I have forgotten how incredibly beneficial it is to do score study!! On Tuesday we took a field trip to Norfolk for our instrument repair class and on the way there and back I studied "O del mio dolce ardor". I was surprised to see just how much text I could memorize in such a short period of time, even with my attention halfway on the people in the van. This being said, there is still a lot to do. I have begun working on the notebook part of things and it is amazing how much richer my singing is now that I am putting myself into the character's place, especially for "Che faro senza Euridice" and "O Del Mio Dolce Ardor". Now for the rest of my songs! :)

I also sang for last Tuesday's recital. This time I sang "Take o take those lips away" by Amy Beach. I was relatively satisfied with my performance. I tried to remember to keep my mouth big in order to create a more resonant space and also tried to remember to "smile", or keep a thinner top lip, as I was singing. I was able to think about what I was doing instead of freaking out about how nervous I was to get up in front of people. That was very relaxing: not having to worry much about the words. This week I was very aware of what my body was doing: where my arms were going, how I stood, where I was looking (trying to look down at the audience), etc.

Overall, I thought I was very consistent with my mouth space, which is something we have been working on in lessons. Thank you Dr. Hepworth for helping me become consistent!!

This blog is about my performance of Green finch and linnet bird on last Tuesday's student recital. I am satisfied with my performance in that I only messed up one word (that I'm sure no one noticed), all the notes and rythms were pretty much "spot on", and nothing happened that would make me think that the performance was a failure. On the other hand, I am my biggest critique. After my performance, I realized that there were some things I didn't do or think about that I will change before my next performance.

First off, I realized that I wasn't aware of my body positioning/stance at all. This scares me because I am usually very aware of placing my feet in the "fourth position" so that I appear professional to the audience. The second thing I will change with Green finch is opening up my jaw to get more of a "mush-mouthed" feel, especially for the i sound in Green. I think this came from watching the clip from the movie where Johanna sings this song. I was trying to emulate her pretty, 'little girl' sound (which she could do becuase she was miked) instead of embracing a more full, higher frequency sound that will cut through the air and come across more clear to the audience.

Other than those two things, I was pretty satisfied with my performance on Tuesday.

Finally, I'm back in the swing of things and beginning to practice on a more regular basis. I have been working a lot on O del mio dolce ardor and Take oh take those lips away. I realize that if I had worked just four or five more hours on this one before fall break I probably could have had it memorized a long time ago. However, there is nothing I can do about that now and it is finally pretty much memorized. Also, O del mio dolce ardor is coming along ok, but the German song (Fur musik) is still giving me fits. We'll see how that one goes...

Today I am singing Green finch and linnet bird on student recital and I am pretty excited about it. It is about time I sang this one on recital! lol. Unfortunately I am struggling with some flem this morning but hopefully things will get better this afternoon.

Also for warm ups I still enjoy doing lip buzzes on five note patterns going up by half steps and sing-ahs going up by half steps as well.

I am expecting to make a lot of progress in a little amount of time as the end of the semester is just around the corner!

I have recently been spending the majority of my practice time with Che faro senza Euridice. Ever since I heard two girls sing it at NATS, I have fallen in love with it. I love the "che faro" melody (the one that is happy sounding)but am having trouble with the parts that differ; especially the parts that come between the happy "che faro" melody. I am also kind of scared of the beginning recitative because it is so long and doesn't really having a flowing, easy to catch on to, melody. I have realized though, after spending only one day on the first page, that memorizing Italian isn't really that bad. If I just put the time in, I can get this one down. Right now I have the first page almost totally memorized, but there is still a lot of work to be done on this aria. I am also putting some time into memorizing the German piece. I just love Che faro!!

I am very pleased with my NATS results! I was not expecting to be only two points away from making finals. On the other hand, I realize that if I had practiced a little more, especially on the French piece, I might have actually made finals. But I guess that's just a motivation for next year. I was expecting to get grilled on my French because, as they pointed out, I am not solid on my diphthongs and I don't quite understand the French vowels. However, I am super glad that I did not mess up on words or switch the two main runs (which I had done a couple times in practice).
As for Down in the Forest, I was pretty nervous because I did not do so hot on it on recital last week. On recital, I started the piece very timidly and did not open up my voice until the second half of the piece. At NATS, right before I walked in, a girl gave me some great advice: the adrenaline that is produced when you're nervous is the exact same adrenaline that is produced when you're excited. So...I went into my NATS "audition" telling myself that I was just super excited to share these pieces with the judges and everyone who was listening instead of being nervous. It helped tremendously!!

NATS

Please disreguard that last post. I was just kind of in a bad mood last night. After a great vocal studio yesterday and after practicing after studio, I realized that I just need to power through sometimes and just get through my bad practice "slumps". Now I am really excited for NATS!! I am also now really excited for NATS. Can't wait for this weekend!!

Well, I am rather anxious for NATS. Excited would definately be the wrong word. I know this will be a great experience but I also know that I don't stand a chance making it past the first round. Like I said I'm sure it will be great experience. I'm sure I'm just not appreciating this opportunity or making the most of it. Dr. Hepworth, I'd really like to talk to you sometime about lessons, or i guess more specifically, motivation. I do not feel motivated to practice and this really makes me sad; especially in my lesson when I feel like I'm letting you down. Anywho, I spent some time this weekend working on NATS music, which you might or might not hear tomorrow (I can't remember if I'm supposed to sing for studio or not). During my practice sessions this weekend, I literally hurt my own ears while I was practicing. I think this had something to do with frequency because once I hit a certain level of "buzz", my ears just wanted to close up and hide themselves. It was weird. Anyhow, I'm sure you've read enough of my sob story for now. I'm sorry I'm being so negative.

It is always so encouraging to see progress after you've worked on something! For awhile I was freaking out about going to NATS since I haven't done a vocal festival in a long time, but after my lesson with Dr. Hepworth on Wednesday I am feeling a lot better about my progress on Green Finch and Linnet Bird and I also feel more comfortable with Down in the Forest and Mandoline. I am getting excited/a little nervous as NATS approaches, but I know I'll be ready :)

One thing I am really going to work on this week is making sure I keep my chin down when I sing vowels -especially vowels that sound 'i' (ee). oh, I will also work on keeping the "A-frame" space thinking in my mouth -- especially on words like How and Now.

This week I have been working on my first German song..(not my favorite, but it's ok) Green finch and linnet bird (from Sweeney Todd) and O del mio dolce. I like them all so far, but Green finch and linnet bird is definately my favorite. It's super pretty, but it rides a little on the higher side of my tessetura so by the end my voice feels kind of tired. I love musical theater! Thank you Dr. Hepworth for letting us sing these songs! Watching the snippet of Johanna singing this song from the movie has really helped me get into character. Instead of making up a character from scratch, I have something to imitate. I like that very much.

Some of the German words are tripping me up, but I'm sure with more practice and lessons with Dr. Hepworth I'll get the hang of it! :)

What a disappointing weekend! Unfortunately I had a terrible sore throat starting friday night and lasting up until this (Monday) morning. I guess I can either look at the glass as half full or half empty though - this is the first time this semester I have suffered from an illness or head cold that has totally wiped me out. Really this next week all I need to do is make sure I have everything memorized. Mandoline and Down in the Forest are good to go; however, I am slightly worried for Voi che Sapete since I have only sang that song with the music in front of me even though I have been working on it the longest. I have had Nachtigall Ach in my head for about the past week so now I just need to make sure I can put the words with the melody that has been floating around with me.

Study week, here we come!!

podcast 9 jill.mp3

podcast #9.mp3

podcast #9.mp3

podcast 9 jill.mp3

podcast 9 jill.mp3

Whoo Hoo!! I believe that I have memorized Mandoline thanks to Dr. H's advice which was to put pictures and actions to the words so I at least have an idea about what I'm singing about even if I don't know what each word means exactly in English. I tried doing that - thinking of every French word as the English word but it just made me frustrated because then I just wanted to sing the English words. Putting actions with specific words really helped because then I have a sequence of movements to think about and not just words that come right after each other. For example: one phrase talks about how the serenaders are serenading people outside, where there is a breeze under the light of the moon. So my sequence of actions is: reference the piano (as the serenader), then move my arms like they are flowing in the breeze, then reference the moon up above my head. This makes it easier for me to memorize, while also making me more comfortable onstage and also giving the audience something to watch, not just hear.

I think I am ready for tonight, though some of my vowel sounds could probably use a little cleaning up. But it will be fine. Can't wait to run through it in my lesson today before our big studio recital tonight at seven in Ley Theater!! :)

This week I practiced Mandoline intensely and even worked on memorizing some of it. :) I realized that I don't have to spend countless hours in the practice room at a time, but that if I refresh my songs daily it is a lot easier to remember what you worked on the day before and just keep things going even if you don't spend a ton of time all at once. Memorizing the first two or so pages of Mandoline really helps take a lot pressure off me for the French recital that I am kind of stressed about.

This morning in my rehearsal with Mr. Phil, I realized that our French studio concert is next week!!! Soo that means that I have some memorizing to do!!! Not to mention not even all of my vowels are solid so I have a lot of work to do on Mandoline in a week and a half. I also noticed during rehearsal that there are times when I do a really good job of keeping my mouth wide open and changing the vowel with my tongue and nasal cavity and there are times when my mouth is really flat (which is bad).

So I will continue focusing on keeping a wide open mouth and nasal vowels. And memorizing!

Last week I worked mostly on Mandoline and Voi Che Sapete. Last week was not a good practice week because I was trying to catch up with everything else. Dr. Hepworth did help me identify one run that I was singing wrong so now I need to buckle down and learn the slight differences between the first run and the second run. I should also start hammering An die Nachtigall since I don't know that one very well.

So much to do and so little time!
Luckily I feel physically fine other than a little flem now and then but I am very fortunate not to have suffered from any colds or the like this winter. Knock on wood.

This past week we touched on all my songs in my lesson with Dr. Hepworth. I was really comforting to do that because now I don't feel so much pressure to learn them because it turns out I knew them better than I thought, except for the German piece.

So far, I am loving the French piece "Mandoline"!! It is so pretty. I am also pretty wiped vocally from six to eight hour musical rehearsals one after another so I won't be doing any extra practicing this week. However, after this weekend I will fill the extra hours with lots of practicing!!!

This week I have been working show songs as well as the French song: Mandoline. I really enjoy this song, especially because it is so pretty. Some of the vowel sounds are still giving me trouble but they can be worked out, no sweat. What I am sweating about though is the musical. When we are a week away from opening night, I feel like we should be farther along, though things are getting better from night to night. I need to stay focused on MY things and the things I can fix and not get too involved in trying to fix a problem musically that is out of my jurisdiction. That is a very stressful situation for me because I want to fix everything but I just can't.

Thanks for being so understanding. See you on Saturday, Dr. Hepworth!! 10:00am!

Well here comes spring break. over spring break i will be working on finishing up voi che sapete, keep going on the French and beginning on the German piece. I am not too worried about the German other than all the "flem" sounding vowels and consonants because it is not too long but we will see. This past week I have been super busy with midterms, intercollegiate band and such so I haven't had much time to practice, let alone the drive to work on new things but this week will definately be different.

This week I have been working on the French song "Mandoline". I think French is the hardest language I have had to sing because many of the vowel sounds have no parallel in the English language. I have been working on these mixed vowel sounds but sometimes I forget how they sound when I'm practicing on my own. I can usually imitate Dr. Hepworth pretty good in my lesson but then I don't understand what I wrote down for that vowel sometimes when I go to practice. I have noticed that one of the key successes to speaking or singing French is keeping your lips puckered for vowel sounds.

Other than French words, I have been working on other things like keeping things frontal and KEEPING MY MOUTH OPEN!!!!!! When my mouth is wide open, everything seems to come a lot easier and it seems to put less strain on my vocal folds. I have been putting a lot of strain on my vocal folds especially when I sing high. Dr. Hepworth's idea of "thinking skinny" along with keeping my mouth wide open helps me to put less strain on my voice.

Earlier today I was running through "Down in the Forest" since I'm singing it on recital in a couple days, and realized that either it's a lot harder of a song than I thought or there is something wrong with my voice. I think this is a tough song for me because it forces me to jump registers between my low voice, medium voice and high voice. As a result, I get funny little cracks in my voice or scoops every once and awhile. Also, my voice is sounding much more
"air-y" than it ever has. I wonder if I have been putting too much strain on it? Oh it is so frustrating having an air-y singing voice! Then to try to fix that, I tried bringing the sounds even more forward than I had been and I just sounded annoying. Anyhow, if anyone can help me I would appreciate it!

this one's for the birds - audacity.mp3

dear box.net, please stop posting music tech to my voice blog!!! this is frustrating!!!

this one's for the birds - audacity.mp3

this one's for the birds - audacity.mp3

this one's for the birds - audacity.mp3

This week during my lesson we sang through on "Down in the Forest" and "Voi che sapete" because I am on student recital this week and needed to see which one to do. The past week I have been working on keeping my sound frontal and modifying vowels when I go for the high notes. Thanks to Dr. Hepworth I know that when I sing a high "ee" vowel sound it should be changed to "I" and "oh" should be changed to more of an "aw" sound. This helps me keep the vowel sound frontal and avoid swallowing the sound. I think my biggest challenge this week and semester is going to be singing in French since I have never sang in any language other than English and Italian. Not to mention the French language just has some very different vowel sounds to which English just has no comparison. For example: mixed vowel sounds: like puckering your lips for an "oo" and then shaping your tongue and the inside of the oral cavity for an "ee" sound. It feels so weird!! But sounds just like the people in French movies - lol!

Helllooo!!!

These past few weeks I have been working on "Voi Che Sapete" and "Down in the Forest" along with songs from the musical "Little Shop of Horrors". I have found that the toughest part for me so far is not the music itself, since it is probably not the hardest music, but the words and forming the correct vowel and consonant sounds. The toughest part of this is trying to totally eliminate the diphthongs we so often create in American English. Right now I am working on keeping the space in my mouth a consistent shape by not moving my jaw, lips and tongue in order to keep myself from creating diphthongs. I am also working on keeping my sound "in the front of my nose" in hopes of maintaining a bright sound while singing - especially the Italian - no swallowing those vowels!!

I am so lucky to be working with Dr. Hepworth and everyone else in our studio. Thank you for your instruction and advice!