Vocal Pedagogy Blog

  Summary Welcome Back to the blog! I decided to make two posts out of belt and wait for the registers and formants edition until we finish our discussions and videos next week. Instead I'm going to begin summarizing my experiences with Vocal Pedagogy this semester and how I have been applying it to my own learning. First off, I have become such a huge nerd for vocal pedagogy. I have always been fascinated by the mechanics of sound, the uniqueness and variety possible in the human voice, and the causes of injury and misuse especially in young singers. Because singing is so personal, it is often difficult to reflect on one's own practices and venture away from what is perceived as "our sound." Now, I understand that there are SO MANY anatomical factors at play with every breath we take, every sound we make (I'll be watching you). Here's a summarized list of those body parts I have become more aware of: -laryngeal position -tongue (tip, mid, root) -velum/soft pa...

Summary This week we continued our discussion on belt and moved into registers, formants, and fachs. I would like to save the latter three concepts for my next blog and instead share some experiences with belt. ~story time~      When I was discovering musical theatre as a genre, I was instantly obsessed. I was also at an impressionable vocal age as I was transitioning through middle school and on to high school. It was a time where I generally felt pretty proud of my voice: I won a 13-19 year-old singing competition at age 13, I was cast as the musical lead in eighth grade, and freshman year I was even given a significant role in the musical over some seniors. However, I never really liked to broadcast that I liked my voice , because I thought that made me conceited. I know listing all of those accolades here sounds the opposite of humble, but as a twenty-year-old college music student now, I feel pretty removed from those years and achievements. Nevertheless, there was a...

  Summary The tongue root can be acted upon to alter sound as it pushes against the epiglottis and creates a "throaty" quality. Its position can be partial or full back, and is most recognizable in pop singers Cher, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, and Kermit The Frog:) Belting is a high intensity technique combining thick fold and twang, most commonly associated with musical theatre and pop styles.  Tongue Root- This concept is still a little weird to me when it comes to hearing different positions of tongue root. In short, the resonating space is made very small when the epiglottis is forced way back by the root of the tongue and the result is a very throaty, covered sound. Partial back is not as dark as full back, and neither is a full-time position for singing. Even when we hear this sound in Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie," it is not her default position and she also has more "traditional" or "regular" sounding portions.  *What is hard for me...

 Summary There are a lot of misconceptions about body mapping and function of the tongue and mid pharynx when it comes to singing. This week, we de-bunked the fear of twang and engagement of the tongue! Instead of regurgitating that information, I'm going to focus on some personal findings this week. Things I thought made my singing unhealthy: -narrowing the pharynx  -raising the tongue  -having too much brightness/brass in the sound -nasality Things that do not make my singing unhealthy: -all of the above:) I have always been a singer of all genres and styles. However, when I was younger (late middle school or early high school age) society made me believe that I was not a serious singer if I worked on CCM music, and I was less talented if I transitioned from being a soprano to a mezzo-soprano. Seriously. I believed when I was fifteen that I was worse than I was in middle school because I was labeled "mezzo." I have been so glad to see this stigma falling away, especiall...

  This week's anatomical concepts are a lot to wrap the mind around. We covered the soft palate ( velum ) and the concept of laryngeal and thyroid tilt. Let's just get some basic conceptual reminders: Velum -located at the back of the mouth and into the throat, you can palpate it with your tongue where the roof of the mouth transitions from hard and gum-like (the hard palate) to spongey and soft. It also includes the uvula.  -The position of the velum determines whether sound is coming through the mouth, nasal passages, or both ---Four positions: ------Low: soft palate down, feel by humming or phonating on "ng" ------Mid: air is coming through nose and mouth, true nasal sound comes from this position ------High: "raised" soft palate, can be typical for speech, nasal port is closed ------Super High: even higher velum that engages more space for the sound and higher harmonics come through The soft palate is a very common topic of discussion in choral singing. ...

  Summary - Directly above the true vocal folds live the false vocal folds or ventricle folds. These do not always come together for sound production, but can play an important role in stylistic techniques (aside from their natural anatomical functions)! The larynx can also exist in high, low, or neutral/mid positions that each alter the tone color of the voice. *see my previous blog post for a fun video of masterclass last semester. I sang a French art song immediately followed by a rock musical piece and we discussed the physical changes necessary for these huge stylistic shifts. Towards the end of the video I also noticed false fold engagement that I was not aware of at the time! I heard the sounds I produced but could not put an anatomical explanation behind it, and now it is exciting to look back and understand. That is my main contribution for this week, but I will continue to throw in some information below!* False Vocal Folds ---can be narrowed or released, creating a more ...