A Soprano Down Under: Where did the high notes go?

Podcast – and this is the end

pathtaken — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:30:48 +0000

OK, I’ve subscribed to several podcasts. Not a big deal. Although, I’m not sure when I’m going to be able to listen or watch everything. Already I don’t read the daily newspapers. (I’m so glad I have my mother who acts as a secretary and saves anything she thinks I might be interested in.)

And I’ve finally put together my podcast. I could have published something I already had, but I had an idea and wanted to work on that. It took a while to get everything together, but I’m glad I did it. The publishing was actually the easiest part of the whole thing. Not much difference in using PodBean as in using a wiki or blog. Anyway, I think I’m through with all the assignments for Blue 2.0.

Here’s the URL for my podcast – http://drdeen76.podbean.com/.

A video sample for Blue 2.0

pathtaken — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 22:39:15 +0000

I’m hoping to add a number of videos to this blog, but I don’t have them created yet. However, for the Blue 2.0 assignment I’m connecting to this video on belting at YouTube. It is pretty good, and so are his other videos – probably the closest I found to what I would want to learn. I still am amazed that even though singers and vocal coaches/teachers all talk about how important breathing is, there is such difference in what they say is proper breathing technique – and much of it is not totally in sync with basic physiology and what scientific research is showing about how different ways of breathing effects the vocal mechanism. Give me a little while and I’ll be back with more information on that.

Why this blog?

pathtaken — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:04:57 +0000

I’ve been thinking about putting together this blog – or making it a wiki – anyway, something that would let me put down my thoughts on the topic.

Why this topic? I’ve been singing since I was quite young and singing in choral ensembles has been and continues to be an important part of my life. It has brought joy to my soul and at times has kept me sane. But over the past 10 years I’ve found that singing wasn’t so fun because I had to push to get the notes I used to reach so easily. Some would say, but that is just normal…as you age your vocal range lowers. That answer didn’t work for me and fortunately I have at my access a secret weapon, the person who first introduced me to choral music and one of the most interesting musicians around. If anyone could help me figure out what was going on, I knew he could and after about 10 months, I’m starting to have fun singing again – and those high notes are starting to come easily and with better quality than probably any time in the past.

Is there such a thing as the aging voice? Of course, but what probably happens to most people is that abuse of the voice over time finally creeps up and the body says ‘No MORE!’ I actually have had voice lessons at various times throughout my life, but I’ve had to relearn how to be aware of what I am doing while singing and how I am breathing.

If you are having problems with your voice, if you are losing range, there are solutions. Are you ready to try some unusual exercises, something different than most voice teachers would have you do? If so, come back and I’ll share with you what I’ve done – and let me know if they work for you, too.