Hello again! So I just finalized several upcoming auditions. It includes a theatre's season audition and a Guys and Dolls Jr. audition. The season audition includes A Christmas Carol and Peter Pan. For the Guys and Dolls Jr. audition I'm mainly shooting for Sarah Brown. (But inside I REALLY want to try for Adelaide) I don't know what possesses me to play roles outside my range. I guess the kind of roles that I would like to play are always outside my range. For example, I like to play roles opposite of what I am because its more fun! I mean, Sarah Brown is JUST like me...WHY ON EARTH WOULD I WANT TO PLAY SOMEBODY EXACTLY LIKE ME?!?
Although, what has really been frustrating is the knowledge that my voice is able to be flexed to sing mezzo, sometimes even alto. I've practiced Adelaide's songs, and I can sing them just as well as Sarah's, but I know the minute I sing too much mezzo, my upper voice will go down the tube. (which is reminded to me by my voice teacher almost everyday) So at this point, its more a question of what I want to be the rest of my life, a mezzo or Soprano 1. The only thing is, my voice teacher doesn't teach or approve of mezzos. The minute I started with her (age 12), she made me a soprano 1. Every time I show even the slightest of change towards a mezzo, she tells me "STOP!"
One thing I noticed though, my voice teacher always say I add to much heaviness. She also says that my voice seems as though I've been belting a lot. (btw-I WISH I knew how to belt!) She always asks, "Doesn't that feel pressurized?" And inside, I'm like "NOOOOOO!!!" It doesn't hurt at all, it feels natural...singing mezzo FEELS natural! What feel unnatural is when I have to warm-up like crazy to be able to sing a simple high note. I mean, it doesn't HURT, but it doesn't come as natural to me as to other sopranos. At this point I don't know where to turn or what to become. I know how precious and fragile one's voice is, and I don't want to screw things up. Hopefully, time will tell, but I have the feeling that my voice at this age is able to sing many differnt ranges...so the question is, how do you know which one is supposed to be it?
I'm afraid that, I'll never know which range belongs to me, until it's too late and I lose my voice singing something I never knew was harming it...
What do you DO in a situation like this?
If I were you, I would probably get a voice teacher that approves of all the vocal ranges. What is you are really straining your voice, but it doesn't feel like it? Well, anyway, good luck on your auditions!!
ReplyDeleteAlso, for audition advice for Guys and Dolls Jr., go here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.broadwayjr.com/audition/auditionlist.asp?ID=4
Hi, I'm bway2be on MusicalTheatreAudition! Anyway, I totally know where you're coming from. My first voice teacher (when I was 12-14; I'm 16 now) was an opera singer and very into classical music, so as a result, she really hated belting. Which, since the musical that got me into musicals was Wicked and I wanted to play Elphaba for a long time (now I'm cool with either Glinda or Elphaba), was absolutely devastating for me! Then my next voice teacher, though she was okay with belting, was so focused on classical that she didn't work on acting as much. My teacher now is really great, as though he was trained as an opera singer, and I'm being trained in the classical technique, but I'm also learning musical theatre styles, such as the belt and mix, in addition to working on my head and middle voices.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts: I have heard before that your low notes go away when you learn to sing higher, but I don't know if that's true. I mean, I can definitely sing higher AND lower than I used to, and I know Kristin Chenoweth as a coloratura has a four octave range, but I really don't know, as I'm in no way an authority about this! That being said, just because you're a soprano doesn't mean you just need to sing in your soprano range-I'm a soprano too, and I can easily sing mezzo type songs (in fact, I started off singing alto in choir!), and switching isn't a big from for me.
About the vocal weight thing...I do know, from my lessons, that adding vocal weight isn't a good thing, though on the other hand, a mezzo sound will sound different (and probably darker) than a soprano one. So, definitely don't force the vocal weight, and just concentrate on a lighter sound, but, having not heard your voice or what you're doing, who knows, it could also just be your lower register!
To be honest, and this is unfair as I don't know anything about your voice teacher, I'm leaning towards agreeing with Maya. Even if you don't end up switching teachers as I'm sure she is a wonderful person and teacher in many other ways, I definitely think you should talk to her. I definitely don't think it has to be an either or situation; mezzo OR soprano, classical OR belt. Also, even though there are many people who think chest voice/belt is wrong in general, when you do it right, it's definitely a different sensation, but it doesn't hurt at all (as my teacher says, it's the pushing down to create weight that's the problem)! So, don't stress about who you'll be with your voice and your limitations, because trust me, I am a firm believer that you can be versatile. I really hope you and your voice teacher work things out, so you can stop stressing about that! And hey-if you really want to audition for Adelaide, audition for Adelaide! Maybe if you get it, you'll finally be able to talk sense into your teacher. After all, she can't be mad at you for getting a role, can she?
Btw, about the versatile thing-check out Celia Keenan-Bolger ("Olive" 25th Putnam Annual Spelling Bee) in these two videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9uEMKtYjXc and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JZiGNG9o2I
BTW, I'm Funny Girl on MusicalTheatreAudition!
ReplyDeleteThank you, I appreciate both of your advice. Bway2be, I agree with the versatile thing. Inside, I've been hoping that there's that option of being able to sing both. I am planning on talking with my voice teacher about this my next lesson, if she seems as though she can't be understanding towards the situation, then I know she isn't the voice teacher for me.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Maya, that website was very helpful!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a good idea-let us know how it goes! I hope it goes well!
ReplyDelete