FITZMAURICE VOICEWORK FOR SINGERS AND ACTORS

Transcription

1 FITZMAURICE VOICEWORK FOR SINGERS AND ACTORS by Joan Melton, PhD Coordinator of the Voice/Movement Program, California State University, Fullerton I met Catherine Fitzmaurice in the winter of 1986, after searching for at least 15 years for a physical way into vocal technique for singers. In the late 1970s, as chair of the Music Department, Peace College, Raleigh NC, l'd team taught courses with the head of the Physical Education Department, and the physicality of the warm-ups done by the Peace College Choir and Chamber Singers was chronicled by local newspapers and television. In the early 1980s, I team taught a course with a gifted dancer and choreographer in New York City. Together we had students moving and singing, but the connection I was looking for still eluded me. At the same time I began to study the Alexander Technique. I was finding pieces of the puzzle. In August of 1986, I spoke with Rocco Dal Vera, who told me about a wonderful Linklater teacher, whom I contacted immediately, and about Catherine Fitzmaurice. It was several months before I began to work with Catherine privately, and at my first lesson she asked if I were serious. I said, ''Yes," and she said, "Get down on the floor." After scrunch, stretch, shake out, five points of release, and knees to the side, she guided me into the pelvic lift and I began to tremor. This was it! I'd found the connection. I continued to do weekly sessions with Catherine and tremored at least an hour a day. I used the work for myself, as a singer, and for my students. It was marvelous. It answered so many questions, and the results often seemed miraculous. Even at my first lesson, Catherine and I discussed a course of study that would effectively change my career from music to theatre. I was a 20"' Century music specialist, a musicologist, and a singer who did new music. Being in theatre was not new to me, but teaching theatre voice was. At Catherine's suggestion, and with her encouragement and support, I went to London to do the ADVS at the Central School of Speech and Drama. That remarkable course

2 2 introduced me to new worlds, new friends, and the most exciting career I can possibly imagine. I continue to teach singing, but the major thrust of my work is with actors. A secondary and very interesting part of my work involves the training of business professionals and the retraining of singers and speakers with vocal problems. In this chapter, I want to share with you (1) certain discoveries regarding the pitch range and Destructuring positions, (2) basic principles regarding breathing, and (3) specific suggestions for efficient use of the articulators. One of the striking aspects of VOICEWORK is that it relies strongly on an understanding of human anatomy and the natural and efficient functioning of the human body. Structuring is very close to classical breathing techniques for singers, and is based on principles that are physiologically clear and sound. Pitch Range and the Destructuring Positions In my work with singers and actors, I have noticed that rounded positions tend to facilitate easy high pitches, and open positions encourage low sounds if the throat is open and the breath is deep Destructuring positions are wonderfully useful for accessing parts of the voice that might otherwise remain undiscovered. So, Scrunch-face muscles squeezed, space between back teeth, lips closed-high sound; Stretch-reaching with arms and legs, tongue stretched out, and throat relaxed open- low sounds, huh, or ha. And so on through the other positions I also add a shoulder stand after the half plough, and playful high sounds are quite easy in that posture. I do not teach actual singing vocalises in Destructuring positions. Rather, I strongly suggest allowing the voice to play comfortably and. to explore before moving to specific pitches later in any practice session or lesson. Below is a list of positions and suggestions for high or low sounds. Medium pitches are possible and easy in any position, but connecting range to breath and working all of the voice in the warm up has been interesting and exceedingly useful to me as I work with singers, actors, and even business professionals.

3 3 Place a book or pillow under your head, if necessary, to align the spine, so that the back of the neck remains long at all times. Do not push or strain to get extremes of the range. Simply allow. Cardinal rule: if it hurts, don't do it! Scrunch Stretch Knees to the Side Pelvic Lift High Medium/-unless you lift head with hands; then high pitches are easy. Really let the weight of your head be in your hands, if you choose to lift the head. Hug knees head not lifted Feet in the Air Arms in the Air Dying Roach Half Plough Shoulder Stand Cobra Bow Kneeling Arch Medium/-unless you lift the head High High /Medium/High Space in the throat is critical to work with range. Below is a description of what I call the "Roll Down." It is a modification of the Standing Bow and other drop down positions used in the Destructuring work. This exercise, in combination with a brief articulatory warm-up, wakes up the breath, resonance and pitch range, as it stretches and curls the body for flexibility and tone. It can quickly integrate body and voice for the singer and actor-and it is a favorite of business professionals as well. Stand with your feet in line with your hips, knees not locked, spine aligned, shoulders released. Let the lower jaw fall, so the mouth is slightly open. Drop the head front and feel its weight stretch the back of the neck. Let the weight of the head roll you down to where you drop, hanging from your tail bone. Let your arms and head dangle.

4 4 Roll up slowly, visualizing the uncurling one vertebra at a time, until you are upright except for your head. Slowly let your head float up, gently stretching the back of the neck as you do. The head comes up from the back, not from the chin! Keep your weight centered; do not overbalance forward or back at any point. Add sound to the movement Open the mouth, tip of tongue touches lower gum ridge, throat is spacious, as in the beginning of a yawn. On "ah," start with a comfortable low sound and allow the sound to get higher as you roll down-a slide. Sound stops when you drop. Breathe as if your lungs are in your buttocks, then start with a high sound and allow the pitch of the sound to lower as you roll up. Don't force high or low; just ALLOW THE BODY TO RELEASE THE VOICE. Repeat the exercise, adding a tremor in the legs as you roll up. Once you are up, raise the arms and press slightly with the heels of the hands to find an additional tremor in the arms. DO NOT ALLOW THE HEAD TO FALL BACK. Keep the back of the neck long and do not sink the head into the shoulders. Your chin should be parallel to the floor when you are standing, so that "The world is your peer." -C. Fitzmaurice As you move from low to high, or high to low pitches generally, do not move the head in the direction of the pitch. When you do, you work against what the body will do easily. Maintain space in the throat, soft palate lifted but not tense, and think, look and/or make a physical gesture down as you go up in pitch. Again, the idea of rounding for higher pitches. A scream is often taught through rounded positions, and the physiological and psychological reasons are the same. Why does it work? In rounded positions the larynx is comfortably low and the inclination to strain up, or to raise the larynx, is inhibited. The back of the neck is long and if the tongue and jaw are reasonably relaxed, the muscles that raise the larynx are not activated. Breathing

5 5 In 1990, during a workshop in London, the instructor jumped on a trampoline and had us do the same, as we blew breath out or released sound every time we jumped "Our concern," she said, "is only with the use of the breath out, or the exhalation. The body knows how to breathe in." This is the bottom line, and breath management techniques must first acknowledge this simple truth or build on a load of inefficient tensions, gasping and confused muscular use. The major breathing muscles with which we work consciously are the external intercostals for inhalation and the lower abdominals for exhalation. As antagonistic muscles to the internal diaphragm, the abdominals must relax as the external intercostals expand the rib cage for breathing in. The major actors in exhalation-and therefore in speech or singing-are the abdominals. The release of the abdominal muscles, indeed the quick release, is particularly important in both singing and speaking. That release sets up the conditions for inhalation the downward contraction of the diaphragm, expansion of the rib cage, and immediate filling of the partial vacuum thus created in the lungs. Release the abdominals and the body does the rest. So it is never necessary to pull the air in, and definitely not necessary to effect a noisy intake of breath. My experience with singers especially, has been: Breathy in, Breathy out If the intake of air is noisy, the singing tone is usually breathy, A breathy tone is physiologically inefficient and considerably less useful than a clear one, so don't expect or accept a breathy quality in any part of your range. Efficient use of the breath and the aural image of a clear sound will usually go a long way toward evening out the "line" of the voice. Efficient Use of the Articulators Muscles of articulation strongly affect both the sound of the voice and the clarity of the speech. Efficient articulation is essential for both actors and singers. Following are guidelines that may be useful in this regard, especially for singers/actors in Musical Theatre: Relax the lips and jaw for all sounds! Round the lips for rounded back vowels and diphthongs only-no rounded ee or ah, please. Make space in the mouth and throat, but do not modify vowels.

6 6 Keep the tongue tip in the front of the mouth, at the lower gum ridge, for all vowels, diphthongs and triphthongs. The back of the throat should be spacious for all sounds, except k, g, and ng, which require momentary closure of the space between the tongue and the soft palate. Isolate the specific action of the tongue for each sound, e.g., produce k, g and ng with the back of the tongue only, instead of pulling the tip, front and middle of the tongue back and/or moving the jaw to make these sounds. The tongue tip, whether active or inactive, is in the front of the mouth for every sound in English ("Standard" British or American), except r, which requires the tip to curve back toward-but not touch-the hard palate. Or if the r sound is produced in the General American way, the tongue bunches up and puiis back into the mouth. In medial positions especially, the "Standard" r is highly desirable for full resonance and clear pronunciation. Let any unnecessary tension in the lips, face, jaw-:-the body generally-be a matter of choice in the development of a character, not habit which pervades and inhibits choice. FoIIowing are exercises I use regularly to isolate the action of the tongue from that of the jaw. Both singers and speakers will benefit significantly from learning to let go of the jaw and use the muscles of the tongue. 1. Release the lower jaw and say ee (don't smile) the mouth is quite open, but not forced. Keep the tip of the tongue touching the lower teeth. The front of the tongue (behind the tip and blade) will come up to touch the sides of the upper teeth. Leave the jaw RELAXED AND NOT MOVING as you alternate ee and ah-no interruption of the sound, smooth, legato ee ah several times. Feel the relaxed jaw and active tongue. The mouth should be as open as possible for the ee so that the tongue will make a great motion from one vowel to the other. This exercise is great on specific pitches as weii and may be a part of every warm- up for the singer. For example, five notes down (gfedc, ee ah ee ah ee, or ah ee ah ee ah), or chromatically down the eight notes of a perfect fifth, ee ah ee ah ee ah

7 7 ee ah (first note is twice as long as the others), and up by half steps. This is particularly useful mid range. THERE SHOULD BE NO LIP ROUNDING FOR EE OR AH!! Let the tongue alone shape the vowels. 2. Open the mouth far enough to put two fingers between the front teeth, jaw relaxed, tip of tongue touching the lower gum ridge. Say "kah, kah, kah," etc., and "gah, gah, gah." Make the k and g very loud by energetically and quickly releasing the back of the tongue from the soft palate. 3. Also, a marvelous exercise with rhythm and specific pitches: HUNG HONG, hung gay hung go, hung gay hung go, hung gay hung go, hung gay hung go Finally, some Bits of Wisdom regarding Singing: If you overweight the bottom of the voice, you won't have fullness at the top. As you vocalize, it may be helpful to think of the voice/pitch range as a cone, becoming gradually fuller as you go up. Think down as you go up for easy, full high notes-sit down harder, push on a wall, plié. Relax the lips and jaw for all sounds! Round, (don't tense) the lips for rounded back vowels only.

8 8 A "held," or sustained note is not rigid, not a static thing. It is alive and actively leading to whatever comes next. Likewise, accompaniment interludes are active, not dead spaces for.the singer. Breathe with the sense of the text, and emphasize as you would if you were speaking the text. USE OPERATIVE WORDS (defined as words naturally stressed in speech, about one per phrase)! NO GASPING! In breaths are silent and deep even when they are very quick. Loud breaths may occur as part of emotional expression, but that is the exception not the way breathing normally occurs. The abdominal muscles are particularly active in phrasing a song. When you have a skip up, a higher note, and/or an emphasized note to sing, strong inward action of the abs supports the tone and allows freedom in the throat, neck, and chest. Extra action may also be needed for low notes that are emphasized and/or sustained. Rib swing is essential for full, flexible sound and the ability to sustain a phrase, or see the line through. Lift the cheeks slightly, or think of lifting the upper teeth or uvula. This subtle action can help you to access upper notes of the range and it gives a ringing quality to the voice. Relax the forehead and light the eyes! A furrowed brow produces accompanying and undesirable tensions and connotes a lack of confidence as well! Summary My work with any population begins with Destructuring/Restructuring. That is the core, the solid foundation, the physical/technical connection that was so important for me to find.

9 9 Fitzmaurice VOICEWORK is direct and clear, and it fits beautifully with other physiologically based systems. Its classical base facilitates a healthy and beneficial dialogue between theatre voice training and the training of singers for a variety of media. VOICEWORK has the power to release tension and instill confidence in anyone who uses it, and the element of physical efficiency makes it an invaluable tool for the retraining and healing of virtually any voice that has been misused or abused.