Singing Lessons
General Points to keep in Mind
- the singing note should be a release - don't search for the note
- sing away from the piano
- focus on notes, style comes later
- sing loudly! throw the ball, but stay inside yourself
- watch the inclining head
- hand motion up when singing down - this helps keep open space
- instead of humming, sing "me"
- "pitch is a place not an area" - always hit the first note, slide through the
rest
books to read:
- effortless mastery, kenny werner
- 24 italian songs and arias - medium/high voice
- vaccai - soprano/tenor
Speech and Prep exercises
Jaw
- Open and close
- Move side 2 side
- neck roll and stretch
- head drop, 2x bounce, finish with neck roll
- keep neck loose - focus on looseness and freedom instead of specific note
- keep neck back - in relaxed position
- walk when dipping head
- rest back on heels, bend knees
Tongue exercises
- keep tongue forward against bottom front teeth
- full jaw extension, relax jaw
- bring back of tongue out - even say "hey ya ya ya"
- relax top lip and face
- place small candy in middle of tongue
Face
- let mouth fall open
- keep face blank
Breath
- from diaphragm - not top of lungs
- lay flat on floor - "S", "F", "Z" - try to increase count
British accent
- "Rain in spain falls mainly on the planes..."
- be clear about what vowel you are singing
- find note in most loose way
- focus on palette
Hands on face, use the mask, do this with different
pitches
- "Me me me" "May may may" "My my my" (My = MAH - ee)
- Sigh
Vocal Exercises
5-4-3-2-1
- Lip trills
- open the soft palette
- aim for the "note above the 1st note"
- keep this forward in the mask
- a. trill first - breath through nose
- keep sound forward, loose lips, loose cheeks, like
blowing a bath bubble
- "MEE MAY MEE MAY MEE"
- "ZEE ZAY ZEE ZAY ZEE"
- "AH OOH AH OOH AH"
- "DEE DAY DEE DAY DAY"
- "BEE BAY BEE BAY BAY"
- wiggle jaw on inhale
- keep tongue behind front teeth
- gentle on consonant, release on vowel
- "Ya" "Za" "La" - slowly
1-2-3-2-1-2-3-2-1
- "E" "AE" "AH"
- pronounce with "z" or "m" - breath has pitch on this consonant
Intoning
- "ya ya ya" - on same note
- be in the mask - start open, cusp from the top of the note
- loosen on the way down, pop off the hard palette
- come in on pitch, or above the note, it's OK to search except on the first
note
- speak first, then sing
- full body voice, keep open and loose
5-3-4-2-3-1-2-7-1
octaves
- physically dip when singing an octave
Intervals
- a. major / minor seconds
- c/c#/c/d#/e - move through this (up/down) slowly
- cde - move through this slowly in all scales
- pronounce "la", "da", "may"
- each note gets a consonant
- move hand from side to side
- keep loose
- use full voice
EE - AH
- 1-3-1-3-1
- 1-5-1-5-1
- 1-3-5-3-1
- Switch Order
- 5-3-1-3
- 5-3-1-3-5-3-1
- put candy in middle of mouth
- diaphragm = breath
- watch larynx, it stay motionless
- keep jaw open, in same form as when breathing in
- different pitches
- try this exercise:
- bend over, neck relax
- MAY-AE-AY-AY-AY
5-3-1
- "ya" "ya" "ya" - let the
"ya" happen, don't grab
- throw the frisbee - but be gentle
- keep jaw open, in same form as when breathing in
- let arms hang, use weights
- center the sound
- aim for above the first note
- when lower, slip into speaking voice is OK
Intoning and 5-3-1
- intone on first note, then sing triad
- intone on first note
- keep the "gears" the same
- stay open, nothing to control
- let the notes slide
Fifths
- "ZA - AHH"
- keep throat loose
1-3 (E), 2-4 (AY), 3-5 (AH), 4-2 (OE), 1 (OO)
- "flip" the AH/OE/OO - opening in back of mouth
- pronounce with "m" or "z" or "d"
or " b" or "n"
- jaw wiggle on inhale, keep tongue forward
- gentle on consonant, release on vowel
- hold out vowels
- think side to side
- only the lips change
- OE = "know"
- OO = "new"
- "I went to the zoo with my friend Zoe"
- A. "slow"
- on piano: left hand plays 1-5, right hand plays triad
- jump by 4ths, 5ths and 3rds
- B. "fast"
- on piano: right hand only (see link above)
Songs