Wednesday, September 21, 2011
o cessate
Well in my lesson today I first had to have my weekly therapy session. I just really wish I could change my mind set so I wouldn't get so down on myself all the time. I don't know what my deal is, I'll just have to keep working on it. I'm starting to manage stress better now so this must be phase two of that. We changed my songs for NATS today from Vergin Tutto Amor and Fair House of Joy to To a Wild Rose and O Cessate Di Piagarmi. Vergin Tutto was always my go to comfort song but I am just having the worst of times trying to switch from my head to my chest voice. Today was the first time I sang O Cessate with accompaniment and it actually went really really well. It's in a much easier part of my range to sing in. I really need to work on my vowel sounds and keeping my soft palate raised. I also have been so worried about getting my notes right I really haven't looked at the translation too terribly much so that's going to be one of my main focuses this week. I really want to interpret what I'm singing. Especially after watching Dr.Hepworth perform in studio the other day. She had amazing facial expressions and even though I had no idea what the words she was singing meant, I felt really involved in her performance, and I'd like to captivate people like that too. I am also super glad I dropped Fair House of Joy and switched it with To a Wild Rose. I always loved Fair House because it's so pretty, but I just don't have the strength for that one yet. After I figure out how this whole head voice thing works I want to get my lower register to be able to connect with it so I don't have to worry about my voice breaking every time I try to switch registers. My main concern with To a Wild Rose is that I feel like my voice is to heavy. Especially on the last awake when I have to hit the f for a whole bunch of counts. It's just not pretty and floaty and beautiful. Soooo I don't really know, but yeah. I feel like this is a really long blog and so I'm going to stop right here I think. Also, I have a sore throat right now. Boo :(
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
AWESOME blog! So sorry to hear you are getting a sore throat. Seriously, get a nettie pot or sinus wash pack to help reduce post nasal drip and clear your sinus passages from all of these nasty pathogens and allergens. That will make a big difference in terms of prevention.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you have made that "mental" breakthrough in terms of feeling confident about your voice. You really should start singing in a mirror....it was hours and hours of singing/practicing in a mirror that helped me with my facial expression. Usually if you feel like you are going over the top, it is just enough. Character and expressions are difficult to "read" onstage, thus we need to "project" them to our audience a little more that we would customarily do while speaking one-on-one with a friend. Think of a news anchor: they have all of those weird pauses and inflections in their voices for a reason. It drives the message home....it encourages the viewers to hone in on a specific message and for them to take note of the most important parts of the information they are presenting. Singing is the same way...we must really be careful to express ourselves in the most important parts of the work to really draw our audience in and for them to become a part of the performance. We are nothing without the audience.....just a bunch of people screeching for their own entertainment? Put yourself in uncomfortable situations by performing for anyone who will listen as much as humanly possible. That is the path to improvement. We take a bigger risk each time we perform, and thus gain confidence through our success.
Keep up the great work, Jackie.