Singing Success III

Singing Success
Lesson 3:
According to Brett Manning, this is the lesson where most singers being to notice the benefits of the previous lessons. I can only hope I feel the same way also.
Goals:

1. Build more flexibility and encourse elascticity
2. begin developing vibrado
3. sustain notes in an easy chest, head, and mixed voice
4. apply the technique to a song ("and the rockets' red glare")

Excercises:

1. lip rolls on a long scale (like lesson 2 but sung faster)
2. tongue trills on a long scale (ditto)
3. lip rolls a mixed octaves (1 3 2 4 3 2) where 1 is the root and 4 is the octave. The benefit from this exercise comes from the gaps and disorder of the notes. You start low, go high, and all of a sudden you're going down again, then go high again, and then back down. This reduces the body's tendency to tense up when approaching high notes as you prepare to strain (due to years of terrible habit). Every note is treated as the first note. The broad spacing between notes means you're in and out of chest and head. This helps you find and get into and out of those voices quickly and easily.
   
4. tongue trills on a repetitive scale
5. "No No No" on a long scale + low larynx. Similar to "nay nay nay" only with a narrower vowel. The narrower vowel has a greater tendency to pull the voice into head voice and out of chest. Unlike nay nay nay, which has the opposite effect. This establishes head voice
   
6. "nuah nu-ah". Nuah opens your mouth, where No closes it. This exercise sees if you can open the valve without ending up in pure chest, establishing a mixed voice
7. Susatined lip roll on a an octaive scale (hold the top note, and bend the pitch). Its the first vibrato excercise! (only got to C)
8. holy crap there are a lot of excercises. "yeh yeh yeh" with vibrato. I don't know if the vibrato is produced by stopping the airflow and starting it quickly, or by moving the pitch up and down. He said if you don't have vibrato yet, force it by mimicking a starting engine, and eventually your body will learn what vibrato feels like
9. "mum mum mum" on onctave scale susatained at the top. The examples use vibrado at the top but I don't know if we're supposed it. He says "relax and let it happen." This excercise sounded gross. I might be doing it wrong
10. First application! We're putting these excercises into a difficult section of the Star Spangled Banner. "And the rockets' red glare."
    

Problems:
During excercise 3 and 4, Around the A, Bb, B range under middle C, there is inconsistency when getting into the lower notes
During exercise 5, it feels as though I'm skipping head voice except for 2-3 notes, and then going straight into falsetto. I make a very airy sound. I can get to the Bb below

Well this one for sure is difficult, I'll be on it for atleast a week (from today) before I move on. Alternatively I can also take a look a the the Style CD, ooh!