| From: Isabelle Bracamonte Subject: teachers: your technique, in a nutshell To: vocalist Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>
I have a question for all the teachers on the list: how would you describe your technique? This question is due to my own wonderings about technique and how many different concepts there are. How many people *really* teach the dropped-open jaw position, and how many say a small, closed mouth for high notes is best? I have heard talk about the low-larynx vs. floating larynx vs. normal-talking-tone-level larynx. How prevalent are these varying ideas? It is clear that all teachers are NOT describing the same concepts in different words. Is there a majority school of thought in the practical world?
If you all had one page to give to a new book, say, Jerome Hines' new "Great Teachers on Great Singing" volume, what would it say? What is your approach to singing, what do you focus on, what specific problems are you especially good at fixing (or, if you feel knowledgeable to attempt to describe - without names, if you prefer - your teacher's technique. Then we have another level of your interpretation of their concepts to sift through, which would still be valuable, I feel).
I don't mean, of course, "I try to produce a free, healthy, ringing tone throughout the range." And I know that teaching is a highly individual process, depending on the singer. But there must be some fundamental building blocks you start with.
I'm curious about how many people say, "I teach a low and relaxed larynx and a down-and-out approach to breathing," and how many say, "I teach my students to place the voice right behind the front teeth to accomplish a forward ring, and my female students have more success with an in-and-up ribby support system," and how many say, "I am particularly good at giving strident, tight voices a more graceful and rounded tone, using a dropped jaw and attention to the back of the tongue and deep, fat breaths," etc.
I am very curious to hear how teachers explain their own technique, if such can be done in a nutshell. We have had so many discussions about how singers describe their own technique -- and the problems therein. Singer A may be doing the exact same things as Singer B, but using different words and images which *seem* contradictory. Or Singer B may be using the same lexicon, but to him it means entirely different concepts, so the two singers, while repeating each other, are doing different things. And so forth. I think it would be of great value to take an informal poll, even a short paragraph, if you are willing. It seems clear that there are many ways to attain great singing.
Again, I realize that for each student, a slightly different approach is needed -- but, speaking in generalities if you look over your technical approach, what basic concepts do you use to build the "average" beginning voice into a finished product? Most vital concepts? Polishing concepts once a "free, healthy, ringing tone" has been achieved?
Many thanks for taking the time to describe these highly personal concepts. I appreciate anything anyone (not just teachers) has to add to the discussion. This stuff really gets me excited (and it's hard to explain to non-singing friends why one was up all night thinking about vocal technique).
Isabelle B.
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