Lesson 7: Level 2 Phonation

In today's lesson, Marcus learned more about producing a good tone. When he came in for his lesson, I noticed that he was trying to speak in a lower-pitched voice than was natural for him. This is the case for many children who are caught up in trying to be macho or sultry. I could tell that his voice was contrived because it lacked the natural resonance of a good speaking voice. This resonance can also be described as "voice placement in the mask," or the area from around the lips to up around the bridge of the nose. To help him feel the placement of the voice, first I had him clench his teeth together and make a loud hmmmm noise. He noticed a feeling of vibration mostly in his nose. Then I had him try again, this time holding his teeth as far apart as possible without parting the lips. He said that the vibrations moved more towards the back of his throat. I told him that neither of these placements result in a good singing voice. Instead, I had him try saying hmmmm with his lips together but his teeth slightly parted. The correct balance for the voice is two-thirds in the front, or the oral-nasal area, and one-third in the back of the throat. Finally, I had him repeat the sound but open to a spoken ahh, trying to maintain the same feeling of resonance in both.
In order to find his natural speaking pitch, I had him say mmm-hmmm (as in "OK") a few times. I pointed out that the rising inflection of the voice was the correct pitch to speak at. I had him put his finger in his ear to help him hear better, and told him not to imitate my voice, because everyone's voice is unique. Then I had him add different vowels to the end of mmm-hmmm, such as ah and oh. I listened to make sure that the vowels were spoken at the same pitch as the high inflection of hmmm, and that he was still using the natural resonance of speaking "in the mask."
Finally, I had him do the abdominal pulse exercise from a few weeks ago while speaking hmmm and various vowels, placing his fingers just below the sternum and pressing and releasing on the abdomen to create a pulsing sound. The extra support helped him free up his voice to find the natural speaking pitch.

To work on his upper-adjustment voice, I had him imitate a high hooo sound after me. The sound began with lots of h and descended with a natural glide. I listened to make sure that he used his upper adjustment and not his falsetto voice, and watched to see that he was using abdominal support. Next, I had him use the foul shot exercise from the previous lesson, this time using the high hooo sound instead of an audible exhalation. I had him note whether or not he was using abdominal support, and he said that he was. Finally, just to make sure, I had him use the abdominal pulse exercise while sustaining a high hooo sound.

To finish up, Marcus practiced switching between low-, middle-, and upper-voice adjustments. I had him imitate a little dog, making a light yip sound, and then a big dog, making a deep woof sound. He echoed me as I switched back and forth between the two, as in a dog fight. Finally, I had him imitate me as I made different bird sounds, from a high cuckoo, to a middle caw, to a low Polly want a cracker! At the end of his lesson, we reviewed tone placement in the mask and voice adjustments with a brief quiz.

Lesson 6 - Level 2 Respiration

When Marcus arrived for his lesson, we focused on posture first. I demonstrated the proper posture for singing and had Marcus mirror each of the seven guidelines for good posture: feet positioning, relaxed knees, lifting and straightening the spine from the hips, shoulders slightly back and down, sternum slightly raised, head high and level, and hands down and back at the sides. We talked a little bit about how posture matters in life such as health, self-confidence, and in jobs such as the business world and a professional model. Once his posture was set, I drew his attention to the energy that balance creates while singing. I had him feel the energy that was created when he put his hand out in the "diving position" and raised up on his tip toes. Next, I had him feel the energy in balancing as if on a gymnast beam with hand out to the side, taking four small steps forward and then four steps backward without looking down. (For choirs, the author suggests using four gestures to communicate posture. First, a gesture can be used to remind the choir to sit tall, or to signal a time to sit back and relax. A second gesture can be used to remind students to stand tall. A third and fourth gesture can be used to have the students go from sitting to standing or from standing to sitting.)

For the second part of the lesson, I showed Marcus some ways to deepen his breathing. First, I had him put his hands on the back of his head, fingers interlocked, and elbows back. I asked him to exhale by making a long "shh" sound as he bent over from the waist, keeping the elbows back, which helped move the air from the body. Then, I had him stand slowly while inhaling through pursed lips. We then repeated the exercise without the bending at the waist, remembering to keep the sternum and head elevated. Next, I modified the exercise by having him bend over while exhaling, but then stand without inhaling for a few moments. With a release of the abdominal muscles, air flowed in freely and quickly. Finally, I asked him to take a deep yawn while standing tall. After repeating this a few times, I asked him if he could feel what a good, deep breath really was. He answered, "Yep!"

To help Marcus learn how to control his airstream, or breath support, first I used a "foul shot" exercise. He pretended to be shooting a basketball from the foul line, bouncing it several times and then bending his knees, ready to shoot. Then he exhaled audibly while straightening his legs and making a shooting motion, encouraging proper use of the diaphragm. After this, I handed him a ball-and-pipe toy. His goal was to blow into the pipe so that the ball remained floating just above the pipe for as long as possible. At first, he overblew and the ball fell off. Then, he didn't blow enough and the ball didn't float. But at last, he was able to balance the ball with his air just above the pipe. Finally, I handed him a pinwheel toy and had him blow on it to make the points spin. I challenged him to keep it spinning for as long as possible in one breath, which helped him develop his breath control. At the end of the lesson, I let him choose which one to take home

Lesson 5 - Level 1 Expression

In today's lesson, I asked Marcus the question, "How long is a phrase?" We talked about how phrases are important to the flow of musical ideas, and for singers a phrase is the length of one breath. Using the pure vowel "oo," Marcus sang the pattern so-fa-mi-re-do slowly in one breath. We transposed the exercise down to extend his lower range. Then I extended the phrase by adding an eighth note do-re-mi-fa-so-fa-mi-re-do at the end. I also flipped the exercise so that it started on do, and when it got to so it descended, ascended, and descended again in eighth notes. After warming up with this exercise, Marcus sang "Au Claire de la Lune" and I asked him to identify the phrases in the song.

Next, we worked on creating expression through the use of dynamics. I showed him a chart of the six  basic dynamic levels from pp to ff, numbered zero through five, with the Italian terms and English translations spelled out. To check his understanding, I had him count "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and" out loud while he followed my visual cues for the dynamics. After this exercise, I pointed out that most students should start at mp and mf levels while singing and gradually expand their dynamic range. Singing too loudly forces the voice, and singing too softly results in an unsupported sound.

Finally, Marcus learned about using a light portamento when slurring between two pitches. I defined a portamento as a barely noticeable glide between two pitches and demonstrated the difference between sliding and gliding from note to note. I used the phrase "I am fine," descending on eighth notes with two notes to each word, so-fa-mi-re-do to demonstrate. Then I sang the question "How are you?" with the same rhythm using so-la-so-la-so, and he answered with "I am fine/blue." Next, I had him echo an improvised phrase on the word "alleluia." I identified the distinction between syllabic, neumatic (two pitches), and melismatic (three or more pitches) styles. I also asked Marcus to try improvising his own alleluia, which I then echoed. The last portamento exercise used the Italian-sounding "La-Be-Da-Me-Ni-Po-Tu-La" on the pattern do-mi-re-fa-mi-so-fa-la-so-ti-la-do-ti-re-do, do-la-ti-so-la-fa-so-mi-fa-re-mi-do-re-ti-do. This pattern is especially useful in navigating the middle register or mixed voice.

Lesson 4: Level 1 Diction

After a quick review of posture and breath support, Marcus began working on vocal-tract freedom, or singing with an open throat. The first exercise focused on dropping the jaw, which means singing with a relaxed but open jaw position. I had him place his fingers just beneath his earlobes and say "ah" as if at the dentist, feeling the motion of the jaw where it hinges. I also had him say the vowels "eh" and "oh", noting that the jaw is slightly less open. "Ee" and "oo" have an even smaller space. I challenged him to say these last four vowels with as much space as possible. Next, I had him repeat the word "yah", paying attention to the movement of the jaw, much like the chewing motion. We sang up and down a five tone scale in quick succession using "yah" on each pitch, again focusing on the motion of the jaw.

To work on word pronunciation, Marcus read a few tongue twisters out loud (such as Peter Piper and Sally Sells Sea Shells), making sure to read clearly.

Last, I spoke some rhythmic patterns using voiceless plosives (p, t, k, and ch), and Marcus echoed the pattern. I told him to overemphasize the explosive sounds of the consonants as if he were speaking them to someone at the other end of a basketball court. Then I asked him to come up with his own sentence using words that started with the voiceless plosives, and he came up with "potato cheese cake."

Lesson 3 - Level 1 Resonant Tone Production

To begin this lesson, Marcus reviewed the breathing-motion and breath management exercises of placing the hands on the stomach and expanding while breathing in and flattening the tummy while breathing out, and then applying this concept to "sipping air through a straw." Again, he read the poem "Looking Forward" in Stevenson's Child's Garden of Verses, to reinforce the strong speaking voice. To finish the warm-up, he echoed some animal sounds in high and low voice.

To work on vocal resonance, I taught Marcus about humming. I asked him to sing a comfortable pitch (F) on the vowel ah, and then close his lips lightly. I checked with him to make sure that the tip of his tongue was still resting against his lower front teeth, and that his jaw was still relaxed. Next, I had him place his fingers just below his ribcage in the front and gently pulse with a pushing motion while he was humming. I directed his attention to the effect that the pulsing stomach muscles had on the sound of his voice. Then I told him to hum the same note and think about feeding the sound from the same spot that his hands had pushed (without pulsing). This activity is related to the "lifting" feeling of flattening the stomach while inhaling. He alternated between actively pulsing with his hands and singing naturally using whole notes and the pattern do, do, re, re, mi, mi, re, re, do, do. Once he had the hang of it, I mixed it up with some different patterns such as quarter notes so, fa, mi, re, do; so, fa, mi, re, do.

We don't sing a language in the same way that we speak it, especially when it comes to vowels. The five pure vowels - [u], [o], [a], [e], and [i] - form the basis for singing, and they should be uniform. In other words, there is much "chewing" of the vowels when we speak, but the mouth-jaw position should retain a vertical, lip-flared shape from one vowel to the next when we sing. The "vowel color wheel" consists of the colors (and sounds) Blue, Gold, Aqua, Beige, and Green.

I told Marcus that the best vowel to start with is "oo as in blue." When he echoed me, I made sure that his lips were not too close together, and recommended that he have at least one finger's width of space between his teeth. I also checked to see that his lips were slightly flared forward and his jaw was relaxed. However, he had difficulty achieving the right shape, so I had him say "blah-blah-blah-blah-blah" and notice how far his jaw dropped on the word "blah." Then I had him repeat the exercise saying "blue-blue-blue-blue-blue" with as much jaw drop for blue as for blah. Next, I had him put one finger between his teeth and say oo, then repeat the word oo without the finger, but keeping the space. He got it this time, and learned the correct shape for singing oo.

Next, I had him use his upper register voice and hum a G above middle C, using the humming technique from the first part of the lesson. Then I showed him the visual cue to open from the hum to an oo sound, a closed fist to an open hand, while maintaining the pitch. He repeated the exercise in his lower register voice on a middle C, and he was easily able to sing these two notes in tune. To review the abdominal pulse from earlier, I had him place his hands below his ribcage at the front and pulse, listening to the effect on the sound.

Finally, we moved on to coordinating the different vocal registers. I would sing a rhythm on one pitch in a specific register using the syllable loo, and Marcus would echo. I had him point up for high register, hand flat for middle register, and point down for lower register to see if he could recognize what register he was in. After several successful attempts, we switched to echoing solfege patterns using loo. To work on inner hearing, Marcus first had to sing the echo mentally before singing it out loud. After this, I had Marcus sing the melody of "Au Claire De La Lune" on the syllable loo, focusing on the proper shape and voice register.

[There is also a section in the book about helping inaccurate singers through coordinating vocal registers. Solutions include: (1) repeated opportunities to sing alone after a model, (2) using simple tonal patterns instead of a single pitch, (3) finding the correct register through "animal farm" sounds, (4) remind the student about the upper register often, (5) practicing inner hearing by singing mentally, (6) using the "abdominal pulse" on sustained pitches and "sipping air", (7) matching the student's pitch and then expanding range, (8) covering one ear while singing, (9) using hand gestures to signify registers, and (10) have the student describe the sensation and then giving feedback.]

This ended the lesson, and I sent Marcus out to practice the right shapes for humming and singing the oo vowel.

Lesson 2 - Level 1 Phonation

Marcus started today's lesson with a quick review of what he learned last week. First, he worked on his posture by doing the back stack, flexing his shoulders forward and backward, rolling his head, and then bending and straightening alternate legs. After that, we reviewed the natural breathing motion by using balloon expansion and the slow sip. He also reviewed the stomach muscle movements and practiced the correct motions over several breath cycles. As I watched Marcus review these exercises, I could tell that he had been practicing them daily and that he was ready to move on.

Today's lesson focused on phonation, or making sound. Because a clear and well-supported speaking voice are the foundation for a good singing voice, Marcus read a poem by Robert Lewis Stevenson (1850-1894) out loud. Marcus was a natural at reading, with a voice that was focused and resonant, not airy or weak. I taught Marcus about the three different types of voices: the lower, middle, and upper registers. We spent some time mimicking animals that had low voices such as the grizzly bear (grr), a big dog (woof) and a cow (moo). Next, I modeled the upper register with a "whoo-ee!" and a "cuckoo". Then we spent some time mimicking animals that had high voices such as an owl (whoo-whoo), a kitten (meow) and a whimpering puppy (mmm-mm). Finally, we mimicked some animals that have both a high and a low register like the donkey (hee-haw) and a horse's whinney.

To finish the lesson, I taught Marcus the lyrics and melody for "Au Claire de la Lune" in French, using his higher register in the key of Bb. He echoed the lyrics and melody one phrase at a time, and then practiced it several times all together until he had learned it. As we finished today's lesson, I told him that I wanted to hear him singing "Au Claire de la Lune" as he was going out the door!

Lesson 1 - Level 1 Respiration

Today in our lesson, Marcus started with a lot of posture-development exercises. I told him that we would do four different sets of stretches so that he could pick the one that he liked the most. First, he did the Spinal Stretch by reaching for the sky, reaching forward, and reaching for the floor with his fingers interlocked and his palms facing out. I reminded him to move slowly during all of the stretches. Second, he held his arms forward like catching a basketball and then rolled his shoulders backward three times and then forward three times. He shook out his arms and hands, and then we moved to the third exercise, rolling the head from one side to the other. Finally, he flexed his legs so that his knees were locked, and then alternated legs relaxing and flexing while letting one arm at a time slowly float towards the ceiling.
The second set started with a side stretch to the right and to the left with his hands on his hips. Next, he lifted his shoulders in a shrug position and held them for a couple of seconds before dropping them back to their relaxed position. He also alternated shoulders. Third, he slowly nodded his head all the way up and down when I said "yes" and slowly shook his head from side to side when I said "no." Finally, he wiggled his toes inside his shoes to relax his feet and legs, which helped because he had been standing all day.
During the third set, I explained a little bit about the vertebrae in the spine. He hunched over and held his fists out in front of him, stacked on top of each other. His fists didn't touch because there is a little disk between each vertebra, and I explained that when we stand tall, we want to separate our vertebrae as much as possible. Then I counted to ten while he used his fists to demonstrate and slowly stacked his vertebrae on top of each other to stand up tall. For the second exercise, he touched one ear to his shoulder and touched the other ear with his hand, and repeated on the other side. Third, he lowered his head like a submarine periscope and then raised it and looked from side to side. Finally, he moved his feet in place by raising each heel while keeping his toes on the floor.
For the fourth set, he started with a torso twist with his fists touching together and elbows out, and kept his feet flat on the floor. Next, he flexed his shoulders forward and then backward several times. After that, he stretched his chin up and forward, and then down and backward, then relaxed and lifted his head from the back and lowered his chin slightly. I explained that this was the proper position for singing, and then we finished the third exercise with a head roll. Finally, I asked him to do a lunge with one leg forward and then alternate legs. After doing all of these exercises, I asked which ones he liked the best, and he mentioned the periscope, the twist, and the vertebrae stacking. I agreed and said that I also liked the shoulder shrug, and the other spinal stretches.

When we had finished the posture exercises, we moved on to breathing-motion exercises. First, Marcus laid on his back on the floor, and I put a music book on his stomach. I asked him to take a deep breath so that it lifted the book. Then I took the book off and had him place his hands on his stomach and take the same type of breath so that his hands lifted. I had him stand up slowly with his hands on his stomach and he took a few breaths while standing that made his hands move forward slightly. Next, I brought out a balloon and Marcus watched as I blew into it. We discussed how the balloon expanded, and then applied that same concept to expanding at the midriff when breathing. I showed him what happened when I clenched the bottom half of the balloon and could only fill up the top part. I related the lungs to a ball and explained that an under-inflated ball does not bounce well and that under-inflated lungs do not sing well! Finally, I had him use his arms and body to imitate a balloon. He breathed out and hunched over, and then expanded as he took a deep breath. In the final breathing exercise, Marcus sipped in air as if through a straw.

The final part of the lesson focused on breath management. First, Marcus learned to flex his stomach muscles without breathing, making a firm and flat belly. Then he relaxed his stomach muscles forward, still without breathing, and repeated the motion several times. I noted to him that the stomach muscles can work independently of breathing. Secondly, I had him contract his stomach muscles and then exhale quickly, followed by complete relaxation which filled his lungs automatically. Third and finally, he practiced the breathing motion cycle by placing his hands on his stomach, flattening his belly as he breathed out, and then relaxing it forward as he breathed in. He practiced this several times until he was able to do it easily.

At the end of his lesson, I explained to Marcus that he needed to practice these three things - posture, breathing-motion, and breathing-management - whenever he sang throughout the week, whether he was at school, at home, at church, or anywhere else. When he asked why we didn't sing at all today, I explained to him that learning about posture and breath was more important than learning new songs, and that he should practice these things with songs that he already knows. I told him that if he wanted to be a good singer, it was going to take lots of patience and effort. Nobody becomes a singer overnight. I promised him that if he practiced the three things that he learned today, we would start singing the following week.