6. Antidote to the high larnynx
The concept of the “open throat” is taught variously. Joan Patenaude-Yarnell, instructor at the Curtis Institute, warns that:
When young singers are asked to open the throat with directives to release the jaw, lift the palate, release the tongue, and the like, a sense of confusion often results. They often tend to isolate each effort, question the degree to which they are doing it, and disturb the natural balance among all of the elements. To describe this necessary principle in technical terms often causes a certain self-consciousness in the young singer, and the very natural function of releasing the larynx and preparing the resonators becomes unbalanced. However, when the imagination focuses on something we do every day and that we do quite naturally, this necessary step in good singing can be accomplished quite easily.(1)
Such natural actions as “the feeling of the beginning of a yawn,” “smelling a rose,” “breathing in steam when you have a cold,” and “the gasp of surprise”(2) (commonly used teaching concepts) all result in the downward relaxation of the mandible, the raising of the soft palate and the enlarging of the pharynx. A natural and positive result of these actions is that the larynx descends slightly. This position has been found to allow the voice to work with greatest freedom, provide a maximum of resonance, and allow the singer greatest variety in expression.
This acoustic principle is so basic and important that it seems to be reinforced in many venues of vocal learning. The August 2003 edition of Opera News (“ON”) records an interview between reporter, recital accompanist Steven Blier and internationally-experienced voice teacher Daniel Ferro. The interview is in a question-answer format. One question refers directly to our topic.
ON: Is it ever scary to work with voices that are in transition? At the beginning, there’s a lot of cracking, a lot of agita connected with this vocal change. How do you cope with that as a teacher?
DF: You feel a terrible responsibility for these singers. At the beginning, I have them lie on the floor on their back and just feel a deep inhalation, a low larynx — not held low! — and the feeling of the space in the back of the mouth.(3)
As a teacher I should add, that remedying the habitual high larynx, while easily understood intellectually, requires much perseverance over an extended period of time for the student.
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(1) Joan Patenaude-Yarnell, “The Role of Imagination in Teaching Voice,” Journal of Singing 59:5 (May-June 2003), 426.
(2) The natural actions listed in the paragraph are common to those found in the writings of most voice pedagogues including McKinney, Miller, Patenaude-Yarnell and those who write for the Journal of Singing. These are used in the writer’s studio also.
(3) Steven Blier, “A Singer’s Diary: Trading Up” Opera News (68:2, August 2003), 17.