AGILITY AND STYLE 4: DESCENDING MINOR PATTERN WITH FALL-OFF AND ADDED FIFTH JUMP
Weekly Teaching Tip – July 17, 2017
by Earl Harville
Over the past few years, I have been intentional about finding or creating exercises that are technically and stylistically appropriate to my clientele, which is comprised of mostly non-classical singers. We want to develop register balance and connection, good legato, and good projection while also addressing some of the style elements as well. I use it with my students to prepare them for tackling riffs and runs as well as to work on smooth register transitions. This is the more advanced version of an exercise I use with my R&B, gospel, and pop artists. I have added a jump of a perfect fifth to the beginning of the scale run which increases the difficulty level a bit. I am careful to remind students to watch out for locking the jaw muscles or the tongue as they execute the fifth jump. I start the exercise slowly then work up to a faster tempo. Though students are initially a little intimidated, they come to enjoy the challenge and fully buy into its effectiveness.
