I find that this 'hole' in the lower-middle, which in my experience
can occur in any voice type, can be remediated in a month or two if
the singer is willing to experiment nonjudgementally with some new
sounds.
To my ear, the 'hole' is nothing more than an unbalanced
registration, one in which the Thyro-arytenoids are insufficiently
active. Since these muscles are, in most voices, habitually used
during talking, the exercises I use provoke the action of the muscles
by using 'spoken' sounds, but in ways not often used in talking.
My absolute favorite is the buzzy consonant Z, (as in the initial
sound of the word 'Zebra', 'spoken' in HEAD voice on a sustained
pitch in the upper middle register, say, beginning on the B-b or C in
the middle of the staff. The first couple times a student tries this,
they fail to pronounce the consonant clearly, usually symptomized by
too much air. Within a few attempts, however, the attempt to make
this sound clearly results in an automatic rebalance of the
registration. My way of thinking about it is that the new muscle
coordination is provoked into action by the novel use of the familiar
concept. Once they can make a clear Z, we bring it down by semitones
to F or E, and stay there to build some familiarity.
What my students report to me when making the sound successfully the
first time is that they feel greater involvement of lower abdominal
muscles in providing energy to the voice, described sometimes as a
vertical 'pull'.
Once the student has access to this sound at will on the beginning
pitches, we start to move the pitch down by semitones. What the
student discovers immediately is that they have to make a mental
effort to keep the concept going. We are, after all, working to
replace one set of habits with another. The student is instructed to
do this exercise for about 15 mins a day between lessons, preferably
when alone (as in, driving to or from work, or some other private
time)
In the second lesson, (or when they seem ready) after re-establishing
the Z at the E or F, extend the concept by appending a vowel after
the sustained Z, as in ZZZZZZIH (short IH as in the English
word 'it') Do the Z for 4 seconds, and the IH for 4. The desire is
for the intensity of the IH to be the same as that of the Z. When
successful with that, then append a short EH vowel, so that the
pattern is ZIHEH. Finally, append an AH. The Z, the IH, the EH and
the AH are each sung for about 2 seconds in the sequence. The
student may report an increase in 'buzzy-ness' or a 'tickle' in the
region of the top teeth or palate during this exercise.
Once this has been attained on individual pitches in the mid voice,
and a consistently firm sound can be made from middle C to the A-b or
A above, then scale and arpeggio patterns are used to connect to the
rest of the voice. Singing a familiar tune only on Z in this range
can also be done.
BTW, a surprising byproduct for many voices is that the upper middle,
say, beginning at A-b and proceeding to the E-b or E above, will be
discovered to be much more powerful and ringy than before. To me,
this is an indicator that a new, more efficient coordination of
muscle action as been accessed. Another byproduct is that the
student learns a new feel to the voice as they 'roll' rather
than 'plop' into the lower voice.
Best Regards,
Steven Fraser
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