Randy:
It is common for me to have a new female student come into my studio with an operatic background, whereupon I vocalize her using a five note scale, and she will sing with a weak head voice down at middle c and below. Finding the chest voice in the first place is often our main challenge, then convincing them that it is safe for them to have a connection to that chest feeling up to the A, is a matter of time and patience. When they get that feeling of connection and see how much easier it is for them to find the mix using that connection, the expression of excitement on their faces (100% of the time), is my main reward for teaching voice... it far surpases the monetary compensation I get.
My operatic Sopranos use as much chest voice as my pop singers. Granted, the mix is less hard than with the pop voices, but the chest connection is just as solid. One of the biggest surprizes these women experience is how much their top end has been extended once they have a connection to the bottom.
Guy Babusek
Lauren > > > > While I work with a lot of pop and musical theater people, a lot of my own > performing background is in classical and I do work with quite a few opera > singers; usually in a rehab setting. Most of the females in this case use > very little chest in the production of their bottom voices creating a > foundation of the instrument that needs high airflow. In turn, they need to > use quite a bit of extrinsic musculature to slam the folds together to resist > the airflow creating tremendous amounts of subglottal pressure. If they get > into chest, the prephonatory tuning of the cords is better and less air is > needed to engage Bernoulli. It's then a matter of learning how to get out of > chest without a flip, and that's a matter of how you train your students. > All (well 95%) of my students can do this. > > Randy Buescher > >
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