The Sound of Change

I watched the Tony Awards last night and heard a lot of full on belting, full-on singing, which reminded me of the operatic voice.

Or at least the process of making it.

It’s a funny thing really. Our ears accept chest voice in the theatre voice. It’s visceral. But in the operatic voice? We sometimes don’t think of it that way. In fact, we sometimes think the operatic voice doesn’t have chest at all.

But it does.

Historically-speaking, the operatic singing voice is based on the chest. Go read those old texts on the download page. Study them. That’s what they say. The voice is based on the chest. Yes, yes, yes—the vocal tract is the only resonator. But I’m not talking about that. What I’m talking about is the feeling of singing itself in full-on operatic vocal production.

Sensation in the chest is one aspect. Another is how this same vocal production is perceived in the head. How does it get to the head? Via bone! Sound doesn’t just travel to one area of the body. It goes everywhere even if it originates in the larynx [Tomatis would say the ear—but we’ll leave that aside for now].

How is the sound that is perceived in the chest perceived in the head?

Lots of terms come to mind. Here are some of the descriptors I’ve heard from students.

• It sounds nasal to me. Are you sure this is right?

• It sounds ugly!

• It sounds like maracas!

• Ir’s down-right nasty! But wow! The feeling!

• It sounds like phlegm!

• It sounds buzzy!

My response to each and every student who has their socks knocked off by their new audition?

We don’t hear what you are hearing! It’s your own private audition. It’s called bone conduction. What you hear is not coming out of your mouth! If you think what you hear out of great singers is what you should be hearing in your head? Sorry. But that’s not how it works. It’s going to take you a long while to get used to it. In the exact words of my teacher? “It’s hard!” Once you accept it? You won’t hear it in the way you are now. But it will take time.

A colleague of mine once told me that he'd had four lessons with Harshaw and thought he sounded terrible. Just awful. He’d gone to a school where they sang in a dark manner and Harshaw had him singing very differently. Then he listened to the recordings he’d made of his lessons [we’re talking cassette tapes] and nearly fell off his chair. A professional sound was coming out of his mouth! But that’s not what he heard in his head. He went on to have a major operatic career.

The sound of change? It’s a big adjustment and starts where the teaching begins. In the mind.

Ready to make the change? Get in touch with me here.