Diego Velazquez

Voice for Musical Theatre

Final Assessment

This has been an incredible semester for me vocally. It has been years since I had a

principal part in a musical and since I put in any extra work to improve my voice. I sing basically

every day and am always doing something with some goal, but it’s all been on my own and there

is only so much I can do with my limited knowledge and understanding of the voice. Taking this

class was the best thing I’ve done for my singing voice in years, especially since I was fortunate

enough to be cast as Angel. Through my work in this show and my work in class I have

improved in a few ways.

The most obvious thing I have found that I have improved is my registration control and

my range. Angel is a counter-tenor, which I certainly am not. In order to play the character’s

dialogue alone I had to learn to speak in a different voice, which also meant singing in a different

voice. I never good control of my pitch when singing in softer lighter registers, as I have always

been more comfortable with projected or belted singing. For Angel, I found a more heady mix

and while I was not perfect by the end of the run, I can clearly learned to hit notes in the show in

a different method that I have been able to before.

The first part of my improvement was the time I spent outside of class or rehearsal

practicing. This time is actually the base of all my improvement vocally. I decided to enroll in

piano class this semester as to learn more music theory and be able to integrate knowledge of the

piano into my singing and performing. This gave me access to practice rooms on campus, which

I took full advantage of. I was already told to spend several hours a week practicing piano in

order to learn and improve, so I also spent that time singing. I would bring my libretto with me

and I would play out melodies. This helped me solidify the pitches I would be singing and I

practiced hitting the notes in every comfortable way I know. This was time I spent discovering

my voice and finding that head voice mix I eventually would use for Angel. I needed to spend

my practice time doing this and credit it heavily for my improvement because I did not have the

time to spend during rehearsal to discover this voice and had to be ready every day to work on

the show.

Another incredible improvement I have had is my vocal health. Not once during the

rehearsal process did I “lose” my voice or have it drop in quality. There was a brief period of

time where I felt like my voice was more phlegmy than usual and it was negatively impacting

my vocals. This, however, was more due to stress and anxiety than direct vocal issues. I had

begun to feel the pressure of the part in full force and questioned myself at every corner vocally.

Once I got passed those mental blocks, my voice lasted the whole rehearsal process and the run

of the show. Even during a week and a half in which I felt myself having a slight cold and some

discomfort in my throat. I took it easy, made no efforts to work harder and tried to simply focus

on control and never straining. This paid off as during that time period I was told that my songs

began to sound the best that they had.

The major part of my improvement in this area was my discipline in maintaining a

healthy lifestyle during the process of Rent. I am an adult who enjoys going out every once in a

while and grabbing a few drinks with friends, and I also can be a bit eccentric and do

vocalizations throughout the day that are definitely not healthy for a singing voice. I decided to

opt out of late nights and drinking, as well as screaming or being generally reckless with my

voice. Historically I have lost my voice during the rehearsal process of several shows that I have

done. I knew that this was not an option for me during this show and my vocal health was

immeasurably important. I only drank water and an occasional iced tea, I avoided eating fried

foods or anything that could dry out my throat, and I warmed up my voice most every day before

rehearsal. These steps led to my voice being able to handle hitting high notes every day for 2

months as well as being able to more effectively use rehearsal time, instead of waiting for my

voice to be at 100% to rehearse.

Finally, a huge improvement I have experience is in pitch control. Thanks to the class and

process of Rent and several cabarets, my pitches are sharper than they ever have been. I am by

no means perfect, but I have been able to hold pitches in my mind and replicate them

occasionally when asked but it is not the same when I am singing a song. I have had so many

opportunities to perform this semester and I have made sure to record every single one. I hear

where I falter in pitches, and with the work we have done in class I have improved. With no real

formal training in singing this improvement is a long time coming and a long ways to go still.

This improvement is due to the whole experience I had this semester, in all aspects of

performance. In class we spent some time finding different points of registration in my voice and

doing this I found a better control of my instrument and more precise singing. In rent, we had

many, many harmonies to remember and I had my own very hard vocal part to focus on. I

needed to tinker with my voice to learn how to hit certain notes healthily and consistently. I

didn’t quite get it for the whole show, but there are a fair number of instances where I hit the

notes in a way I would not have been able until this semester. The cabarets were opportunities to

sing songs I personally enjoy and in recording them I found where I struggled in pitch with them

in performance and this gave me a better ear for my own voice. All of these things were

instrumental in my improvement.

There are still many ways I wish to improve vocally. I would love to see where my vocal

range goes up to healthily. I know what I can hit in a belt voice but I want to see with true and

consistent control how far I can go. I also currently have an issue with breath support and

control. I am a smaller man and I also have a history of asthma, so my breathing is a bit weak. I

would love to see where my voice would fit best vocally in terms of style. I love singing classic

musical theatre and more legit songs, but I also enjoy more contemporary songs. I’ve found I

have a contemporary voice with some classic style and I want to isolate the styles and work on

them and learn what I can do. I feel that what I really need to reach these goals is a voice teacher.

I have not historically considered myself a singer, but I have heard a lot of support from a lot of

people and it’s only fair that I give it a real try and do what I can for myself. I have always loved

singing and only recently have I been able to sing “well.” I have some knowledge of singing

through my own studies and a couple of classes, but I need the help of a professional. I will have

to experiment with teachers and find one that fits with me and can help me reach my goals. I am

confident that if I give this a true chance, I can do a lot more than I ever imagined.