Vocalist.org archive


From:  gwyee@r...
gwyee@r...
Date:  Sun Mar 4, 2001  11:52 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] When and IF will it happen ?


At 06:01 PM 3/4/01 -0500, John Link wrote:
>Of many singers I often wonder "Why are you trying to sound
>like...?". As part of a learning process it is valuable to play games
>of sounding like all sorts of things, but I say that then all of
>those things must be given up and we just sing. Now that you consider
>yourself to be a tenor I suggest that you do not fix that identity
>for yourself. When rehearsing, continue to pretend that you are
>sometimes a baritone, sometimes a tenor, sometimes an alto, sometimes
>a soprano (even coloratura!). And then, just sing! To fix our way of
>functioning is to turn our performance into characature. Let me push
>the idea further. When singing opera, must you sound like an opera
>singer? How about singing opera as if you were a rock singer, or a
>folk singer, or a Flamenco singer, or a jazz singer? But that's just
>for rehearsal. In performance, drop all of that nonsense and just
>sing the music!

Dear John and Vocalistmates,

"Nonsense" is the right word for what I was trying to do previously. I was
pressing all the notes in order to put more passion and masculinity into my
voice. It did "look" a little strange on me given my relatively small size.
Now I feel free to sound however I sound, especially while just learning a
piece. My teacher keeps after me to make sure the sound stays "open",
"loose", and "connected". I have accepted myself as lighter lyric voice.
Now if I can only learn how to negotiate the fioratura stuff, and sight-read
a little faster, and improve my French, German, Italian pronunciation, and
maybe pick up a little Russian, and make my low notes a little more even,
and breathe just a little more quietly, and stay light in the throat even
when my bladder's heavy, and smile even when I'm freaking out inside...

GWendel


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