Bulent - "As you sing those fast sixteenths on 'ma' your lower lip is gradually moving to the right. Keep the lips aligned and centered."
Student - "It's because I love Picasso!"
Lesson stops for a few minutes due to a laughing bout with tears...
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Student sings a piece in his online lesson.
Bulent - "What happened towards the end? I heard you clearly all the way to the end, but the screen turned completely dark in the last system of the piece."
Student - "Oh, I think I know what happened! Saitama touched and flipped the screen!:)"
Saitama is the adorable green parrot of my student, who inadvertently (or maybe not so inadvertently) causes all kinds of distractions, flying around, perching on my student and strolling from shoulder to shoulder while he sings, pecking at his t-shirt and hanging from it in creative ways, and looking at my student's face funnily at close distance as if analyzing him technically!
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Student, after singing a Vaccai piece comments that he inadvertently reversed open and closed 'o' vowels in the word 'conforto'...
Bulent - "You're right. Only the o in the middle should be open. Make sure you don't approach these lyrics through English eyes. Approach them through Italian eyes."
Student - "I think my Italian eyes got crossed!:)"
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Student - "Why is your keyboard's name different? Ahamay? Did you get a new one?"
Bulent - "No, it's the same keyboard. You are just seeing it in the studio mirror :)"
Timeout for collective laughing...
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Bulent - "Do you want to go over the (Italian) pronunciation before singing the piece?"
Student - "No, I'll just wing it!"
A laughing bout ensues...
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Bulent - "Did you practice your Messiah aria?"
Student, ebulliently - "That's a good question!!!"
(i.e. 'No') :)
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Bulent - "Hmm... That was an interesting interpretation of this piece :) Make sure you follow the score."
Student - "It's just my style. And that's just my excuse for everything :)"
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Bulent - Demonstrating in the air... "What's the name of this cartilage (of the larynx) here?"
Student - "Criconoid cartilage."
Bulent - "Not criconoid, it's the cricoid cartilage :) I think all the news about the corona virus made you a little paranoid :)"
Student - "I think so :)"
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After trying a specific exercise several times a cappella...
Student - "I'm getting turned around by how turned around I am!"
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Bulent - "I just created a Studio Fun page on my website."
Student - "I will be at the top!"
Bulent - "You have competitors :)"
Student - (With a confident smile) "Not for long!"
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Student is working on Concone, number 43...
Bulent - "Why did you start singing the whole piece 'la, la, la...' :) ?"
Student - "I thought you wanted me to sing on 'la' ?"
Bulent - "I was just asking you to sing 'la' on the second note of the 5th measure, instead of the incorrect 'sol' you were singing repeatedly :)"
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During an arpeggio exercise...
Bulent - "Keep your forehead relaxed. You are (unknowingly) raising your eyebrows for the high notes :)"
Student - "I'm amazed at my coordination!", (and after exercising his eyebrows) "I'm amazed that I could also do it on purpose!"
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At the final stages of voice change due to puberty...
Student - "Is there ever going to be a time when my falsetto doesn't sound like a nasally angel getting squished? And not like a good angel... But like an angel, flat and getting squished?"
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Student - "My hiccups are getting more audible!"
Bulent - "It's because your technique is getting better:)"
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Student sings an incorrect interval in a Vaccai piece...
Bulent - "That interval should be a minor 3rd, not a major 3rd."
Student - Assessing the situation and with a serious tone:"It's (minor 3rd) more sinister than that (major 3rd)."
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Demonstrating with his hands the side view of the larynx in the air and pointing to the bottom of it...
Bulent - "What is this here?"
Student - "It's a cartridge!"
Bulent - "No :)! It's not a cartridge! This is not a printer:) It's a cartilage! Cricoid cartilage! And here is the thyroid cartilage. Where are the vocal cords here?"
Student - "I don't know... Somewhere in there!? :)"
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Lesson is about to start. A student (a kid) stares at her music book. As if speaking to herself, calmly, but making sure both I and her parents hear her:
"When I'm 120 years old, I will throw these books away. I'm not going to need them."
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Student, after several attempts to start a vocal exercise on middle C:
"I think C Major is making me nervous."
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Student forgets her Concone at home. I hand her mine for the lesson. She puts it on the music stand and sings a piece with glitches. Then she calmly turns to me and says:
"I think your Concone is making me nervous."