--- Greypins@a... wrote:
> (no, i live in north carolina so, i don't
> even know it's snowing
> somewhere!) anyway, every now and then i get
> struck with fascination by
> some new technical idea only to wonder what the
> hell am i doing it for. my
> latest fascination was with the copy of seth
> riggs 'singing for the stars' i
> just got. aside from the seemingly endless
> list endorsements by a lot of
> singers i can't stand, there are some
> interesting exercises that come with
> the 'brochure'. however, after a few days of
> doing the exercises, i came to
> the same conclusion i always come to when i get
> off on some technical bent-
> "what the hell does this have to do with what i
> think singing is all about?"
>
> in my thinking, singing is an extension of
> speech in that when we
> express ourselves in speech, we are usually
> caught up in the point we are
> trying to make or the story we are trying to
> tell. with that intent, our
> voices go through all sorts of complicated
> color changes that are far sublter
> than anything we could ever plan (the french
> word 'eclat' comes to mind).
> (only liars have to worry about the tone of
> their voices.) we can't hear
> ourselves as others hear us so, what's the
> point in the vanity of 'touching
> up' our voices?
>
> in order to bring this same phenomenon of
> expression to singing, there
> are two things that have to be examined.
> singing uses a much wider range of
> pitches than talking and because we are using
> specified pitches for specified
> durations, more often than not, it takes longer
> to speak a word while singing
> than it does while talking. maybe i should
> say that talking becomes moaning
> when we sing.
>
> i am always surprised at how my students
> react when i come back from one
> of my technoid stupors. the moaning thing has
> so many different effects on
> different people. i teach two sisters, both
> around forty. in one, it
> turned her chicken-ass singing into strong
> singing that went from weak and
> cowardly (but pretty, none the less) to strong
> and beautiful singing. in
> the other sister, who is not chicken, it turned
> her 'clumpy' phrasing into a
> nice legato. the next student turned his
> pressed singing into flowing
> singing, the next turned his quiet, muffled
> (too much time in the
> office)sound into more sound that didn't sound
> 'flat' (as he likes to put it.
> he really means 'dull'). the last student
> had the hardest time with it
> eventually saying 'i have trouble with emotion
> and singing but, i know if i
> want to take it to the next step, it's
> something i have got to deal with.'
> maybe. i explained to him that singing is
> like playing army not like being
> in vietnam but, for awhile, he may not know the
> difference.
>
> in short, i keep learning that singing is
> the exact expression of a
> notion and that technique is just a trick to
> unstick the point. when a
> fascination for technique replaces the
> intention of conveying an idea, it is
> not technique, it is a joke!
>
> mike
Dear MIke:
Re- Seth (whom I personally know from my
old L.A. life); Does the term Charleton (sp) mean
anything to you? Seth used to round up all the
good singers in L.A. and ask them "How do
you DO that" (sing so well). I can tell you my
first voice teacher recognized my natural ability
to understand the mechanism of singing
which I believe some have and some don't.
Some voices are born beautiful and some have to
work HARD at finding the right mix
of intelligent technique to transform an
otherwise ordinary voice into one of excellence
and beauty.
My first voice teacher was an excellent teacher
of voice, my second voice teacher a well known
L.A. artist possessed a beautiful voice but
after a short time studying with him, I found he
didn't have a clue as to how his voice worked.
It was just there. I later worked with
him in a show and he was bowled over
at the beauty, strength and perfection (if you
will) of my instrument 6 years later from my
college days.
Just for the record! :-)
All the Best,
Nancy Fontana
=====
Nancy Fontana
The Rocky Mountain Woman
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