Vocal Encyclopedia entry 10-Soft Palate

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Fundamentals of Great Vocal Technique:
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Internationally renowned Tenor and Master Voice Teacher, Michael Trimble. 64 years of expertise/performing, teaching and Artist training/acclaimed vocal pedagogue. Career building, vocal literature for aspiring students and experienced professionals.

[@william91786]

I have just begun my singing journey at the age of 48. Thank you for these precious teachings! Watching you do the baby crying and trying it myself just now has produced what felt and sounded to me like my first open throat sound. It came out louder, clearer, and with less effort than what I had been previously trying. Please keep uploading these. They are truly helping people!

[@jefolson6989]

I started at 43 and what followed was the most exciting 15 years of my life! Getting back into singing at age 61. Above all, have fun. I made the mistake of letting it become a chore like any other job. It's such a privilege.

[@daricaurte]

Terrific video that gives yet another angle on how to really tap into your breath support/appoggio. The soft palate is so often muscled in one way or another. Here Maestro not only shows us its relationship with the down and back breath, but also a bunch of things that could be influencing its position OTHER than your breath.
With this, you can start trying to maximize the influence a good inhale has on the soft palate, and minimize the effect any muscles have on it. Really useful.

[@VIDEOHEREBOB]

Always watching and learning.

[@nmkjhgvvcgucj7683]

Do not stop downloading videos Maestro. thank you for that
I have a question that I hope you will answer. In your book, you quoted Caruso as saying, “The open throat is preserved by breathing.” He added in his book that one should take care of opening the throat from behind as well. Is this done by breathing, as you and Caruso mentioned, or does it have another action, such as inhaling the throat from the back? I hope to explain more 🌹

[@jamesfiala4780]

I would like to know this too!

[@Tenoretrimble]

@@jamesfiala4780 The throat is not opened by yawning or by any form of muscular action in the throat, but by deep breathing into the lower back while totally relaxing the throat, the jaw, the tongue and the hyoid muscle under the jaw and behind the chin. This breathing style opens the throat vertically, without any sideways spreading of the vowels or the Pillars of the Fauces. Relax every muscle in the throat, tongue, adn jaw ("the invisible throat, the invisible tongue, and the invisible jaw") while inhaling and then sing while maintaining the total relaxation of the throat area. Maintain the freedom and relaxation of the throat, tongue, and jaw while singing. Breathing does everything if it is developed and deep enough into the lower back. M

[@acacia-bloom]

Who was your wife that sang Donna Anna in Cape Town for CAPAB?

[@ahava77]

Nice beard!!

[@deathrattle216]

Mr. Trimble, do you have any advice for finding one's first passaggio?

[@lxf9914]

Finding it is easy. It is the place in your range where you feel like you will choke. That's because, untrained, the larynx rises and the throat closes. Overall you have to 1. Breath, 2. *Support, 3. Phonate, 4. Resonate.
And two main rules: 1. no action in the throat & 2. no change of the emission of the breath.
Try these videos:
Breath into lower back: ua-cam.com/video/cIDab-CU-zg/v-deo.html
Even Emission: ua-cam.com/video/_UwReKYjrPs/v-deo.html
Open Throat: ua-cam.com/video/AH07zBwu4vs/v-deo.html&t
*Breath stop: ua-cam.com/video/rvUgAUUKYD0/v-deo.html
Projection/resonance: ua-cam.com/video/ZYY9L81eqBM/v-deo.html&t
Diction of consonants (helps keep emission unchanged): ua-cam.com/video/cuUEp2-jE2Q/v-deo.html&t
Phonation of vowels (keeps larynx from rising): ua-cam.com/video/CbOqJScbmpw/v-deo.html&t
il passaggio: ua-cam.com/video/68mSShjnOD0/v-deo.html&t
Slender vocal cord: ua-cam.com/video/7lOr2yo8-7Q/v-deo.html&t
*For the "support" you can use either
1. a breath stop like "the tone flowers on the lips": ua-cam.com/video/G95ZRrd7g1E/v-deo.html&t
2. the sighing method: ua-cam.com/video/wN0ZCF_VUcw/v-deo.html&t
3. streaming method aka inhalare la voce: ua-cam.com/video/RPxsfM17O2M/v-deo.html&t or
4. lean on the diaphragm: ua-cam.com/video/1wX3HxY-OwQ/v-deo.html&t.
It takes some experimentation to see which method you like best but they all fall under "support" or methods of air control.
Hope this helps.

[@Tenoretrimble]

Inhale as deeply as possible and then maintain the throat, jaw, and tongue in a constant state of total relaxation while singing. Do not pull the jaw downward but rather breathe even deeper and leave the jaw completely relaxed and the jaw dropped, not pressed downward. Let the belly go inward while inhaling and outward while singing (Read the Caruso book or my book to see who recommended this "laughing/crying baby" method of breathing. Do not use the sleeping baby breathing (abdomen outward while inhaling and inward while exhaling or singing) but use the laughing/ crying baby method of breathing (belly goes inward while inhaling and outward while making sounds". If the throat remains relaxed when you reach your passaggio, the voice will "turn", "go over", "pass", into the upper register automatically. Caruso described this way of breathing and supporting and said to "never change the shape of the mouth while ascending to a high note". Good luck, Michael t