzard.  They ran out of spoons, and now you have to drink your very thick Blizzard through a straw.  
• Yawn.  

• Using the air
• Classical
• Abs come in gently.  You will feel this more at the end of the phrase.  There is no reason to force them in.  Let it happen.  
• Sides of the rib cage stay as expanded as possible.  Some collapse will occur, but we want to delay it as long as possible.
• Back expands further.  
• Push against the wall to feel how your body naturally creates this.  Once you’ve found it, you can also simply push into your palm.  

Resonance

• Resonance in its simplest scientific definition is what happens when something is vibrating and causes something else to vibrate sympathetically.  
• Here’s a cool trick you can show your friends to illustrate resonance.  Play the piano without using your hands:  Using an acoustic piano, hold down the sustaining pedal (the pedal on the right) while you do a loud, energized, siren sound.  The sound waves you create, hit the strings of similar frequencies, causing them to vibrate.  
• Yes, it is possible for a singer to break glass by singing the right frequencies with enough intensity. Myth Busters even did a show about it.  
• In terms of singing, it is the process by which the very tiny sound produced at the vocal folds is changed into the sound we hear when you speak or singing.  
• Everyone already has some resonance because we can hear you.  
• When we speak of resonance for singing, we are really talking about optimal resonance that allows the volume and color of sound needed for the type of singing you are doing.  
• By changing the size, shape, and rigidity of the vocal tract (throat, mouth, nasal and sinus cavities) we can select the overtone frequencies that we want to amplify or dampen.  
• Resonance is very closely related to how we form our vowels (see below.)
• Classical
• Imagine or feel the resonance cheekbones and higher.  
• Use Harley-Davidson lip buzz (lip trills) or tongue roll to help feel this.  If you can’t do either, use an energized zzzz sound.  
• When you do 3 or more repetitions of the buzz or tongue roll, it actually tricks your body creating better resonance when you sing.  

Vowels

• The vowel is extremely important in singing because that is the part of the word that we elongate when we sing.  How we shape and place that vowel affects the kind of resonances we get.  
• Classical vowels are tall, high, open, grand, round, specific.  

Breathing, Resonance, and Vowels Part II

Breathing

Darth Vader inhalation

When you sing in performance, we do not want to hear you breathe.  However, an audible breath can be helpful in finding the feeling of a good singer breath.  

1. First do that obnoxious high breath that your teachers told you not to do.  Notice that it is tight and closed.  Notice that your shoulders probably lifted.  Notice the pitch of the sound you made.  
2. Now do a low pitched inhalation.  The lower the pitch, the lower the breath goes.  How do those two breaths feel different?  
3. Use a Darth Vader inhalation when you have a lot of time to breathe, for example, at the beginning of the song, or when you have a long interlude.  

Shush breathing

1. Place one hand over your belly button and hold one hand comfortably in front of you, palm up.  The hand on the belly button will monitor abdominal movement and the other hand will mimic that movement.  
2. As you hiss intensely (either s or sh will work), notice that the abs gently move in.  Allow the fingers of the other hand to close.
3. Release the abs and pop the hand open.  You do not need to try to inhale.  If the abs have tightened during the hiss, the release of those muscles with create and automatic inhalation.  
4. If you do not feel expansion of inhalation when you release the muscles, try step 2 again, and this time blow out all the air before you release. 
5. This is the kind of breath you want to use when you don’t have much time.  If a teacher asks for a catch breath, or lift breath, this is often what they are referring too.  

Resonance and Vowels

As we talked about before, resonance and vowels are very closely connected.  When you form the vowel correctly, you will get the resonance we are after.  When you have found the correct resonance space, the vowel color tends to correct itself. 

Classical

Yes, you do need to drop the jaw for high notes, but no matter how big the mouth opening gets, the space inside your mouth is bigger.

1. The megaphone is now inverted.  Imagine yawn space inside.  The roof of the mouth is domed.  
2. Crazy Lady is a great exercise for feeling the space inside.  

Tai Chi Breathing

This exercise is adapted from the Open Close movement common in Sun Style Tai Chi.  If is fabulous for focusing on breath, alignment, and freedom in the body.  It’s also great for building energy and dealing with performance anxiety. 

1. Hold your hands in front of your chest at about heart level.  Palms should be facing each other and fingers are up.  Sometimes it is easiest to find this position by putting the hands in prayer position.  Then you separate them to about the width of your head.  
2. As you breath in, allow the hands to follow the action of the rib cage and slowly open up, no further than shoulder width.  Bigger is not better in this exercise.  
3. As you exhale, the palms move together.  
4. Practice that inhalation and exhalation a few times.  
5. Now add the feeling of moving with resistance.  Opening the hands might feel like pulling on a giant rubber band.  Closing the hands might feel like pushing two magnets together.  
6. Continue the open close breathing for a few more breaths, focusing on this resistance.  
7. Add rising and falling through the knees with each breath.  Rise as you inhale.  Bend your knees as you exhale.  
8. After a few breaths, become aware of the crown of your head.  You should feel lifted through the crown of your head when you inhale and when you exhale.  You can think of Spocking (feeling lifted from the pointy part of your Vulcan ears) if that is easier to remember.  
9. Next, become aware of the low back, sacrum, and tail bone.  This area should remain relaxed, and when you bend, imagine your tail bone pointing to the ground.  
10. Take a few more breaths feeling the lengthening of the spine, lifting from the crown of the head and the tucking the tail bone.  
11. Check your feet. Are you staying balanced on the tripod of the foot? Is your weight equally balanced between both feet?  (See Body Mapping)
12. Now pay attention to your knees.  When you rise, see if you can find the place where the knee is straight, but not locked.  This is the position we want to find for singing. 
    

Trains and Train X 3

Vowels must be unique, distinct, and specific.  That is how we tell them apart and understand the words we are hearing.  

For good singing, vowels must also line up in a way that makes them sound similar, as if they are coming from the same place.  It is as if each vowel is a car of a train.  They can all be different like train cars can carry different cargo, but what makes it a train is that all the cars are hooked together traveling along the same tracks.  

In lessons, you heard me demonstrate the nee-nay-nah-noh-noo exercise lined up on the train tracks and with the train derailing.  

Practicing lining up your vowels.  If one feels or sounds very different from the others, play around with how lifted the vowels are and how much jaw drop you are using.  If you still can’t get them to line up, talk to me at lessons.  

The train X 3 exercise is a perfect exercise for reinforcing the basics of Breath, Resonance, and Vowels.  

1. Hiss (no pitch, just air) intensely, as if you are trying to blow out a candle on the far wall.  This reminds you how to use the breath well.  
2. Take a low, silent breath.  
3. Buzz (lip trill), tongue roll, or zzzz with the same energy.  This works both breath and resonance.  

Take a low, silent breath.  

      3.  Sing nee-nay-nah-noh-noo. (Other consonants can be substituted.  Voiced TH also works well.) Use the same     energy and intensity as on the previous two steps.  Think about keep the sound in the same place that you felt it when you buzzed.  Line up the vowels on the train tracks. 

Straws

Vocal exercises with straws can help both breath and resonance.  They also provide a therapeutic effect for tired voices.  

Part I

This video from Ingo Titze, a voice scientist explains a little about some basic exercises that you can do with the straws.  I use both coffee stirrer straws and standard drinking straws allowing students to choose whichever works best for them.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xYDvwvmBIM

1. Glides (I sometimes call these sirens).
2. Accents (or bumps).  
3. Sing a song through the straw.  (He uses “The Star-Spangled Banner”.  I often use “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.”  You can also do this with any song you are currently working.  

Part II

1. Review Part I.
2. Using a small section of your song or a favorite warm-up pattern, transition from the mostly occluded opening of the straw the the full opening of an ah vowel.  
1. Straw, mini-buzz, ee through oo lips, oo, ee, ah (big and open)
3. Straw with water bottle.  

Read these articles for more information about the science of how this works and for other ideas for using the straws.  

http://www.ncvs.org/e-learning/nats-pdfs/2002_05_06.PDF

www.patwilson.com.au/Straws.pdf

www.faqs.org/periodicals/201001/1942916311.html

http://www.ncvs.org/e-learning/nats-pdfs/2002_03_04.pdf

Cyclops, Unicorn, Dolphin, Paper Trick

These imagery exercises can help students to find better resonance. Make sure the student understands that they are just imagination games and do not necessarily correspond to what is actually happening physically.  Also, some students will need one image for medium range notes and another for high notes.  They might also benefit from a combination of these.  For example, some of my students are good narwhals.  

1. Cyclops, (the X-Men character) shoots laser beams out of his eyes.  Imagine your sound coming out of your eyes.  
2. You are a unicorn.  Imagine the sound coming up and out from the horn in the middle of your forehead.  
3. You are a dolphin.  Imagine the sound coming out of the blow hole in the top of your head.  
4. Sing over the top of the paper.  Paper can be moved up and down the face to find the best resonance spot. 

Spray Paint and Laser Beams

I use a lot of imagery in my teaching.  This one is great for keeping the tone energized and free, spinning the tone, and making sure that the phrase is going somewhere.  

1. Choose your favorite color for today.  
2. Imagine that there are a couple of cans of spray paint just in front of your face.  As the sound leaves your body, it is spray painted your favorite color.  
3. Now spin the sound to the wall.  See that colored sound moving in a circular motion towards the wall.  
1. Your spin can be spiral (like a drill) or
2. rolling forward, more like a gerbil wheel.  
3. One student even likes to think of it as a time vortex from Dr. Who.

I tend to use spray paint for classical and colored laser beams for belt.  The ideas of color and sending it to the wall still apply, but I take away the circular motion for belt.  

Circles, Bubbles, and Force Fields

Like spray paint and laser beams, circles and bubbles help students to imagine filling a larger space.  

1. Imagine yourself in the center of a circle.
2. Fill that circle with sound.  
3. Gradually increase the size of the circle, still filling the entire circle.  
4. Repeat steps 1-3 this time making the circle into a 3 dimensional bubble.  
5. To help diction, imagine that the bubble is a force field that sparks when the consonants hit it.  

The book I referenced on the aging voice can be found here.

Sing Into Your Sixties... And Beyond! A manual and anthology for group and individual voice instruction by Sangeetha Rayapati

Music Teachers Change Lives

I don't usually share anything on Facebook that includes the words, "Share if…"

It's just a matter of principle.

But, sometimes I need to share, and sometimes I need to say thank you.  So I'm not sharing on FB, but I will share here.

Post by Education Through Music, Inc.

Really every music teacher and every musician I've come in contact with shaped me, gave me part of who I am as a teacher, singer, and human being today.  

But these particular individuals hold a special place in my heart.  

Kris Bitton and Jan Mumford, the piano teachers of my youth who gave me a great start and were such wonderful people that I wanted to go to piano lessons and I wanted to practice.  

Mark Neiwirth, who introduced me to A Soprano on Her Head which was totally a new way of thinking for me.  He also laughed when I told him I was changing my major to music.  He knew me well enough to know that I wasn't piano major material, but his laugh motivated me to be a damn fine organ major and then voice major.

Frank Keenan, the Jr. High choir director who was a fine pianist, but instead of teaching and conducting from the piano, chose to give students the opportunity to learn to accompany.  I learned so much sitting at that piano. 

Dan Bowman began changing my life before I was even in one of his choirs.  From the time I was a little kid, I knew that I wanted to be in Gate City Singers and work with him when I was in high school.  I wanted it so much that when I had to choose between band and choir when I went to middle school, I quit playing the flute.  (I often wish that there had been a way to do both, or that I had kept playing even though I couldn't do band.)  As it turned out, I only got to have one year of choir with him before moving to another town, and I never got to be in Gate City, but the dream was real and it shaped many years of my life.  He also gave me opportunities to accompany, including being the  accompanist for Bye, Bye Birdie, the first of many shows where you'd find me at the piano.  

Darwin Wolford taught me many things about music and about me.  I learned that Bach is second only to God.  I learned to let myself be expressive in my playing.  He taught me that my fingers will find the right answers faster than over-thinking all the rules.   And most importantly, when I was a complete mess, he gave me another chance, letting me retake his class if I made an appointment for counseling.  

Scott Anderson pushed me and challenged me intellectually and musically.  And for the first time, in his choirs (both as accompanist and singer) I was able to feel that complete unity that comes when singers, conductor and accompanist are all in sync.  Some of the most beautiful moments of my life happened in those choir rehearsals and performances. 

I've often wondered what the result would be had Elizabeth Bossard and Glenda Maurice ever met.  I think they would either be the best of friends, or they wouldn't be able to even be in the same room with the other.  In some ways, they were so much alike, and in other ways, worlds apart.  Both of them learned to sing from listening to records of Eileen Farrell.  And I had a rare experience in my first  encounters with them.  "This is a woman to watch.  She is going to have a major impact on your life."  No one said it about them.  I felt it.  And it was real and powerful and prophetic.  I've written about both of them before, and probably will again, but for today's purpose, it is enough to say that of all my teachers, they were the ones who shaped me the most.  

Wow!  What gifts I was given!  And the only way to truly honor those gifts is to keep sharing them.  I teach because of the things I learned from these teachers.  

Practice Challenge week 6

My voice is still not happy, so this week I've been doing lots of playing through my songs and listening.  It's a little better today, so I'm going to do some buzzing on "Im Abendrot" and see how it goes.

Session #1
I'm having tuning issues at letter D and I don't recall that being an issue before.  Too many of the vowels on C sharps want to pull down. Overall, the song is showing that I need to make sure it shows up in my practice rotation more often.

I'm also having trouble loosening up enough for the high notes in "Frühling."  Can't get anywhere close to a sing through.  Each phrase is taking several times to loosen up.  I ended up just going back to the straws and buzz.  Can't sing this one today.

September.  Let's see how this feels.  30 minutes is good enough for today.

Practice Challenge Week 7 (and 8 and 9)

We had a few weeks where no one turned in journals, but we have another winner this week so we're back on track.

Emma Pratt is this week's winner.

Session #1

I'm finally getting back on track after being sick.  Not having to practice to fulfill my part of the practice challenge meant that I used being sick as an excuse and didn't do as much as I might have.  But that's changing.  

For my first session back to regular practice, I mostly used the straws and worked through the Strauss songs.  Although I'm feeling better, there is still a lot of tension that I need to let go of and my breath isn't working quite as well as it was.  

Total time with warm-up: 25 minutes.

Session #2 (Emma's #1)

I started out my practice with about 10 minutes of Concone's Thirty Daily Exercises.  I definitely need to be doing these more.  It was rough at first, but I have to loosen to achieve the flexibility needed for these, so it's good for me in many ways.  

Emma's Goal:  vowels on high notes

Emma's Strategies: straws, crazy lady, golf ball

Emma's Time:  15

I started with Im Abendrot, just working the high phrases (for me in this song that is F or higher).  3x with straws thinking about soft palate lift, sing checking space of the vowel on the highest pitch, crazy lady 3x (this really helped the lift on the G), then sing again.  Placing the n of noch on top of the pitch also helps with vowel space.  Starting Abendrot cleanly with the glottal on a G is not easy, but easier when doing crazy lady.

Started the same process with Beim Schlafengehn.  However, just about every phrase in this one is high, so it will take longer to work through.  Sehnliches is tricky for the closed vowels on high pitches. They are great for resonance when I'm loose but they are also the ones that tighten the most for me when I'm dealing with fatigue or tension.  Even though it's only Eb, freundlich is tricky because I'm almost out of air.  I have to think lots of lift to make it work.  

15 minutes 

Total time with warm-up: 25 minutes.

Session #3 (Emma's #2)

Emma's Goal: Let go of tension, sing more open
Emma's Strategies: warm-up with Dairy Queen, straws, opening up
Emma's Time: 20 minutes

No, she didn't start her practice with a Peanut Buster Parfait.  Dairy Queen is actually in reference to an exercise that we do that includes those words.  Because Dairy Queen covers a large range and I hadn't done much singing yet today, I started with the same note pattern, but using the straw.  I used the straw until I could move easily through the notes without tension.  I also threw in a few other warm-ups that are easier in my voice.

Continuing into my music, because I am super tight all over this week, I used a strategy that has served me well in the past.  I only sing as long as it is free.  If tension begins to creep in, I stop immediately, loosen and try again.  Yes, it is slow work on days like today, but by making freedom my #1 goal, I'm teaching my body how I want it to feel when I sing this section.  Sometimes my sections are just one word, or even just one note.  I also keep going back to the straws.  I'm also using yawns to stretch and loosen the soft palate, throat, etc.
15 minutes so far and I'm just on m. 10 of the song (the first 4 measures are intro).

Tension messes with my tuning so much.  It's great to be able to hear the right pitch (and I did stop and do some interval drills with a few spots), but tension can destroy all that hard work.

One thing I'm noticing today is that even when you think you know the intervals well, it really is helpful to go back, check them again, and drill them.  The more precisely you can think the intervals, the more securely you know the tune.
10 more minutes

Today's total:  25 minutes.

Unfortunately, I didn't get all the practice sessions in this week.  Lots of excuses, only a few of them good ones.  But I'm back on track.  I will be finishing up  Emma's sessions before moving on to the next week's winner.  

Session #4 (Emma's #3)

Emma's Goal: Get more comfortable on high notes.
Emma's Strategies: Open O vowels on on ugly words, work on lyrics
Emma's Time: 20 minutes

I'm assuming that Emma's "ugly words" and "O vowels" refers to words like come, above, love.  I call them ugly words because they share the same vowel sound as the first syllable of the word ugly.  Also, they can be really ugly if we don't modify the space, placement, and vowel color from what we use in speech.  Since these sound show up a lot in English, today, I'm working the Vicki Tucker Courtney songs,  looking for high notes that are also ugly vowels.  I may do some transposing to make it more difficult.

Will There Really Be a Morning?
"from the"--both ugly words, plus going up a minor third.  I'm using this whole phrase as a warm-up, starting lower and then working to higher than I really need, focusing on lining up the vowels.  It also helps to place the fr and the th on top of the pitch.  I have to remember that it needs more space too.  It really needs ah space as I get higher, even though I am still thinking the original vowel.

What Would I Give?
The word "of" is the trickiest of the ugly words in this song.  Feeling the similarity in the placement of the words is most helpful in this song today.  The word "what" which starts several phrases in this song is also an ugly word.  I've been using "would", the word that follows it, to help find a better place for "what", singing "would what" several times to line them up.

Time:  20 minutes

Failing at this lately.  I did practice last week, but it wasn't the songs I've been working on for this project, and it wasn't using Emma's #4 session as my guide.  Now I'm back and I'm finishing it.

Session #5 (Emma's #4)

Emma's Goal: breathing and memorization
Emma's Strategies: Darth Vader, hiss, memorizing
Emma's Time: 10 minutes

Even though I've been doing straw exercises with students all morning, I still don't feel as warmed up as I would like to be.  And the warm-ups I just did showed me that this isn't a quick warm-up day. That means I'll be working on the lower English songs rather than the other stuff.

A Song
I'm exploring removing the extra breath from the first phrase.  This is really one of those spots that interpretively could go either way. Nope.  I like it better with the breath.  In the middle verse, I like carrying through more.  Worked on memorizing the whole song. The first verse is more solid than the others.

Total time:  20 minutes

Practice Challenge week 5

This week, I'm on my own.  No one turned in a practice journal for this week.

Session #1

I have laryngitis today due to possible reflux and an a massive asthma related coughing fit last night.  I did enough warming up to know that silence is a better option for today.  Luckily, I'm not teaching much today so I can get some vocal rest.  

Today's practice is mostly listening as I do other work.  

I listened again twice to Milada Subrtova (5:40), and then listed to this recording by Kate Royal (6:25). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUxnffqM4b0

I also listened to the recitation and diction lesson on my CD twice each for about 20 minutes.  

Total time on this song today:  38 minutes

I also said I'd record O Holy Night in French to help the student of another teacher.  Unfortunately I can't sing, but I did download the IPA and review.  

Practice Challenge week 4

Session #1

Today is just not a good vocal day.  I spent a lot more time warming up than usual, but I still can't get my high notes to loosen up.  On the plus side, it did make me pull out my Concone exercises and work more with flexibility.  After about 30 minutes of singing though, my voice is telling me it's done.  I guess I'll be working on my Czech with the diction CDs for the rest of my time.  10 minutes with the diction CDs.  Then listened to Pilar Lorengar (6:15) and Eva Urbanová (6:02).

I really the color of Pilar's voice in this. Gorgeous.

Also listened to these:
Gabriela Beňačková http://youtu.be/Qul0b3e631k
Luba Orgonášova https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHZ9ByM-EJ0
Milada Šubrtová https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YgeEKNVz8M
Love her too. And since she is Czech, this is a good one to work with.

About 30 minutes listening.  

I also want to listen to Kate Royal just because.

Total time for today: 60 minutes

Session #2

Our winner for this week is Bella Huerta.  My practice for today is based on her first day of practice for the week.  

Bella's goal:  Solidify words

Bella's strategies:  sing section with word trouble, buzz, hiss

Bella's time:  10 minutes.  

For this short session, I decided to work on "I am the Wind."  Because I only have a few minutes, I'm using the hiss and buzz as warm-ups, thinking about the words as I play the melody.  

Then I went back and sang each verse memorized.  The words were actually pretty easy. I had to stop and review a couple of notes and rhythms to make sure they were memorized too.  Then I went back and sang the whole song with accompaniment.  

Total time:  12 minutes.

Session #3 (Bella's second session)

Bella's goal:  breath control on French song

Bella's strategies:  buzz and hiss (also chose good breath places)

Bella's time:  18 minutes

Started with hissing on the tough sections of Frühling while playing the melody.  First I isolated the tough phrases.  When I was getting through those on hiss, I added a couple phrases before the tough one so I can work on the stamina and making sure I get a good breath going into the tough one.  I'm much more aware of the inhalation after buzzing. Then I repeated that on buzz.  I'm still struggling with getting through the last phrase (it's all one word, so I can't sneak a breath.)  It's fine if I isolate that phrase, but still pretty tough with the long phrases that come before it.  That last breath has to be a good one. Improving, but I still have some work to do.  Trying straws now to see if that is easier. Little straw is hard, but I do think it is helping.  The breath is definitely lasting longer. When I sing, I can now get through the last phrase when isolated, but when I start earlier in the song, I'm not quite making it yet.  

Overall, I'm happy with today's practice.  I was able to eliminate a few of the emergency breathing places creating longer more flowing lines.  

Total time:  20 minutes

Session #4 (Bella's third session) 

Bella's goal: practice words and melody

Bella's strategies: do sections at a time

Bella's time:  35 minutes

I've been sick (yes, a few days so sick that I didn't do anything) so I'm late finishing up this week's practice challenge.

I need to make myself do more of the Czech even though it is more challenging, so today is about words and notes on Song to the Moon.

I spent the first 15 minutes just listening to the diction lessons and recordings for the first two lines of text, which repeat and take me to m. 45 in the aria.

Today I am learning that I really need a Czech diction coach.  Yes, I can listen to the diction lessons and recordings of Czech singers, and read the IPA and instructions for how to make the sounds, but some of them are still really hard and I could use some feedback.  [ř] and [Ř] are really hard sounds for me to figure out.  The good news is that based on the recordings I've listened too, I'm not alone.  I've heard lots of different sounds for these.  

All the long phrases and good breath work from previous practices are totally going out the window as I work on getting these words right.  I'm trying not to worry about it.  It will get better as I get more confident.  

I worked with the recordings and did small chunks up to the 2nd chorus.  From there to the end, I definitely need to come back and work in more detail, but I did a couple of listens and faked my way through just so I could say I finished.  40 minutes.  

Total time today:  55 minutes

The difficulty I am having with the Czech is a great reminder to me to be patient with my students who are new to the languages that now are much easier for me.  I'm also thinking that if I can actually get this Czech, I'm ready to jump into some Russian, which I've wanted to do for years.  I just need to choose which songs I want to do and find some good recordings to work with.  

Practice Challenge Week 3

Session #1

Last week I was sick and didn't get to do a full focused practice session for the last day, so that's where we're starting today.

The goal was 45 minutes working in sections, singing notes and words together.

I'm continuing my work on Im Abendrot and trying to fit in practice between lessons.  10 minutes done.
15 more minutes between lessons got me to the end of this song, working in chunks and working memorize (study then sing).
7 more minutes working the same way on Frühling.  Then I took a short singing break to play through the accompaniment.  I like to do this, even though I have to play it way under tempo because it helps me get familiar with the harmonic structure and how my notes fit into that.  Plus, this one is just fun to play.  13 minutes.

5 more minutes working words and notes together on Beim Schlafengehn

Total--50 minutes, and it was good practice, but I still didn't get the 45 minutes I wanted on just singing words and notes together.  I'll try again tomorrow.


Session #2

Decided to try again for the 45 minute session tomorrow and use today to start the practicing based on this week's winner.

As the year progresses, I'm getting fewer practice journals turned in.  Ellen Hahn was surprised to learn that she was the winner for this week because she had had a busy week and only got one day of practicing in.  The good news is that it was quality practice.

Ellen's Goal:  Fake confidence on both songs.   (I love this.  It's directly related to what we talked about in her lesson.)

Ellen's Strategies:  Her practice included warm-ups and sight-reading practice in addition to working on her two songs. (One in English and one in a foreign language).

• Foreign language song--Focused on keeping one section of the song lighter and more open.  
• English Song--sang through twice focusing on space and vowels.  

Ellen's Time:  25 minutes

I started with working on "What Would I Give?"  This is a great song and not super difficult, but it does have several places where the melody jumps down a 5th, 6th, or 7th.  Keeping the vowels lined up and smoothing out those lines is a real challenge.  I sang through it once with accompaniment thinking about the space and vowels.  Then I isolated some of the trouble spots for more focused attention.  When I sang through it the second time, I did it without accompaniment.  This helps me to really listen and feel what is happening with the space and vowels.  It also quickly exposes tuning issues or notes that aren't as solid as you thought they were.  7 minute.  

Then I switched focus to Beim Schlafengehn working from letter E to letter G, since this is the high section where finding that exact resonance and breath connection makes a big difference.  I also found that at F, I have to make sure that I'm very loose, even though it is  closed vowel.  Speaking of big jumps, this one has a 9th going down to an ah vowel.  I'll be doing a little drill on that too.  I have to keep Zauber lifted at the beginning of the phrase to help the last note of the phrase (the low one) stay lined up.  10 minutes

Went back to the top of 19 where I'm still not solid on notes and words and worked that a little.  I'm focusing mostly on notes, but that idea of lifted vowels is also something I am working on here.  Lining up the vowels is going to be essential here to use the breath in the most efficient way so I can get through this longer phrase.  I'm almost there.  8 minutes.  

Going back now to play through the song (see notes for yesterday's practice for why I like this.) 5 minutes.  

Today's Total:  30 minutes.

Session #3

Sang though Frühling twice with a few stops to work.  Played through once.

Today's Total: 10 minutes

Session #4
Singing words and notes together.  45 minutes is the goal to meet Bella's day 3 from last week.  

Started with a few exercises with straws for warm-ups, followed by straws on the high sections and long phrases of Frühling.  With the straw and water bottle, I can get through the last phrase.  That means it's possible for me to actually sing that.  I just need to build up my stamina.  10 minutes.  

Yay!  My low notes are coming back.  The C in the first line feels and sounds much better today.  
Did 5 minutes singing and then 5 more just playing to give my voice a little rest.  The tessitura of this song makes it very tiring for my voice when I'm just singing straight through.  It is getting easier though, so working in chunks and resting when needed is definitely the right strategy for now.  

I admit defeat.  I'm not going to get 45 minutes of singing the words and notes together on these Strauss songs.  It's just physically too difficult.  

Switch to my English songs by Vicki Tucker Courtney for a little more sing through time.  Using my CDs for accompaniment support.  The CD for "What Would I Give?" is just a little fast for me.  
Today I am loving "I Am the Wind"  although I still don't have a definite choice for the meaning and story of the song.  So much potential in this one.  35 minutes.  

Total practice time today:  55 minutes.