The student wants to improve their singing range and diction. For range, they intend to do exercises like "macaroni ravioli" to strengthen their vocal cords and allow them to sing higher notes. This will help widen their range from their current lowest of F3 to highest of G5. For diction, they need to maintain a round, open mouth shape to clearly enunciate words while singing and prevent slurring. Exercises like "AEIOU" in staccato and longatto will improve diction by forcing precise vowel sounds and lowering the jaw.

1. Singing Strategy Coursework
One thing I would like to improve in my singing technique would be widening my range. I
find it quite hard to leave my comfort range when I am singing and always look for songs
that I know are in my range as I am not as confident with higher notes. When we did our
first technical assessment at the start of our unit my lowest note was F3 and my highest was
G5 and I would really like to push myself higher.
To do this and to widen my range there are many exercises I can do, both in and out of class.
The main thing I have to do is strengthen my larynx and vocal chords. I need to do this
because air is pushed through the larynx and the air vibrates against the vocal chords and
sound waves and created, these are manipulated by how tight the vocal chords are because
the tighter the vocal chords the higher the pitch is that you are able to sing. An exercise
where I can use this to widen my range is “macaroni ravioli” this strengthens my vocal
chords as they are worked hard as the notes goes up higher in semitones each time
“macaroni ravioli” is sang. The “O” vowel sound in “ravioli” is also sang higher than the rest
of the phrase and the “O” vowel sound works your diaphragm because that is where the
sound should be projected from, not your teeth or lips.
Doing this exercise I could push myself even further to improve my range by continuing to
increase the semitones going up in “macaroni ravioli” because that would test my range
even further. I could even start the exercise on a lower note on the outside of my normal
range capacity so I am not only widening my range higher, but lower as well. When I am
more confident with higher notes I could continue to build up the time I hold the notes on
for to further strengthen my vocal chords.
Another thing I would like to improve in my singing technique would be my diction while I
am singing. As I am quite a “pop” singer, I tend to lose the start of the end of my words
sometimes and I need to learn to spit my words out more so the audience know what I am
actually singing because it can become quite slurred. To do this I need to aim for keeping a
better mouth shape while I am singing as it should preferably be open and round this allows
for more crisp sounding words rather than my normal mouth shape which gives me poor
diction.
To do this I can do the exercise “AEIOU” in both staccato and longatto. This will improve
diction because the exercise is based around vowels which you naturally have to spit out of
your mouth anyway so you don’t have a choice. And physically, the exercise is eliminating a
nasally tone from your voice, making it clearer, due to the fact that saying the vowels gives
you an open, round mouth so any nasally tone is eliminated. Another thing this exercise
does that helps with diction is lowers your jaw whilst you are doing it. This helps your
diction because lowering your jaw helps to lower your soft palate and when that is lowered
you can spit words out clearer.