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Subject: TECHNIQUE: singing "ah"
From: Jessica
To: Vocalist <vocalist>
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

Hi List,

I am having a very frustrating problem and am hoping some of you can offer
suggestions. When I sing certin vowels, my sound is way darker than it
should be. For instance, when I sing "ah", it is more "aw" like I am
swallowing the sound, making it darker, perhaps with an undesireable
affected operatic sound and less "ah" like a pleasurable expression. This
comes from years of improper choral instruction where I was instructed to
"drop my jaw" and that habit, so early formed, is now my achilles heel. Can
anyone offer suggestions on how to brighten this sound and get over this
awful habit? My "E" is very good, so I have the right starting place. The
rest of the vowels are ok, but "ah" is killing me. It's hard to sing it
without dropping my jaw, and dropping my jaw produces the throaty, distorted
sound I am trying to rid myself of. My teacher can sing all her vowels with
very little movement in her jaw, and vice versa, can swing it around and
move it without much of a change in her sound at all, yet I can come nowhere
near that.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Jessica