Imthurn Melinda wrote:
> I once had a teacher who believed in pushing mixed
> voice as high as it could go! I was screaming
> under-pitch notes almost up to high C! All this while
> my teacher assured me I sounded great and that it was
> supposed to feel this way!
> By the time I got ped class and had some science
> behind my feelings that this was bad for me, it had
> been several months of screeching. I approached the
> teacher and told him I felt I should be using more of
> a head-tome feeling, as well as that it was painful,
> made me hoarse, gave me a headache, and sounded flat.
> He again assured me I was hearing incorrectly and that
> I was SUPPOSED to sound like that!
I'm curious about people who teach in this manner. Have the
singers who've studied with teachers like this asked the
teacher WHY one is supposed to feel that way, WHY it's OK to
hurt and be hoarse, explain what is it that the teacher is
aiming for that this way of singing is supposed to help the
student improve?
I think we all agree here that hurting and hoarseness are
NEVER good, and the teacher who downplays these symptoms and
persists with teaching methods that permit or even glorify
hurting and hoarseness is bad news and should have
instructions ignored and be fled from (and maybe even be
reported to the Department-head if it's an academic
institution).
But at the other end of the spectrum are teacher/student
relationships where the teacher and student disagree about
other aspects of singing. Sometimes it's the student who
refuses to change, who insists that the student's way is the
right way, who won't try something different, just to
experiment and see what happens. Not that anyone here is
like that, but I have known singers like that, and this
resistance causes the student never to progress vocally.
That's why I think it's a good idea for students with doubts
always to raise them with the teacher, and ask WHY. Don't
take conclusory pronouncements for granted, but explore as
to the reasoning. If done in an inquiring rather than a
challenging manner, I can't imagine anybody would be
offended by the questions and be unwilling to explain and
perhaps correct whatever misunderstanding that may exist.
Peggy
--
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh@i...
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