Comments for D. Brian Lee, voice teacher http://vocalability.com a functional approach to singing instruction Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:43:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Comment on Open throat by Brian Lee http://vocalability.com/featured/open-throat/#comment-955 Brian Lee Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:43:57 +0000 http://vocalability.com/?p=580#comment-955 "Soft throat" Perfect! “Soft throat” Perfect!

]]> Comment on Open throat by Craig Tompkins http://vocalability.com/featured/open-throat/#comment-953 Craig Tompkins Sat, 07 Apr 2012 05:23:55 +0000 http://vocalability.com/?p=580#comment-953 Nicely said Brian! I often say "soft throat" to those students who think they have to forcibly distend their throats. If you try to "open your throat" you are imposing an unnecessary tension and that tension is the enemy of free and easy singing. The only way to open your throat is with a scalpel ;) Nicely said Brian! I often say “soft throat” to those students who think they have to forcibly distend their throats. If you try to “open your throat” you are imposing an unnecessary tension and that tension is the enemy of free and easy singing. The only way to open your throat is with a scalpel ;)

]]> Comment on The teacher’s breathing by Brian Lee http://vocalability.com/uncategorized/the-teachers-breathing/#comment-952 Brian Lee Sat, 24 Mar 2012 21:05:32 +0000 http://vocalability.com/?p=420#comment-952 Yes, Barbara. Interesting to think about positive and negative effects. Sometimes I will get caught up in a student's rhythm when I should be the one setting the pace. Then I have to readjust and help lead the singer to what I hope is a more optimal place. Yes, Barbara. Interesting to think about positive and negative effects. Sometimes I will get caught up in a student’s rhythm when I should be the one setting the pace. Then I have to readjust and help lead the singer to what I hope is a more optimal place.

]]> Comment on The teacher’s breathing by Barbara Wilson Arboleda http://vocalability.com/uncategorized/the-teachers-breathing/#comment-951 Barbara Wilson Arboleda Sat, 24 Mar 2012 17:26:50 +0000 http://vocalability.com/?p=420#comment-951 I experience this regularly and have also been trying to examine the positive and negative aspects of being so "in sync" with what the student is doing. It must be somehow connected with mirror neurons. I experience this regularly and have also been trying to examine the positive and negative aspects of being so “in sync” with what the student is doing. It must be somehow connected with mirror neurons.

]]> Comment on What’s the point of falsetto? by Brian Lee http://vocalability.com/registration/whats-the-point-of-falsetto/#comment-950 Brian Lee Sun, 18 Mar 2012 19:35:42 +0000 http://vocalability.com/?p=683#comment-950 Thanks Craig! I need to remember your three points, so concisely phrased, when explaining this to people. Thanks Craig! I need to remember your three points, so concisely phrased, when explaining this to people.

]]> Comment on What’s the point of falsetto? by Craig Tompkins http://vocalability.com/registration/whats-the-point-of-falsetto/#comment-949 Craig Tompkins Sun, 18 Mar 2012 18:30:19 +0000 http://vocalability.com/?p=683#comment-949 “What does falsetto contribute if we don’t actually perform with it?” Well, it's an isolation exercise! Have these folks never watched dancers at the barre? Or seen a sports team training? All of those short repeated exercises are used to a) isolate and strengthen muscle groups, b) strengthen neural pathways to those muscles c) coordinate precise movements of those muscles without interference from other muscles. Sheesh... I've seen these falsetto exercises fix uncoordinated upper range problems in SO many singers of all voice types and genres! Thanks for a great post Brian! “What does falsetto contribute if we don’t actually perform with it?” Well, it’s an isolation exercise! Have these folks never watched dancers at the barre? Or seen a sports team training? All of those short repeated exercises are used to a) isolate and strengthen muscle groups, b) strengthen neural pathways to those muscles c) coordinate precise movements of those muscles without interference from other muscles.

Sheesh… I’ve seen these falsetto exercises fix uncoordinated upper range problems in SO many singers of all voice types and genres!

Thanks for a great post Brian!

]]> Comment on Open throat by Hal Roscoe http://vocalability.com/featured/open-throat/#comment-948 Hal Roscoe Thu, 08 Mar 2012 06:25:51 +0000 http://vocalability.com/?p=580#comment-948 This makes a lot of sense. Seems to go into the category of "beware of overdoing". When I was playing trumpet I found some of these throat issues to be tricky. This makes a lot of sense. Seems to go into the category of “beware of overdoing”. When I was playing trumpet I found some of these throat issues to be tricky.

]]> Comment on Conveying "legato" to students by babydramatic http://vocalability.com/uncategorized/conveying-legato-to-students/#comment-53 babydramatic Sat, 15 Jan 2011 00:17:07 +0000 http://www.vocalability.com/uncategorized/conveying-legato-to-students/#comment-53 I was interested in this post because I had a very frustrating experience recently involving legato. I never thought of myself as having a problem with legato (certainly I never heard that I did from a voice teacher) but a conductor I worked with recently excoriated me for not singing legato, and when I tried to do what he wanted, first he accused me of being schmaltzy and then when I tried to be less schmaltzy he accused me of singing "mechanistically" (which actually sounds like your "robot" in that I tried not to vary the dynamics of notes in a phrase).<br /><br />I know there are some singers (particularly ones trained in conservatories singing art songs, which I was not although I believe I had good vocal training)who have voices where every note in their range is exactly the same size and color which is not the case with me. I don't know if singers with these evenly shaped voices sound like they're singing more legato. Among the top singers today there are some like this, whom I frankly think sound boring (I don't want to point fingers, but most of these boring singers are American) and some who sound exciting but usually these latter singers do <i>not</i> have voices where their low notes, high notes, and middle register notes are all the same color. Do you have any thoughts on this? I was interested in this post because I had a very frustrating experience recently involving legato. I never thought of myself as having a problem with legato (certainly I never heard that I did from a voice teacher) but a conductor I worked with recently excoriated me for not singing legato, and when I tried to do what he wanted, first he accused me of being schmaltzy and then when I tried to be less schmaltzy he accused me of singing "mechanistically" (which actually sounds like your "robot" in that I tried not to vary the dynamics of notes in a phrase).

I know there are some singers (particularly ones trained in conservatories singing art songs, which I was not although I believe I had good vocal training)who have voices where every note in their range is exactly the same size and color which is not the case with me. I don't know if singers with these evenly shaped voices sound like they're singing more legato. Among the top singers today there are some like this, whom I frankly think sound boring (I don't want to point fingers, but most of these boring singers are American) and some who sound exciting but usually these latter singers do not have voices where their low notes, high notes, and middle register notes are all the same color. Do you have any thoughts on this?

]]> Comment on Training with reasonable extremes, or the pendulum effect by Jean-Ronald LaFond http://vocalability.com/teaching/training-with-reasonable-extremes-or-the-pendulum-effect/#comment-52 Jean-Ronald LaFond Fri, 12 Nov 2010 07:06:05 +0000 http://www.vocalability.com/uncategorized/training-with-reasonable-extremes-or-the-pendulum-effect/#comment-52 Another brilliant, logical post from a terrific pedagogue. Another brilliant, logical post from a terrific pedagogue.

]]> Comment on How to teach someone to match pitch by Anonymous http://vocalability.com/pitch-matching/how-to-teach-someone-to-match-pitch/#comment-51 Anonymous Sun, 24 Oct 2010 17:23:22 +0000 http://www.vocalability.com/uncategorized/how-to-teach-someone-to-match-pitch/#comment-51 Congratulations! Good observation. For those who do not have access to a voice teacher, there is a program called Listening-Singing-Teacher (free trial), which is useful to drill people to recognize what up and down feels like in a voice. The program gives immediate feedback on pitch and plots a curve on the screen. In this way the student can experiment with his voice going up and down and see the effect of his attempts. Congratulations! Good observation. For those who do not have access to a voice teacher, there is a program called Listening-Singing-Teacher (free trial), which is useful to drill people to recognize what up and down feels like in a voice. The program gives immediate feedback on pitch and plots a curve on the screen. In this way the student can experiment with his voice going up and down and see the effect of his attempts.

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