Tenor Jack Li Vigni answers about the connection between cord closure and diaphragm
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 ม.ค. 2025
- The lower abs, engaging upward connect to the voice. However, the energy of the lower abs should not be contained by the vocal cords directly as if they were a valve. The energy of the breath is contained in the thorax and the vocal cords vibrate freely with no pressure.

Absolutely Brilliant. It's almost like a "suffocation" or "reverse" feeling. MERRY CHRISTMAS MAESTRO.
Indeed
Awesome! God bless you for that excellent demonstration.
Maestro Livigni, spot on and correct as always. Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones ❤🎉
Very useful explanation, thanks a lot. Merry Christmas!
Youda best! Merry Christmas.
Thanks for the tip, I'm still struggling with taking the pressure out of my vocal chords. Merry Christmas to you too!
Brilliantly put and demonstrated! Merry Christmas too!
Nice. I felt the exact same thing about the thorax this week practicing. Merry Xmas 🎉
Thanks Jack. you are so right. So much confusing information everywhere, Colpa di Petto. And Merrry Chrismas to you and youre family
Merry Christmas Maestro Li Vigni.
Thanks for this Jack! Could you also explain how this relates to how you talk about Appoggio i.e. the voice itself leaning down on the breath?
Yes. Good question. Basically, one needs to differentiate between origin of sound and sense of pressure. What I am saying is that though the sound originates in the larynx and then resonates up and out, the pressure should not be directly against the cords.
Thanks maestro
Does Livigni give private lessons to people in the "general public"? I'd love to learn more from him
Tank you maestro for your video. I don't really understand. We can't pressurise the air in the lungs without closing the cords can we? In order to create pressure inside lungs the pressurised space need to be closed in order to create the pressure. And the only way is to close the cords... I thought that the "game" was to be able to have a strong closure without engaging throat muscles. Merry Xmas 🎄
There is a difference between what is objectively true and what is felt. What you describe is correct. But if you put the pressure in a way that you feel it on the cords, you are doing it wrong. Intentions make a big difference.
The paradox is that if you don't have sufficient cord closure you can't find what I am talking about.
Excellent.
So we're talking about Terranova here. I believe his method of creating a lot of pressure from the diaphragm, stopping it with the cords like a valve and exaggerating the space in the throat is quite suboptimal. He actually sings well and I think that's because he's been using this method for so long that his body adjusted, but still you can hear that his passaggio notes and high notes are quite heavy, dark and lack that bright tenor quality. If he sang a little bit lighter and brighter his high notes would be excellent.
Terranove is a wonderful tenor. I am pretty sure he has found the way to not pressurize the cords but rather sings with the right amount of pressure. Sometimes, in explaning things we may confuse objective reality with what subjectively we intend.
I always try to make this process as natural as possible... I try to make sure the high note falls into 'the pocket' where it's vibrating with good peaks and valleys and plenty of squillo, but my sensation for all of this is very laryngeal, I barely feel any abdominal engagement, should I? Merry Christmas Jack!
The origin of sound is laryngeal, but the sensation of pressure should not be.
Merci pour cette explication. Le ressenti est clair, subjectivement, mais qu’est-ce qui permet de retenir la pression à cette endroit organiquement? Un rétrécissement de la trachée? On pourrait imaginer qu’il y ait une sorte de valve en dessous des cordes qui modère la pression. Mais que se passe t’il réellement?
Joyeux noël!
One cannot actually stop the air in the thorax... air fills whatever space it is in. Objectively speaking the vocal folds are very much a sort of valve. The issue is not the objective, but rather the subjective intention. We should not use the vocal folds like a valve putting pressure on them directly. Feeling the "sostenutezza di petto" or the chest prop as Tetrazzini calls it, is a subjective intention of controlling the air and measuring the pressure in a way that allows on to not directly pressurize the cords.
Merry Christmas! lol