Some classical singers are using audio spectrogram programs to see if they are producing the “singer’s formant”, which is a band of harmonics in roughly the 3000 Hz range. In acquiring these overtones, it is essential to cross-check against function. It can be easy to bring these overtones in with some pretty nasty interfering tensions. […]
Tag: perception
Mimicry and Singing
Many people try to imitate their favorite singers. This provides a great learning opportunity in the voice studio. Teachers can help students to clarify the differences between themselves and the artist they are emulating. Which differences are due to technique? Which are due to each singer’s individual timbre? What causes individual timbre? Which differences are […]
The Problem of Vocabulary – Spiral Learning, Part 3
Are these pairs of words all talking about the same thing? bright/dark simply speaking/free-flowing air reed tone/flute tone chest/falsetto chiaroscuro ee/oo brilliant/somber Either “yes” or “no” is correct depending on the context. Your personal context is everything. As a teacher you need to use a vocabulary that makes sense to you first, and then communicate […]
Spiral Learning and Voice, Part 1
When I was studying for my music education degree, I took a course in which I learned about the concept of “spiral curriculum”. The idea is that a subject is revisited at intervals in order to deepen understanding as the student grows, either in cognitive development and/or quantity of knowledge. In learning a complex skill […]
Seeming Paradoxes
Paradoxes are related to the subject of a previous post of mine, “Training with reasonable extremes…“. Sometimes you have to think or do one thing, to get a seemingly dissimilar or even opposite thing to happen. Sometimes it’s in real time; sometimes the paradox is only seen through training over a period of time. Example: […]
Can you accept changes in your sound?
In my initial lessons with the student, I make it clear that we are going to work on improving their vocal function. I don’t bring aesthetics into the discussion with most students, and it usually never comes up directly. But it often comes up indirectly, especially in adults. Usually, teens will accept the growth in […]
Translating feedback from different sources
There is a director that I occasionally work with who loves to give unsolicited vocal technical advice. She is a dear sweet lady, but when she starts trying to tell me something technical, it drives me up the wall. Tonight I was ready. When she gave a technical note, I told her that I would […]
“It’s never what you think” An acronym is born!
When practicing, I find it helpful to record snippets and play them back sometimes. They so very often remind me of what one of my wise voice teachers, David Christopher, says: “It’s never what you think”. You think you’ve discovered THE WAY TO SING, and it seems to have worked so brilliantly, then you listen […]
When you have a "bad voice" day
Every once in a while I get myself painted into a corner, and I realize I have to go back to basics. A practice session gone bad can go something like the following. Caution: this is an attempt to capture stream-of-consciousness! ==== begin mental chatter transcript Hmm, I’m hearing that pulled-down throaty sound in the […]