Any advice, hints, tricks, etc. people can offer would be greatly
appreciated. Here's my problem:
I'm working on two arias that feature the high B - i.e., "B5" - "O
don fatale" from DON CARLO and "Pres des remparts de Seville" (Seguedille)
from CARMEN. And what I'm discovering is that the high B is a changeling.
In the Verdi, the note presents no problem for me at all - it's
sustained and sung double-forte, which means I can sing it full
voice, with resonance both high and deep, and for that reason I can
count on it to be there every time I sing it (it's thrilling to sing it,
in fact - and to hear various things in the room sympathetically
vibrating).
Then there's that high B in the Bizet - a whole different kettle of fish.
I don't know whether it's because it's at the end of that final run of
rapid "la la la"s or what, but I find that I can't
consistently produce it - it's only there about half the time; the other
half, I find I sing it about 1/4 step flat. It doesn't seem to matter
whether I try to simply "touch" the note, or to "float" it, or to sing it
full voice (as I do in the Verdi) - I just cannot seem to produce it
consistently in that particular aria.
My suspicion is that, because of the lightness and rapidity of the whole
phrase preceding it, I'm not managing to create the full resonance that
just comes naturally when I sing the same note in the Verdi (actually it's
a high C flat in the Verdi, so arguably a hair's breadth HIGHER than the
note in the Bizet, which is a high B). It's not that the final "la la la"
runs aren't sung forte - they are (as per Bizet). But they move so
quickly, I find I *must* use a very light, agile approach - and the
problem I'm having is figuring out how to produce that high B when I'm in
light, agile "mode". The highest note I'm able to consistently "float" in
head voice when I'm singing in that "mode" is the high B flat.
I've watched and paid close attention to sense exactly what I'm doing
physically when I sing that high B - I can say for sure that I am not:
tensing my jaw, nor thrusting it down/overextending the opening
tensing my abdomen
tensing my tongue
tensing anything else (except, sometimes, my buttocks - just to see if
that tension will help; it doesn't)
I've tried moving as I sing the note - raising my arms, taking a step,
doing a _plie_, shimmying my hips, even dancing - all to make absolutely
sure there's not some hidden tension that I'm not noticing otherwise.
That doesn't seem to be the problem.
Could it simply be that I'm simply expecting too much of what is, after
all, a half step above what I've always considered my highest "for public
consumption" note, i.e., the high B flat? And if this were the case, how
can I explain the ability to produce that high B/C flat consistently and
well when I sing the Verdi aria, while it remains elusive in the Bizet.
I'm supposed to record the Seguidille next Tuesday morning, so any help
any of you can give me before then would be greatly appreciated! My voice
teacher is in Beijing at the moment, so I'm going to have to work this one
out on my own...with your help.
Karen Mercedes
===
On Neil Shicoff - http://www.radix.net/~dalila/shicoff/shicoff.html
On yours truly - http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
+-------------------------------------------------------+
| For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that |
| appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. |
| - James 4:14 |
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|
