Oct. 24, 2013: A Good Startup Teacher! Ocassionally I have a singer come to my studio who had a really good teacher at the beginning of his/her study. The sad part of this is that it is only a rare occurance when a singer comes to my studio with a good technique. They are often looking for a set of ears to continue their good work or enhance the solid foundation that was given them from the beginning. Most of these singers did not go to conservatories or famous schools, but smaller schools where they were given more attention and were offered healthy supervision in their early study. What is often missing when these singers come to me is an full understanding of the laryngeal tilt and the acoustical release that the wide pillars of Fauces offers. When this is added to their voice, suddenly a polished professional sound starts to develop almost immediately. Lindquest’s ‘voce cuperto’ is one exercise that is fundamental to every singer I have ever taught. It is difficult to achieve for larger voices at first, but over time the acoustical release moves into the full voice function. This began to happen yesterday with a career dramatic soprano. Her response was,”I could hardly reach high A-flat with this when we started a year ago. Now it goes up to high C and sometimes C-sharp!” The ‘voce cuperto’ was a fundamental concept of the Old Swedish-Italian and Italian Schools. Today, many have never heard of this most vital and fundamentally important way of exercising the voice. Those who have had good startup teachers can do it almost immediately, but those who have had incorrect instruction find it difficult, because the throat must be free in order to achieve it. Case Study #1: I recently had a wonderful bass-baritone come to me for study. His Mother happens to be an excellent singing teacher. Luckily for him, this singer was surrounded by healthy vocal sound during his developmental years. When a singer has this kind of foundation, it makes a huge difference in the ease of helping them find their full potential as a professional. We are presently working on the laryngeal tilt and the wide pillars of Fauces. The laryngeal tilt helps the singer achieve lower overtones, while the wide pillars helps to achieve full high overtones. Case Study #2: I had a dramatic mezzo who came to me several years ago who had a healthy vocal production. She was not from a musical family and was in another profession in Europe. She decided that she wanted to sing in a choir, so she went for her first voice lesson. The teacher was so shocked by the beauty and size of the instrument that she said, “Oh dear, this is not a choir voice!” They worked for just a short time before I met her. Her voice had never been abused and she had never sung incorrectly. She is now getting professional work as a dramatic mezzo soprano. If you look at the career of Jussi Bjoering, he had an excellent start because his Father David Bjoerling studied at the Metropolitan School in New York when Old World principles were fundamental to good training. Jussi was lucky because he had this guidance at a very early age. He once said, I regret not hearing Caruso live. When my Father had tickets, I wanted to go to the movies! The year was 1920, so he was a young child at the time. Lindquest befriended Bjoerling in 1938 and learned quite a bit about his early training. I have had the opportunity to meet his son Lars in Sweden. These kinds of situations are refreshing. Most of the singers that come to me are in career crisis! So hearing voices that are in excellent condition is so wonderful. Have a good day! David Jussi Bjoerling: David Jones and Lars Bjoerling
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 12:27:42 +0000
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