SUPPORT
October
15th, 2007
SUPPORT
... It’s a word that virtually all teachers use ... but, in
my experience, only a very few have a even clue as to
exactly what it is ...
Did you
ever hear the big voiced guy at a Dodgers baseball game yell
out, “Hey Ump. Your mother wears combat boots.” That big ol’
noise he makes, sustained and on pitch ... is a
quintessential manifestation of support. The fella is
supporting a full voice and he does so ... because he simply
wantsto be heard ... wants everyone to hear him. “Sing out,
Louise!” from Gypsy. Sing to the “Exit” sign ... by using
the flexible belly button to produce breath pressure on
demand. There are other subtleties that help to put it all
together, but that’s essentially what I taught at USC. But,
it was my sophomore baritone and his big high G’s, using
that enigmatic thing I teach, that drove Cynthia Munser to
her feet, her arms shanking, asking, “Richard. How to you
get your students so ... so physically involved in their
singing?” that is what I bring to the table. That is support
... flexibly lifting the breath pressure on demand ... as
dictated by the phrase ... and filling your mirror with
sound.
In my
first installment, I gave far more than just a “tip” on
breathing. I gave almost all of what I teach about the
breathing, required to get the best of your talent, and I
hope it was enough to peak your interest. I wrote about how
nature provides you with the air you breathe and how you can
harness its full potential ... to use it when singing. If
you are considering a professional career, your second
priority (proper breathing is first) is how to start a
tone/sound that will continue throughout the length and
breadth of the phrase, meeting all its demands, i.e. high
notes, low notes, crescendos, diminuendos ... and everything
in between. One of the axioms I teach is “The Cardinal
Error: NEVER confuse volume with support ... they are not
the same!” You should always increase support–crisply–for
full high notes (forte or piano), using the flexible breath
pressure I described in the first installment, and then
continue lifting and growing–keeping the tone full–down the
backside of the phrase ... keeping the tone flowing. Then,
while feeding the BP to the tone, moving the focus of the
vowel tighter, brighter, farther forward, narrow ... when
doing a diminuendo. Most folk simply back-off some of the
breath pressure, to make a phrase softer ... and the tone
thins, becomes more breathy while the tongue begins to
wobble. That’s what happens when you pull off “support”...
rather than maintaining a smooth, vibrant, reduced, focused
flow of air ... as you keep sending the tone ... OVER THERE
... until you pop and rest, to stop the tone!
The voice is a wind instrument! It needs an energized
physical, flexible platform from which to launch the big
notes ... as well as the small ... That’s what all the
successful singers have ... most of them doing it naturally.
I teach "naturally." everything within natures design. I
teach what I do! Play the videos and listen to the audio's
... You will never hear me strain ... That's what makes
singing so much fun!
Thimpk
about it! ;-)
AUGUST 07
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INTRO &
BREATHING/SUPPORT
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