Vocalist.org archive


From:  Margaret Harrison <peggyh@i...>
Date:  Sat Jan 25, 2003  6:25 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] Misc thoughts (wasThe Coordinated Falsetto Between Chest and Head)

"katherine94040 " wrote:

> I disagree with the notion that as singers, we perforce learn to sing
> by sensation. I think that is exactly what is wrong with voice
> teaching today and for the past 100 or so years (since our beloved
> Jean De Reske). Sensation is an utterly unreliable tool for teaching
> or learning singing. In actual fact, when the voice is free,
> unfettered and functioning well, there is little or no sensation to
> be had.
Unfortunately, the 40-odd muscles of the vocal
> instrument are largely involuntary and NOT SUBJECT TO VOLITIONAL
> CONTROL. Therefore, if one cannot feel their action, and one is being
> taught to go for muscular feelings, one will invoke those muscular
> feelings which ARE possible, i.e., tongue, jaw, outer walls of the
> neck, shoulders, chest muscles, etc.

I agree with the second part of what you wrote, but not with
your conclusion that feelings/sensations are the "wrong" way
to teach and learn singing. For me, as a kinetic learner,
how something feels in my body is the ONLY effective way for
me to learn. But, of course, the feelings have to be the
feelings that go with the correct vocal coordinations. So I
do agree that a teacher telling me what feelings I "should"
have is dangerous, for the very reason you describe - I'm
apt to be tensing the wrong things. The way that's been
effective for me over the long term is for the teacher to
help me find the correct coordinations by how my voice
sounds and what she sees me doing or not doing, and me
learning how the correct way feels, and after enough
repetitions of the correct way, it becomes habitual, and I
know how it feels in my body. Mirror work is also helpful
in correcting unwanted tensions that are apparent visually,
but I find it's useful to me only for short periods of time.

Peggy

--
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh@i...



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