Vocalist.org archive


From:  "Laura Ruiz" <laura@d...>
Date:  Mon Jan 7, 2002  3:00 am
Subject:  RE: [vocalist] re: Raised larynx, Crowded throat

Mike,
This idea as you presented it made a lot of sense to me. I realized
that I myself have been seeing the notes as actually going up in height.
I'd lost my high e-flat and e quite some years ago and haven't been able
to get them back at any sort of decent sound.

However, I'm in the midst of learning Blondchen from Abduction and am
thus in the need of getting that high e again. I used the 'duh' idea
and it seems to be helping some. Of course, on top of that I've been
trying to keep my tongue low in back but this is really hard for me for
some reason. Even using a foreign object to physically hold it down in
back is not much help at this point since I have a very quick gag
reflex.

BUT, what I wanted to tell you was that I was able to hit my high e with
fair consistency over the course of several times over and over that run
in "Durch Zartlichkeit". It wasn't what I'd consider pretty or pingy
like Rita Streich could do, but it was at least there.

Question: How do you deal with crossing over more than one "break" in a
case like this where the run goes from an a on the scale all the way up
to the high e? I'm finding my voice switching registers around f and
again around a. The register from the a up seems to have no meat to it
and is screachy. Any ideas?

Thanks everyone for all the great tips. They're extremely helpful
during the times when I'm unable to have lessons for whatever reason
(currently my teacher is recording in Germany).

Laura

-----Original Message-----
From: Greypins@a...]
Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2002 2:24 PM
To: vocalist-temporary@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [vocalist] re: Raised larynx, Crowded throat


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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