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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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