11/5

4:00 pm
Today was one of the best days I've had practicing this semester. I knew it would be a good day before I started singing.

I started by doing some lip buzzes sliding on the octave, focusing on maintaining even breath support. Then I did mesa di voce exercises that felt pretty good. They weren't getting caught in my throat. I think that was because I had good focus. That always makes everything better. Then I laid down in the ground and went through protamenti octaves on [i] that was fine. Except that I noticed my stomach was shaking with my vibrato. So I spent a lot of time on the ground trying to get the sound to come out evenly, with nice vibrato without my tummy shaking. I was successful sometimes. But not always. I'm not sure if that happens as often when I'm standing. But I think because of gravity my tongue doesn't get as involved when I'm on the ground. Anyway, the most successful way to produce sound with vibrato sans stomachs wobble was to use my hand to push the air out and relax otherwise. This was successful when I remembered to do it.

Then I went through Or sai chi lonore on the ground. Sang it on [ i ] and that was pretty good, especially on high notes. Then my voice got tired after 10 mins of that.

So then 40 minutes into my practice session I sang through Di due rai and that went really well. I worked notes and diction. Then I sang through a few other pieces : L'enamoureé, Song to the Moon, and the two Russian pieces.

Didn't have much for lunch today. Had cereal for breakfast. Slept for nearly 8 hours last night.