Let’s explore the breath and it’s relationship to the vocal sound. The vocal folds are located on the top of the trachea. They look like cartilage. They come together and are blown apart VERY rapidly and that’s how the sound is made. If you are curious there are many videos of the process on line. One needs to understand that it is the breath that sets the folds into vibration, creating the singing or speaking sound. Singing takes more breath pressure than speaking unless you’re acting on stage and…
Read moreThe Singer’s Tool Box vol.1
What does it mean to sing? Not to force the voice but to be a true vehicle for something larger than oneself, a channel for some heavenly source.
What does it mean to sing, to be one with the sound. To awaken the ancient knowledge lying dormant in the DNA of human primates.
What does it mean to sing? To experience frequencies that move matter in the body
Changing the configurations, energetically shifting blockages opening portals to ancient knowledge.
Good question don’t you think? What does it mean to sing? Oh by the way, my name is Sharon Pucci. I’ve been a professional singer and voice teacher for over 50 years. You can find out more about me by going to my website www/sharonpucci.com. I studied voice for 13 years with 5 different teachers, each with their own philosophy of vocal technique, all of them different from one another. I learned a lot during this time; what is efficient, what works with the body because the voice CAN NOT be separated from the body or the mind. When I began teaching at the tender age of 23 I was basically learning as I went along. I did, however, have a solid foundation and understanding of singing, which grew exponentially over the years.
In this blog I’d like to share with you the tools I have learned over the years. Besides the traditional vocal pedagogy, I am offering you a different slant on singing, one that incorporates the mind/body connection. Because the voice is inside the body, one needs to develop an awareness of how nature has designed the voice to function efficiently. Developing a fearless curiosity about how the sound is made can be a gift to help one to connect to the ancient knowledge that is present in ALL of us. Yes, some folks have an easier time with singing, have stronger voices, but anyone can sing!!! That is the miracle that was given to us by spirit. It is a direct path to our evolution as a species. I have worked with countless people who didn’t think they could sing or for that matter carry a tune. With kindness, love and a commitment to explore most folks were pleasantly surprised when they actually found their voices. For me it was very empowering to witness the changes as these folks let go and began to experience their voices in a new way.
As far as I know there are no short cuts to developing the singing voice, but there are tools that you can use to become familiar with your voice. I basically taught classical technique for the first 10/15 years of my teaching journey. Most of the folks I worked with were singing in loud rock bands and eventually began developing some interesting vocal pathologies. All of them were suffering from similar symptoms: hoarse speaking voice, loss of range and inability to clearly make a sound on the open vowels; ah, oh, uh,. The tone would become clearer on ih, eh but not as clear as when they phonated e and oo. This was true for all students. There were no exceptions. This confirmed my belief that the vowel is the vocal sound and that it is primitively formed on the vocal folds…..a highly argued theory among voice teachers. The more students let go of the desire to shape the vowels with the lips the easier it was for them to connect with their body’s innate knowledge of singing: now, there is one caveat to this and that is the TONGUE. Even though the vowels are shaped on the folds the tongue is involved in the shaping of the vowels. If one looks at the English vowels starting with UH, OH, AW , the tongue is basically down like a rug on the bottom of the mouth with the tip just touching behind the lower teeth. Moving to the next series beginning with OO, IH, EH, AE the tongue moves a bit on the sides, but the tip is still touching the bottom teeth. Then we move to the diphthongs A, AYE ending with E, where the tongue has it’s highest arch. In case you’re wondering IH is the same vowel as in the word BIT, EH is the same sound as in the word BET and AE is the vowel sound in the word BAD. Diphthongs are double vowels….two vowels sounds on one vowel.