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The ZoneThis is all about vocal resonance and projection. Doesn't have anything to do with the twilight, though in some cases may resemble"construction" (one of my students liked to refer to it as feeling like she had construction equipment running behind her nose). Some vocal instructors like to call this placing the voice "in the mask". That's all well and good, and you can imagine that "the mask", as it were, has something to do with your face. The only thing is that everyone is built differently. What one person may be able to "feel" and where they feel it, can be entirely different from that of another person. That's why I like to call it "The Zone". It gets away from the notion that somehow you're supposed to be feeling your vocal resonance in the whole face, as opposed to perhaps just a part of it. What I'm talking about in reference to "feeling" is feeling the resonance of the voice when it's placed correctly. When it's right you'll know it by a pronounced "buzzy" or resonant kind of feeling somewhere in your facial bones. Some people feel it close to their nostrils, others at a magical internal point somewhere between the bridge of the nose and the roof of the mouth, others, interestingly, feel in more in their eye sockets! (I'm still not sure I've figures that one out.) To find "The Zone" try this: Open your mouth just far enough that you can put one finger between your teeth. Now take your finger out, but keep the space between your teeth. Okay, now pick a note, any note (one in your mid range will probably work best for this exercise), and sing that note on "Ah" or whatever vowel happens to interest you at that moment. As you're singing that note, slowly bring your lips, and only your lips, together until your singing "Mmm" all the while maintaining the space between your teeth. Now, as you're singing "Mmm" in addition to the buzzy feeling in your lips, see if you can feel the same kind of buzzy feeling right behind your nose, or somewhere close by (maybe in your eye sockets). If you don't feel it at first, don't get discouraged. Try it again, and remember to maintain that space between your teeth; if you have to, keep your finger between your teeth as you bring your lips together into an "Mmm" as you're singing the note. When you feel the buzz, you're in "The Zone". Once you're sure you've got it, continue singing the note, and open your mouth again, then compare the intensity and volume of the note to how you were singing it before. There should be a very audible difference in that, after finding "The Zone", the note will sound louder and clearer than it did before finding "The Zone". Now do it again, pay attention and make a note of it. Once you're there, you'll never, ever forget how it feels, and maybe even wonder WHERE you'd been all that time before you got there. . . Back to Annie's Words of Wisdom |
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