The only Kit required to improve your singing
Alberto was on a musical adventure in Europe so engaged the incredible Kit Hobkirk to take us through our Fauré scores for one week only.
And what a lot we learnt in such a short time!
Starting with posture to allow the umbrella of the ribs to expand, via the throat which must contain constantly spinning ping pong balls then moving upwards to a relaxed face where only two mouth shapes – cylinders and corridors – are required to cover every vowel sound; no need for a Wallace and Grommit grin to create ‘ee’ .
Kit spent time focusing on the emotion of the music ; much hand wringing and fear was required in order to tell the story which was simply sung – blah, blah, blah – in place of the written word; act it and really believe it.
There were so many tips for breathing: expand the ribs well before the first note is required. Breathe at the end of a note not at the beginning. Swift consonant taps- produce the consonant ahead of the note itself. Pull the sound towards you. Finishing on a vowel? End on your out breath and breathe in without altering mouth shape.
He touched on note production: suggesting that in a passage containing repeated notes, each note is sung a fraction higher to maintain the pitch. It is possible to make the sound seem BETTER to the audience when to the singer it seems WORSE. The singer has to trust the conductor about what works best.
Finally, imagine a pint of ale is being poured down your throat, that way it stays open.
Cheers, Kit.
Now all we have to do is put it into practice!