JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques Microphone and Vocalist Forum Aspirates are boring me

Hey, I am taking vocal lessons, and I am being to bored to tears while performing aspirates? Is there a way to make this more exciting? Thanks.

Use more interesting words. (X-rated ones are fun to practice with.) Is there a song out there comprised entirely (or mostly) of aspirates? Maybe you should write one...

Joe
www.soundclick.com/bands/7/joewrabek_music.htm

I don't know I get the idea that I am supposed to only sing Ah- ha- ah - ha - ah - ha

over and over again

Bored with aspirates? Try Tylenol or Advil.

At the very least, you should have an understanding of why this is exercise is important. Personally I believe in explaining the purpose of an exercise to students so they can practice with awareness, and so that they can see how the exercise leads towards the goal of releasing and supporting the voice.

If you are bored to tears by the exercise, you have two options: 1) bite the bullet and practice it daily so that your body & mind can grasp the needed habit and you can move on, 2) skip it & find something else that has the same purpose

I've never been asked to do an 'ah ha' exercise, but I suspect it's meant to work on developing support... there are many other excises that would achieve that object.

You might try singing some decending 5 note scales on 'va va va va va' (start at E above middle C & move up on the piano by 1/2 steps til you reach B) looking to return to the same shape on each 'ah' & imagining that you are going up the stairs while you sing down.

Or you could politely ask your teacher for another option.

cheers
Hummin'bird

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Vikki Flawith, Canadian Singer/Songwriter & Voice Teacher

This bird sings at:
Vikki on Soundclick
Vikki on Mixposure
Vikki on MySpace

The Shy Singer-Songwriter's Blog

aparently, there is no other option. It is supposed to warm up my vocal chords by stretching than further and further like a rubber band. I am used to it by now, and I pretty much just zone out when I do it. I used to stop in the middle, but now I just go straight through and do it in one run.

I am doing way more crazy stuff than thatn now.
Like running in place while singing italian vowels, pump breathing, and a dicktion exersize where I say the words to my song, by just speaking them, but elongating the vowel sonuds and over emphasizing the constanants. Its pretty cool. It probably will get repetetive too, but thats the sacrifice a good vocalists has to make I suppose

At the risk of sounding ignorant (ok, I AM ignorant), what are aspirates?

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Jeannie

[This message has been edited by Lady Fitzgerald (edited 09-25-2005).]

[This message has been edited by Lady Fitzgerald (edited 09-25-2005).]

aspirates are 'h'

don't know about the running in place stuff
but
"a diction exersize where I say the words to my song, by just speaking them, but elongating the vowel sonuds and over emphasizing the constanants"

is an exercise every singer should do with every song.
H


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Vikki Flawith, Canadian Singer/Songwriter & Voice Teacher

This bird sings at:
Vikki on Soundclick
Vikki on Mixposure
Vikki on MySpace

The Shy Singer-Songwriter's Blog

Looks pretty close to being the title of a dirty movie.

Really, it's pronouncing a vowel or word with an h, as in hurry or following a consonant at the end of a word with an audible breath before going on to the next sound -- hit(breath).