JULY  2011

PERSEVERANCE (The other side of the coin!)

This Tip is mainly geared for opera singers, but the rules are the same for all singers!

I received a call from a fella who had been recommended to me by Kristof van Grysperre, a fine conductor/pianist/coach whom I had met at USC. Steve Moritsugu arrived about three and a half years ago, music in hand, having trouble with a solid E and above. He was in his very early ‘50’s and professed that he just “wanted to be good enough to sing in a church choir.” Initially, he manifested little natural ability, but had a frank and friendly demeanor … so we began a vocal voyage together. (I have learned, lo these many years, to reserve judgment until I have ‘installed’ my Breathing/Support concept in a singer—for flexible breath-pressure on demand—and explained mechanically, exactly how the voice works when the basic five elements are in balance.)

I then connected his support to the voice (just like a “wind instrument,” which it is), explained the use of the tongue and how it makes the vowels—all of which proved to be harder than I had hoped--but, by the end of the session … we had doubled the size of the voice and ‘scraped’ a few high G’s. Steve came in virtually every week!

The first couple of months were mainly spent in getting his support and body into the mix, while getting his voice out of his throat and adding some repertoire. Then. just when I would be thinking it was all he could give me … he would add another level! Before we knew it … he had been accepted in a church choir as a baritone.

No one worked harder than Steve because … he really wanted/needed to sing! In time, as he began to spin the pitches farther ‘upandforward’ (one word), in the “honk’ I was able to finally get the “throat” outta his sound. (Parenthetically, when there is not enough breath pressure to keep the tone spinning on the arch of the tongue, upandforward … the throat approximates to make the throat smaller to better utilize the under-supported air, thus imposing an unwanted, unattractive “side-sound!”)

Time as it is wont to do, moved on as he became a paid section leader in church—with the occasional solo--and Steve inexorably got better and better as he became … an operatic tenor, with real ping and ring in the tone! (It is a big, big job to sing an operatic aria and it needs the flexible foundation of a strong, well-coordinated body … to make the singing easier …)

In the last year, Steve has been working with several small Southern California opera companies, singing comprimario roles in The Mikado, Carmen, Tybalt in Romeo et Juliette, etc. … with particular distinction as Monostatos, in Magic Flute, with the Repertory Opera Company, in Pomona, Ca.

As a “trial balloon,” he was offered the cover for Rodolfo, in La Bohème … He asked me if he should take it and I told him what I tell everyone faced with that choice; “You will never become a “compleat” singer until you have learned, sung and met all vocal and histrionic  demands of a leading role in opera.” 

I taught it to him phrase by phrase, having directed it three times and sung over a hundred performances. He put it note by note into his computer so he could play back and sing it as many times a he needed to memorize it. His real test was standing at the piano … and getting through the whole role in an hour. It took him awhile … but he did it.

I neglected to mention … Steve was given the first dress rehearsal and it was the best he had ever sung. He took the aria down a half tone … and you wouldn’t have known the difference.

It was his first leading role … As a result … he has been asked to sing Manrico in Il Trovatore, with the company this Fall.

In my June Tip, I wrote about Larry Farrar, who had/has everything one could wish and--in my opinion--would have “trod the boards” of every major opera house in the world. Steve’s gift was less imposing but … you should hear his sound now!

And one last thing you should know: he has a major hearing difficulty in that he can’t discern the subtleties and nuances of whether he is “in the honk” or out—the honk rings and is on pitch, while falling out is usually caused by the palate dropping along with a flat tongue and is quite often under-pitch! The phrases, right or wrong, sound the same to him when he listens while he’s singing or on the tape recorder! He can hear it when I do it … but can’t hear it in himself! But … with the years we have put in, he must have found it through repetition—or possibly osmosis—and now that he has found it, he locks the voice place in studio and in performance! Now that is what I call perseverance—or stick-to-itiveness, if you’d rather!



JUNE 11
- PERSEVERANCE

MAY 11 - ENERGY!

APRIL 11 - EXTERNALIZING SUPPORT

MARCH 11 - THE IMPORTANCE OF DICTION

FEBRUARY 11 - RESPONSE TO LAST MONTHS TIP

JANUARY 11 - LET'S TRY THIS

DECEMBER 10 - THE FUNCTION OF THE MOUTH... IN SINGING

NOVEMBER 10 - BOY SOPRANO TO YOUNG MAN’S VOICE

OCTOBER 10
- TOOLS OF THE TRADE (i.e. LEARNING REPERTOIRE)

SEPTEMBER 10 - TOOLS OF THE TRADE

AUGUST 10 - JOIN A CHORUS (Addendum)

JULY 10 - JOIN A CHORUS

JUNE 10 - HI THERE SINGERS!
 

MAY 10 - SINGING IS WORK

APRIL 10 - THE FIVE “C’s!”

MARCH 10 - LEARNING REPERTOIRE

FEBRUARY 10 - THE TIGHT JAW

JANUARY 10 - BALANCING THE VOICE

DECEMBER 09 - LOVE CAN REIGN - LINK

NOVEMBER 09 - ABSENCE OF EXCESSIVE TENSION

OCTOBER 09 - YOUR OTHER BEST FRIEND - YOUR MIRROR

SEPTEMBER 09 - EVERYONE CAN SING!

AUGUST 09 - LATENT HERNIAS AND OTHER SUPPORT PROBLEMS

JULY 09 - PRINCE IMRAN RAZA STATESMAN/ROCK STAR

JUNE 09 - ANOTHER NATURAL SINGER - DAVID BURKE

MAY 09 -DISCOVERY OF VOIC
E

APRIL 09 - I'M SICK, BUT I HAVE TO PERFORM TONIGHT  Part 2

MARCH 09 - I'M SICK, BUT I HAVE TO PERFORM TONIGHT

FEBRUARY 09 - SINGING IN ENGLISH

JANUARY 09 - GETTING AN AGENT AND/OR MANAGER (Part 4)

DECEMBER 08 - GETTING AN AGENT AND/OR MANAGER (Part 3)

NOVEMBER 08 -
GETTING AN AGENT AND/OR MANAGER (Part 2)

OCTOBER 08 - GETTING AN AGENT AND/OR MANAGER (Part 1)

SEPTEMBER 08 - HEAVY BREATHING ADVISED FOR JOCKS

AUGUST 08 -  THE VAGARIES OF AUDITIONS AND AUDITIONING (Part 3)

JULY 08 -
THE VAGARIES OF AUDITIONS AND AUDITIONING (Part 2)

JUNE 08 -
THE VAGARIES OF AUDITIONS AND AUDITIONING (Part 1)

MAY 08 - ABSENCE OF TENSION

APRIL 08 -
THE FLAT TONGUE TECHNIQUE AND HOW DO YOU MAKE A VOWEL

MARCH 08  - THE VOICE COACHING THAT  MADE MY CAREER

FEBRUARY 08 - WHAT ARE YOU SINGING?

JANUARY 08 -
VIBRATO/WOBBLE

DECEMBER 07 - BREATHING REVISITED

NOVEMBER  07 - HOW TO KILL A COLD IN FIVE DAYS

OCTOBER 07 - A BIT MORE SUPPORT

SEPTEMBER 07 - MORE SUPPORT

AUGUST 07 - INTRO & BREATHING/SUPPORT