Dear Gina, and fellow Vocalisters,
Lessee...
>What exactly is happening when you descend thru the passaggio.
Gee, I wish I knew. I've pretty much described what I feel already. It's
as though I can feel the larynx adjust. I don't have any trouble going
through it slowly; or even going through it rapidly once. Then, I can use
the imagery of ascending when I'm descending, etc. But repeat trips can
cause me to yodel the second or third time through when the sequence is very
rapid.
What
>Handel aria is it?
"Mio Caro Bene" [_Rodelinda_] The runs repeatedly descend from A4 to G3 on
1/16th notes.
When I've tried to stay in head voice all the way down an obvious break
ensued. It appears that I need to transition into mixed voice before that
lower note.
>What vowels do you do the sirens on?
I've only just started this sirening exercise recently and I've been using
5 Italianate vowels.
Do you modify in the passaggio?
I begin to modify well before the passaggio but without deliberately
"covering". My first teacher taught me to change "ah" to "uh" and "ee" to
"ih" while ascending in the upper middle voice. My current teacher favors
letting the vowels "self-modify" by letting the jaw drop and keeping the
posterior pharynx open. "oh", however, does get changed to "eux" in
passaggio. However, while this keeps the color appropriate in the upper
voice, it doesn't, by itself, seem to offer much for the rapid sequence high
tessitura which descends through the break.
Dr Marshall, my teacher, has told me that largely my problem is not
technique so much as development; that I need to better develop the
coordination and vocal muscles that makes all this happen. Are there
exercises that listmembers use to strengthen the appropriate coordination in
the upper passaggio?
Thanks for your interest!
GWendel
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