These are great, Isabelle. Thanks for posting them. My former teacher gave me some chest voice exercises which are also on a 1-2-3-2-1 pattern but you do it twice, first on /ae/ and then /a/. He also had me do an octave leap /a/ to /u/ back down on /a/, checking to make sure the larynx doesn't pop up on the octave... naughty little devil. We generally at that time never took chest past a D just above middle C.
I typically use chest two ways. 1. For effect. When I sing "Tu, che le vanità" I use chest like this: In the following section, ALL of the C#s will be in chest voice (not open, raw chest, it is still a mix!)
Tu, che le vanità conoscesti del mondo e godi nell'avel il riposo profondo
I choose to do it that way because my teacher and coach suggest I do it like I am almost demanding to be heard. Very trumpet like.
In the section that follows, I use a lighter, headier mix on the C#'s because it is more imploring and vulnerable.
The text is: S'ancor si piange in cielo, piangi sul mio dolore, e porta il pianto mio al trono del Signor
2. I use chest voice strategically depending on where the phrase is going.
If it is ascending, most likely I won't use a heavy chest mix. If it lands right on it, and it's emotionally charged, I will use a heavier chest mix. If part of the line is very low but it goes higher, I will mix head voice in and switch early. If it is parlando and low, I will use it. If it is parlando and higher than D or Eb, E is pushing it so probably not... otherwise too dangerous for the voice (IMO)
On the Aida arias, like Ritorna Vincitor, the first line will have no chest voice. Ritorna vincitor... e dal mio labbro usci l'empia parola! (chest voice can be used here depending on the singer. Leontine Price uses it but others don't.) Vincitor del padre mio - di lui che impugna l'armi per me (That line is going up and it is more tender because she is thinking of her beloved daddy, so I don't use chest.)
Arpeggiated figures are easy to chest the bottom. Fiordiligi can and should use chest voice in her arias... even Donna Anna can use chest voice at key points in the drama. No higher than E natural, though... Donna Elvira - I don't think that her aria "Ah, che mi dici mai quel barbaro dov'è..." ever goes low enough to warrant the use of heavy chest mix... I will have to check the score.
In Dich, theure Halle, I don't actually use much chest. It really isn't the style, even when it goes to a D on "zog aus mir."
The key to coordinating the transition between chest mix and middle mix is to be able to take the head voice - the lighter mechanism - down as low as possible. Then the light mechanism is present in the sound and can even dominate the sound when you have to ascend, minimizing or eliminating the glitch/gear shift. Lifting the upper lip off the front teeth may help this, as Isabelle mentioned.
Gina
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