This week I continued practicing the falsetto with and without last week’s song. During the lesson, my teacher shared a few clarifications on how to practice the falsetto. I learned that it was okay to go high, but not really high (beyond the high C). I discovered that it was such a thing as a low falsetto register (I never knew about that). My teacher showed me how that sounded with his voice, and then I tried it myself (you can listen to a recording down below).
In the lesson, we also tried different vocalizations derived from the ‘I’ to ‘O’ exercise. I found it interesting that, as he showed me the exercises, he changed from ‘I’ to ‘O’ very quickly. Somehow, I thought I should stay there for longer. My teacher also mentioned that this register was important to round up the voice in general. Now that I know that it goes lower than what I thought, this makes a lot of sense.
Even though the vibrato sound happens more or less naturally when using good vocal technique, we’ve been ‘training’ the waves in different forms. One of the most interesting ways is by using the appoggio and exaggerating the up-and-down motion of the vibrato. In a sense, it’s a useful exercise to train both the vibrato sensation and the appoggio at the same time.
The Ninth Week of Practice
This was a shorter week of practice. I had my lesson on Monday as usual, but I had a weekend trip starting on Friday. While I was away from home, I didn’t do any vocalization or singing practice. I’m used to practicing at the piano, and not having one discouraged me from doing any practice. I know that it’s not absolutely essential. Maybe I just wanted to have a few days off!
Audio Recordings
Here’s a short excerpt from the lesson I had this week. Here you can listen to a downward falsetto. I’m taking it down, even far away than I thought it was possible. You will hear in the middle that I ask my teacher: ‘Ist das noch Falsetto?’ (Is that still falsetto?). I couldn’t believe that the falsetto register could extend so low!
And this one to show you that sometimes things go wrong (but it’s fine!):
That’s all for now! 😊
