Vocal Pedagogy Blog

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...