My choir is singing Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis at the weekend, with a rehearsal on Friday and Saturday afternoon before the actual performance on Saturday night. Now, as anyone who has sung it will tell you, the Missa Solemnis is an utter, utter, bugger of a bastard to sing and as a result all those bugger bastard high notes have left me practically hoarse each time after each rehearsal in the past.
Now I’m worried I’ll have no voice left for the performance on Saturday night. How can I prevent this? Mime all the way through? Do voice exercises every day? Drink loads of orange juice?
Best thing is to rest your voice as much as possible. No talking! And sing sotto voce as much as possible. Drink water with a little sqeeze of (fresh) lemon juice. When you sing, keep your chin down, and stay open and relaxed. Don’t try to reach the high notes by stretching your neck!
Really? That’s an interesting one, I’ll try it and see what happens. If I piss myself during the Agnus Dei I’ll blame you.
Someone told me that should imagine that the high note is on the floor, and you have to (kind of) pretend to pick it up – making it easier to reach – what do you think?!
Can anyone recommend some nice easy voice exercises?
The point is to avoid reflux, which can mess you up bad. For the same reason, you might want to avoid tobacco, alcohol, and anything from Taco Bell.
I think that’s interesting. I tell people (perhaps wrongly) this: Imagine a hollow pipe sticking up from the floor. You can sit on it (bend your knees a little). Imagine that it extends up through your butt, through your stomach and chest, through your neck, and out the crown of your head. You always want to keep this column straight and open. If you strain or bend your neck, you’ll distort this column.
That doesn’t work for everyone, but I’ve seen it work miracles on a few people.
Voice teacher/professional singer here. If the person directing your choir is at all savvy, they will already have thought of this problem and will specifically tell you not to sing out much during the rehearsals. It’s their job not to endanger the performance and your vocal well-being by using up all of your vocal capital before the performance. However, many choir directors are clueless on this front, so let’s talk about how you can help yourself - because you’ll probably have to.
The advice to stay hydrated is good, as is advice to get plenty of rest in the days leading up to the weekend. Thoughts about not straining, not craning, and generally singing with your best technique are all fine, but your personal technique - whatever state it’s in - won’t be improving from whatever it is now before the weekend, notwithstanding any advice you may get in this thread. So, no quick fixes there.
Similarly, you won’t improve your lot with “Miracle” drinks (lemon juice, tea, etc.) or enforced vocal rest, etc. In fact, forcing yourself not to talk at all might even make it harder for you to warm up for singing (which is not to say that blabbing all day is good - just be moderate.)
Here’s what I would do:
Take stock of your own vocal stamina, using your previous rehearsals as a guide. If after one rehearsal of the Beethoven you feel pretty shot, then you know you can’t possibly sing it twice or three times in one day. If, however, you tend to get to the end of rehearsals feeling fresh, you might have more leeway.
Decide which parts of the piece you personally need to practice during the final rehearsals to maximize your own comfort during the performance (tricky entrances, notes you aren’t sure of, any places where your director explicitly asks for a volume check with everyone singing)
Decide ahead of time where you will sing and where you will not. Even if during the final rehearsals you spend 70-80% of the piece standing silent or mouthing the words (if being seen not singing would be considered uncool by some), fine. You’ll be fresh when you get to the performance.
Be as conservative as you think is right. But remember, the performance will give you an adrenaline rush, so even if you’re not 100%, you’ll probably make it through ok.
Lastly, have fun and try not to worry. Singing half-heartedly and timidly will tire you out more quickly than just letting go.
It’s wise to “meter out” your singing on a day like the one you describe, but the “sotto voce” (or “under your voice, half voice, very softly…”) advice can get some people into trouble. Usually only skilled singers know how to sing softly (or “mark”) through music without compromising their technique. For many people, it’s actually more tiring because they end up compensating for the reduced breath energy with increased tension in the voice. Something to think about.
Again, I would advise the OP not to try to change his/her technique before the weekend. Just know your limits, and be proactive about remaining within them. Just because the singer next to you is blaring at full volume, you don’t need to be.
Don’t try to “work up” to the weekend by singing a bunch this week. Unless you have a rehearsal to go to, just let yourself rest. Maybe a gentle warm-up each day just to keep things loose, but no strenuous “training.”
It won’t give you more stamina in this kind of short-term situation. It’ll just leave you tired going into the weekend.
I’ve never had luck in drinking orange juice, I prefer tea or just plain water. If the high notes are straining your voice that much, you may want to have a trainer go over your technique with you, it sounds like you’re going about it the wrong way.
Thanks! I will spend the whole week chillin and drinking lots of water as you mostly all suggest.
I think it was meant to be just a way of visualising the high note as easy to reach, so that you automatically don’t strain your throat or stick your neck out. It kind of works but I still have to shriek a little!
Yes, for some reason I find it very hard to sing just a little. Miming is probably the answer although it does look a little silly.
Heh. I prefer to blame Beethoven’s predilection for unexpected top Bs, thankyouverymuch.
Amen to that - he was brutal. Treated choruses more like pipe organs than groups of human beings.
And, just because no thread is complete without a reference to google ads, let me just say that the ones on the bottom of this thread make me laugh…and cry. I especially like the “mastering vibrato” one. :rolleyes:
