How to Perform Scales & Coloratura

All singers of all voice types are capable of learning to perform scales and coloratura. The flexibility that results from acquiring this skill is great for other aspects of singing technique - it improves legato and the ability to sing a skillful portamento, among other things. In this video I discuss the movements that contribute to good coloratura, teach some exercises to help you work on it, and demonstrate how to apply these concepts to your repertoire.
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[@mrbigbigtoe]

Omg! I finally found out exactly what I’m doing wrong I am thinking about the precise notes rather than relying on my natural ear I have to reprogram myself 😭

[@ClaudiaFriedlander]

This is something that I have had to work on to some extent with nearly every one of my voice students!

[@septembergarden]

I’ve had so much anxiety about not being able to sing coloratura with ease!! This has been amazing help and I’ve found it to work almost ASAP! Thank you 💖

[@VIDEOHEREBOB]

Please check your audio. It isn't very loud.

[@ClaudiaFriedlander]

Doing the best with the equipment I have, sorry! This was as loud as I could make it without frying the levels.

[@JuliaTaylorSoprano]

It's better if you use headphones :)

[@calledfenrir]

Its better this way, her highs are really really high.

[@manicmusician6375]

You do such a wonderful job in explaining something so complex yet simple at the same time. Your statement of "putting your ear in the driver's seat" is excellent and sums up what some people find so elusive (even in the pop styles). thank you for your video :)

[@ClaudiaFriedlander]

It takes a lot of courage and trust! The instinct is often to try to make sure that you're making a pleasing sound, to make sure sure that you're singing the right notes, but it turns out that you can't really make sure of anything, not if you want to invest all of your energy and creativity into expressing yourself. You can do your best to practice and prepare, but when the time comes to perform your singing will be most beautiful, expressive and satisfying when you simply allow your imagination to flow through your voice.

[@heya1957]

Thanks for this awesome video you taught us more than current vocal teachers do ❤

[@christineweatherford5852]

Would love to see you do a video on healthy speaking tips/techniques!

[@ClaudiaFriedlander]

You should check out my friend Elissa Weinzimmer's material! This is her specialty. I also enjoy working on speaking voice issues, but she has a wealth of info and videos on the topic: www.voicebodyconnection.com

[@katygarner1528]

Amazing! I am learning to sing coloratura right now and I needed this. ❤

[@joebloggs619]

Yes, I'm one of those thicker Mezzos who can sing very high notes but not woth coloratura agility. I struggle with the agility on extreme high notes but just trying to do coloratura, I found it helped, though I will never make a brilliant, light coloratura soprano.

[@ghuyakalika]

Thank you Claudia!! Your videos are amazing.

[@sujathaarun8376]

You are amazing Claudia I’m learning Hindustani and your concepts help me so much I’m a proud owner of your book too ❤

[@ClaudiaFriedlander]

I am so glad you are finding these materials helpful, and I really appreciate your letting me know!

[@almmaberumen]

Love your videos but your voice while explaining is so low on volume, love it if you could get a mic or something, thanks alot.

[@christinem1458]

I'm glad I found your channel! I saw your masterclass videos floating about, regarding tounge/jaw tension, voice positioning and how to pronounce french arias, but i didn't know you had a channel. I think these would be a helpful supplement to my lessons. I especially like your video on voice trills, because I have trouble with it. I'm a complete beginner, and I've only been doing lessons for 4 weeks, and while I am capable of really high notes, I have trouble with executing trills properly (I thought they were called vocal runs at first, but I guess that is only in pop music). I think those are the funnest parts to sing, too! Maybe I'll ask my teacher to teach me how to do it too. Thank you, and subbing!

[@ClaudiaFriedlander]

Thank you Christine! I am so happy you're finding these videos valuable, and I really appreciate hearing about it!

[@alexdanton4842]

I'm a mezzosoprano (actually, the academia would call me "countertenor"... I personally don't think this ambiguous word should be used anymore in this century, after all the scientific progress and understanding we gathered about the human voice) who always struggled to find vocal coaches and professionals to work with (the reason for this is the "countertenor" bit... getting rejected all the time because these coaches aren't "experienced with countertenors"). So, after wasting a couple of years of my life in a conservatory that didn't want me there and couldn't help or provide support in any way, I had to take things into my own hands, and I always wanted to conquer coloratura territory. This video is very insightful and enlightening, and helped me understand why the method I use is not OK (the laborious separation and accentuation of every pitch). I may sing the correct pitches, but it's very tiring and energy-consuming for the voice, long-term. After singing like that for a while, the ability to sing fast passages just stops due to fatigue. The diaphragm ceases the ability to send "fast pulses" for the voice to work on. Thank you very much, keep up the great work!

[@ClaudiaFriedlander]

I am so glad that the video is helping you to simplify your coloratura! I literally just this week had a conversation with a student (countertenor) about how perhaps it is time that we stop using cisgendered language to talk about Fachs. It's about a range and a repertoire. We don't have, e.g., gendered violins and clarinets, so why does it make sense to describe vocal range types this way?

[@alexdanton4842]

@@ClaudiaFriedlander Thank you very much, your reply is a pleasant and unexpected surprise for today! I perfectly agree. Why is a soprano-range male singer labeled the same ("countertenor") as a mezzosoprano-range male singer? Perhaps, a violin is the same instrument as a cello... they look almost identical, so they must also have the same range, right? I cannot quite comprehend this shallow overlook, or how is it possible for both musicologists and pedagogues to ignore science that way. Why isn't timbre even addressed when it comes to countertenors? I never saw "lyrical" or "dramatic" next to "countertenor", and I never saw "coloratura" as well (despite Franco Fagioli and others doing a great job on Rossini arias). OK, most countertenors probably have a bright (perhaps lyrical) quality to their voice, but there are also darker and more dramatic voices among them, for sure. Some people would argue against labeling things, but I think (correct and elaborated) labels, in this case, can save situations and dissipate some misconceptions. If you have a correct label and starting point, you can then break rules creatively and "think outside the pigeon box", the Jessye Norman way, or sing music that wasn't destined for your voice type, but make it sound as if it was. In the conservatory, I faced a lot of backlash for singing Delilah and Carmen (roles """addressed to women, NOT men"""). I came there to study music, not gynecology or medicine. I never thought I could encounter so much sexism and prejudice in the world of opera. When I asked them WHY I shouldn't study or portray the role of a femme fatale, they began to stutter and formulate abhorrent combinations of words like "stylistically incorrect" (I was like "'countertenor' is a voice TYPE, not a 'voice style'! 😂"). They always stutter and lose their words when asked the golden question - "Why?"

[@ClaudiaFriedlander]

@@alexdanton4842 I was recently reviewing audition videos and came upon a submission from a singer who identified as nonbinary and mezzo-soprano. And I thought, wait a minute, do we really need to gender singers at all? Opera is about essential emotions, about evoking powerful feelings through music, about intense tension and release. The stories it tells are just a framework for emotional catharsis. Age, race, gender, body size, ablebodiedness, none of these things are relevant to the music making and emotional expression. What is interesting to me as a voice teacher is focusing on the unique qualities and ideas each singer brings to the process, and surely that has to be true for audience members, at least on a visceral level, which is where the music hits us, anyway.

[@alexdanton4842]

@@ClaudiaFriedlander Extremely powerful and truthful words there, I'm glad to find an ally and a truth seeker in you. We need more people like you in opera, to keep that line of thought and values. Keep up the great work, I'm already a huge fan! ♥️

[@ClaudiaFriedlander]

@@alexdanton4842 do you know about this? "Ungendered Voice Types for a New Century" newmusicusa.org/nmbx/ungendered-voice-types-for-a-new-century/

[@ma-kugan4998]

Thank you coach for the tips. In this video I can hardly hear you voice when you're speaking. No problem when you demonstrate your singing.

[@lamuse8746]

I'm dying on the bell aria, the ending

[@emilyphillips2699]

smartest woman on the block....

[@ethedrummer1555]

Thank you.. this pointed me in the right direction :D

[@emmanuelcamino2183]

Agree

[@ruseva_soprano]

Thank you very much for your great advices!

[@mariacasemyr]

Fascinating 🙏❤️

[@violarohling7376]

Thank you sooo much!! ❤

[@dianeshepherdlyricsoprano1394]

You have got yourself a new subscriber! I have been working on my coloratura for a while now (I also sing light opera and musical theatre) and so was quite taken up to find your site. There do not appear to be many sites to help with coloratura, but already I have learned from you. I know Mein Herr Marquis (the Laughing Song) may not be true coloratura, but I can sing it easily now, but I am finding it difficult to locate many coloratura songs. I am someone who never gives up though, and that carries through to my singing. The section in this video demonstrating slides and arpeggios was very helpful, and when you explained what should/shouldn't be felt, I knew I was doing them correctly. Thank you so much Claudia and I look forward to seeking out your other videos. Have a great day.

[@missread5932]

legend I can do anything

[@benngoma7353]

Hi Claudia... thanks for your dedication... I have a question about the scale movements... My choir is learning Handel's for unto us a child is Born. The 16th notes runs, i was wondering, should we sing it the way you just showed? Without trying to put too much emphasis on every single note of the run? And just broadly slide on the entire passage?

[@ClaudiaFriedlander]

Wow, Ben, that is an interesting question! Each choir member brings their own concept of technique to the ensemble, so the way one member approaches sixteenth notes might be very different from the way the member sitting next to them does. There are other ways to approach coloratura than the one I've described here. It may be that an approach that creates more exaggerated definition of individual pitches might be preferable to your choir director and for singers who might not have the time to develop this technique to the point where they can apply it with perfect rhythmic and tonal accuracy. My recommendation is to try it, see if it works well for you, and then test it out in choir rehearsals. Keep in mind that I'm not recommending that you broadly slide on the entire passage in performance or rehearsal, just when your learning the coordination to sing the scale passages - hopefully you can hear that I am singing accurate pitches rather than sliding when I apply the technique to repertoire.

[@rishimukherjee1Guitarlessons]

Awesome video madam.. Hats off. 🙏

[@flaze3]

great advice, thanks!

[@juliesczesny90]

Thank you so very, very much!!!

[@chipichipichapachapa733]

I can do scales naturally with ease (especially downwards) but instead I've had to work more with how to sustain long notes for example

[@ClaudiaFriedlander]

Try subdividing the long notes in your head! So, e.g. it's not a whole note, it's a series of eight connected eighth notes or sixteen connected sixteenth notes that all happen to be on the same pitch. If you can remind yourself that you are continuously creating your sound rather than "holding" a note, that may help.

[@chipichipichapachapa733]

@@ClaudiaFriedlander Wow, Thanks for the tip! I'll try it next time. And by the way, do you have any video about hitting the high notes, above high C? All my teachers have said I have them but so far I have had almost no instructions on how to train them. I've searched teachers on youtube as well but no luck so far.

[@kailyjamessokame.6028]

You are so wonderful!

[@lazarus_alonsius]

I find it a lot easier to do an ascending scale than a descending scale

[@ClaudiaFriedlander]

Most people do, at least at first. It's more of a coordination challenge due to the way the musculature that controls the vocal folds develops. Practicing slow descending sirens can help.

[@NiniskoMueller]

Mam, this technique surely applies to other styles as well, right ?

[@ClaudiaFriedlander]

Yes. The same mechanism that creates vocal agility works for coloratura in classical singing, riffs in R&B, and any other type of swift melodic movement in the voice.

[@siena8759]

Yep, it is very low when speaking, but suddenly it gets very loud when singing. I can’t watch it at night bcs ut is hard to control noise!

[@pierrebeukes6315]

The video sound is verry soft.

[@Rockstar-gj2uo]

Mam, do these glides help with the whistle register ? Could you please make a video on Whistle Register and exercises to work on it. Thank You 🙏🙏🙏

[@ClaudiaFriedlander]

"Whistle register" is not actually something that I work with in my teaching. I regard registration as something that exists on a continuum from heavy to light rather than something that can be segmented into things like chest, head, whistle etc. The glides in this video can be very helpful for modulating registration.

[@singerstalentsingers7563]

Woooooooooooooow you sent from my god thankeereeyoouuuu

[@aacha548]

I can't Hear this at all with the volume totally maxed out. A transcription would be really helpful.

[@ClaudiaFriedlander]

Unfortunately, this is the best I can do with the equipment I currently have. I'm looking into ways to improve my recording strategies. It's tricky to record classical singing without the levels totally frying!

[@arxsyn]

when she starts singing the volume sky Rockets lol

[@lessandra602]

Claudia do you offer online lessons? I am based in the UK.

[@ClaudiaFriedlander]

I do indeed! Please feel free to be in touch, claudia at claudiafriedlander dot com 🙏

[@marinarabini363]

Brava.

[@dianelandry208]

So disappointed! Can't hear you. Audio problem I think. Will keep checking.

[@heya1957]

Use earphones

[@frangiew9076]

Mrs. Friedlander can't hear you very well

[@raynardi7243]

Volume!

[@jesmopera2685]

I’m no good at coloratura

[@ClaudiaFriedlander]

I wasn't either, until I practiced the exercises I shared in this video. Trust me, if they worked for me, they will work for you too!

[@sanjitcrick3341]

Sound quality is bad 😭

[@cynthiabutcher5165]

Volume too low!

[@cashmerecat9269]

Good content but your sound is too soft..

[@milliepuentevoices9444]

Voice is to low please raise your voice

[@morehn]

Are you familiar with Jewish cantorial style?

[@ClaudiaFriedlander]

I have had a number of Jewish cantors as students, so I am familiar with the style; however, I teach technique and am not familiar enough with the style that I could teach or coach it.

[@morehn]

@@ClaudiaFriedlander are opera and cantorial music sung the same way and with the same techniques?

[@ClaudiaFriedlander]

@@morehn I think it depends upon the singer and how they choose to train. If a cantor comes to study with me, I will work with them in a way that is practically identical to the way I would work with an opera singer. It's their musicianship, sense of style, and what they are expressing that makes it different.

[@ShaniTheBurningTree]

I’m hard of hearing and this is very low. Don’t be afraid to speak up