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From:  Mezzoid@a...
Mezzoid@a...
Date:  Mon Oct 8, 2001  2:03 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] low notes


In a message dated 10/08/2001 8:43:41 AM Central Daylight Time,
arado_ge@y... writes:
arado_ge@y... writes:

<< Then, after working these notes my voice feels completely exhausted and
even talking is a major effort. This tells me my technique is all wrong.
Does anyone have a ny suggestsions of exercises I can work on to try and
develop this part of my range or can explain to me what I am doing wrong. >>

That's an understatement. Have you had your vocal folds checked? Before you
can fix your technique, you might want to make sure that everything is
healthy in there.

Exercises: I'm not a big fan of vocal fry, but I have used it occasionally
with a few students. This is the low sound that you make when your alarm
goes off at 5:30 in the morning and you say in a barely audible groan
"nooooo.... I don't wanna get uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup." Take that low
unpitched sound and gently slide up to a pitch -- maybe an A-flat - on [a]
and go do-re-mi-re-do. Repeat until you start on middle C. CAVEAT: If you
feel any pressure at all, if it feels like you're constipated, do not do this
exercise. At least not without someone there to tell you how to fix it.
Again, I am very ambivalent toward vocal fry, I do not think it is a
cure-all. It might work on a limited basis. I think if not done right, it's
dangerous. NOTE THE PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE, any vocal fry fans!!!

An exercise I DO use frequently to get into the lower register is a 5 note
slide downward on [i-a] or [i-u] (for the non-IPA users, ee-ah, ee-oo). That
should also help the problem you're having with keeping your tongue forward.

Lip trills, lip trills, lip trills! Sometimes, whether the problem is up or
down, I'll have someone open up on a lip trill to an [a] (kind of a Roger
Rabbit effect}. Just don't change anything in your support or resonance when
you open to a vowel.

Above all, what does YOUR teacher say?





Christine Thomas
Wauwatosa, WI
<A HREF="http://hometown.aol.com/mezzoid/myhomepage/profile.html">
http://hometown.aol.com/mezzoid/myhomepage/profile.html</A>

"Pace, mio Dio, pace, mio Dio."
-- La forza del destino, Giuseppe Verdi


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