100% found this document useful (1 vote)
526 views3 pages

Vocal Pedagogy in The Choral Rehearsal - Becoming A Vocal Technician

By Kyle J. Weary

Uploaded by

Kyle Weary
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF or read online on Scribd
100% found this document useful (1 vote)
526 views3 pages

Vocal Pedagogy in The Choral Rehearsal - Becoming A Vocal Technician

By Kyle J. Weary

Uploaded by

Kyle Weary
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3
CDPerformance: Vocal Technique Vocal Pedagogy in the Choral Rehearsal: Becoming a Vocal Technician sy Kyte J. Weary he goal: to develop healthy singers with healthy vocal technique. ‘The problem: how to do this in the choral rehearsal, without losing those pre- cious minutes of time needed for learning music. Creating a unified, healthy. Teaching your choir sounding choir is something all choral directors strive to accom- solve most problems that plish, but all conductors’ training we find in a given choral isn’t the same. Sometimes there are rehearsal. For instance, gaps that need to be filled in the ed- if your choir constantly uucation of the conductor. The pro- goes flat during a capella cess of creating a healthy sounding pieces, what reasons can choir is much like a doctor meet you think of that would ing a sick patient for the first time: cause this to occur? Faulty ; one must listen to the choir breath support can be one vefore trying to determine what the cause. If the piece is in C problem might be. After listening, major or F major, those 8 diagnosis of the problem must be pieces typically lie right in made, and this may include multiple the first passagio of ten hypotheses. Finally, the conductor ors and sopranos, mak scribe a plan of action for ing it very easy to go flat. their students to correct whatever This problem might be issues are found. Adding the funda- addressed by simply hav mentals of vocal pedagogy into the ing the students use better rehearsal may seem like a daunting breath support, or by singing in © ting and poor breath support. Pos: these four basics can Posture propery Ifyou can breathe prop. ‘Choral Director, January 2011 21 own posture, Ifthe conductor fails our lower abdomen expands out to have proper posture, the students like a balloon, but it doesn’t fill up. will mitror often what they are see- Since the larynx is fully capable of a moving in six different ways ~ side ‘There are a few ways to teach to side, up and down, and forwards students posture and for students and back — improper posture will to check their posture within the cause muscular tension, If there is rehearsal setting. Having students muscular tension because of poor routinely check both their own and posture, that can translate to ten= a “buddy's” posture may be enough sion in the vocal folds, which will to drill the idea ofthe importance of affect sound quality good posture into your students. If that docen't work, try placing mir- ati tors in he front of the ceasroom ReSpiration (where your students will be able to “Teaching respiration is harder sce themselves) so they can check than most people think. We natu- their own posture. Be aware that rally breathe in and out all day, this may cause distraction for some students at first, bur eventually they “Posture is the root will be used to seeing themselves in of everything when it comes the mirrors. ” Body position can refer to pos- {0 singing! ture, hut it also takes into account every day. Yet, continuously think- the entire body. Body position is ing about breathing habits while how we stand: feet flat on the floor completing another task ~ su with the body weight evenly distrib- fg ~ can be quite a challenge uted between both feet; feet roughly Improper breath support can cause shoulder-length apart; knees relaxed many issues, including flatting and (and notlocked); the chest should be faulty intonation. A quick fix for high before inhalation; and the head breathing is that the director must should be in line with the spine. It be the one to Iead the group by is important to recognize that be- example in good breathing habits cause singing is an athletic activity, You might consider showing the the body must have an alertness and students (and, when appropriate, intensity present. 1 also teach my telling them) where you would like singers that body positioning is the them to breathe in a song. Gener- dicection that our body takes when ally speaking, when teaching a new singing. For instance, when singing, singer how to breathe, you must Cee Resources for Choirs and Soloists ‘Since 2001 choral music directors word wide have ‘chosen Note Perfecto help thousands of singors to confidently learn their indivduel part. Se ee ee ue aac ete CC etc) 22 Choral Director, January 2011 first teach them how you will indi- cate breathing to them Some of my favorite exercises to teach involve deep breathing One such activity involves having students lie down on the floor and place a hook fon their stomach, and then asking ‘hem to breathe so they move the book up and down, ‘This is a great exercise to teach our singers early on for a few reasons, Fitst, our singers aren't hav- ing to fight gravity when they are lying down on the floor, so they are quite successful when they are first learning this. Second, they are learning how \dependently control their stom- ach muscles. Finally, they can visually sce the difference in the type of breath they are taking with the book placed ‘upon their stomach, Differentiating between abdomi nal breathing and chest breathing is something that is imperative to cho- ral singing. Typically, we advocate for abdominal breathing, but every so often there is a piece of choral music (or solo vocal music) that cessitates a chest breath from our singers. Another easy way to show students how to take a deep breath is by having them pretend that they are breathing through their belly button with a straw, This will give them the sensation that they are breathing from the bottom up and will hope- fully help them take a proper ab- dominal breath, rather than a chest breath. Getting students to breathe abdominally without thinking is something that not only takes prac- tice, but also takes time. Phonation ‘Teaching phonation to students is ‘often problematic, especially if the teacher isn't a native of the area or ‘completely familiar with the subtle dia- lect of the students. Improper phona- ton can cause a poor focus in the tone, and overly bright vowels can cause the choit to sing sharp. Teaching phonation to students must include the basic anat- omy for the student to be a successful singer, Singers should understand the ‘multiple components needed for good to phonation, which include: the power source (the vocal folds); oscillator (the breath); and the resonator (the eavi in the head). Along with this knowledge, students should know that the lips, the jaw, and tongue are what determine the vowel sound, Opening the mouth and having relaxed jaw that is dropped will help singers’ pho- nation. Teaching the “inner yawn” feel ing typically results in a good jaw posi- tion for singing. Resonance Teaching resonance to students is the most difficult task in group vocal pedagogy. A poor sound or lack of projection may be caused by poorly adjusted resonators. Fortunately, we can teach our students about this. The resonator is a secondary vibra: tor, not capable of initiating pitch. But it is capable of altering the am- plitude and timbre of a pitch, for better or worse, The main objective of resonance is for space to be cre- ated, which allows the sound to be amplified through the cavities with- in the head, ‘There are three main cavities that help amplify the sound: the mouth, the throat, and the naso- pharynx. While most voice teach. ers will say that resonance should be felt, not all students have the same sensation when feeling reso- nance. Therefore, generalizing in the rehearsal will most likely con- fuse those students who are feeling resonance differently than other singers. For students to comprehend resonance, they must experience wt over and over again. Some stu- dents might feel it, which makes it easy to remember, but for those who don’t, it can be hard member the experience, which is why repetition is important. Also, teaching our students one term and using it, rather than using multiple terms (for example, “placement,” “focus,” “ping,” “ring,” “singing in the mask,” “nasal resonance,” and so on) can help decrease confusion about this somewhat complicated topic, Humming is a basic starting point for most resonance exercises Sighing and yawning are also ways of teaching resonance. A good cho. ral sound is one that is rich in reso. nance and is also characterized by a uniform vowel color, depth and fullness of tone, and projection. Developing our students’ voice jg a task that won't be complete in lone week, one semester, of even one year, We must continuously create new warm-ups and choose new rep- ertoire to broaden the technique that our students use in choir and to keep theit voice at the top of its game. Choral directors and educa- tors who take the extra time to in- corporate voeal technique into their rehearsals aren't just teaching music to be sung, they are teaching singers how to sing. *2 An active presenter and music educator Kyle Weary isthe socal music depart- ‘mont lead teacher forthe Barbara Ingram School for the Arts in Hager stoven, Maryland. Kyle bas a bachelors degre in Music Education and a master’s of music in Conducting from Shenandoah Con- servatory of Music, as well as Level IM Certification in Somatic Voicework = The LoVetri Method -from the Contemporary Commercial Musical ‘Theatre Vocal Pedagogy Institute. Kyle isa member of the American Choral Directors Assocation, the Conductors Guild, the Educational ‘Theatre Association, Music Educators [National Conference, bi Mu Alpha - Sinfonia, and National Association cof Teachers of Singing VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL «at the 2011 Norfolk NATO Festival | April 29 May 1, 2011 Let Performing Ans Consultants help you ocherate an unforgetable rp and Invramental groupe prt ernment and include the sina [nerational Tatton andthe Pande af Nasions slang with Choral, Jet ing at Chyler [ll nd (Call 1-800-USA.FEST or email mikeausafestorg and sat planning today. “"Norfo lh Choral Director January 2011. 23

You might also like