Maggie - McCoy Ch. 5

 I'm going to be completely honest here: the first section went right over my head and I was very confused because I didn't feel like enough examples or explanations were being given. So, I was very relieved when section two opened with how singers can apply the information about the formants and harmonics we learned in section one. He used three examples which consisted of the male passaggio, the female upper passaggio, and a personal example of intonation. I love the consistent reference to the singer's vowel shape and how significant of a role this plays in producing resonance and harmonics. In the female upper passaggio, he talked about subtly shifting the shape of the vowel and in the intonation example, he discussed how vowels make a big difference in our ability to blend and tune to the other singers we perform with. I had a teacher once and during my time with them, I really struggled producing resonant sound through my passaggio and higher. This really confused me because prior to my lessons with this teacher, I felt really confident in my ability to move through registers with consistent tone and resonance but soon felt like I was just getting worse. I remember times when I would finally get it, and it felt so good! They would ask me what I did to create that, and I would point out that I focused on my vowel shape, what vowel I was singing and adjusted depending on the note while still keeping that space open. In quick response, they would disagree with me and tell me it's just because I lifted my soft palate. This really discouraged me and made me feel very insecure about my voice and my knowledge of my own voice. So reading this really helped me return to what I know is right and brought me back to how crucial our open vowel shapes are. Don't get me wrong, I do believe the raising of the soft palate is important, but for me focusing on only that creates tension and a forced feeling. Whereas, imagining the openness of my mouth and my vowel shape naturally does lift my palate without that tension and therefore produces the sound and the resonance I've always wanted!

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