Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Vocal Ped Paper

Vocal Ped Paper
Over the course of the semester I had the opportunity to teach two students, one for 4 lessons and the other one for 2 lessons. The experiences were very different. The first student, Jae, I had an opportunity to teach in the classroom with everyone else. He had almost no singing experience, but was very fun to work with. Having taught one lesson to a freshman girl with little to no success last semester I remembered that what made it so difficult was that I wanted the student to be able to sing well right of the bat, without giving them all the tools and time that they would need in order to accomplish any level of singing. Teaching to me can be kind of like working at restaurant, the customer is always right, sorta. The reason being is that because all the work (or most of the work) is done by the student, it’s up to me, the teacher, to unlock their ability that they may not have known existed. Jae didn’t have good breath support, so working on bending over and getting his breath working was very important to me. Pitch was even a worse issue, but it was increasingly difficult to get the pitch corrected without the help of a good breath. Often I would observe him raising his shoulders and not singing from the chest and diaphragm. Alas, it was only after repeated corrections that he was able to sing somewhat on pitch. The first 3 lessons went on tediously, really sticking to one or two exercises that encouraged pitch matching and scales. By the 4th lesson I really tried to sing with him, and he was very capable of singing on pitch (or close there-to) when I sang with him. What I found was that the emotional connection he had with singing helped him more than anything, singing angrily or with sadness provided him more context from which to draw breath. The one thing I could improve on with Jae was my patience. After that third lesson and I was making little progress it really made me reconsider my approach, not so much to be aggressive, but that if something didn’t work I wanted to try something radically different.
            People often hate on that singer voodoo that people use, but with a very beginning level student they worked really well—the imagery that I used with Jae and even my Lounge singer was the idea of walking up and escalator going down, and also the image of candle-wax burning. Both of these ideas are tangible enough and moving that it really gets the singer on his or her breath. The goal for me with a singer, is to always get them thinking about movement, the movement inside in order that their oven is churning the burning flame, as if there is this large piston of energy and it needs to be pulled by the artist or singer in order to keep the current and flow moving. It is when we stagnate in singing that I feel we choke, when I lose that relaxation that’s when the pitch suffers and we choke. It is my desire in teaching especially to relax the student. A lot of times it is because the singer doesn’t feel comfortable, even professional singers don’t feel prepared sometimes, that they trip themselves up
With my second singer, he was actually making money singing already as a lounge singer, but his problems were a little easier to diagnose because he had some idea of his technique. Often times it would come from the vowel connection. He was trying to go up to a high B with no support, and so we literally broke it down, took it an octave lower, and evened out the phrase, first by using only vowels, and then singing back to the original octave while slowly adding the words back in. Adding in the proper conception of the pitches (the phrases he was having difficulty with he didn’t really know the pitches) he felt prepared enough and went from being unable to sing above an G# comfortably to singing the whole Bruno Mars phrase perfectly (as perfect to my ears). It came down to vowel preparation and then finally the support of his breath. The candle wax idea really worked for him, but he also wanted to get the tune correct, so the fact that both of our communication for the subject was focused on the same goal made it easier to teach him. Jae, in contrast, was literealy starting from ground zero with no training, so the conception of pulling something out of someone whom has no conception of what to pull could be more challenging.

            Overall over the course of the semester I really enjoyed watching everyone take on the challenge of new singers and fumbling, or succeeding around with the different images and techniques. It was really fun to peer into everyone’s different styles and see what worked best, those with a smile and who spoke confidently seemed to get the most results. In the future I want to be more direct with the exercises, explaining the purpose fully of each one instead of just throwing them into the work—if a singer has a conception of what they want for themselves, in my opinion, they are likely to be more successful.

Richard Tucker



Wow, this guy has got quite an instrument. His vowels sound somewhat dark but it works for him and everything in his voice is lined up, even when he ascends to the high notes it doesn't look like he's straining and it seems so easy to him. He really believes and feels every word he's saying and does well to compliment the baritone Robert Merrill in this particular video. He sounds amazing.

Lawrence Tibbett


Oh Boy, he has almost the same last name as me, if only the last name had an s... I'm going to continually claim him. Or it seems to be that people suggest that I do so. He really is a famous baritone that people still recognize. He is quite great, his text is fine and he doesn't seem to do anything to excessive, but really makes choices that sets him a part. He really has mastered the english language in his singing. Nothing slips out of his voice and he truly has a fantastic range at that. Even when he chooses to do an effect it brilliantly works for him. 

Maureen Forrester


What a great Mezzo-voice, I can really enjoy the fluidity of the text and the clarity of her tone. She does have a slight flutter in her vibrato but she doesn't let it detract from the fantastic warm colors the she exhibits. She has a lovely voice and it seems really connected in the lines that she sings. Sometimes she comes in too hard on the onset of her voice. The word "God" in this song is a little to covered for me as well. Overall a very fine instrument. Especially when she gets into the low notes I can really tell that she is a Mezzo because the line doesn't thin out.

Anna Netrebko




Oh my Anna Netrebeko, so fantastic to see her in here mid to late 20's, when she was at the height of her career and before she was pregnant. My criticism for one of my favorite soprano's, is that she tends to move a little bit more than I would prefer, sometimes it can be a little excessive and contrived, especially sometimes her hands do strange things, or her face trying to look sexy seems a little sleepy. But when you're Anna Netrebko, do what you want, you're one of the world's best sopranos. She sometimes sounds a little over covered as well, and though it isn't so present in this recording she can be a little pressing on the instrument which moves the pitch a little to the flatter side. Beautiful dynamics and a great instrument, I hope I can be as good as she one day.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Philip Langridge


Well, after reviewing so many "Emulatable singers" i've chosen Philip Langridge who sings The Dream of Gerontius by Elgar with the BBC symphony. Oh how I wish I could do this! Starting off on a high note, he really seems to have the technique down, but already I can see why a teacher may not enjoy him. He shakes so much when he sings some big notes, his shoulders even raise a touch. Honestly, I can't find much more wrong with that unless I get really nitpicky and say that some of his consonants are slightly scooped... Singing in his native language, he really understand the meaning of the text, though his interoperation is a bit dramatic, it really sells. He sounds fantastic. the emotional content and understanding of the text is simply stager ing. Even in his histrionics he seems to pull the pianos into a sweet sound pleasing to my ears. Sometimes his eyes close, and it works for this performance. Perhaps excessive? 

Jussi Björling

For this tenor, I picked from Faust, Salut Demeure. Another calm and composed performance. Oh, how I love the old singers. They truly seem to understand the history of their craft, not that today we don't. But the art has evolved into this pop industry (not that I personally think this a bad thing) and it really makes me appreciate the recital form of these arias and art songs that we so lovingly perform. 


Personally, for me, I think he is a little stiff. It's grand, no doubt, but for this french song sometimes his swells feel slightly Italian. But what do I know. I wish there was a little more back space in his sound, it sounds very pingy, and it totally works, but just for my taste I wish there was a little more space in the back. He certainly gets it through his mask, and the notes are there in that ringing place. Perhaps it's the recording that makes me feel like the pitch is quavering slightly. Honestly, after hearing the bravado and weight of the mezzo-sopranos such as Mrs. Bumbry and Mrs. Baker, I just wish there were a little more roundedness… all that being said, after about minute 3:30, he really goes into his technique, as if the previous parts of the song couldn't even compare to the divinity of the high C he utters. Simply fantastic.