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What do you think about it? (Singing Teachers)
Really interested to hear what you guys think of this one. I’ve repurposed loads of exercises from this wonderful voice practitioner called Arthur Lessac. And they’re incredible. It’s a way of engaging the body + anchoring without tensing, using some very memorable and fun exercises.
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12 Replies
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I would call this “teaching mix” . Granted it’s a pretty heavy mix (I’m sure you’d probably work towards thinning it out a little more so it’s not so extreme feeling), but it’s still a mix to my ears. So I’m surprised that you don’t think you’re a teacher of mixed voice!
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That’s so interesting! It’s bizarre that there’s such a gap in terminology between us and that we call the same bit of teaching different things! Would love to organise a Skype so we can record our thoughts – this would make such a good podcast!
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Definitely!
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I’m in Matt’s camp as I have tried vehemently not to teach “mix” just because of this very confusion in terminology. it means so many things to so many different people, and it seems to me that even current research hasn’t really answered the question of what it is. When I work with my pupils on this kind of sound, I get them to brighten up the sound a little bit and I call it a baby cry, contrasting it to a calling out, which would be more of a pushed chest voice without the extra head resonance that comes with the “mix”.
PS extra Brucie bonus point to Matt for referencing Arthur Lessac!
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(You’re a Lessac fan, Chris? Wooooo! Love him!)
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I don’t think mix is confusing at all. Mix is the thing that happens when it’s not a flipped falsetto, nor is it a pulled chest voice. It’s what takes place when there’s a free, strong and resonant full sound above the bridge/passagio. You’re literally “mixing” the firm fold adduction found in chest voice with the CT stretch (and a “resting” larynx) to create a connected head voice (ie. mix). Coming from the bel canto camp, mix is just about the only thing we teach (of course in lessons I throw in other things too, but on a technical level this is it for me).
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For most bel canto teachers I’d say (coming from Tosi/Garcia/Caesari/Reid camps) mix isn’t a “sound”, it’s an equilibrium to ideally be in most of the time. It’s the voice’s balanced home base. Not too chesty, not too falsetto-y, not too flippy. Just right.
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Wailing/calling out is what I’ve been doing a lot of, but even a bit of twang to help with volume.
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It’s what Goldilocks would have wanted.
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Just got around to watching this. Brilliant!!!
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Too true!
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this is awesome Matt Pocock
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