Vocalist.org archive


From:  Karen Mercedes <dalila@R...>
Date:  Fri Nov 22, 2002  10:16 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] Singer with heavy, dark, flat head voice

A few things to look for, and for her to feel for:

1) Is she over-opening the mouth? Is she "biting down" on her high notes?
(Opposite problems, but both can cause problems - breathiness and
intonation problems)

2) Where is her tongue positioned? Is the root of the tongue tense?

3) Is the jaw "unhinged" (loose and "floppy", with a sense of "lift" in
the soft palate?

4) Are her onsets as efficient as possible? Vowels should not be initiated
with glottal stops, but instead by a sense of bearing down of the
diaphragm to compress the breath beneath (while, possibly, tucking in the
lower abdomen. Consonants should not allow excess breath to escape. Labial
and dental consonants should be phonated whenever possible (e.g.,
including v and z). Even strong consonants, like those in French, should
be less not more breathy.

5) Does the core of her resonance change drastically as she shifts from
chest to middle register, and from middle to head? Is there a clearly
distinctive core in one register that spreads/dissipates in another?

6) Does her resonance deepen as well as heighten as she sings higher, or
is she simply moving the same "size/depth" of resonance from one note to
the next?

7) Is her breath equally energized throughout her range? Does she
understand that she needs more compression for high notes than for chest
notes? Is she overcompressing/pushing her high notes (the latter often
results from either midriff tension/"locking" of the intercostals, or
tongue and jaw tension)?

8) Does she worry/obsess about her high notes? (Psychological stress that
leads to physical tension)

Karen Mercedes
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
________________________________
That man is the happiest who
is most thoroughly deluded.
- Erasmus




emusic.com