While working with my two Skype singers in
Oslo, Norway- Kristian and Allister-last
Thursday, the oft-stated
expression-above-popped into my head. This
is a very purposeful phrase by Larry the
Cable Guy, Daniel Lawrence Whitney-a very
funny fella-that suddenly was apropos the
need to impart my meaning of the word ...
NOW! I often write about the need to “git
her done” using my own vernacular, when
starting each and every new vocal phrase, by
“hitting/singing the center of the vowel,
lifting and growing with support through the
end of every phrase!”
Now,
Allister was so concerned with getting the
mechanics coordinated, i.e. popping-out and
resting with the Belly-Button-to get his
lungs instantaneously filled-then, a second
of rest “to purge the body of accumulated
tension, and then the “kicking” in of the BB
“to generate the impulse air that starts the
tone” ... all of which happens in the span
of about two seconds. (It sounds like a lot,
when ya say it out loud ... but when I
demonstrate it on Skype, while standing
sideways in front of the camera to
illustrate just how marvelously simple and
efficient it is, I demonstrate how powerful
is this mastery of ... just getting “the
first tone of the first phrase” off to a
flying start ... followed by every
subsequent first note of every phrase ...
for the rest of a given performance! (Please
visit Tip archives, “The Five C’s” April,
2010 (scroll down on the right side) for
another perspective!)
While working with Allister, now a full
lyric-tenor and Kristian, now a full
lyric-baritone, I was able to “speed up the
process of his “crisply” singing the first
tone and moving through the rest of the
phrase- lifting and growing on every high
note to re-key the support-in just a
relatively short time. “Git her done!” I
feel that further analysis of this is
warranted, just a little bit more clarity
...
When I sing a phrase or exercise for a
singer, I always sing it well to set the
standard and in a tempo I choose.
The singer then stands in front of the
mirror to work, as I have asked her/him to
do and ... the moment he/she starts singing,
their eyes wander off, up, down, glaze-over
... as they go inside their heads ... and
listen to what they believe they are doing
... and always at a decidedly slower tempo
than the one I demonstrated!!! It’s what
they ALWAYS do!!!
It takes several tries but eventually, they
are able to watch themselves and do what I
ask of them ... and it is “AMAZING” what
they see ... once they actually look, i.e.
what is the shape of their mouths, is the
top lip down and covering the top teeth-this
helps open the nasal pharynx-did they get
tall to hook up the support to the tone, was
their forehead all wrinkled in
concentration, did they actually “pop and
rest” etc.
There are several parts to the “pop and
rest”-which immediately stops the air to the
last tone of the previous phrase, by simply
reversing the air, rather than stopping the
air/tone, by approximating the throat and
then having to open it to breathe, all of
this done in the blink-of-a-slow-eye (about
two seconds), fills your lungs and purges
the body of accumulated tension ... or did I
already say that ... and have said it again
for emPHAsis!!!
But ... and here’s the tough part, when
learning anything that takes coordination
from learning to drive with a stick shift
and a clutch, to putting a top spin backhand
into the “let”court for a winner in tennis
... it takes TIME and PRACTICE to coordinate
the process, to do it with seemingly little
thought or effort! And that, my friends, is
why singers INITIALLY are slow/sluggish to
start, have trouble singing the first notes
of phrases ... with authority!!! TIME and
PRACTICE, will smooth it out ...
And, ya just gots to remember, “THE VOICE IS
A WIND MACHINE™”-not just this wonderful
gift from God with which you have been able
to make some very pleasant sounds-and it
takes coordination of a strong technique and
“flexible breathe-pressure on demand.™” ...
to do it before an admiring audience, as a
professional.
If you live in Budapest, Balboa or Boston
... take a Skype lesson-that is an hour and
a half to two-and most often, I’ll double
the size of your voice, with half the
effort, take the tension outta your jaw and
throat and ... have you singing high notes
you didn’t know were there ... if you
already have them ... I’ll show you how to
make them easier and with a better quality!
