I have been practicing the lip trills and /e-eh/ vowels as a warm up. I think so far so good. We shall see in our next lesson!
Yet my songs are wearing me out! I have this break in my voice around Bflat, B and C. This break I must say is what is driving me bonkers. Soon as I am below or above this break I feel as if the head tones are ringing smoothly.
Good to know you are feeling worn out---is it vocal or just mental exhaustion? Don't worry so much about the literature if it is vocal. The culprit is most likely your tongue. Tongue tension will quickly tire the suprahyoid muscles and make you feel like you need to yawn or swallow.
ReplyDeleteFocus on little steps---/i/ vowel (SUPER UGLY) with a relaxed mouth, and moving quickly from a /i/ vowel to an /a/ vowel without jaw movement. We are going to whip that tongue into shape!
Have a lovely weekend, and I am looking forward to our next lesson!!
Man I wish I had this blog years ago in my voice lessons! Then again, I may have not been ready to talk so freely about it…giggle ..giggle!
ReplyDeleteSo no kidding about taking little steps. I feel like that money commercial. I want my money and I want it NOW! I want my voice and I want it NOW!...again giggle ..giggle!
As you are the expert I will trust you on this suprahyoid…yet still going to google it and dig out my AP/SLP related books! Gotta whip in shape my use of language/terminology to.
You really are going to have fun using me as a model! Might as well have all the woman in your studio read my blog!
So additional info on this exhaustion as you put is so lovely in a question. I think it is a combination of several things. I am sure you probably thought this as you wrote your comment, yet will still list.
My Well-being: Physical/Mental: (Still getting up in the middle of the night as baby is teething. As a result hormones are not yet in check.) She did however sleep through the night last night…Yippy! Sleep may be a majority of the culprit.
Physical related to voice: 10 years of non-advanced singing. Last time this voice performed was 2001.
Back to the voice specifically.
My thoughts regarding literature. The Donaudy selection (Sento nel core) has a great descending line that I feel/think puts ease on this tongue….minus the transition between my register change (b-c) ascending. Yet, when implementing the (Oh! Had I Jubal’s lyre), I REALLY start to feel a great deal of tension come on. This was the same when we were sing some of the choral selections last fall.
Tension specifically: This is in the area where one would cough, not necessarily the vocal folds: Above and on sides. Even in the past I had a mild acid reflex, that was controlled nicely with meds. Its possible that this could be a culprit.
Soon as I am done nursing baby I will start this med back up. Also having kidos now days… increased my sugar diet. Just yesterday I ate about three cookies! Carlyle’s preschool class needed birthday treats.
Now that we got some of the profile out future blogs hopefully get shorter!
Where have I been regarding my blogging!! I am writing because some tension reminded me of this blog! This tension comes and goes. Tension has really got less and less since I have been working with you, Elise, over the last few semesters. This in my opinion is fantastic news. However, this last week it has crept in. Not certain why?? As you asked last year: Mental of vocal? April is somewhat jam packed with work, church and family. Sorry about the zombie look during last session. I am sure you could tell! I am a little nervous about licensure items, this week (Thursday)! I am also anxious about memorization, yet I know I want it accomplished. I think wanting it so bad IS placing some tension on me. I thought really hard about the tongue. I also wonder if allergies are playing a role in tension…thoughts? My nasal passage is dry and noticed red. I found this website: http://www.nature.com/gimo/contents/pt1/full/gimo2.html Very Cool! As you stated the “suprahyoid muscles” are getting tired. So the question is this: When tired suprahyoid muscles appear, do you recommend resting for a few minutes? -Or- Do you recommend moving right away into a relaxed vocal exercise? (as you suggested last year /i/ to /a/ vowel without jaw movement and ugly). I did do a little both. I kind of felt both were appropriate. I also had to close my eyes and really concentrate on small tongue movements. Especially in our “Sull aria” song, our running note section.
ReplyDelete