Ep 2 Live Q&A – February 27 2019 – Are there any good vocal exercises for musical theater?

Mike: So questions we’re going to end this stream today. Larissa, thanks for dropping this one in. I’m going to turn it on here, any favorite go-to vocal exercises that you can suggest for musical theater sopranos?

Matthew Edwards: Sure, so for all musical theater people, in general, you need to keep your voice flexible because there are lots of ways to sing that will get you a callback. But the only way you’re going to book the gig is if you’re flexible enough to do what the music director asked you to do. And so doing building exercises for yourself that explore flexibility. So one of my favorites is I like to start off we do it on a one, three, five, eight. And I start off with really Do-Mi vowels, whatever you want to call it warm vowels, hooty vowels, terminology doesn’t matter, it’s the sound that matters. So they would first go, “Aww.” Then we’d go to the complete opposite, which is a really bright, “Aah-aah.” Then we go to really nasally, “Aah.” Then we finished with a real rock and roll, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.” So the whole exercise in a row would be “oh, ahh, aww, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.” So that you’re getting your motor system skillful enough to bounce between different qualities.

Matthew Edwards: If it’s a soprano who does both head voice and belt then we’re going to start off … Sorry, my computer’s sitting on my metronome button. But we’re going to start off [crosstalk 00:56:32]. Right, we’re going to get down and get jiggy with it. So you’re going to start off doing your head voice, “Aww.” And then belt, “Yeah.” And do them back-to-back so again you’re getting those vocal folds to bounce between two opposite modes of singing. Then what I would have them do as a soprano is to do a more traditional legit sound so that more, “Ahh.” And then go more towards your Disney Princess or Disney Prince sound, “Ahh.” So that way they’re constantly moving between those two options because music theater performers live in a world where some music directors want to go with more traditional sound quality and other people want to go with more pop-oriented sound quality. So getting your body used to making those changes on the spot and then taking your songs and singing through it in a really operatic tone quality, then singing through it in more of a Disney princess quality. And then just to throw yourself for a loop do it either as a rock song or a character song and see what it’s like to do that.

Matthew Edwards: Because if you play around with them enough and getting yourself outside of the box. When you walk into that callback where they ask you to do something crazy, your body will be programmed to jump on in and go for it.

Mike Elson: Got it. I like it. It’s like freedom of expression thereby taking those exercises and really trying to do those different colors if you will with it, perfect, that’s great. Well hey, guys. I just want to say thanks for tuning in. This is a no-pitch Wednesday, not going to pitch anything. Just keep coming to these sessions. If you have questions, drop them in. We’re going to pin this video up for a week. We’re also going to take any questions that you guys send in directly, just message the page. And Matt, do you have anything else to add?

Matthew Edwards: No, just have an awesome week of singing and practicing. And don’t try to find what’s right necessarily, try to find how flexible you can be and let that flexibility help you communicate your story. And I think that’s where the gold is.

Mike Elson: Awesome, that’s great advice. I’m going to flash up this last thing. Thank you guys for joining, for tuning in. It’s a pleasure, it’s a joy to be here. And thanks again dr. Edwards for joining with us in here. And looking forward if you guys have any tips, suggestions, questions, drop us a message and we’ll be sure to get back to you.

Matthew Edwards: Awesome, thanks for tuning in.

Mike Elson: All right, thanks, everybody.