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"James Miller" wrote
Subject: rrrrrrrrr
I have never been able to trill an 'r.' Has anyone run into this problem
or
a way to fix it? Some people have told me it's genetic, but I don't
believe
them (maybe I just don't want to!).
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James and other Vocalists,
After several months of lurking, I am going to make myself known. I have
enjoyed reading the list especially with regard to the "hows" of singing. I
have currently being taking voice lessons for the last 2.5 years. Singing
has always been a part of my life but more so as a chorister, than a
soloist. I have now in the last couple of years sung a few solos in a
church where the choir has several extremely good soloists already. Quite
an intimidating thing to do when one has just entered her "50's". I also
enjoy reading the list because my 23 year old son is planning on becoming a
professional singer and I like to hear the viewpoints of other "youngsters"
:-) pursuing this career.
Anyway, a couple of months ago, after a lifetime of not being able to roll
my 'r's, and because our Renaissance choir has an Italian concert coming
up, I decided that this was going to be the time when I learned to roll
them ... and ... I did in a matter of 2 weeks and lots and lots of hours
... in the car, in the bathtub ... in the street ... I'm old enough to be a
little eccentric, if I wasn't already.
Here are my particular insights:
1. After reading on the this list the "pot o' tea" idea and "edited it"
which gave me an idea of tongue placement, I practiced just flapping my
tongue back and forth on the alveolar ridge singing up and down a
'1-2-3-4-5' scale. I tried to get it as light and relaxed as possible
(like butterfly wings), and a sense that the air was controlling the tip of
the tongue movement. I recall an awareness of the tip of tongue in the
hollow behind the alveolar ridge. This was actually farther back than I
had envisioned the roll of the "r". After doing this at every chance...
while cooking, washing dishes ... suffering comments from my husband that I
sounded like a tribesman on the warpath, I noticed that presumably because
of tongue relaxation and possibly a consequently lower larynx, my singing
sound had a huge increase in volume. At this point, if nothing else I had
stumbled on a good singing exercise. But still no rolled "r".
2. Surfing the net brought me to a linguistic site that mentioned the
Bernoulli effect being part of the trilled "r". Eureka! The bright light
that turned on was that I needed some airflow under the tongue as well as
over the top. (Kind of like the airflow going over the upper and lower, but
differently curved surfaces of an aircraft wing.) So laying in bed one
night, one last try with this idea in mind ... there it was ... a brief
tongue trill. I went to sleep peacefully thinking, "I know I can do it
tomorrow".
3. Yes, I could. It was pretty crude and percussive at first, and I could
only vocalize 3 notes without running out of air.
4. With more practice, the trill is getting more and more comfortable and
relaxed and lasts longer. It is still difficult to put in the context of
speaking or singing words, but every once in a while it works. I am now
(this week) experimenting with curling the tongue longitudinally a bit, and
this sometimes works enabling a more gentle roll.
To sum up the surprises I had with respect to this activity:
a. Tip of the tongue farther back in the mouth than I thought.
b. Air flow under the tongue.
c. The back of the tongue vibrates as well and kind of feels like the
French "r" which I could already do.
I hope that this helps, and probably won't be everybody's experience.
Here's hoping that soon, you, too, can phone your friends and family soon
with the thrilling news, "Guess what? I learned to roll my "r"s this week."
Enjoy your posts everybody,
Sandy Willott
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