2012 brings some major breakthroughs in singing technique.
Specifically, I discover why I am having trouble singing the higher notes. It's because... I'm not singing the low notes properly. I'm sounding them in my throat and chest, which means that as I go higher, the notes get "stuck". I need to create space in my head and keep it open, so I can lift all the notes up and place them forward. So I have to change the singing habits of a lifetime.
Specifically, I discover why I am having trouble singing the higher notes. It's because... I'm not singing the low notes properly. I'm sounding them in my throat and chest, which means that as I go higher, the notes get "stuck". I need to create space in my head and keep it open, so I can lift all the notes up and place them forward. So I have to change the singing habits of a lifetime.
Rohan gives me some weird exercise with vowels which feels like I am carving a new channel through my head. It feels very strange. Once it's formed, though, the notes seem to like traveling along this new highway.
He encourages me to "lean in" to the higher notes, instead of pulling away from them. I discover that this requires some courage, commitment and self-belief. I also have to change my attitude to practising at home. I realize that when I sing I hold back; hold my voice in. The truth is, I don't like people to hear me practising. Now I make a conscious decision to get over it - people hear me when I sing on stage, so what's the difference at home?
I learn to apply the new technique in the lounge-room; now I need to be able to do it in performance, which involves some risk-taking.
Another opportunity arises, in the form of a workshop offered by Brian Gilbertson, a former lawyer who "escaped" in his late twenties and became a professional singer. I nominate myself as one of several people to be workshopped during this half-day event. Brian tells me my ribs are not expanding as they should. I need to work on my breathing. He offers a new batch of imagery for me to internalize. Dashing across the room, he encourages me to imagine that he is "running away" with my voice - to let it out, instead of pushing it out. Finally, while I am singing, he suddenly grabs my lower jaw and holds on until I let go and allow him to control it.
Brian tells us we must be prepared to make ugly sounds during practice - it's part of the risk-taking that's needed to improve.
I learn to apply the new technique in the lounge-room; now I need to be able to do it in performance, which involves some risk-taking.
Another opportunity arises, in the form of a workshop offered by Brian Gilbertson, a former lawyer who "escaped" in his late twenties and became a professional singer. I nominate myself as one of several people to be workshopped during this half-day event. Brian tells me my ribs are not expanding as they should. I need to work on my breathing. He offers a new batch of imagery for me to internalize. Dashing across the room, he encourages me to imagine that he is "running away" with my voice - to let it out, instead of pushing it out. Finally, while I am singing, he suddenly grabs my lower jaw and holds on until I let go and allow him to control it.
Brian tells us we must be prepared to make ugly sounds during practice - it's part of the risk-taking that's needed to improve.
Eventually, with all of this help and effort, I begin to feel what it's like to breathe low and create the support I need to sustain the higher notes.
And the low notes will never be the same again.
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