Dear Mike and Vocalisters:
You wrote:
> what i was suggesting was a way to give an idea of the feel for breath,
>while phonating, at two extremes, for a beginning singer. the problem i
>encountered with the fogging the mirror idea was the lack of involvement of
>the vocal folds. the people i tried the mirror fogging idea felt that, when
>the folds were involved, the sensations of phonating were unrelated to the
>mirror fogging. so, no, i wasn't suggesting balancing a sighing attack
>against a glottal attack. instead i was suggesting something that is in
>between rather than doing both at once.
COMMENT: I believe I understand your point and it is true, from my
experience, that it is necessary for the singer to clearly understand
the conditions of the extremes of the onset of phonation, that is,
the breathy onset and the glottal onset. I would add, however, that
I never use a mirror in teaching the student to experience the warm,
most breath. I simply suggest the idea of steaming ones glasses to
clean them. It is true that studentd who have never worn glasses
tend to "blow" a warm moist breath on the imaginary lens but I
quickly explain to them that the idea is to "breath" a warm, most
breath , not blow it. (It is a valuable lesson in another way
because it teaches the potential singer-actor one of the skills
developed by all wearers of glasses and this prepares the actor to
assume this facet of a role should it ever become his duty.) I
usually suggest that the student place the fingertips of one of his
hands at the proximity of his lips as he "breaths" the warm, moist
breath and experience the deposit of moisture on his fingertips.
This act encourages the concept of a soft flow of breath and
discourages the mistaken notion of blowing the breath. I have found
that most singers make the major mistake of thinking that they must
somehow blow the breath over the vocal folds to produce a singing
tone. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The transition from a flow of warm, most breath to the act of
phonation via a balanced onset is quickly learned. I encourage the
singer to maintain his fingers at his lips to continue the sensation
of the warm, most breath and the deposit of moisture on his
fingertips during phonation. Most singers find the transition from
"breathing" the breath to phonating the warm, most breath to be
natural and easy. I believe the use of a mirror to register the
moist breath ise unnecessary and, in fact, an obstacle to the
natural, easy transition from breath to tone.
Regarding the use of a breathy phonation to achieve the "Mel Torme
tone" I have not found this a difficult adjustment once the singer is
able to phonate efficiently and correctly through the development of
a well balanced onset. It is merely a matter of choosing to allow
more breath flow instead of maintaining the a more efficient vocal
production. The same would be true for a singer who, for the sake of
style or word emphasis, chooses to produce a glottal onset or its
sustained resultant, a pressed vocal production. The point here is
that only when a singer is able to produce a most healthy and
efficient, balanced onset is that singer in full control of his
phonational capabilities. All other forms of singing are a deviation
from this healthy norm and, though not dangerous for the singer who
has good phonational habits, they do present potential damaging
possibilities for the singer who is incapable of a balanced onset and
its resultant efficient, healthy form of phonation.
In my opinion, the type of student you describe is more in need of
learning the balanced onset and its resultant efficient, health vocal
production than the student who aspires to a classical style of
singing because the classical style of singing is more likely to lead
the singer toward the healthy production (it is a more necessary
requirement for this kind of singing). Mel Torme is a fine example
of this; he was able to sing a classical style of vocal production
with ease and demonstrated it frequently in his scat singing.
--
Lloyd W. Hanson, DMA
Professor of Voice and Vocal Pedagogy, Emeritus
Director of Opera-Theatre, 1987-1997
College of Fine Arts (formerly, School of Performing Arts)
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ
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