in my experience, a rising larynx is most aggravated by goofy notions of
how pitch works. some singers begin with a raised larynx no matter what the
pitch is, but most, come across the problem as pitch is increased. behind
this problem, lies the common notion that 'high notes' means 'high in height'
not, 'high in frequency'. so, these singers, while having the physical
problem of not being able to keep their larynx down, have the additional
problem of a poor concept in how sound works. as long as they think pitch
goes 'up, up and away', they will continue to reach for these notes, raising
the larynx. it will continue to be difficult to get these people to get
their larynx stable as long as they are intentionally raising it.
i like randy/seth's idea of using the dumb sound (as in, 'duh') to keep
the larynx low. it works as well as anything and most people are readily
able to reproduce it (getting some to actually try it is often more
difficult). i would add that it is a good idea to have the student
'decrease their IQ as they increase pitch'. some of my students have been
so convinced that 'high notes' means 'high in height', when they succeed in
getting their larynx not to rise, they suddenly switch to an octave lower,
revealing their misconception. (it's almost as if they think of pitch the
way a cat thinks of a flashlight beam.)
unfortunately, for some of these people, the concept of placement
(usually, 'forward' and 'in the mask') aggravates the problem as they usually
end up trying to place the larynx 'forward' and 'in the mask' as if, sound
and flesh were one.
as long as the misconception of pitch exists, the student will be working
against your efforts rather than with your efforts.
mike
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