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Vocalise: Feb. 6 2009

February 6, 2009 By Ian Sidden

So by request, I am going to post a vocalise every week. Some will be hard, and some will be easy, but I hope this will provide an accessible source of information on those funny exercises that we singers do. I also hope that it will force me to make some new ones because I tend to use the same few over and over again.

So this is the “major scale plus 9th” vocalise. I learned this from Prof. Charles Roe at the University of Arizona, though it is very common for singers and instrumentalists.

Difficulty: Moderate

I practice this vocalise about 20 times a day so it makes sense for me to post this one first. The challenges include:

  • Maintaining your pitch center while moving quickly.
  • Modifying vowels quickly and precisely.
  • Navigating passaggi. Don’t over weight your chest voice because that will make your shifts more difficult.
  • Keeping your breath steady. I tend to breathe after [a], but if you are working on breath control you can breathe after [u].

As you can see the export cut this off half-way. Be sure to change keys regularly. Also, the chords underneath are a I V7 pattern. Pretty easy, and any spelling is allowed. Enjoy!

Major scale plus 9th

Major scale plus 9th

Related posts:

Default ThumbnailVocalise: Scale plus 9th Default ThumbnailVocalise: Scale Arpeggio combo Default ThumbnailVocalise: Onset Variations Feb. 20,2009 Default ThumbnailVocalise: Feb. 13

Filed Under: Craft Tagged With: Vocalises

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Comments

  1. snailmeister says

    February 6, 2009 at 9:33 am

    Excellent! Thank you.

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Ian Sidden is currently a bass member of the Theater Dortmund Opera chorus. Read More…

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