>>>>>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, I've recently actually come back to using this exercise with all my contemporary 'sopranos' who complain about hating their head voice. It actually has worked wonders with them being able to attain those notes, build strength in them, and not be afraid of approaching them from beneath. Rather than use it with them to actually blend their upper registers I have probably used it more for them simply to discover their head voice so that they can use it when they need to, instead of being perpetually in fear of and avoiding it. (This is one of the most common "problems" I encounter in my student base, females in total denial or fear of their upper register the majority of which are actually sopranos!)
When I was first training in performance and teaching from '79 -'82 Vennard was the "god du jour" and later when I took up further pedagogy studies from '85 -'88 Miller had become "THE man". Because the teacher I had later was also a student of the same teacher I had earlier Vennard was still a cornerstone of our education. I haven't seen anyone else come close to usurping their ideas despite fashions changing over time.But I have to admit, *I* have changed (and the expectations of my student base) and therefore perhaps I don't teach their exercises or concepts with perhaps the purity I did when first exposed to them. It's the same with most things I think. I have altered, albeit, ever so slightly, the pedagogy and practises to suit the everchanging needs, expectations and abilities of the students, not made the student a slave to the ideal of a "one size fits all" teaching style.
Singing "in the masque" was taught to us a bel Canto technique and considering our voices, thanks to our Australian accent, were probably already pretty bright and nasal it certainly never seemed to add it to our sound. If anything it balanced the tone and made sure the resonance was where it should be. (But then again I think there may be wildly differing tastes in what we want from our singers here compared to the Northern hemisphere, especially compared to the Brits for instance. For the most part they seem to favour a sound which to our ears is more often than not, far more "swallowed" and dark in it's timbre and production for instance.) The yawn-sigh, for me at any rate, had a tendency to overcome tension in the back of the tongue rather than produce it. It was a way of linking a natural process with lack of tension to a process which could create tension and circumventing it. The big deal was to over-emphasis that it was only the impulse for a yawn that was required and being followed up by the release of a sigh, as a teacher it never once occured to me how this created tension. The feedback from my students has always been about the feeling of freedom this created for them which has been reflected in their sound.
So yes, I do still use Vennards yawn-sigh concept and exercises (embellished and personalised) and would continue to do so if it is what's needed and works, even with my classical students, few and far between though they sadly often are.
What would you replace it with?
Michelle
|