The Singers Thread

[Tessar]

Hmmm, tough one!! Think of Me is a tried and true one that the audience will probably love, and almost certainly recognize.

Personally I think Da Tempeste is only going to work if you can take it at a truly break-neck speed a la Sandrine Piau or Beverly Sills (example of Miss Paiu's usual tempo). Otherwise it's sort of an underwhelming aria in my opinion for someone who is not used to baroque music.

Frankly if you're going to do something classical, it probably does need to be at an extremely fast tempo (although I wouldn't say the piece itself has to be short) and have just a ton of melismas, high notes, and generally be a exciting piece.

Maybe see if you can do two pieces? It might be really fun to do a contrast.... something very short and eery like Dido's Lament (which is a huge crowd pleaser), and then follow it with something like the Da Tempeste, Let the Bright Seraphim, a Queen of the Night aria, Mozart Allelujah, Chacun le sait if you want to ham it up a bit, Je suis Titania, Tornami a vagheggiar, or something like A se in Ciel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RMoFZviRTI).

[Voronwen]

Originally Posted by Tessar

Hmmm, tough one!! Think of Me is a tried and true one that the audience will probably love, and almost certainly recognize.

The only problem with stuff like this, though, is that the majority of the piece is in the 'dead zone' of my middle voice - it's not truly for high soprano, except for the part at the end!

For musical theater i also considered "Green Finch and Linnet Bird" from Sweeney Todd, which sits in a higher tessitura. No place in it for interpolating stratospheric notes, though, and that's something that i wanted to use. Nothing else in musical theater sits quite that high, i don't think....

Personally I think Da Tempeste is only going to work if you can take it at a truly break-neck speed

I can. But as you were saying, it's really a niche piece for a baroque-appreciative audience...

Frankly if you're going to do something classical, it probably does need to be at an extremely fast tempo (although I wouldn't say the piece itself has to be short) and have just a ton of melismas, high notes, and generally be a exciting piece.

That's exactly what i was thinking!

Maybe see if you can do two pieces? It might be really fun to do a contrast.... something very short and eery like Dido's Lament (which is a huge crowd pleaser), and then follow it with something like the Da Tempeste, Let the Bright Seraphim, a Queen of the Night aria, Mozart Allelujah, Chacun le sait if you want to ham it up a bit, Je suis Titania, Tornami a vagheggiar, or something like A se in Ciel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RMoFZviRTI).

ALL of the above suggestions (with the exception of Chacun le sait) are in my repertoire! I was singing through some of these just this morning. Ah, se in ciel only goes up to a D, but with Tornami a vagheggiar i can interpolate an E flat (or two, or three ). Je suis Titania is oodles of FUN. Queen of the Night is impressive but just 'overplayed', in my opinion.... Hmmmmm....

As for "short and eery", while i LOVE singing Dido's Lament, it has no high notes... If i were going to go with a Purcell piece, i'd go instead with O let me weep. Or i could just go with Ach, ich fuhl's. I don't know if they'll let me do two pieces, though. I think it's just one, and there may be a time limit (i have to check on this when i talk to the coordinator on Sunday) which is a huge problem with all the fast coloratura showpieces - they're all about ten minutes long!


ETA, Oh, how could i forget.... the DOLL! Maybe that would be awkward though, in performance, without an Inventor to wind me up when i get stuck? LOL!

[EllethValatari]

Style: At a private school where everyone is required to sing at the assemblies twice a day.

Talent Level: I stink....

The end.

(Just felt like saying that )

[Voronwen]

Originally Posted by EllethValatari

At a private school where everyone is required to sing at the assemblies twice a day.

Welcome to the Singers' Thread, EllethValatari!

What kind of music are you studying? Are you a vocal performance major? What is your voice part, and what songs/arias/roles/etc (if classical) have you sung?

Tell us more about yourself! It's good to see more singers here!


PS (for Tessar) ~ I've narrowed my choices down to the following possibilities (and hopefully i will be able to do two, for that contrast): Ach ich fuhl's, Je suis Titania, Green Finch and Linnet Bird, the Doll Aria, and Tornami a vagheggiar.

I'll keep you posted!

[EllethValatari]

Originally Posted by Voronwen

Welcome to the Singers' Thread, EllethValatari!

What kind of music are you studying? Are you a vocal performance major? What is your voice part, and what songs/arias/roles/etc (if classical) have you sung?

Tell us more about yourself! It's good to see more singers here!


PS (for Tessar) ~ I've narrowed my choices down to the following possibilities (and hopefully i will be able to do two, for that contrast): Ach ich fuhl's, Je suis Titania, Green Finch and Linnet Bird, the Doll Aria, and Tornami a vagheggiar.

I'll keep you posted!

Being a Christian school, we only sing Christian music; so things like Pie Iesu and Panis Angelicus are performed daily, along with a selection of hymns and chants from the Book of Common Prayer. i am an alto, and I am not a good singer in any way.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Ah, an Episcopalian school?

[Tessar]

Originally Posted by Voronwen

PS (for Tessar) ~ I've narrowed my choices down to the following possibilities (and hopefully i will be able to do two, for that contrast): Ach ich fuhl's, Je suis Titania, Green Finch and Linnet Bird, the Doll Aria, and Tornami a vagheggiar.

I'll keep you posted!

Oooh, good times! You know, honestly I'm not crazy about Green Finch and Linnet Bird, but it's pretty . The Doll Aria would absolutely be fun .


I went in to see the doctor again, and he took a look at the back of my throat and said that it looked like I have been straining or screaming, because it's really red. That's what the doctor had told me two weeks ago. It's definitely nothing to do with my singing, because I've barely sung for a month now, and I haven't really sung at all for 48 hours now.

So now I'm on the most powerful antibiotic they have, an anti-nausia thing (because the antibiotic may make me throw up -_- *sigh*), and Singuler, which is a super powerful antihistamine/decongestant thing supposedly. I was supposed to get another inhaler, but my insurance wouldn't cover it so... oh well.

With any luck this will kick whatever my problem is in the butt and I'll be back to singing in no time!

[Tessar]

My voice is much better now! Hooray!! Not 100%, but better! I don't know if it's the antibiotics or the Singulare, but I don't care either way. I'm so glad my voice is coming back!

I think tonight I discovered something, and figured out how to make something work that I've been wanting to do for a while!

I think I've been jutting my jaw forwards when I sing.

I've read that when your jaw moves forwards too much, your vocal cords are unable to approximate correctly, which would explain why I occasionally struggle with those vocal leaps... if the cords are having to make a big movement to make a large 'range' leap and my jaw is moving forward, it's probably tugging the cords in a weird way.

Tonight during choir rehearsal I worked really hard on making my jaw curve 'back' just a tiny bit on every consonant, and it -worked-!!! I had tried that in the past and it never did, but I think I finally got it! It made singing easier overall, and I felt like 'floating' my voice in the middle and upper register was really easy. I'll have to check with my teacher to see if I'm doing it right, but I think I just might have this one in the bag.

One thing I didn't expect at all is that when I keep my jaw in the correct position (and it's definitely a struggle... my jaw keeps wanting to move forwards, so I have to focus on keeping it totally relaxed) my low notes popped out REALLY well. O_o It totally threw me... My low has been fading out every once in a while for about a year now, and even with my jaw in the correct position I still don't have a solid Low C, but now I can hit the low E solidly, and the low D (D2, almost two octaves below middle C) fairly solidly and it's not a strain on my throat like it has been.


OH!!!!! Do you know what I just thought of as I was about to submit this post? I wonder if that's why I can't keep my soft palate raised! I wonder if I've been jutting my jaw forwards enough that it pulls my soft palate down. I'll have to experiment with that tomorrow... hopefully this will end up being a major breakthrough for me . But either way I'm just so grateful to have made a little progress coming straight off of not being able to practice for a month .

Fingers crossed that this turns out to be something really great . I mean it's already pretty great, but hopefully it'll be another major breakthrough to opening up my high voice.

[Tessar]

Oooh frustration. I'm trying to keep my stomach relaxed when I breath, but my abdominal muscles and back still want to tense up when I'm singing and when I attempt to make a jump to a higher note. Then they don't relax at all after that, so if I'm not careful I tend up with my whole torso very tight while I sing.

We'll see... I also need to balance the release of tension against a need to support. If I totally relax, I can sing with a nice, full tone, but I can't access my higher notes... but that could actually be for a couple of reasons... when I try to go for the high notes my stomach tenses up again, so either it's the tension cutting me off, or a need for more support. But support without tension.

For now I've decided to focus on total relaxation in singing... I mean worst case scenario: I need to perform something, I can just do it the way I usually do. Best case scenario, I learn to support without excess tension .

Workin' away on it. I'm going to start an actual practice schedule tomorrow... haven't been able to practice for over a month now, but I think my voice is back to the point that I can start working again.

[Voronwen]

Tessar, I hope you're feeling better! All that medication can certainly make you sick (ironic, isn't that?!). It's been interesting to read about your journey through the technical breakthroughs. I wish i had more time to be here, soon i should be able to visit again more often once some things IRL settle down.

Music ministry has been going just great. They've even found a way to work my high E's into one of the more exotic songs. I'm having fun.

For the talent show, i have finally decided on the Queen of the Night after all. It's really the most thrilling 2-3 minutes in my bag of tricks, and the occasion calls for it. Now i just need to find a good deal on a sparkly royal blue gown...


ETA: In other news, my own recital is still on hold for now, as my pianist has dropped out It hasn't been easy to find someone who can accompany the kinds of things i sing.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Originally Posted by Voronwen

Now i just need to find a good deal on a sparkly royal blue gown...

You should just see if you can get Natalie Dessay's castoffs.

[Voronwen]

Originally Posted by Gwaimir Windgem

You should just see if you can get Natalie Dessay's castoffs.

Oh, i like this one much better! And, it's the right aria....

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Oh no, the first one is so much trippier.

Or, you could all goth, with the Damrau look.

[Varnafindë]

Originally Posted by Voronwen

Oh, i like this one much better! And, it's the right aria....

I like the singer, the dress, and the aria!
You're going to impress them, I think!

[Tessar]

I had an awesome lesson today. I told my teacher that ever since recovering from being sick, I felt like my voice just wasn't where it had been. The ease of production was gone, my range was still decreased, and I felt like my voice lacked "point/edge" to the sound and wasn't placed right.

So we tried a few things, and then we realized that there is actually an even HIGHER placement for my voice. O_o We started by doing a 'nyeh, nyeh, nyeh,' exercise while really getting my soft palate high, and we just really 'squealed' the voice as high in my head/mask as we could get it, and then I would sustain that sound and slowly open/slide it into a full voice singing sound... it totally shocked my teacher and I the first time we tried it. My voice went from being dull and a bit throaty to actually having more ping and strength than it did before I was sick! All in about two seconds .

We went back to A Chloris from last semester, because it's such a beautiful song, and we started doing the same thing with it... I would start the sound right up in my nose, and let it slide open, then sing the phrase till it fell back and then repeat the process.

It was pretty amazing... I don't think I've -ever- sung with such ease, and you could've knocked my teacher over with a feather. She told me that she was suddenly hearing upper and lower partials in my voice that she'd never heard from me before. I think one of the most exciting things, for me, is that I was suddenly able to sing a really pingy pianissimo like I wanted to without losing my placement or breath energy.

I'm so excited... my teacher almost started crying because I sang with total freedom through a phrase in A Chloris that I had never done 'perfectly' before and she was so happy for me. Hooray!

So I'm going to be doing the nasal/nasty phrasing all week and we'll see how much more I can open my voice up.

[Voronwen]

Originally Posted by Tessar

So we tried a few things, and then we realized that there is actually an even HIGHER placement for my voice.

I'm so excited... my teacher almost started crying because I sang with total freedom through a phrase in A Chloris that I had never done 'perfectly' before

Ahh! Yes, yes, i am *very* familiar with this scenario. It's the exact breakthrough that brough me from being a somewhat-limited-and-frustrated light lyric soprano to a fully-liberated coloratura.

GO TESSAR!!!!


Hmm.... Maybe you're a tenor in the works, no?

[Tessar]

Originally Posted by Voronwen

Ahh! Yes, yes, i am *very* familiar with this scenario. It's the exact breakthrough that brough me from being a somewhat-limited-and-frustrated light lyric soprano to a fully-liberated coloratura.

GO TESSAR!!!!


Hmm.... Maybe you're a tenor in the works, no?

Hmmm, I seriously doubt that I'm a tenor. Don't get me wrong, I'd kill to be a tenor . But my breaks are in the place where a baritone would have them, and I have too much low range to really be a tenor.

Who knows, I could be totally wrong. But it seems that with where my technique is, if I were really a tenor I would be at least vocalizing a High C by now, and be singing -some- things in the tenor rep... but who knows.

[Voronwen]

Originally Posted by Tessar

But my breaks are in the place where a baritone would have them, and I have too much low range to really be a tenor.

Yeah, that is significant.... but, even that can change.....

Who knows, I could be totally wrong. But it seems that with where my technique is, if I were really a tenor I would be at least vocalizing a High C by now, and be singing -some- things in the tenor rep... but who knows.

I've just heard of some men who sang baritone at the beginning of their careers, and then switched later to the heavier tenor categories. It's not outside the realm of possibility.

[Tessar]

Originally Posted by Voronwen

Yeah, that is significant.... but, even that can change.....


I've just heard of some men who sang baritone at the beginning of their careers, and then switched later to the heavier tenor categories. It's not outside the realm of possibility.

As always, you are quite correct. There is definitely still a possibility for my voice to change in either direction... Either to keep brightening up and turn into a tenor, or to settle lower into a bass-baritone, or even bass. Most likely I'll remain a lyric baritone, brighten up into a lyric tenor, or settle down to a lyric/buffo bass.

I remember the guy who taught me over the summer was a tenor till he was 35, and then his voice very suddenly dropped into the baritone range. He actually had a full-fledged career as a tenor, then a career as a baritone. Supposedly he and his teacher always knew his voice would eventually drop to baritone, but he was apparently a tenor with a full voice High D for the majority of his 'professional' career.

Jeeze I would kill to be a tenor. Preferably a lyric, actually. I would just die to be able to sing things like Che Gelida Manina from La Boheme... or maybe even a lighter voice (like Juan Diego Florez), to sing some of the Rossini/Verdi roles that require a bright, agile tenor voice.

I always go through phases of being resigned to being a baritone, and saying that I'd rather be baritone rather than tenor, but the truth under it all is that I really wish I were a tenor.

[Tessar]

Hmmm, I did a tiny bit of singing this morning, toying with a concept from my Tai Chi class last night... the teacher was showing us how to tilt our pelvis, and push 'down' instead of 'forwards' with our feet when shifting our weight so that the muscles in the legs took all of the weight instead of placing any on your back or hips.

So I thought... what if as I sing, I imagine that my feet are pushing down into the ground instead of trying to imagine that my breath is doing the work. It seemed to work! It took off some of the tension that tends to build up in my stomach. I'll have to actually 'practice' it this afternoon.

It made a difference though, and now I'm able to get to that 'grounded' feeling much more quickly than I used to be able to. You know... that sense of being 'hooked' into the floor, which lets you sing much more easily.

I also discovered, doing this, that the minute I start to run out of air or struggle for a higher note, I completely compromise my center of balance... which I had never noticed before. I go up on the ball of my foot ever so slightly, but it's enough to destroy that 'grounding'.

This may end up being very, very useful .


EDITED: I think we have a winner. It worked super awesome... It made me realize just how much I tend to stand in a way that puts me out of alignment and off balance when I sing. Then it made me realize that I do take a really good breath when I begin to sing, and then after that each breath gets a little 'higher' in my body... and keeping in consideration that even my higher breaths now are lower than they used to be. It's amazing that I ever managed to sing at all. O_o This is definitely going to take some adjusting to, but I'm loving it.

Unfortunately at the moment, due to allergies, my throat isn't in great shape. Ugh... this summer has just been atrocious for my singing voice between getting so sick, and now all of these allergies. As far as the pollen counts go, we're having the 'worst' summer in recorded history. Everyone's allergies are going totally nuts. My voice sounds reedy and thin at the moment, but I know that's just allergies. It's frustrating though.