Reviving the Golden Age of Opera one voice at a time

Discussion on Joan Sutherland Talks About High Notes

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Discussion on Joan Sutherland Talks About High Notes.
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bleetenor
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Importance of warming up the middle

This is some of her best advice.  The temptation to try out a few B's and C's too early in the warmup (if they even should be in a warmup at all!) is strong.  I always sing better when I stick to the middle up through the passaggio (G4) when I'm warming up.  I also think it's very important to have moving scales as part of the warmup and not be tempted to sit on notes and try to make them magnificent.  I try to alternate moving exercises with more sustained ones, with more of the former.

I don't always warm up with exactly the same exercises, but I do have categories of things, including scales, slow and fast arpeggios, and alternating vowels.  In the beginning I focus on getting a good deep (not necessarily huge) breath in the rhythm of what I'm about to sing.  If things are really ragged, I do a lot of scales first, and don't fuss over sustaining anything for a few minutes.

Anyone else care to share their thoughts on warming up, JS's specific advice to stay in the middle, or anything else she said?