Vocal Practice
Dec. 26th, 2012 11:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
catsittingstill I'm visiting my in-laws and did not take the risk of flying with my mandolin, and thus have been intrument-less for about a week now. And I was concerned about the consequences of skipping practice for a week. How far would it set me back? How long would it take me to recover?
But it occurred to me that my voice is always with me, so I could practice singing to the metronome, which I thought needed work. So I decided to try to make constructive use of the time by practicing singing to the metronome every day. (I did wind up skipping the travel day, and the day after, but aside from that I have managed.)
When I started I realized that I had not been keeping my singing muscles in shape. Yes, some of my practice at home had involved singing but playing had been the lion's share of it, and that was obvious when practice was all-singing all the time. I also realized that my vocal quality had fallen off a lot since I was singing in college. So I began vocal practice with five minutes of my old college vocal group warm-ups, and then did my usual practice technique of "pick a piece, set a timer, practice for five minutes, move on, repeat X times (where X is now up to 6.)
Today I decided to get a bit more serious about vocal quality, as singing to the metronome was becoming easier. When I hit a note and I thought the quality was unpleasant I would try to approach that note differently, and see if I could find some run-up that gave it a nicer sound, and then try to import that sound to the actual line. And I discovered something odd.
High notes are hard for me to sing the vowel "ee" on. I can sing any other vowel and get a nice vocal quality (well, on some) but as soon as I close to an "ee" it gets raspy and feels strained. I thought it was the pitch of the note that was causing me problems, but it's the combination. I think I need to work on this. I think I need to continue to work on this even after I go home. Drat it. But better to know, right?
But it occurred to me that my voice is always with me, so I could practice singing to the metronome, which I thought needed work. So I decided to try to make constructive use of the time by practicing singing to the metronome every day. (I did wind up skipping the travel day, and the day after, but aside from that I have managed.)
When I started I realized that I had not been keeping my singing muscles in shape. Yes, some of my practice at home had involved singing but playing had been the lion's share of it, and that was obvious when practice was all-singing all the time. I also realized that my vocal quality had fallen off a lot since I was singing in college. So I began vocal practice with five minutes of my old college vocal group warm-ups, and then did my usual practice technique of "pick a piece, set a timer, practice for five minutes, move on, repeat X times (where X is now up to 6.)
Today I decided to get a bit more serious about vocal quality, as singing to the metronome was becoming easier. When I hit a note and I thought the quality was unpleasant I would try to approach that note differently, and see if I could find some run-up that gave it a nicer sound, and then try to import that sound to the actual line. And I discovered something odd.
High notes are hard for me to sing the vowel "ee" on. I can sing any other vowel and get a nice vocal quality (well, on some) but as soon as I close to an "ee" it gets raspy and feels strained. I thought it was the pitch of the note that was causing me problems, but it's the combination. I think I need to work on this. I think I need to continue to work on this even after I go home. Drat it. But better to know, right?
no subject
Date: 2012-12-26 06:45 pm (UTC)I could see for particularly problematic passages, compromising a bit and sliding the sound towards "ih" instead of "ee" to open things up a bit.
no subject
Date: 2012-12-27 12:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-27 12:11 pm (UTC)And knowing you, I'm certain you'll figure it out.
"ee" is how I taught the children to brush the outsides of their teeth, because one instinctively pulls the lips and cheeks away from the teeth. Maybe it also triggers throat-closing?
no subject
Date: 2012-12-27 12:34 pm (UTC)But knowing something is there to work around is better than not knowing--at least I have the option of working on it.