Wednesday, December 03, 2014

Crazy vocalist tricks

I sometimes tease my voice teacher about the tricks and exercises she has me do in order to achieve
various goals - releasing tension, improving breath control, changing voice placement or what-have-you.  Some that come to mind off the top of my head:
- sticking my tongue out as I sing vocal exercises (vocalises);
- singing vocalises while holding a drinking straw crosswise under my tongue;
- singing vocalises while holding the straw in my teeth but in front of my tongue;
- dancing around "like a ballerina" while singing whatever piece we're working on at the time;
- draping myself, stomach down, over an exercise ball and rocking on it while singing vocalises;
- thumping myself on the chest while singing vocalises.

Pretty wacky stuff sometimes, but we have fun with the silliness.  Better, it's working - I'm releasing vocal tension, improving my sound, boosting my breath support, and generally singing better than ever.  Still much room for improvement, of course, but I'm feeling a lot better about how I'm singing.

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