I have a new voice teacher, and he's awesome!
I thought I was going to have to give up voice lessons indefinitely, since we can no longer afford the school at which I'd been taking them. But one day in December, while I was at the Paulist Center, I overheard a voice lesson going on in the hall below the chapel. I found out that Brandon, the cantor at the Saturday evening Mass, gives lessons, and we were able to negotiate an arrangement that would work for me. Today was our first time working together, and I'm quite squeeful.
I told him three of my current concerns. a. I'd like to figure out, finally, what the high end of my range is. b. My throat often closes up. c. Relatedly, I'd like to be able to sing longer phrases without needing to take a breath.
Today I didn't sing any music. We did a lot of exercises, and he explained stuff to me. He started out by teaching me something no one else had told me before: that I should aim to take a breath and release it quickly, rather than trying to hold it. I found this very counterintuitive, but it seemed to work! He would tell me to hum a note and then switch the hum to a vowel. When I did this, I was to take a breath and then release it rather than trying to hold it. And lo and behold, I was able to hold those notes for some time.
We also worked on the throat closure issue. While I was holding notes, he could tell when my throat started to close. So he told me to concentrate on continuing to stretch it. After a while I was able to feel when it started to close and consciously reopen it.
It's interesting how individual teachers will use different metaphors, stress different techniques, and so forth, and how you can learn so much by occasionally having a new teacher. Right now I'm ecstatic to be working with Brandon. Our next lesson is in two weeks -- wish I could afford every week!
And by the way, one of my former voice teachers, Elena Zoubareva, has been cast in a Brad Pitt movie. I forgot the name of the film, but it concerns zombies, and she plays a Russian opera singer, which she is. I was very sorry to lose her as an instructor when she stopped working at Page Music, the place where I had lessons. Well, now maybe she'll get rich and famous and I'll have bragging rights as one of her former students.
I told him three of my current concerns. a. I'd like to figure out, finally, what the high end of my range is. b. My throat often closes up. c. Relatedly, I'd like to be able to sing longer phrases without needing to take a breath.
Today I didn't sing any music. We did a lot of exercises, and he explained stuff to me. He started out by teaching me something no one else had told me before: that I should aim to take a breath and release it quickly, rather than trying to hold it. I found this very counterintuitive, but it seemed to work! He would tell me to hum a note and then switch the hum to a vowel. When I did this, I was to take a breath and then release it rather than trying to hold it. And lo and behold, I was able to hold those notes for some time.
We also worked on the throat closure issue. While I was holding notes, he could tell when my throat started to close. So he told me to concentrate on continuing to stretch it. After a while I was able to feel when it started to close and consciously reopen it.
It's interesting how individual teachers will use different metaphors, stress different techniques, and so forth, and how you can learn so much by occasionally having a new teacher. Right now I'm ecstatic to be working with Brandon. Our next lesson is in two weeks -- wish I could afford every week!
And by the way, one of my former voice teachers, Elena Zoubareva, has been cast in a Brad Pitt movie. I forgot the name of the film, but it concerns zombies, and she plays a Russian opera singer, which she is. I was very sorry to lose her as an instructor when she stopped working at Page Music, the place where I had lessons. Well, now maybe she'll get rich and famous and I'll have bragging rights as one of her former students.