Ben-Voice Lesson-09/28

I felt like this week’s lesson was productive and gave me many things to practice. First of all, it’s becoming more and more clear to me that I tend to “swallow” the sound. As I watch the recording of the lesson, I can tell when I sing an exercise incorrectly—when I swallow the “ah” vowel or when the “ee” vowel is not sufficiently clear and forward-placed.

On the other hand, the “new” way of singing sounds very strange to me. I think it will take some getting used to, and, in fact, the sound reaching my ears does not seem to agree with my previous notions of ideal singing. But these notions also appear to be false! It is apparent that my voice looses energy as I attempt to intervene to switch to a different register: my way is not quite right. I am excited to see what hard work under guidance gets me.

In the lesson, we were able to achieve a “ring” in the sound at times—after reading chapter 5 of McCoy I’m inclined to think this has something to do with formants, but I’m not sure. If there is a connection, I think I may have a better understanding of some of the material being discussed in this class.

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