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.
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.
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
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
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