3 Different Ways of “Covering”
For ages, we have known that we need “covering” to negotiate the passaggi.
Here are 3 ways to do it (and hopefully achieving the same results):
Seth Riggs/IVTOM way:
We need to change the vowel. Ah turns Uh. We use the schwa vowel. As Seth used to describe it: think of a fraction of 1/4. With this figure of a fraction in mind, we find our vowel by mixing 1 part of Uh (above) with 4 parts of Ah (below). Different from IVTOM consensus however, Seth would also say that the vocal cords would “zip up” like a guitar, not vibrating at their full lenghth at the approach – and above – the passaggi. He would also tend do speak more of “narrowing” the vowel, instead of tuning the vowel.
Pavarotti way:
I have never heard him speak of the “vowel”. Instead, he speak of the “sound” itself, with a demonstration. He says that it is a “muffled, unnatural sound, a sound that the young singer ever hardly believes”. On the vocal cords level, he would say that “the vocal cords vibrate only in the middle, not in the end” (front and far back lengthwise).
Gigli/Caesari way:
The great bel canto singer of the past, Beniamino Gigli, and his pupil Herbert Caesari would have a more “mental” approach to changing vowels. On their method you would sing a vowel after giving it a mental shape (by only thinking of it) of the desired vowel. You could also influence vowels by singing one and thinking of another, for example, singing an Ah, thinking of an Oo, or even thinking of an Ahwith a “hat” or a “tint” of an Oo. The process is merely mental and the singer is advised not to do anything physical, for it would surely be a disturbance of such delicate instrument.
Filipe Geyer was a certified Speech Level Singing instructor from 2012 to 2013. After that he joined IVTOM where holds a mentor teacher status. He Thought more than 500 students, singers and teachers, including participants and finalists in TV Shows such as The Voice and The Voice Kids (Brazil edition) and several regionally known artists. Being a performer as well, he loves everything about singing, songwriting and stage performance.
www.filipegeyer.com.br
https://www.instagram.com/FilipeGaia_
