Personal Narrative: My Voice

As I unlocked my jaw from my mouth, nothing came out. The director and the instructor stared at me with open jaws. They weren’t able to take me in because I had lost my voice. I was the quiet 14-year-old, who lost the ability to sing falsetto anymore. My only strength was my baritone voice, but the choir, at the time, did not start a boy choir in their choir yet. I auditioned yet again, but the same result happened; however, this time, they had troubadours for me to start my life in choir: The choir that is called the South Bay Children’s Choir (SBCC)

I grew up in Mishawaka, Indiana, surrounded by a large, loving family. My family gathers together each week to attend church and share a meal. I love to sing and grew up singing at my local church. Singing has allowed me many great opportunities to pursue something I love and impact people in new and different ways. Furthermore, singing highlights my ambition and exhibits my attention to detail, problem solving skills and the ability to continue to adapt to learning in new ways. Having never learned to read music or received any formal musical training, I am able to predict the flow of a song I have never heard and create harmony. Relying on the gift of a “good ear,” coupled with determination, I am able to learn a song quickly after hearing it only a few

I wish I was able to practice and experiment more with my voice. For the midterm scene, there was mostly one emotion going through my mind as I was in character: annoyance… and possibly exasperation. There was not a great variety of emotion in that one scene. However, during in-class exercises, I think that I am able to experiment more thoroughly. Right now I am okay with my vocal strength, range, and flexibility, although I do see room for improvement especially in expressiveness in adapting to the script. If I were to continue acting I would like to play with lines

I never sang too loud so if I messed up, no one would hear it .After every class I would go up to my Choir or band director with about five questions. But it simply was not enough. So my sophomore year I was given vocal lessons that taught me that I can match pitch consistently , and that my range was bigger than I ever thought it could be. I discovered a talent that I loved and I intended to perfect it .I performed in multiple cabarets and had the opportunity to sing with my choir at the Carnegie music hall. I was finally getting the swing of music; but that was not enough due to my obstinacy. I wanted to learn

Through videoing myself at the beginning of week one and then at the end of week two I compared the reflection I made watching these videos (Appendix E). In week one when answering questions, I felt I had to answer immediately in week one (Appendix E), compared to week two where I felt I could pause construct the answer then speak with confidence. This has enable me to speak at a comfortable volume without having to strain my voice. I also noticed that with an increase in confidence in what I was saying, students were more likely to engage in class which eliminated a lot of chatter that occurred in week one. I understand that voice is something I must continually work on. My voice will improve once I become more confident in my own ability to assist students when they have questions. Speaking at a lower volume could be less effective in larger classes. I tried this with my year thirteen class which only has fifteen students. As class size increases I will need to implement other strategies which engage all students and reduces the behavioural

In the first part of the video Ms.Fleming's focuses on the sound of a baritone singer (Daniel Shelvey). The expansion of the rib cage was a something Ms.Fleming's emphasized for the baritone singer. This affects me as a singer because I have a lot of trouble in my abdominal area. I can apply this in my own singing by making sure I expand my rib cage. Ms. Flemings mentioned if a sound is too dark the words can’t be heard that well. If it's brighter the sound is projected more and it can be clearer. Something that is stressed a lot to singers that Ms.Fleming's mentioned was to never reach for higher notes. It’s surprising just how common it is for any male singer to try and reach for notes. Another thing that is common to male singers that Ms. Flemings mentioned is to not press when you sing low notes. She mentioned that the sound carries better when the sound isn't overproduced. Focusing on the important words. I assume what she meant by this is that some words in a song have more meaning than others and so a singer must

I wish I could sing low enough to be a bass. I crave the deep, rich resonance that flutters across the musical page and tells a hidden story that can only be heard with close attention. The purest octave creates a peaceful tone, nurturing the listener and cradling them until they reach a harmonious slumber, yet I can’t produce it. My anatomy won’t allow for it. I audiate the note and understand exactly what it should sound like; however, when I try to sing it, nothing comes out. Everything falls flat.

So how can you make a sound that is acceptable in choir. You should always warm up. Your vocal chords can get strained or hurt if you try to jump right into singing. Warm ups could include going up and down the scale. You need to know where you are comfortable singing too. Are you Soprano, Alto or if you are a boy then you could be a Base or Tenor. This is crucial

The dominant reason I initiated the process was to free up the unconscious repressions I believed or had convinced myself were holding my voice back. I was essentially a singer but suffering from oppression of the vocal chords and I am being sarcastic, though at the time I was being serious. Having attempted private and group singing classes without success, the next step was therapy.

The truth is until taking this class, I never knew there were two categories of the soprano voice. Thus, I often wondered why I could not sing as high as some other soprano singers, even though my vocal range was not as low as an alto singer. From the information in our text, I can boldly say that my singing voice is mezzo-soprano because my vocal range is in between the soprano and alto voices.

For others, learning how to support the voice is a process that takes many years. Montserrat Caballe spent her “first year at the Conservatoire learning how to breathe.” She went on to call this her “respiratory gymnastics.” “Her breathing exercises were aimed at building a big solid wall around the diaphragm by using and controlling all those muscles under and behind the abdomen which support the diaphragm and the back. She wanted to strengthen them to the point where the diaphragm does need to work but only to support the breath. The actual work of pushing up the air is done by the abdominal muscles.” Dramatic Soprano and Professor of Voice at New England Conservatory, Jane Eaglen shares Caballe’s beliefs on the sheer physicality required to achieve sufficient breathe support for a large voice. She states “Making the voice seamlessly supported throughout its entire range takes a lot of physical strength. Not stamina, but sheer physical strength. The strength to use your muscles, and the diaphragm, and the rest of the body in the right way—never the throat. There must never be an inkling of tension in the throat. I very much use all of my body to sing. I use my legs, bottom, everything. So the whole body was ready by then: the cords were ready, the voice was ready and the muscles were ready. A voice should always be like that – seamless. But this just took time. It came through good teaching and my being

Many of the tone-deaf people have been able to work on their problem, and by correcting their singing techniques, as well as releasing their constrictions, they have learned to sing in tune. "Tone-deaf" singers often have severe constrictions around their vocal cords (Gandour, 2000). Usually they have had these tensions for such a long time that they no longer feel like tensions. A person often finds psychological reasons for these tensions (Gandour, 2000). Gandour states, "frequently a singer has been thoroughly deprived of his or hers self-confidence regarding the voice "(2000). One can lose his or her self-confidence for many reasons. For example, I was singled out as the one in the church choir who was spoiling the sound of the choir and by being the

      As I lift my head up and open my mouth, my voice escalates with every tune that comes out. The soothing words bounce off of my tongue and release the tension held within. Even if the sounds aren’t perfect or correct, every little bit helps me get through the day. When stressed, nothing helps me more than singing. My passion for singing comes from deep within my soul, mind and heart. When I sing, I sing with all of me, putting everything I can into it. I have always had a great passion for singing, ever since I was young. Although I am shy and still get nervous and shaky in front of others, in my own time, singing is my cigarette, my alcoholic drink, my escape from all the anger and the pain.

Think you can't sing? Believe it or not, this is one of the most common misconceptions we have about ourselves. While it's correct that some people have been blessed with the golden voice, the simple truth is that anyone can learn to sing better than they do now. When it comes down to it, using your voice is just like using any other instrument. For example, have you ever tried playing a violin without any violin lessons beforehand? The resulting screeching sound would probably have you think you're not cut out for playing the violin, but the truth is that you just don't have the necessary skills yet. Singing is just like that – you need to put in the hours in order to get better.

Mastering how to sing is more than just carrying a tune or beat, it is about learning to handle the critics. Music is all based on opinions and is a make or break industry. Going through high school and now in college, I can look back and thank my middle school choir teacher for building my confidence and back bone. It all began at eleven years old when I realized my passion for singing and thus, joined the middle school choir.