Maggie - Voice Lesson & Recital - 9/28/23

 I had a bumpy start to my lesson this week because when I walked in I was experiencing symptoms of what I now know is a stomach ulcer. This made me very anxious, so we just sat and chatted for a second to calm my nervous system (I'm assuming) and then jumped right into some easy and light warm ups so as to not exhaust my voice after these symptoms. I feel very foolish because I forgot to record this lesson, but I loved how those specific warm-ups released so much tension in my anxious voice and body. After that, we moved to the song I will sing in voice recital hour which is very much on the mix-belt side. I sang this last semester so we really just hit some of my trouble spots. Specifically, the D5 at the end. I was singing it with a very closed, juvenile sound mostly because I'm so frightened that if I don't close my mouth, it's not gonna come out the way I want to. However, voice lessons are here to challenge us, push us to be our very best and, thought it took me a few tries to really get it, I opened my mouth and just felt everything relax and unlock and I was very happy with the sound I made. 

In voice recital hour today, everyone did such a great job! Someone who really stuck out to me was Emma Diesen when she sang Over the Rainbow. Something that I love very much about her voice is her lower register. She makes the sound so rich while keeping that very forward and light tone. I heard that during this piece, her tone all throughout was very consistent and it was difficult to hear any breaks in her register. Even when you could hear it very few times, she was so quick to return and find that clear resonance again. Not only was her tone clear, but (and I hope I accurately describe this) her voice has this natural sweet and tenderness that adds so much to the music she sings; especially this song! I shed a couple tears, honestly! She did a wonderful job.

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