--- In vocalist-temporary@yahoogroups.com, "Deborah <singsoprano2003@y...>" <singsoprano2003@y...> wrote: > Does anyone have advice on how to teach students to roll their r's.
Deborah, This is a post that I wrote several months ago to the group. I had thought that I was one of those people who genetically couldn't learn to roll r's, but even at the advanced age :-) of over 50, I did learn ... my story follows. ******************************************************************** 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." ********************************************************************* Sandy Willott
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