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Tone Quality and Intonation

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Last week I took my banjo to a technician to have the neck adjusted (the “Reply” button below this blog is where you can deposit your banjo joke. I think I’ve heard them all, so if you post one, I hope it is a good one.) Why was I doing this? Because tone quality and intonation matter–a lot.

As I watched and listened while the technician adjusted first the neck, then the bridge, and then surveyed the frets, I thought about how peculiar it was that two people were spending serious time on a Thursday afternoon, focused on the maintenance of tone quality and intonation. As that thought crossed my mind, right behind it came the thought that this is all I have been doing since I discovered my ears–striving for good tone and intonation.
 
As I continued to listen to the technician tune my banjo for my final approval, I remembered the response legendary guitarist Chet Atkins gave to critic Alanna Nash in 1981, when Nash asked Atkins how he would like to be remembered. Atkins replied, “I guess I’d like for people to say that I played in tune…”
There is no question about it–intonation and tone quality are defining issues. I have a collection of pop songs recorded over the years that completely stump me regarding why, under studio conditions, a song was released in which something was out of tune. There is that flute solo in the Mamas & Papas’ California Dreamin‘; the pinultimate measure in the second verse of Gary Puckett’s vocals  Young Girl (at 1:34 on this video, right after scary baby); and there is the wrong note in the trumpet introduction that follows Steve Cropper’s opening guitar solo in Soul Man (between seconds 9 and 10 on the second note played by the trumpet–listen with headphones). Why?

As one of our imminent choral conductors has said, the primary reason choirs sing out of tune is because the director allows them to sing out of tune. We know, however, that poor intonation and poor tone quality are toxic to our art. Yet, it is one thing to diagnose a problem, and quite another thing to correct the problem. There are several pedagogical reasons, all underneath the “director allows them” problem, that contribute to poor intonation and poor tone quality. And this brings me to the bottom line for this blog–the person that knows how to fix those problems is a person trained in choral and vocal production.

The reason I took my banjo to a technician is simple–I recognized the problem, but I did not have the skills to fix the problem. People other than chorally trained people may hear a problem, but can they fix the problem?  It is my hope that as choirs are shifted to new types of directors during a time of budget concerns and budget cuts, that those making the decisions know the difference between a technician and a substitute. A choir can be an instrument of beauty, if the tone is pleasing and the singing is in tune. That takes a leader that knows what they are doing.

 
 
 
 

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Comments

  2. Isn’t it wonderful jonathan to be able to communicate at all! Two different cultures, in so many ways, and yet so much alike : ) Happy Birthday!

  3. Michael, the choirs you probably heard are the "creme de la creme", those with international reputations and a history of joining international competitions. The vast majority however, are still unheard, even by us here in Manila, and we are still striving to gather member conductors for our fledgling organization.
     
    Reading your remarks on the situation in your country, we have a lot of similarities. One thing I can happily say for the Filipinos though – they really love to sing, and unashamedly so! Their hearts and throats are just bursting with this passion to express themselves in song. If we could combine this with good intonation and more musical knowledge, then we will be one happy, singing country! (by the way, it’s our independence day on June 12… happy birthday, Philippines!)
     

  4. Here’s a Banjo Joke.
     
    There’s one sentence that has never been uttered in the history of the English Language: "Hey, check out the banjo player’s Porsche." – Steve Martin on why he didn’t pursue a career as a musician.

  5. Good question. It does open up the conversation uncomfortably though Jonathan. I am aware of the excellence of choirs from your country.
     
    We do not have a similar situation in Ireland. Choral music is a minority sport, not supported in general by education establishments, and then at College level given minimal support. Music has always been neglected by our schools, and the vast majority of students leave education without being exposed to ANY music other than pop and rock.
     
    There are no choral departments with doctors or professors – no faculties of choral music. Ireland imports choral opinions from all over the world and, simply because there is no choral infrastructure here, struggles to achieve excellence. Many of my colleagues fight for their entire lives to maintain children’s and adult choirs in a stressful  environment – the stress that results from being neglected and ignored.
     
    I entered that choral world in complete innocence when I went to college to study music. I started singing chorally at the age of 19. I’d never sung with, or actually heard live, an a cappella performance. After one performance I was hooked and obsessed for life. However, over many years I became frustrated and irritated by the constant search outside of Ireland for a choral identity. I created my own group, Anuna, based on the cultural and educational restraints that I saw around me.
     
    I had no conducting tuition, so I stopped conducting. I couldn’t find suitable repertoire for my singers so I wrote it and arranged it. I needed people to come and see what I was so obsessed with, so I created an image and an ethos over many years for my group. By doing so Anuna have been forced to listen and interact with each other. The singers are mainly untrained and only two have any choral training beyond being in school choirs [if even having that].
     
    What I proposed in my response above is pretty radical, but very simple. We all need to stop waving our hands so much and listen… : )

  8. Hi John,
     
    Good thoughts on the studio. I remember my days of living in the studio when we would look at our ticking watches as we would record, and re-record, and re-record, and then someone would tap on their watch and say, "Sounds good to me", knowing that time is money in the studio.
     

  9. Tim Sharp on the stage, jamming on the banjo with country singers — just one more reason to be grateful that he’s leading ACDA into an exciting and progressive future! (I’m being serious here, not facetious!) Tim, what’s the story behind that there event?
     
    And a related tuning thought: The more the singer’s body and mind are passionately engaged with text and music, the better the tuning will be. Shifting the focus from "perfect tuning" to "powerful/poignant purpose" relieves physical and vocal tension (which often causes singers to sharp) — and getting the body involved provides better support (the lack of which often causes singers to sing flat). Ironically, letting go of the dominant goal of "perfection" gets one closer to it. (What we resist, persists 🙂
     
    Hope you’re doing well.
     
    Warm regards,
     
    Tom

  10. Colleagues:  Tim’s posts are clearly intended to be thoughtl-provoking.  Here are the thoughts this one provoked in me.
     
    I can easily answer the question regarding why recordings are released when they are less than perfect, since my first recording sessions were in the late ’50s and my most recent in the early ’90s (PRIOR to "auto-tuning"!).  And the answer is, quite simply, the intersection of ability and money.  You ALWAYS go for the best possible take possible, with the people you have, on the day you record.  Some PEOPLE don’t sing in tune.  Fact of life.  But since a lot of my recording was with my university ensembles, with some good voices and instrumentalists, I also have to point out a couple of other facts of life.
     
    1.  It takes any ensemble a certain amount of time to get well warmed up vocally, but even moreso to get well warmed up mentally and aurally.  The first takes are NEVER usable, but the first playbacks are always invaluable as they sharpen the ears.  And ALL voices, but especially whose of non-professional singers, have a finite half-life in the recording studio, before the physical strain starts taking its toll on the fine control.  And the length of that "sweet spot" between acclimatizing to the studion and beginning to lose vocal control does not always agree with the amount of time one can afford to pay for!!!  Fully professional equipment can seldom be found outside the recording studio, but in the studio time is money and the meter is always ticking.
     
    Anyone who thinks you can take your choir into a studio—or bring recording equipment to your choir—and sing once through each piece and you’re finished, does not grasp the simple fact that live performance is one art and recording is a different one.  The goal of the former is similar to that of live theater:  make each performance sound new and different and fresh, as if it were the first performance ever.  The goal of the latter is similar to that of movie-making:  capture that ONE perfect take, or enough imperfect takes that they can be edited into "the best you can produce that day with those people."  And since perfection is fleeting, if not impossible, "we can fix it in the mix" remains a necessary skill for recording engineers and producers.

    2.  Sorry to bring this up, but there is no such thing as "perfect intonation."  In fact, exactly what do you mean by that?  Perfectly in tune with a piano, which is very deliberately tempered to be "perfectly" out of tune in every single interval?  Perfectly in tune in the renaissance sense of perfect, small whole-number intervals in every harmonic structure?  Perfectly distorted raised leading tones and major thirds?  Those are questions that every choral conductor must consider and answer before his or her goal can even be understood, let alone accomplished.  And pax Robert Shaw, most of us can’t even hear the necessary micro-intervals, let alone sing them.

    During the time my son toured with Chanticleer, he told me that they did take this into consideration, favoring pure intonation in renaissance music, and deliberately using equal temperament for modern works, whether classical, jazz, or gospel.  How many of us can say the same?  Or perhaps more telling, how many of us really can hear the difference?!!!

    And 3.  Any serious exposure to World Music makes it stunningly clear that "beautiful tone" is a cultural artifact, and not an absolute that cuts across all cultures.  And it follows inevitably that "beautiful vocal production" is possible only WITHIN a specific cultural framework, and is ALWAYS culturally based and culturally evaluated.  "Bel canto" is ONE such tonal concept, but only one.

    Thanks for provoking the thoughts, Tim, but what response were you really looking for?

    All the best,
    John

     

  11. I would also like to apologize that my name is in all caps, but I don’t know how to change it. I just registered a few moments ago, and my computer automatically put my name in all caps.

  12. Au contraire, Tim, I’m just saying that the special circumstances in my country, like choirs being conducted by untrained conductors, mostly coming from colleges of education with not enough music credits etc, or perhaps received only one or two semesters of music, and are then hired as teachers of music, and then forced (hah!) to put up a choir… that these kinds of problems would be best solved by furthering the ear-training of the teachers/conductors, so that they would know the difference between good and bad intonation. My reply was directed to Mr. McGlynn, and his solution to let the choir do most of the correction of intonation faults by themselves by just letting them listen to themselves more.

  13. Isn’t Auto-Tune possible only for a single singing voice, or a single entity/vocal source in front of one microphone? Someone here in Manila told me that. And that it was not possible to do it with several voices (for example, the basses) being recorded. Beside the point I know. I was just curious…

  14. Hi Jonathan,
     
    Please say more? You are saying that trained ears and pedagogues would not work, yet you organized an association to offer training?

  15. Hi Tom,
     
    Two interesting examples in current pop culture come to mind–there is the solo singing on “American Idol” that can make me want to crawl under a table sometimes with the embarassing intonation problems. (Anyone want to mention particular cringing moments?) And there is the auto-tuning on “Glee”, which is carefully pre-recorded. There is reality, and then there is non-reaility.
     
    I am counting on you, however, and your colleagues that join us as we continue to train. I carry a tuning fork with me all the time. I am under no illusion that the problem is going to go away.
     
    Don’t give up on my iTunes recording, but also, don’t worry about spending much.

  16. I was just thinking, as I read your reply, how your own suggested "fix" would not work for majority of the choirs here in my country (Philippines). Most of them do not know how it is to be in tune. They really have no idea that they are out of tune. The concept of half-steps and whole steps are alien to them, much less harmony, chord progression, modulation, etc. They do a lot of singing by rote or just by hearing someone play it on an out of tune piano. So… if they do not know that there is an issue, how will they self-correct?
     
    What we did was to organize our own choral directors association, and we started "teaching the teachers" on how to listen well, and tell them what is good and bad intonation, and what external and internal factors influence the singers. That way, we can start "fixing" from the top. We just started, and we still have a long way to go. Maybe in the future, we can have our choirs do the fixing themselves.

  17. Hello Tim,
     
    I had the pleasure of working with you several years ago at a PAM Conference at Westminster, PA.
     
    I direct a 55 voice community chorale.  Ninety percent of the membership are untrained singers, but experienced choristers, consisting of a wide range of ages.  After more than 45 years in choral music, I must agee with both points of view expressed.  The director must be able to convey to the ensemble the proper tone production or vowel placement that will produce the desired sound.  Most untrained singers don’t or can’t hear the difference unless you draw their attention to the problem.  Sometimes it is simply a vowel that can change the intonation.  Part of the job of a director is to bring this to the attention of the group and teach them how to listen for the nuances and correct them.  It has taken several years for my ensemble to feel comfortable singing a cappella in tune.  Their success is due to constant correction by the director and their learned ability to correct themselves.  Their understanding of the mechanics has built confidence and made them better musicians.

  18. Hi Rick,
     
    Yes, there is a "good news/bad news" development taking place. The good news is that choirs are remaining in school systems in many areas, as they should, but the bad news is that some teachers trained in vocal and choral production are being released and the choirs are being handed over to people that do not have this training. Last summer, for example, I sat at a table with a full group of people new to ACDA that were there because they had been assigned the choir, but did not have the training. While I am pleased that music is still in the curriculum, it is disconcerting to see choral specialists being replaced by those that are not trained in this area. While I will continue to work for choral specialists for those positions, I will also work to help resource those that are now being given that responsibility, but do not have the training. This is why we need to mentor our colleagues that find themselves in these positions.

  19. I notice that the examples of out-of-tune singing and playing that you cite do not include any recent recordings.  With the advent of Auto-Tune in common usage in popular music, there are some interesting questions being raised:  Is it necessary for musicians to be able to sing or play in tune anymore?  Do we need to spend time developing ears and learning technique if it is so simple to correct?  Can I Auto-Tune my choir?
     
     Personally, I’d rather hear the occasional intonation problem and something that sounds human rather than the robotic perfection of Auto-Tune.  
     
    Those of us working with school choirs will continue to train the singers to listen and develop the technique necessary for controlling pitch.  I am grateful that you continue to preach the basics and that you repaired your banjo.  By the way, I can’t find any of your banjo recordings on iTunes.

  20. ” It is my hope that as choirs are shifted to new types of directors during a time of budget concerns and budget cuts, that those making the decisions know the difference between a technician and a substitute.”

    Tim, what do you mean by this, specifically, “new types of directors?” Do you see a trend towards school directors, who are less rigorously trained in the fundamentals of music and ensemble singing? If that is the case, who is at fault, the district that hires the musically underqualified teacher, or the music school that grants their degrees? Or both?

    Best regards,

    Rick Roe

  21. Hi – very interesting Blog thanks for posting.
     
    I wouldn’t agree with what you say though regarding the "fix". I believe that the only people who can fix such issues are the choir. Virtually all the choirs I have heard don’t actually listen to each other other than in the most nebulous sense. I believe that the primary function of a Director is not to tell how to listen, but to just let them. If you let them do it they will. record them and play it back – they will hear the issue and, given enough experience and time, they will self-correct. At least that is my humble experience with my own group. I feel that sometimes directors and conductors are more tied up in the mechanics and theory of such things and maybe should be more reliant on using common-sense approaches to intonation and blend.
     
    Regarding the intonation issues with the songs you mention – tempered tuning is not "natural". It is something imposed by instrumental development. My own group Anuna will shift intonation based on the colour of the chord rather than on how it relates to tempered tuning, and still end up relatively "in tune" [whatever that is] at the end of the piece. Some of my favourite music is "out of tune", and I would hate to correct it, particularly that stunningly bad flute solo on "California Dreaming" – and the one on "Nights in White Satin"… maybe its just something about the flute…
     
     

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