| To: "VOCALIST" <vocalist> Subject: Respiratory Therapy (longish) Date sent: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 08:54:51 -0500 Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>
Dear List:
I had a very interesting student a year or two ago who came to me for a few months through an adult continuing education program. He had been teaching himself to sing by listening to recordings of Pavarotti and his mother surprised him with voice lessons as a present. He was in his late 20's. He was a physically uncomfortable young man and pretty tension-bound. But he could produce a sort of "Opera Man" sound that had a lot of potential.
When he began to sing for me in exercises, he had the most unusual pitch challenge I had been presented with at that time. 80% of the time he was just about dead on. The rest of the time, he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. And not just under or sharp - nowhere in the neighborhood. He could aim for a high note adjacent to the one he'd just left and land a 6th below (or thereabouts). It didn't matter where in his range he was attempting to go or from what pitch he was moving, whether beginning a phrase or moving from pitch to pitch. He'd be fine, singing along in really a rather lovely voice and suddenly, Yikes!
We worked along doing the things I usually do for those with more common pitch challenges (inhaling the pitch, sliding from pitch to pitch, breathing and relaxation exercises, etc.) and he improved quickly, but still had occasional "flights of fancy". He had to stop studying after a bit for financial reasons.
A year later, he returned. His mother had again sprung for lessons. But this time - no pitch challenge. Not a shred. And his whole voice had improved substantially in quality. I said, "What have you been doing since you left me?" and he said "your exercises and becoming a Respiratory Therapist". He showed me the kinds of breathing exercises he'd been doing as part of his coursework and many of them seemed tension-making to me - but holy cow did they ever work for him! It was an absolutely stunning improvement.
So what I want to know is, does anyone have any experience with Respiratory Therapy? Can you recommend a coursebook which might provide a good overview along with exercises. I'm not currently teaching anyone who needs special help on pitch, but anything that delivers that kind of result is something I'm willing to study more.
Thank you all,
Laura Sharp
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