July 28, 2013: Working the Young Male Upper Passaggio: Part 1 I remember when I was in my teens and had no vocal problems. I mostly sang with crooners in lyric baritone keys. Then I started singing tenor in choirs, which was the beginning of the end of my vocal health, at least for a long period. I remember a few years ago a student of mine who teaches at a university emailed me asking me to teach a 19-year-old baritone who was a student of hers. Her request? “PLEASE give him HIGH notes!” I still laugh when I think of that request, because it is such a typical concern for young teachers who wish to know more about working with the young male upper passaggio. I remember Lindquest saying on a recording, “A free high range is totally dependent upon a correctly produced middle and upper passaggio register!” Joan Sutherland once said, “I warm up my middle voice, while I hear my colleagues ‘using up’ their high notes!” Both quotes may seem a bit strong, but they are true. If the laryngeal tilt is not present in the middle voice, the singer has no chance of accessing the upper passaggio range correctly, or in a protected function. This young baritone came into my studio with a spread upper passaggio and little true opening of the pharynx. We worked on stretching the back of the neck, we worked on pharyngeal vowel formation, we worked on laryngeal tilt……….BUT nothing was releasing his voice fully. Finally I remembered an exercise that Virginia Botkin had given me in her studio at the University of North Texas, back in the 1980’s. I affectionately call the exercise ‘bubba’. It basically is saying ‘bubba’ on pitches, making sure that the singer vibrates lower on the sternum while ascending in pitch. It releases the jaw, tongue, and lips, allowing the sound to drop deeper into the body. This is related to Flagstad’s idea of feeling the sound ‘wash down the chest’ while going upward in pitch. Amazingly, this exercise worked for this young man, and he released his upper passaggio in a total protection for the first time, discovering much more high range. I like to say that creative teaching is partly experimental; finding what works for that individual voice at that particular time and place in development. I still believe this, because one exercise does not work for everyone and often a concept must be altered in order to work well in a specific voice. We are all different and we perceive our voices and vocal function differently. This is why individualized treatment of the voice must be at the foundation of a teaching studio in order for real progress to be realized. However, individualized instruction must be based on fundamental vocal truths. By the end of 2 weeks of study, this young singer had expanded his upper range by almost a full open 5th. He was popping out high B-flats and was in a state of total shock that he could do it without feeling his throat. He was actually a baby Verdi baritone (I would never give such a young singer Verdi) and they have a strong upper range mechanism that takes them into the upper range with the resonance thrust of a tenor. BUT they should never be trained as tenors. There is little difference in range between a dramatic tenor and and a Verdi baritone, yet the sound is quite different in timbre and color, and the baritone does not like to live in the higher tessitura of a tenor range. I love to refer to Robert Merrill when I speak about the Verdi baritone. What a wonderful singer. Wide-open singing is throaty singing; basically screaming. Screaming an unprotected sound over time can create all kinds of vocal problems, and in some cases real damage. Many young men are looking for a way to get up into the high range without feeling throaty or hoarse afterwards. Finding the vocal protection, which involves a fully opened pharyngeal cavity, is key to accessing the possibility of having a career. I used the ‘bubba’ exercise with him consistently with this young man over the entire 2 weeks of study and he expanded his high range successfully. Note: I did this exercise on both 5-tone scales and arpeggios. There must be consistent puffs of air through the cheeks to keep the breath moving. Often the singer will stop the breath when going higher. If he keeps the puffs of air going, then he will release. This must be achieved while vibrating lower on the sternum in order for the exercise to be effective. Note: There are useful exercises on my instructional CD: “An Introductory Lesson with David Jones: A Resource for Teachers and Singers”, available at cdbaby. More later in the week on the young male upper passaggio. Have a god day! David Photos: Allan Lindquest and Robert Merrill
Posted on: Sun, 28 Jul 2013 12:15:36 +0000
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