Choral Directors are from Marsand

Voice Teachers are from Venus:

• Sharon Hansen• Allen Henderson• Scott McCoy• Donald Simonson• Brenda Smith

“Sing from the Diaphragm”and other Vocal Mistructions

2

The Successful Voice Teaching Team

• Voice Teacher• Choral Director• Vocal Coach • Medical Professionals• Choreographers/Directors• Diet/Nutrition Experts• Exercise Physiologist/Trainer• Movement Coaches• Drama Coach

Who is on your

team? Don’t have a complete

team together?

3

Developing a Successful Team

How can middle and high school and college choral conductors interact with independent and academic voice teachers in their area to develop a successful team?

• Local NATS Chapter• Voice Foundation Activities• Local voice teacher in your

classroom• Take a voice lesson

yourself• Vocal health professionals

• World Voice Day – April 16th

4

What specific knowledge is important when teaching beginning singers?

What about a voice

pedagogy class required for all

music education

majors?

5

Survey ofVoice Pedagogy Requirements*

*Conducted at Sixty-One American Universities

Voice Pedagogy Requirement

0 sem

1 sem 2 sem Vocal Tech

Ch. Ped

# of Universities 37 20 1 2 1

% of Total 61% 33% 1.63% 3.27%1.63

%

6

The Voice Teacher – Choral Conductor Conflict in Higher

Education

• Fantasy or fact?

• Who cares?

• Why worry about this?

7

Mistructions

What are some common “mistructions” we hear in both the choral rehearsal and voice studio?

8

Support Issues

• “The trouble with young professional singers today is that their teachers are no longer teaching them how to use their diaphragms.” (NY Times music critic)

• The diaphragm is exclusively a muscle of inspiration.

• Diaphragmatic pulse produces a hiccup—probably not the best way to articulate rapid pitches in melismatic passages.

“Singfrom the Diaphragm”

9

“More support is better”

BETTER support!

MORE support?

10

Support Issues

How about:

“Breathe low”

“Breathe easily”

11

Body Alignment Issues

“Stand up straight.”“Stand like a soldier.”

“Come to your balance point.”“Quickly check your alignment.”

“Tuck that chin in.”“Are your eyes looking out into the

world?”“Can you sense your neck longer in

the back and shorter in the front?”

12

Body Alignment Issues

“Suck in your gut.”“Can you sense your breath

when it is deep and full?”“Do you sense an expansive,

stretching feeling all around the middle of the body?”

“Lift your sternum.”“Do you sense a gentle lifting

sensation under your upper chest? Not forced, but buoyant . . .”

“Are your shoulders released and free?”

13

Textual Issues

“Enunciate! I want to hear all those consonants!”

EVERY consonant?Final consonants?Initial consonants?

14

Clear Choral Diction

Clear choral diction involves a corporate understanding of the symbols and their use in a concise rhythmic

context.

15

International Phonetic Alphabet(IPA)

• THE internationally recognized standard.

• Valuable for high school students to be exposed to it prior to college diction courses.

• Works in both the choral AND studio settings. It even works with my church choir.

• Works with various languages and students are able to see the correlations between the use of a particular sound in various languages.

16

Diction Issues

How about:

“Make sure your final consonants are clearly articulated and rhythmically energized.”

17

“Everyone sing a pure [i] vowel.”

One size does NOT fit all.

Vowel modification requires SPECIFIC solutions

for each section.

18

Formant/Resonance Issues

“I want absolutely no vibrato throughout this entire piece.”

“Raise your eyebrows so you will sing in tune.”

“Drop your jaw.”“Keep your tongue down.”

19

Formant/Resonance Issues

How about:

“Tune your vowels to optimize clarity and resonance.”

20

Stamina of the Voice

“We are going to spend the entire lesson/rehearsal today singing everything on [du].” ([di], or [da]/ Pick one!)Imagine spending an

entire one-hour workout at the gym performing

only squats!

21

Stamina of the Voice

“We will have a rehearsal Friday evening from 7-9, Saturday from 10-12 and then a dress rehearsal with orchestra from 1-3 and our concert will start at 4.”

• Not uncommon in all-state, honor choir, workshops, etc.

• Even under ideal circumstances too much can be harmful.

22

What is optimal for the voice?

• Opinions vary

• All voices are unique

• Overuse is abuse

23

Stamina of the Voice

“You’re a trained singer. Can’t you sing for 1.5 hours and then sing a concert?”

Can a Major League Pitcher throw batting practice for

two hours and then pitch a full game?

24

Warm Ups/Cool Downs

“Warm ups take too much rehearsal time. The choir should come ready to sing.”

“Singing the hymns for Sunday is a good way to warm up. Once everyone has arrived, we can cut right to the anthems.”

25

Warm Ups/Cool Downs

• As necessary to singers as to athletes

• Best done a cappella• Warm ups adjust posture

of the voice• Cool downs assist in

returning to a speech posture

26

Warm Ups

• 5-7 minutes• Cover 4 basic steps

toward singing—Relaxation/Posture/Breathing/Resonance

• Clear goals• Address technical

problems in literature

27

Cool Down

• Brief• Descending glides• Return choir to speaking

range• Sustained tone or chord

28

Questions?

This presentation and a handout version can be downloaded at

http://acda.nats.org

allen@nats.org