Opera Singer’s Tips on How to Play High Notes
Last fall at the Metropolitan Opera on a show called Fighter Angel, soprano Audrey Luna sang do la , setting a new record for the highest note ever played in the Met. You may be more familiar with the phrase “High C,” a very typical high note in Met – a high A a few notes higher. And this is the first thing that Luna sings on the show. She has brought her voice to this level over the years. So we asked her how she did it.
Be born with it
The Times calls the praise “a combination of genetic gifts, rigorous training, and mental discipline over two fragile vocal cords.” And Luna tells us that she “had” the note when she started vocal lessons at 15. That didn’t mean she could perform it on stage anytime soon, but it did mean that she could work on it. Not all vocal cords are physically capable of this. But whatever your range, you can expand it with years of practice.
Find a good voice teacher
If there is nothing special about your voice, there is a positive point: any competent voice teacher can help you expand your range. “You need the outer ears,” says Luna, and you need them to get used to your voice. Luna worked with vocal coach Barbara Honn for 15 years and they developed a close bond: “Barbara can just put her finger on my shoulder or jaw and I know what she means.”
Rediscover your range
Luna hadn’t sang for many years before Angel Slayer. She returned to him, humming the scales, and was relieved to know that she was still with her. But she still had to return to practice.
Luna took a month off last year to plan her wedding. When she returned, it took her a few days to practice, “but everything was where I left.” Even when she is active, sometimes she returns to a certain role after a year or more and notices changes. “It’s so interesting to see what happened to your voice in a year, what has matured or developed. You can really hear the difference. “
Shape your sounds
It is not enough to simply strike a high note for a pleasant or transcendental listening experience. Luna works to reshape the vowel by keeping her breathing and trying not to tighten the notes. This is where you need good communication with your voice teacher.
There are different tricks for different versions of a note. In “The Exterminating Angel,” Luna has to start at this high note, so she puts a “y” sound in front of the vowel to make the note float up. In other cases, she may have to hold the high note longer or reach it several times during the opera.
Study Science
“The human voice is an incredibly complex instrument that, unlike any other, cannot be seen or touched,” says Luna. “Thus, teaching the operatic voice requires a large number of images and muscle memory, most of which are associated with breathing. The mechanics behind how it actually works is fascinating. “
She shares some videos that “spread like wildfire throughout the opera community because they show and explain how the voice works very accurately.” In the photo below, sopranos, mezzo, tenor and bass sing along with an internal camera attached to their vocal cords.
Luna also recommendsthis MRI recording of Michael Wolle’s baritone performing Wagner’s aria and an hour-long talk by soprano Sheri Greenwald,The Physiology of Opera Singers . (“8: 30-10: 30 is good,” says Luna.) Greenwald describes the operatic voice as “a controlled scream.” “I agree with her,” says Luna. “Especially when it comes to the letter A.”
Protect your voice
Unlike a Broadway actor, an opera singer cannot do eight performances a week. Opera singers work without microphones, so their training is more focused on voice amplification. The Met has rotated its performances to preserve the singers’ voices. The physical stress of singing affects the soprano the most. Luna plans high-profile talk over the weekend, such as press interviews.
We asked Luna if she sings “Happy Birthday” like everyone else, or if she sounds like an opera singer. “I think so,” she says. “I’m the default opera singer.” And just because she’s a great singer doesn’t make her every kind of a great singer: “I don’t know how to sing like a pop singer. I can’t buckle up.
Learn words
The opera singer has to sing in several languages, so Luna took two years of Italian and French and four years of German. “I don’t speak any of these languages well,” she says. “I live well when I am in Germany. There is a lot of work for opera singers. “
When Luna gets a new score she has never heard before, she buys a translation (she recommends books by former tenor and vocal trainer Niko Castel , but notes that they are not cheap) or sits down with a dictionary and translates it herself. Some older operas use outdated words and syntax, so she can’t always find the exact translation on her own. By the time she goes to rehearsal, she thinks about her character and knows what everyone else is singing.
Get in your head
During the performance, Luna immediately pays attention to many things. If she sings in Italian, she still does not think in Italian: “I mentally translate into English.” It interprets the line, and also concentrates on certain sounds, for example, doubles t in notte . At the same time, she listens to her stage partners. “It’s layer by layer. And while this layer continues, I think: “I do not see the conductor” or “Have I forgotten to pour myself some tea during the intermission?” “