Journal post 2: Light on Pranayama

I decided to look at chapters 4, 14, and 15 of this book. Chapter 4 takes a look at anatomy of the breath in relation with Pranayama, chapter 14 looks at the proper way to inhale and exhale using this technique, and chapter 15 discusses how to properly hold, or retain, the breath.

Chapter 4 is surprisingly analytical and anatomical. This section had a lot of similar information to what you would find in Richard Miller's Structure of singing, except it ties in various pranayama terms and techniques in with it. This made it a bit heard to follow exactly what they were saying. If I was more familiar with the various terms and basic methods/ideas, I probably would have made more sense of it.

Chapter 14 talks about the importance of inhaling and exhaling correctly and in sync with your body. There are a lot of metaphors used here, and a lot of yoga/pranayama terms. It gets a bit confusing until it goes step by step instructing you how to breathe in and out properly. Even then there is a lot of pranayama terminology used, but you can still get the gist of what is being said, and can at least understand the concepts in theory. The set up of chapter 15 is very much the same to 14, discussing the benefits of retention in relation to body, and then going on with how to do it.

I picked the chapters that related heavily to breathing because of the relevance it has to singing. In many ways, breath is the most important part of singing technique, because everything rides on taking a proper breath to begin with. For the most part, I think a lot of the breathing technique relates to what you learn when in singing lessons. The yoga aspect of it is helpful, in terms of centering yourself and making sure you're grounded in your breath. At the same time, it was hard to get through all the yoga terminology, and while I think I got the gist of what was being expressed, I think I only got that because I've taken yoga classes and have an idea of the basic principles involved.

I think this book would be much more helpful to people with a better grasp of yoga, and it's terminology and principles. There are definitely things to be learned from this book, but I think that aside from the yoga aspect of it, a lot can be learned elsewhere.

Light on Pranayama The Yogic Art of Breathing

Light on Pranayama The Yogic Art of Breathing

I am not a “Yogi,” so I had some trouble grasping reading this book.  I think that this is definitely a different look at breathing, but was not as easy to understand as I would have liked.  There were so many yoga terms used, I had to keep going back to check what they meant and it took me a very long time to get through this.  However, I did like the way the book was organized, in bullet points as an outline.   If this book was a dense grouping of paragraphs, I’m not sure I would’ve gotten anything out of it.  The diagrams presented are similar, if not the same, to those in Miller’s The Structure of Singing, which was helpful.  It was also a nice break from the confusing text.  Once the book began talking more about the anatomy, I began to sink into it and understand much more. This was probably due to the fact that it touched upon many of the ideas we have been discussing in class. 

I believe that anyone who wants a different approach or look at breathing should read this book.  It is interesting to think about the fact that someone who wants to work on relaxation and breathing can read this book, not just in the context of singing.  This could be helpful to a student who has a lot of tension in their body, is not breathing properly, or does not understand how to breathe properly.  It explains why breathing is important and why proper breathing is essential in a different way than most textbooks.  It would also be helpful to a teacher dealing with a student with these problems. 

I think all of the anatomy information is the same as what we have studied in class.  The diagrams look the same, and some information on the muscles is included too, which I think is helpful.  It seems as though this book combines information from our class with information one would attain in a yoga or Alexander Technique class. I recognize the muscle diagrams from my Alexander Technique class, which was interesting for me.  One of the techniques used for inhalation is to hold a bar behind your back using your elbows, which reminds me of many teachers’ techniques of holding your arms behind your back to keep your chest and ribs open, including Manuel Garcia.  Overall, I think this book was a bit “out-there” but had some useful and interesting information and outlooks on breathing.

Journal post 1: Hints on Singing

I read selections from Manuel Garcia’s Hints on Singing. I focused mostly on his descriptions of the differences in female’s voices and registers, as well as his thoughts on timbre.

Overall, I found the treatise to be really helpful. I understood what Garcia was saying and describing, and thought his explanations were done well. Sometimes he got very technical, and relatively speaking at that time he wrote it (in the mid to late 1800s) it was the most technical you could get. Because of that, I don’t think the book is wholly accessible, because I don’t see someone who has absolutely no idea about singing being able to pick up this book and know how to sing. Any reader of this book would need to have some background in voice already before reading this, if they wanted to understand and benefit from it.

Garcia’s format consisted of a Q and A form, where he posed questions (either as he pretending to be the reader, or listing questions that he’s heard asked before) and then explained them fully. It allows Garcia to avoid getting stuck in paragraph after paragraph of explanation, which I really appreciated. I think writing the book as a series of questions was a very smart move, because it breaks all the topics into pieces and allows them to be more manageable to understand.

A lot of terminology Garcia uses is still relatable and applicable to today. When discussing female registers, Garcia talks about the chest, medium, and head voice. These are terms teachers and singers still use today, and his description of them made sense to me and was still relevant. Something that stuck out as different from today was his use of the word falsetto. During his descriptions of the male voice he seemed to talk about falsetto as if it was head voice, which is definitely not how we think of falsetto today. My opinion is that he used the term falsetto to describe what we call male head voice today, and what we call falsetto is a sound that either Garcia didn’t acknowledge or men just didn’t use. This is my best way to explain his use of falsetto, though of course I cannot say for certain.

Something I thought was interesting was the top and bottom ranges Garcia gives for male and female singers. While he certainly goes to the extremes of the ranges in describes what each voice can sing, it seems to me in this day and age that there is an increasing amount of people who go decently beyond these parameters. Given that information I think if Garcia was writing this today, he’d go a bit further with the extremes of the ranges.

I was personally interested in Garcia’s description of registers and voice types. During his discussion on the different female voice types, Garcia presented a diagram showing the chest, middle, and head voice sections for the contralto, mezzo, and soprano voice types. What amused me the most about it was that I can sing all the notes on that diagram. Granted, I cannot sing a low E nearly as easily as a contralto can, but the note is still within my voice, as in the C6 that Garcia presents as the top of the soprano range. This relates to my thoughts on Garcia’s ranges not reflecting the voices of today. I know of several (if not many) women that can either sing lower and/or higher than me, and I think that reflects how the variety of voices has changed since Garcia’s time.

Hints on Singing by Manuel Garcia

Samantha Riesenberg

Vocal Pedagogy Honors Journal #1

Hints on Singing by Manuel Garcia

            The structure, or organization of the book is quite interesting.  There are many examples included throughout, which we have seen in many of the treatises and books seen lately, but the book is structured in a question and answer format.  For example, when talking about different female voices, he writes, “Q: Are all female voices alike in extent and character? A: No. They are divided into three classes on account of the differences they show. They are the contralto, which is the lowest voice; the mezzo-soprano which holds a middle position; and the soprano, which is the highest voice.” (Garcia, 15).  It is as if he anticipates potential questions the reader would have and answers them before they have a chance to ask them.  When dealing with elements such as portamento, messa di voce, runs, grace notes, and trills, he includes exercises to use in order to work on them. There are diagrams throughout as well, as a visual aid to his descriptions. 

            I believe that anyone who wants to study singing, teachers and students alike, would read and benefit from this book.  Some of the anatomical elements would be more useful to the teacher, as Garcia says in his preface, but can also be useful for the student just for additional information.  The exercises are useful to both the student and teacher, as the student can use them in practice, and the teacher can use them to teach the student.  I think the way the book is designed, however, is especially helpful to students, as they do not need to sift through loads of information to get an answer to something specific.   

            I think a lot of the concepts Garcia spoke about are still used today.  Some of the exercises look similar to ones that I have been given throughout my studies and would potentially give to a student.  I think the science is obviously more advanced now, with advancements in technology we have and the additional information we now know about the physiology of the body.  His use of the word falsetto as the same thing as male head voice is now considered old-fashioned and wrong, but other than that the majority of what he said is still relevant to us today.  Overall, I think the book is quite clear and organized.  The question answer format really struck a chord with me, in that it made me understand what he was saying much more.  It was as if he could read my mind of the things I would question and got to it before I could even think. 

vocevista and pavarotti

Here is a link to an interesting article referencing tenor high notes, resonance and VoceVista:
http://www.vocevista.com/pavarotti.html

passive voice handout link

Here is a link to a helpful handout on passive voice.
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/resources/handouts-demos/citationpassive-voice

Welcome to 2012 Vocal Pedagogy MUS 4225 and MUS 4296

Please feel to post your comments and insights on Spring 2012 Vocal Pedagogy.