Molly wrote: << Lately my teacher has told me I sing with too many "h's" in my sound, and that I "Stop the air" .
<<I am having the HARDEST time hearing these h's and knowing how I am stopping the air flow. I am trying what *I* think is legato, yet it does not feel right to me and seems..so difficult! Any thoughts?>>
I have found the hardest thing about learning to sing effectively is connecting the meaning of words to the feeling of what's happening in my body. Almost everything voice teachers tell us to get us to sing better are words attempting to describe the indescribable. Even something that sounds mechanical like "lift your palate", really doesn't relate to what we may "think" is responding correctly to the teacher's instruction. (I like to rationalize this by pretending that words are done by my left brain, and muscular coordination to sing is done by my right brain. Please don't tell me if I'm wrong!!!)
So when your teacher says you "stop your breath" or need to sing "more legato", she may be literally correct, but your body/mind may not really understand in terms of being able to follow the instruction as she intends. That's why the teacher needs to have a great ear and eye to hear and see what you're actually doing, and the sensitivity and creativity to give you the words that will get your body to do what's necesssary.
Personally, I've always had a hard time with negatives in singing (e.g., "don't tense your jaw") and do much better with positives ("have a relaxed feeling in your jaw"). But that's me.
And sometimes something has worked in the past, but for some reason has stopped working for you - such as you may have overdone the instruction.
Anyway, where I'm going is: teachers are only human, and far from perfect, and sometimes at a loss for the next thing to tell you, so they sometimes stick with what seems logical to them, until they think of something better, or until YOU give feedback that something's not working for you.
So my recommendation is, tell your teacher something like, "I don't understand why when I "think" legato, it's not what you want. I don't understand what you mean when you say I'm stopping my breath. Can you show me what you mean?"
As to legato, I found I did not get a good handle on it until my body learned how to properly manage my breath. Then legato was easy. Before then, it was work! When I try to describe how it feels to me, now that I KNOW how to do it, it's a feeling of my breath being flowing out out in one continuous flow, with no interruptions. The air isn't pushed, it's released, and almost comes out of its own accord. My breathing muscles feel engaged, but not tight. (There's a muscle just under my breastbone that my teacher likes me to feel the engagement of with my hand to check if this is working right for me. The experts here can remember the name of the muscle.) Consonants don't interrupt the air flow but feel as if they're floating on the air, as a ping pong ball or balloon on a column of air.
When these images were explained to me before my body had learned the feelings, I felt unable to accomplish legato. Now they work for me, as a reminder of how my body needs to feel. Just keep at it, and eventually, it will all come together for you. (It took me years, but then I'm much slower in that regard than anyone I know.)
Good luck!
Peggy
--- Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA "Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile" mailto:peggyh@i...
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