Let's Twist Again... On 2nd Thought, Let's Not

Great voice lesson this morning!

First, of course, she asked me WHY I was trying to sing Gretchen when we hadn't gone over the pronunciation and rhythm and all that. She basically gave me the same lecture/advice as SEY did in the comment here. Patience, patience, patience, layer by layer, one thing at a time and so on. Then we went over the first two pages of music, IPA, pronunciation (yeah of course I was pronouncing a few things WRONG!!) and rhythm, then I sang just those two pages and we worked on that a bit. Oh even before all that... well, AFTER the lecture but BEFORE the singing, we did some warm-ups to work through what she calls "the valley of the shadow of death," those low-ish notes where my voice (and other people's voices too, I imagine) tends to break and crack. Then we were doing things up and down with a glottal stop to prevent me from adding an H to the beginning of the vowels. At one point she stopped me and asked if I realized I was doing a bit of what she called a "washing machine twist." For certain parts of the scale, but not all, apparently I was doing this little sway back and forth as I sang. I'll have to look back at the videos to look for it. So I concentrated on standing still, keeping the breath low, using the low abs and all that, not adding that H to the beginning, up and down and up and down to iron out that break... THEN we worked on Gretchen. Ok that's not true either... she said something about the A vowel being difficult at certain notes, which reminded me that I wanted to ask her about one section of Batti Batti, the "sapro baciar" part, where I have so much trouble with "baciar." At least I thought I did. I think I do. She had me sing it and said it didn't SOUND like I had trouble with it. She said that the CH causes us to close down when we need to be open for the next vowel, the A. She suggested practicing those measures without the CH and then adding it back in. Same old story. So back to Gretchen because AFTER that, we did work on it. My homework for Gretchen is to keep the vowels going to the end of the words. Some of the notes are held for a bit, and I tend to let down as if I've run out of energy. Thinking about it now, I think it's because I'm unsure of the song, so hopefully I'll be able to practice now, along with the cassette recording I made of the lesson, and gain more confidence. My other homework is to read about Faust, to see where Gretchen's lament about losing her lover fits into the story. My teacher said she loves how I can carry the emotion in the music, and it'll be better if I really understand the character and the story beyond, "She's distraught because she lost her lover."

So that's my homework for the week. Oh and to focus on standing STILL. I guess it's back to the mirror for me.

Oh, and she read/watched (and commented on) this. She thought it was great. She knows Alex because she used to each in the Early Childhood department and was his teacher for two years. That's how I met her, and when she switched to teaching voice she recruited me as one of her students. Read about that here.

When I got home, Alex asked me for a blank tape to record some CDs, just because it's fun to play with the boom box, so I gave him an old voice lesson recording. Well, before recording his songs onto it, he listened to the whole thing. I was in the next room and it was strange (and almost creepy, for some reason?) to hear my voice doing scales and what-not from the next room.

I'm so happy to have my voice lessons resume!

Tipsy Post: Gretchen Take 1

Time to post a "before" of Gretchen am Spinnrade.

This was my first time really singing it through with the words... which I don't really know. Nor do I really know how to pronounce them. I did my best. I wanted to record it so I could examine and it see what I needed to work on. Like, open my mouth wider. I didn't realize until the end, when I relaxed, that concentrating on the words made my jaw and shoulders a little tense. I'm hoping that once I really have them memorized it'll make a difference.



Oh yeah the 1.5 gin and tonics I had before singing this didn't hurt. Not that I think they helped, but I think they lowered my affective filter to take away my potential embarrassment at mistakes and so on. Yeah I know it's a linguistic term but I'm a certified ESL teacher so there you go.

Oh yeah while I was tipsy in front of the camera I did this. Note the lack of dynamics, if that's what you call it... it's all one volume. I have the tipsiness to thank for that.

Plugging Along

So I've been plugging along this summer without voice lessons and I am really missing them. I'm teaching myself Batti Batti and Gretchen am Spinnrade, but who knows if I'm teaching myself correctly? I could be practicing mistakes.

One of the things I'm trying to do is crescendo into a note. I want to start out quiet and get louder and louder in a slow and steady pace. I'm also trying to do it in reverse - decrescendo. I'm still trying to figure out the breath control. Something in my brain is mixing me up and I end up changing the note along with the volume. As I get louder, I get higher. It seems like no matter how hard I concentrate I still change the notes. I'm sure my teacher would have some way of describing what to do/think about/behave in order to achieve the steady crescendo on one note.

So that's my latest vocal struggle/challenge/desire/whatever. Feel free to post comments with tips if you have any.

Hot Fun in the Summertime

Yes! I'm taking voice lessons over the summer!!! With my voice teacher! I'm so happy. I'm taking only 4 lessons, spread out in July and August. I had started making tentative plans on how to continue studying on my own - researching websites that have vocal exercises and techniques, compiling vocal exercises and warm ups, just to keep on building. I do that a little, but really rely on my teacher for the foundation.

So now we'll continue with Batti Batti, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! I'm in love with this music. And we'll also be able to get into Gretchen am Spinnrade, which while I'm not totally blown away by, I know I will be, because right now the haunting melody captivates me. It captivates me even more than before after seeing Lucretia and experiencing those haunting melodies.

I have something else in the works but I don't want to write about it until after it takes place, or perhaps when it's imminent. Until then...

p.s. And speaking of hot fun in the summertime, I haven't forgotten about this.

Follow the Bouncing Ball

Guess what? I thought that last week was my final voice lesson before the summer. I even handed in my key card. (which reminds me, they owe me $5!) But on Sunday my teacher said, "See you Thursday." I clarified with her, and yes, there IS one more lesson! Whoo hoo! So we'll probably go back to Gretchen am Spinnrade, which we never really started, and then... summer break. I signed up for summer lessons but so far I'm the only one. I think she needs a minimum number to get the room for the day? I don't know.

Ooh looking for that link was the first time I actually heard the song. So far I've listened only to the pronunciation and the accompaniment on the CD. It's haunting! I'll embed it:



I like these videos that show the music. It's like, a step above "follow the bouncing ball."

So anyway, if I have time on Thursday after my lesson I'll post about whatever it is we do. If I have time... as I have to pack my little overnight bag for my Upcoming Adventure, and who knows how long that will take. (ok probably about 20 minutes but this is opera so I get to be dramatic.)