Day 154 – Vocal Masterclass with Teresa Cahill

Ok, so I know it wasn’t a Speech Level Singing class but yesterday I got a phonecall inviting me to take the last slot in a masterclass with the opera singer Teresa Cahill who had been brought over to the Island for the weekend.

It was very much a classical singing session, with focus on the normal ‘operatic’ classical vocal technique.  My voice was tired from a week of teaching and, this week, shouting, but she did get the best out of the two songs I chose to do for her.

Her main focus in my voice was using the ’singer’s mask’ to lift the tone of the voice and give it more of a ping.  It is a technique I know well, or at least, knew well, but I had got out of the habit of doing it.  It did make a difference to the tone on the upper notes (highest note = top G) and brought even more projection.

I’m still on the hunt for that elusive top B flat and time is pressing.  I had a practice with my pianist on Wednesday and actually, although the B flat cracked as usual, the top C was vaguely acceptable.  For some reason, the B flat seems right on a cracking point between chest and head.  I think I’m going to have to break this down and practise the two phrases leading to the B flats in Ingemisco until I crack it.  I’ll report back.

Teresa Cahill

Day 147 – Yuck!

The night off didn’t have any postive benefits at all.

I did all the exercises tonight.  Some seemed to work, some seemed harder than usual.

I ploughed on to the end and then tried Ingemisco with the top B flats.  I caught one full on and it was almost acceptable.  The rest?  Rubbish!

Oh well.  I’ve got one more night of exercises to go before the end of the week’s trial so I’ll have to see what that brings.  I’m feeling that it might be time to learn the alternative line in Che Gelida Manina to avoid the top C!  Sadly, I can’t avoid any of the B flats though so I’ll have to keep my fingers crossed.

Day 146 – Evening off

Although I’ve done four straight evenings of my new regime, I’m going to take this evening off.  I often find that a break does wonders – as if it gives my voice room to absorb what it’s been learning.

I’ll do the whole thing again on Saturday and Sunday evening as before and see what differences I notice.

Sadly, I don’t feel like those top B flats and the top C are going to come anytime soon, so I’m now a bit worried that just those three notes are going to spoil the whole of the two songs they are in.  Oh, well!  I did know I was overstretching myself a bit.

Still, I could never have tried these songs AT ALL before I started the Singing Success program back in August so I’m really, really pleased with my progress.  When I look back at the sorts of songs I could manage back there – and I mean manage convincingly – things have improved beyond measure.  My tone and production is drastically different, my ability to reach higher notes is massively improved – before, even a top A flat was stretching my abilities to their fullest, now they’re easy.  Now I’m worrying about top B flats and Cs……hell, what am I complaining about…..?

Brett Manning – thank you for the Singing Success program.  I wish I’d found it years ago!

Day 145

Same again.

Concentrate more on the exercises tonight where, yesterday, I had been drawing, surfing the internet etc at the same time.

Everything seemed to be going ok.  I particularly liked the last exercise on CD 6 which is an octave arpeggio on Ah.  I was regularly holding up to top C sharp with a reasonable tone and vibrato.  I just couldn’t recreate it in Ingemisco for the top B flat and it wobbled like hell.

Ok, if I can do it in the exercise, eventually I must be able to do it for real in a song, right?  I’m crossing my fingers that that’s true.

Day 144

Ok, so three long sessions in a row is a bit too much.  I’m tired tonight.  The top notes didn’t open up at all tonight though I did complete all the exercises.

I have obviously not listened to the instructions fully because tonight I listened to Brett Manning explaining about digrastic muscles.  I remember battling with them at the beginning of this journey but hadn’t thought about them much.  I now realise that they are very strong when reaching these top notes and it is hard to switch them off.  The extra tension is probably part of what is causing the difficulties on these few top notes that I need and the lower ones have strengthened because I’ve managed to switch them off there.

Mmmm, long journey ahead I fear.

Day 143

Ok, second night of new regime.  It’s quite a long session I’ve found, especially if, like tonight, I made it all the way through Lesson 5 of Singing Success and sang through my songs too.  I might have to leave the songs until the end of the week.

Also, there was a lot of overlap between the three practice sessions: warm-up, 7 secrets and Singing Success, so I guess I can pare back a bit.

My voice is improving in tone and control at the upper end of the range already though it takes all the exercises to get there.  I did hold  semi-acceptable top B flat for a period without cracking and with vibrato which is often missing on the awkward notes.

Signs are good.

Day 142 – New Practice Regime

As my wife has gone back onto a week of nights, I have seven evenings free where I can work on my singing again in a concentrated way.

I’m determined to get to those top notes by the time of the competition so I’ve come up with a practice regime to try this week.

1. Jamie Wigginton’s Pro Singers Warm-up – 13 minutes

2. Jesse Nemitz’s Top 7 Secrets of the Super-High Mix Voice – 23 minutes

3. Singing Success CD 6 Technique 4 – as much as I can in the time I’ve got

I managed 1 and 2 tonight but not 3 so I need to allocate a little longer tomorrow.  It’s been a while since I tried either the Warm up or the Top 7 Secrets so it’ll be interesting to see if they have any effect.

Day 141 – Working on songs

I’ve begun working on CD 6 of the Singing Success programme but I’ve not noticed any major changes as yet.  I’ve got a week of singing planned this week while my wife is at work in the evenings.  My target is to try and strengthen the top B flat and C that I need for the songs I’m working on at the moment.

There is a music festival in Feb/Mar here and I have entered 8 classes in total.  I had to choose songs back in November, not knowing what further effects Singing Success would have on my voice.  It was a difficult choice for the most part.

In the past, I would never have sung a song that went above top A flat but everything is so much easier now, not perfect, but easier.

I’ve recorded some of the songs I’m going to do.  I’ve got just over a month left before the first of the competitions on 28th February so I recorded these to see what I sounded like.  I’ve stuck them on my iPod so I can listen to them often and critique them.  I’ll post these versions here.

At the ball – средь шумного бала by Tchaikovsky – I’ve come to love this song, though the piano accompaniment is a bit brisk for my liking. My pianist will do a much better job.

Wir Wandelten by Brahms – I’m worried that this will appear too simple for the adjudicator (who is a violinist). Oh well, I’ll sing it as best I can anyway.

L’Invitation au Voyage by Duparc – I remember trying this one out before I started Singing Success and just couldn’t manage the higher notes at all (Gs and A flats). Now I’ve got to work on the interpretation.

Che gelida manina from La Boheme – far too hard for me but I wanted to give it a go anyway.  I don’t think I’ll disgrace myself unless the top notes go!

Ingemisco from Verdi’s Requiem – Having never heard this song before about 4 months ago, it’s fast becoming one of my favourites. I’m not scared of the top B flats but I want them to sound as clear and confident as the other notes.

If you spot anything that you think might improve these performances, please drop me a comment.  Thank you for taking the time to listen though.

Day 121 – Top B flat

I’ve had another few days break from singing.

In the meanwhile, in the morning when I get up, I’ve been strengthening my head voice.  At that time of the morning, I can reach female high A flat with a really pure tone – no falsetto.  I can gradually strengthen it up to be a ‘relatively’ nice sound.  Sadly, once I start speaking, the higher notes go and I’ve yet to find the free feeling so I can call on it at will during the day.

However, there has been a benefit of singing up there.  My system is obviously getting used to the idea that I can get high notes without straining.  During my singing session tonight, high notes were not much of a problem at all.  I even managed the harder of the two top B flats in ‘Ingemisco’.

Day 121 Ingemisco top B flat

Still not quite there yet but the most promising it’s been so far.

I read somewhere that the exercises on CD 6 are good for freeing up the voice so I might have a look at those.  I have to be honest and say that I’ve not been using the Singing Success CDs for a while – I think I found the exercises in Lesson 3 (CD 5) a bit non-descript and hated the “and the rocket’s red glare” exercise with a vengeance.

Ok, that’s enough for now.  Merry Christmas to all and thanks for watching my progress during the last 4 months.

Day 113 – Update

Although I’ve been singing on and off since my last post, I’ve not been ‘working’ on it as it were.

Tonight, I sang through some songs to see how the voice would function after a short break of a few days.  Everything seems fine.

My voice is still secure up to male high A flat, which was always my top note before, but everything is easier and clearer.  It’s also much more comfortable producing the sound.  In addition, I can get top A as long as it’s not repeated too often or after a big jump.  I’m sure that’ll improve with time.

In the songs I’m preparing, I’m still having problems with the top B flat.  My voice doesn’t know what to do with it as it seems to be ‘on the edge’ of chest and head.  It tends to warble between the two.  I tried sliding up to the B flat and could do that with patchy success.  Some time it goes, some times it doesn’t.

I’ll post today’s version of Ingemisco next to the version I did on day 59.  I think there are differences between the two but both the top B flats are not yet convincing enough.  The last B flat in the piece is the better of the two.

Day 59 – Ingemisco

Day 113 – Ingemisco