USU Pedagogy 3630 - F23

  Think about the soft palette being bigger than it actually is. Think higher placement, but with big space. Also don’t telegraph the higher placement at any point. Loosen the jaw and let it be unstrained Really study the French vowels Pieces to look at 2nd Mahler Mab Aria Deh Vienni (Giovanni) Apple Orchard (Laitman) 

 This week, I did not have a voice lesson because I was out of town. However, I did sing through my music and work on memorization as I was on my trip. I worked primarily on the Ned Rorem pieces, but also worked on memorization of Sono Unite a Tormentarmi and Voglio Amar just speaking in rhythm since those are in different languages. Voice recital hour was so great today! We had so many wonderful singers and the one that really stood out to me was Madelyn Hamilton's performance. I loved the way she was using her voice to add characterization and emotion to the song. She had a couple of glottal onsets or even breathy onsets that were placed in strategic spots to convey the story. Something that I love about these artistic decisions is hearing singers taking a technique that is commonly frowned upon, but using it correctly and briefly to sing the feeling rather than just the notes. Madelyn did a really great job at using these to her advantage and not letting it affect the rest of he...

 In VRH Isabelle John performed “On My Own” from Les Miserables. Her pitch and emotion was great! You could really see how much she had internalized the song and emoted it with her face. Also, she kept an aligned and clear posture the whole time! The tone had a nice quality, except a lot of breath escaped through each note. Instead of a pure tone, it became more gaspy. In thinking of the exercises we are preparing for our demonstrations, a glottal onset exercise could help her voice really break through that air! Perhaps on thee in a descending two-note pattern by holding out the ‘th’ till there is a resonant buzz and then releasing that air on the ‘ee’. This would practice glottal stopping and starting on a more difficult/ closed sound to phonate so that the sensation of the vocal folds pressing together can become more pronounced and easier to replicate in actual textual settings. Overall, great performance! In my voice lesson this week, we worked on transposing one of my songs i...

 Isabelle John -some struggles with key at the beginning but gets on -very cool stylistic slides -very dark tone -some breathiness -using head voice rather than belt for higher notes -lots of really great characterization Megan Langton -bright tone -sometimes needs to open up a little bit more (false covering?) -some nice vibrato on a lot of long notes -vowels sometimes causing intonation issues -really pretty voice just seemed nervous Madelyn Hamilton -very bright sound -used belt and had it break, switched for the next high note to use a little more head in the mix -some high notes just purely head Claire Francis -very balanced sound -incredible performer, so much emotion -nice vibrato -nice dynamic contrast

I really enjoyed Maddie’s performance of “Nothing Stops Another Day.” I could tell what all the words were, and she did a good job of conveying the message. There was a sort of subtext that she had going on, and I could see that- especially in the beginning. I also thought a lot on out what we talked about belting. There were many phrases that she belted, and it sounded healthy. There was one note where it was high and she belted it and her mouth was so open, it was a great moment! I also could tell towards the end when she flipped more into head voice, which I think was appropriate for the ending. Overall she did a great job.  This week in my lesson we spent time on Majenka’s aria and Desire in Spring. In Majenka’s aria, there are a lot of accents, so we worked on actually making those notes accented. This is so hard! To help make it easier, we sob-talked some of the words and that transferred over to my singing. I need to get better at doing the accents and adding decrescendos ov...

 I'm glad to have had a lesson with Thomas this week, it's been too long! The main thing that we focused on was "the turn" that happens in the upper voice. If I understand correctly, this happens as I let go of the vowel, and allow the soft palatte and tongue to come forward. This creates a cover to that sound, and allows the voice to be full and resonant in that range. The thing that i was struggling with, was helping this cover to be forward, in front of me, rather than falling back. This week I will try to sing brightly and leave that sound there, and bring that cover forward as well. I was impressed by Hannah Hunt's performance of "How Can I Keep From Singing". I thought her tone was clear and bright, and nice to listen to. I could especially hear this in her choice of certain vowels, especially in the higher register. She made sure that they were bright, focused, and gathered. There were occasional moments when some breathiness would creep into her ...

 For voice lessons this week, we focused on the larynx. In our warm-ups, we discussed elongating the larynx, and pretending to "stretch taffy" to further engage my body. I remember being in check with my body, and paying close attention to any changes I made to help my performance. I did have trouble lifting my soft palate, but I was able to instantly hear the shift. With this, I was able to fix the issue, and make a note to work on specific vowels while keeping the larynx low and the soft palate lifted.  For VRH, I want to highlight Aimee Newson's performance. First, I love that she starts her performance by asking everyone to join her in taking a deep breath together. It's so calming, and eases the nerves in the room! From what I heard, I didn't hear any tension in the larynx! It sounded like she was singing in the chest voice register, and some parts went into mixed voice. Her voice is so strong, and well-balanced! The tone wasn't breathy, and her sound fil...