Conducting Review: Charlotte Adams

Daily Workout for a Beautiful Voice

Ms. Adams' goal is to inspire healthy vocal production, and to develop a beautiful, warm, free, mature tone. She describes how the functions of body and mind affect the formation of sound. These exercises develop the natural sound, then enhance it. She promotes three basic techniques. The first technique is visualization, producing correct vocal sound and with imagery. She also promotes "pretend" gestures, and facial animation is enhanced when singers are encouraged to visualize the sound. The second technique is movement. Motions and gestures enable each singer to visualize aspects of the desired sound. The third technique is reinforcement, wherein individuality is promoted and proper vocal production is praised.

The enclosed printed exercises are grouped into five basic categories: resonance, breath support, lifted soft palate, range, and agility. The first resonance exercise gets the voice moving quickly and easily. She makes the interesting observation that the "th" sound immediately places the voice in the mask area and engages the breath stream. The next exercise is preformed in two parts: buzzing the lips immediately relaxes the facial muscles; "bee-bee-ing" on a five-note scale encourages creating lots of space in the mouth and drops the jaw. The third exercise is for relaxation, singing "nee-yah." A light staccato production connects resonance with the breath stream.

The second group- builds on the first, while adding sustained breath support. The legato tone is maintained in the mask. Vowels are made uniform to create more mature sound. In "ee-oh," the first sound adds ping to the second, which in turn adds roundness to the first. The "yee-wah-thoh" exercise is done with a slight crescendo on "yee" to energize the breath stream; "yee" to "wah" encourages flow from one not to another; and "thoh" promotes relaxation. The final exercise of this group, "blah-blah-blah," involves puffing the cheeks at the beginning of each "blah."

The third group of exercises unifies the vowels and exercising the soft palate. For exercise seven, she uses "thih-thah." The throat is opened to allow lots of space for resonance, and a slight crescendo and legato provide good breath support. Exercise eight has the diminutive name "lah-beh-dah-meh-nee-poh-too-lah-beh," and concentrates on unifying the vowel sounds. The fingers are placed on the temple to imagine the sound in the mask, and the eyebrows are lifted on the high notes to encourage a lifted soft palate. Exercise nine is "double-bubble," the relaxation technique for this set, and involves puffing the cheeks while descending a five-note scale.

The fourth group of exercises work to expand range. In exercise ten, "ay-ah," the light, bouncy staccato of the second pitch helps the high note to pop up with little effort. The "ay" places the sound in the mask to give the "ah" a nice ring. Exercise eleven, "vah-vah-vah," is used to develop bright top tones (once the high register has been exercised). Start high and go very high; beauty is not the point of this exercise. Exercise twelve, however, is good for legato singing, deep breathing, and bringing the head tones down in the chest. "Oo-ah" involves breathing all the way down to the toes and filling the entire body with air. Sharp singing can be addressed with this exercise because it eliminates tension. Exercise thirteen, "bum biddly," is the relaxation exercise for this group. It encourages a buoyant sound as it loosens and lifts the facial muscles and bursts the sound forward.

The final set continues to focus on range while adding increased agility. Exercise fourteen develops the upper register. Exercise fifteen, the "fah" march, inspires flexibility and fun while working on range expansion. The relaxation exercise for this set is number sixteen, "Fah" with an inner smile (from temple to temple under the skin). It persuades the high notes to come out freely and easily. Range expansion and buoyant sound are the goals of this exercise.

Ms. Adams observes that to work all these exercises into a rehearsal could take up as much as twenty minutes of rehearsal, but customization is advisable as long as all categories are covered and include a relaxation technique. All exercises seem to be quite useful, and the hand gestures (not discussed in this review) are excellent for reinforcement. Getting a choir to feel comfortable enough to do them would be the trick.