It changed my life!

Well I had my vocal assessment with our vocal coach. She is a delightful person and so intelligent! She has a doctorate in vocal pedagogy I think its called. She spent a half an hour with me! I am still on a high from the experience. First of all, as she had me sing to review my range, she stopped after I reached c or b below middle c. She said you have a true contralto voice! She said it is a rare thing. Then she related stories about Mary Martin as Maria in the broadway sound of music and about the singer, Marilyn Horne. She said,"Okay now sing in your choir voice..." I had to tone it way down and prove that I could sing a pianissimo. She said when Craig asks for the russian alto sound you do not need to darken yours at all. That was nice to know! She also had me sing a hymn a few times to check for vibrato,intonation,posture,jaw tension,head lift,etc. She observed that I had a lot of tension in my jaw by being too tense in my diaphragm, She was exactly right. I knew I had too much tension but wasn't sure where and how to fix it. She changed my life!!! In the past, I have had so many facial aches after singing, I cannot tell you! She gave me a good exercise to get used to feeling more looseness in my diaphragm. This is just a sampling of the things I have been learning in the choir! By the way , check out the article in the NY times about the choir audition process! Click here to see it