Vocalist.org archive


From:  "Lloyd W. Hanson" <lloyd.hanson@n...>
"Lloyd W. Hanson" <lloyd.hanson@n...>
Date:  Mon Jan 22, 2001  5:09 am
Subject:  Re: Dec.1 post on V.Port/NATS Article/Resonance


Dear Randy, Gina, Isabelle and Vocalisters:

Miller lists four ways in which the nasal port can be closed. Each of these
ways is supported by research. The nasal port is not the whole of the soft
palate. The position of the soft palate can be adjusted without closing
the nasal port. For these reasons alone the position of the soft palate
can be a possible concern for the singer and teacher of singing.

Isabelle has done a good job of defining the confusion between the terms
"nasality" and" nasal tone". The sensations we feel when we sing well,
however, are very individual and what feels like nasality to one singer may
feel like singing in the back of the throat to another.

Although bringing the voice "forward" might work well for Gina it is often
the opposite for other singers. Tone placement concepts are, at best, a
most devious approach to teaching singing. I have found it much more
effective to determine how the singer feels a tone when that tone is right
and use that singers description of feeling as a code word for that singer
alone. To apply ideas of "placement" from one singer to another is not
usually successful and often more than frustrating.

So, I have sought for descriptions of vocal function that ARE more
universal. I have found these through teaching an understanding of what
actually happens within the vocal mechanism and developing exercises that
utilize these understandings. And it works. Coffin used to tell his
singers that they needed to be able to translate the confusing language
that is prevalent in the singing field into an understanding of what is
really happening.

When a conductor tells a singer to sing more forward the intelligent singer
can understand that he means the tone is too dark and needs more high
overtone emphasis. The singer can then make the necessary adjustments that
are effective for his/her voice without a need to explain to the requestor
what is being done. When the singer understand vocal function and knows
how vocal function works and feels for his/her individual voice, that
singer is capable of making any changes necessary for any performance
demands.

The advantage to this approach is that it can explain what the various and
often contradictory concepts of vocal production mean in terms of vocal
function. A primarily subjective approach to singing technique (which
includes such concepts as tone placement, imaging, etc.) may be very
valuable for the individual singer but it seldom has any meaning for
another singer. This is the reason that great singers seldom make good
teachers of vocal technique. They may be great vocal coaches but the
technique that they know is theirs alone. The Hines book is great proof of
this.


Regards
--
Lloyd W. Hanson, DMA
Professor of Voice, Vocal Pedagogy
School of Performing Arts
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ 86011


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