Question re: vocal coaching

[WillParker]

Posted: 11/12/03 at 3:22pm

Here's the deal: I'm directing a community theater production of Cinderella. the girl playing the title role is a lovely girl, beautiful, great actress, pretty good singer. She's 16. 3 years ago, she couldn't carry a tune, and all of a sudden, this VOICE came from nowhere, and she's still trying to figure it out. She's got a great chest voice, and her head voice is very light & pretty but not strong, but her "break" area is WAY off kilter...like G-A-B-C range--very hit or miss. She played Louise in my production of Gypsy last year, and was great, because she could use her head voice in Little Lamb, and could belt Let Me Entertain You. Perfect. But, while this score is much simpler, a lot of it falls on her break. I guess the question is, what can I tell her to do, or what excercises can i teach her to work out this part of her voice so that it's more consistent? I know enough about singing to know sort-of what the problem is, but not enough to know how to fix the the problem. any suggestions? She & I both thank you!!

[King Stevos]

Posted: 11/12/03 at 5:01pm

Make her relax, and mix her head and chest voices, sing softly through the breaks, begin somewhere below the break work up by half steps, not belting at all, just very soft singing. Big key to this is don't let her see the keys of the piano, her mind will tell her she can't sing those certain notes. Just make her learn to mix through the break. It's not easy and will take time.

STEVOS

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 11/12/03 at 5:07pm

Good advice Stevos--also, make sure she knows that ugly sounds are OK! They are part of the process--especially in rehearsal.

I warm up by running up and down the scale through the break in my voice--to loosen it up, smooth it out. It's a funny sound. =)

[Gothampc]

Posted: 11/12/03 at 5:13pm

sing softly through the breaks??

Suppose the score is written fortissimo?

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 11/12/03 at 5:14pm

But for practice, she should start softly. =)