Voice Lesson #8

Today was lesson #8..Monday. My last lesson was last Wednesday, so I only had a few days to practice and it showed! Though I have made some improvements since I began, in May, I am still struggling with all the same issues. Tension in the throat being a major player! I just can't seem to shake it! I am also having trouble keeping my chest voice out of the picture. I guess I'm just having trouble, all the way around, with staying out of my own way. I am still trying to control the sound, which is something I should not be doing. And though I know I shouldn't do it, I can't seem to stop myself from doing it. It's as if parts of me have a mind of their own. Though, trust me, I realize that I am in control of every aspect of my singing, it's just a matter of making my body realize that! Some things were good today, though..I wasn't frustrated with everything. The Passaggio area is still difficult to maneuver but beginning a song last week with a higher tessitura seems to make a bit of a difference with the Passaggio area. Like I said though, I had only a few days of practice between lessons, so maybe next week will be better. My teacher also showed me two new songs that I will begin learning this week..so that will be five songs we're working on. Three of them are basically for the sake of exercise, and the two newest, for the sake of the song. The other thing is that I need to concentrate more on my breath support. With so much to think about, I tend to let my breathing go..which I cannot do...that is NOT an option! I need to learn to just RELAX. I seem to do better when I am practicing at home, but at my lessons, I seem to tense up more. I guess it's a bit of nervousness because I want to do well for my teacher..I want her to see improvement, so.... I tense up and everything comes out worse. But even at home there is tension. I tell myself, "don't do that"..but I do it anyway. I can get frustrated with myself, for sure, but then there are times where I think, hmmmm, that wasn't too bad. It's all just part of learning and practicing, and failing and improving. It's a journey that is difficult for now, but it won't always be. Like my teacher said, sometimes you can stay in the same spot for a long time, and just when you think you will never improve or get passed the difficulty, YOU DO! Just like that, you do! I told her today, that it seems as if these songs we're working on, are standing up to me and challenging me...but I told her, I WILL WIN! I was having difficulty with a particular note, today..an f#..I could hit it better at home, but just couldn't do it today. I told her, "I know I can hit that note...she said, "I know you can hit it, too!". And that is the gist of this entire journey....we both know that I can do it and I WILL..it's just getting there. With Jesus and a brilliant teacher,(who is also a class act) I can't fail! I want to thank her for having so much patience with me! I want to say thank you also, to my awesome husband, Jeff.. without his amazing support and encouragement, none of this would be possible! He listens to me practice everyday and hasn't once asked for earplugs..in fact, he says I sound great! THAT, my friends, is love..and possibly a hearing issue..hehe! I love you, Bup! :)

Voice Lesson #7

So, today we returned to our regular lessons. My teacher has been off for the past two weeks taking some much deserved vacation. Now, however, we are back in the swing of things, and today's lesson went quite well, I thought. I had taken lots of notes over the past three weeks..yes, three because there was the week right after my last lesson..so I actually had three weeks to practice, and hopefully show some improvement! I think I did, to some degree. I could tell from some of the looks on my teachers face that I was doing better on some things! Gotta love that! I am still having problems with all the same things, BUT, they are getting better! I noticed a lot things during my practice sessions and made a lot of notes for my teacher, but condensed it, for her sake..hehe! I think the biggest things were that I noticed that my tongue is doing everything we don't want it to do..which may not sound like a big deal but, trust me, it is! For me to see and realize this, is a good thing! I also think I found the correct relationship between the tongue and the "AH" vowel...as my teacher put it, it was an epiphany! Indeed, it was! She seemed very happy about this! I still have work to do on it, but the "AH" vowel is much easier for me at this point because the tongue, for the most part, is staying put. We were working on one of the songs, and I mentioned that I had particular difficulty with a certain phrase of the song..actually a certain word. The "eh" vowel is involved, and at a higher pitch. So, not only does the tongue want to kick up, but try as I may, I tend to want to bring the chest voice up to that note, which is NOT what I should be doing. I should be in my head voice throughout the entire phrase. So, bringing the chest voice up to that particular note causes me to STAY in the chest voice..it's like my voice becomes trapped, unable to break free to the head voice, where it SHOULD be. So, all this to say that we replaced the "eh" vowel with the "AH" vowel, as an exercise on that particular word and that caused me to be in my head voice from the get go, which kept me there for the rest of the phrase! Sounds insignificant, maybe, but it wasn't..it was awesome!! We also began a new song, today. It's in Soprano. She's doing this to help me with the Passaggio. Soprano, for me, is very high but I understand what she's trying to do...as I've said before, there's method to the madness. She is a brilliant teacher, so I have no doubt this will help me with the Passaggio, which is basically, the notes involved in the transition between the registers. A difficult area to maneuver in and around. Actually, the Passaggio is throughout the head voice. It's how you get from one note to the other. If you start off the first note in the wrong place..the following notes will be wrong as well. So, like I said, today's lesson went very well and I am looking forward to practicing this week. As I always say, with a Jesus and an awesome teacher, I WILL get this!

Just A Voice Update...

Well, one more week before my teacher's vacation comes to an end and my lessons resume. I hope her time off was very restful and enjoyable, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited for lessons to start up again! The good thing though, is that by next week, I will have had three weeks to practice and hopefully improve to some degree. I am still struggling with all the same issues, but maybe not to quite the extent that I was, two weeks ago. The real test will be to see what my teacher has to say. I have been practicing up a storm, as usual; the tongue, larynx and passaggio still giving me grief! I will beat them, though..they will not win out for long! :) That bothersome D4-G4 is giving me fits! But not to worry..with practice I will find that smooth transition..no problem. Ok, I had stopped writing this post, and gone to practice, just finished a few minutes ago. Wasn't too bad, tonight. I find that on the songs, if I am singing vowels only, It's not as difficult, but when I try to wrap the consonants around the vowels, THAT creates a problem..TENSION! Just more to work on. Two weeks ago I jokingly said that by the time my lessons started again, I would have two pages of notes to go over with my teacher..well, I think I can condense it to one :) No worries though...Like I always say, with a great teacher and Jesus..I can do this! Stay tuned for next weeks lesson update!