--- In vocalist-temporary@yahoogroups.com, "Lloyd W. Hanson"
<lloyd.hanson@n...> wrote:
> Dear Ed and Vocalisters;
>
> I would be most interested in how many of the voice teachers on
this list still use the Yawn-sigh techniques with their students.
Lloyd and Listers:
While I use it, I use it sparingly with two types of beginning
students: those with strong low voices needing a bit more airflow,
and those ladies that have a 'middle' school mental concept of their
singing voice.
For the first group, I am much more interested in the _sigh_ than in
the _yawn_ aspects, since I find that anything beyound the faintest
hint of a yawn produces counterproductive throat tension.
For the second group, I like a vigorous sigh in the midvoice. I
introduce the exercise by conceptually disassociating the sound
from 'singing'... I call it 'making some noise for a while'. Rather
than use pitch patterns, I model for the student a sliding pitch
consistent with the idea of the loud satisfied sigh. Once they have
it, we re-conceptualize it as a sorrowful or grieving moan, even a
wail. Once they have that, we connect the sound back to pitch
patterns.
A bit off-topic: Sometimes this approach has a startling effect with
the student in the second group. In my Amarillo studio in 1981 I
used this exercise with a 42-yr old female student who wanted to
strengthen her singing so she could contribute more to her church
choir. In the middle of her lesson, while extending the concept to
the wail, tears began to flow from her eyes while she continued to
sing. At my enquiry, she said she was fine, but did not know what
had caused the tears. I can only conclude that the sound, or the
thoughts she used to make them, provoked a connection to a deep
memory of emotion.
Best Regards,
Steven Fraser
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