Learn To Sing

"Learn To Sing" Intermediate Level 1 Class v. 1.1

Instructor: Izolda Trakhtenberg
301-441-3005, izolda@folknouveau.com www.folknouveau.com/class3.htm
Izolda Trakhtenberg © 2001
 
Warm-ups (to be done before every time you sing)
1.   March in place (2 minutes) (Singing uses muscles that must be warmed up in order to function at their peak)
2.   Deep breathing (three-part breath) preparing lungs and maintaining a column of air (Exercise 1)
3.   Yawning
4.   Stretching: (Exercise 2)
a.   Shoulder roll (five on each side)
b.   Half neck roll (left side to front to right side and back)
c.   Half neck roll to the back
d.   Neck stretch (turn neck to the side and stretch and then for a deeper stretch turn chin down to the shoulder)
e.   Arms above head stretch (lift both arms and stretch the right arm up lengthening your ribs and then follow with
the left arm)
f.    "C" stretch (lift arms above head clasp right hand with left and curl your back while extending your arms.  For an
added stretch, turn in the direction of the arm clasping.)
g.   Shake out hands
h.   Face scrunch
i.    Face big
j.    Yawn
k.   Horse noise
l.    Yawn with "Ah"
m.  Yawn with "Ah" bent over
5.   Posture (preferable to stand when singing so you can keep an uninterrupted column of air)
a.   Practice standing to sing.  Stand with both feet shoulder width apart, your knees slightly bent and your spine
straight.  Pretend someone has grabbed the hair at the very top of your head and is tugging it upward slightly. 
Jaw is loose and breathing is relaxed.
b.   Sit comfortably upright with your torso resting on your sit bones.  Sit in an uplifted way with your feet flat on the
floor and your gaze at a comfortable level with your eyes and jaw relaxed.
 
Week 1 (Breath review and next steps)
1.   Deep breathing correctly.  Stomach is relaxed and flowing out on inhalation.  Ribs are relaxed and expanding and
shoulders are relaxed and down. Objective: increase breath control & length of tones.
a.      Exercises (Use pulsing breath to make the S sounds and hold the last Sssss as long as you have breath to support it
easily.
(non-voiced)
S  - S  - S  - S  - Sssssssssssssssssssss (Exercise 3)
(voiced)
Z  - Z  - Z  - Z  - Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
(non-voiced)
      F  - F  - F  - F  - Ffffffffffffffffffffffffff (Exercise 4)
(voiced)
V - V - V - V  - Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
b.   Alphabet.  Say the alphabet moderately quickly on one breath and keep repeating the alphabet on that same breath
as long as you can.  Try to get to at least 5 times through on one breath.  Practice this one any time you have a
free minute.  (Exercise 5)
c.   Tongue twisters This week: Preshrunk silk shirts. Concentrate on elongation of the vowels so that consonants are
interruptions to the flow of air/sound especially on this one because you are using closed mouth consonants as well as
the back of your tongue. (Exercise 6)
 
2. Posture.  The larynx is constructed mainly of muscles and cartilage that automatically adjust themselves to the action of
the vocal cords.  The larynx is held in position by muscles from above and below.  The lower muscles are connected to
the chest.  So, if the posture is bad the larynx will not be able to adjust properly and the tone will suffer.1

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a.   Review of posture. Stand with your back against the wall.  The backs of the heels, hips, shoulders and head
should touch the wall firmly.  Hold the head so that the eyes comfortably look straight ahead.  Keep the chest out,
shoulders down and relaxed, and stomach in.  Step away from the wall while keeping correct posture.
 
3. Vocal exercises
      a. Ma ah ah.  On do re do going up the scale and then down the scale, sing Ma - Ah - Ah.  Keep the lower jaw relaxed
and the tongue forward.  Sing it also on Na - Ah - Ah. (Exercise 7)
      b. On do re do re do go up the scale and then down the scale.  Sing it on La ah ah ah ah. (Exercise 8)
      c. Na-ah Na-ah  Na.  On So Mi So Mi Do go up the scale.  While keeping a flowing, legato tone, don't slide to the next
note.  Keep each note its own crisp sound with making it staccato. (Exercise 9)
4. Introduction to the Silver Swan and Madrigals.
5. Choosing solos
 
Week 2 (Introduction to reading music)
1.   Definitions

Once you are given a starting note, the other notes are simply a relative distance away from that note (and each
subsequent note is a relative distance away from the note before it).  You read each note based on its relationship to
the notes around it and then you sing each note.
 
2.   Note names

3.   Rhythm
The notes are subdivided mathematically into the length of time they are held.  Based on how long (how many beats
per minute will this note get) a base or foundation note is held (usually the quarter note) the other notes in a piece are
held twice as long, half as long, one quarter time as long or as short, etc. as that foundation note.
 

4.   Mystery song:

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5.   Tongue twister: Tie twine to three tree twigs. (Exercise 10)
6.   Silver Swan (Exercises 29 - 35)
 
Week 3: Vocalizing
1.      Da - ah (going up scale and down the scale.  Keep the tone focused, pure & well-supported.) (Exercise 11)

2.      Do re mi fa so fa mi re do.  On Nah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah.  Think and imagine the high note before you reach it. 
Do not slide up the notes. Make each note a separate unit while maintaining continuous tone and singing legato.
(Exercise 12)
3.      So fa mi re do. On La ah, Ma ah, Nah.  Ascending scale.  Practice good posture, and open secondary resonators
(mouth, sinuses, etc.).  Imagine the note first and then sing the high note to begin the exercise. (Exercise 13)
4.      Tongue twister: "Peggy Babcock" (Exercise 14)
5.      Silver Swan (Exercises 29 - 35)
6.      Solo work
 
eek 4: The resonating system and registers
The difference between sound-producing mechanism (The Phonating System) and the resonating system.  Vocal folds: produce
tone, give tone a particular pitch, & produce tones in different registers (they are like the mouthpiece of a wind instrument
such as an oboe).  The primary resonating system is comprised of the pharynx, the trachea and the bronchia (the mouth,
nose, and sinuses as well as the head and the chest are secondary resonators).  They are like the barrel of the oboe or the
clarinet and they are what help give the tone quality.  Hard material makes a better sound conductor.  The only pliable
materials are the walls of the pharynx and the soft palate of the mouth.

a.      Exercise to get the feel of the open throat and soft palate (the yawning in previous classes was the introduction to
this.)  Keep mouth open and relaxed and inhale through the nose.  Keep soft palate raised and think that your tone is
going into your open nose and sinuses.  Make sure that there is no tightness in the throat and sing an Ah. 
2. Registers
b. Head, medium and chest registers. 
c. Exercise to find them.
d. Smoothing the vocal quality between head and chest registers. (Head chest, head chest, head mixed head) (Exercises
15)

3. Tongue twister: Celibate celebrant (Exercises 16)

4. Silver Swan
5. Solo work
 
Week 5: Vocal Facility, steady tone, and Reading music
1.        Vocal facility exercises
a.      Limit the amount of difference that can be detected between registers.  Minimize the transition.   (The lowest
tones of a higher register [e.g. head voice] are not as powerful as the upper tones of the register just beneath it
[e.g. medium range].)  To achieve a blend: when singing up scale to the note marking the division between
your registers, sing more gently with your mouth not quite so open as normally and with full support of your
breath.  When singing down to that note sing more firmly with the mouth slight more open than normally and
with full tone in order to equalize the strength of tone throughout your range.
1. High do to low do and then do re do going down and then up the scale. Sing La-ah La-ah-ah. (Exercises

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17)
 

 
b. Octave arpeggio. Sing on Ma-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ahhh. (Exercises 18)

 
2. Steady tone on a single note.  Practice keeping a consistent tone on various syllables.  Notes are: A and then B and then
C and then G on the following syllables: Dee, Po, Se, Ra, Keh, La, Mee, Noo. (Exercises 19)
3. See Rest notation page
4. Tongue twister: Eleven benevolent elephants (Exercises 20)
5. Silver Swan
6. Solo work
 
Week 6: Breath control, clean vocal attack
1. Short breaths.  Take a short breath and sing five tones on one breath.  Hold the last note as long as you can.  On G,
sing Mah, mah, mah, mah, maaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh.  Try to figure out how much breath you needed for the previous
vocalization.  Take the same amount of breath and sing seven notes as you just sang five.  On G, sing Mah, mah, mah,
mah, mah, mah, maaaaaaaahhhhh holding the last one as long as you can.  Now do the same and sing nine notes holding
the last for as long as you can.  And last, sing eleven notes.  "If you have been able to sing the eleven notes with the same
quantity of breath with which you sang the five than, you took too much breath for the first five.  Only take the amount of
breath that you need to sing the phrases you are singing." 2 (Exercises 21)
 
2. Using head/chest/medium registers, sing the following on one breath between rests.  Sing on La-la-la-la-la-la-lahhh.
(Exercises 22)

 
3. Attack the notes cleanly.  Do not scoop or slur to the high octave.  Imagine that you are already at the high note before
you sing it.  Sing on one Ma Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah Ahhhh. (Exercises 23)

 
4. Tongue twister: rudder valve reversals (Exercises 24)
5. Silver Swan
6. Solo work
 
Week 7:
1. Messa di Voce.  Start a tone soft, swell it to loud and then diminish it back to soft.  Start medium soft and swell to
medium loud. (Exercises 25)

2. Start a tone medium loud and diminish it to medium soft. (Exercises 26)

3. Start a tone medium soft, swell it to medium loud and diminish it back to medium soft. (Exercises 27)

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4. Tongue twister: Coy knows noisy codes (Exercises 28)

5. Silver Swan
6. Solo work
 
Week 8:
Practice solos, Silver Swan.
 
 
 
1. The Estelle Liebling Vocal Course, edited by Bernard Whitefield © 1956, by Chappell & Co., Inc.
2. Ibid.
Sources:
The Estelle Liebling Vocal Course, edited by Bernard Whitefield © 1956 by Chappell & Co., Inc.
The A Cappella Singer, edited by H. Clough - Leighter, © 1936, by E. C. Schirmer Music Co. (renewed © 1964)
Richard Miller, The Structure of Singing, 1996
Madeline Bruser, The Art of Practicing, 1997
 

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