Speaking of Voice: “Is the Warm-up in Your Score?” by Barbara Abramoff Levy

(This vocal pedagogy commentary is excerpted from the Choral Journal article, “Teaching Vocal technique from the Musical Score,” by Barbara Abramoff Levy. Share YOUR vocal expertise by writing a future installment of “Speaking of Voice.”  Contact Scott Dorsey, .)

 

       If rehearsal time is such a precious commodity to choral conductors, how can this vocal technique/music learning dilemma be solved? The answer must be to draw the technique from the music, that is, to build specific elements of vocal technique in one's choir that will lead directly to the more successful and satisfying execution of the music. While you are teaching principles of good singing you are also teaching the notes of a difficult passage, practicing the phrasing, or correcting the endings. As the rehearsals progress, the vocal shortcomings of a chorus will become evident in the execution of the score. It is inefficient to teach concepts that cannot be directly applied to solving the problems singers are facing.

       Begin your work on vocal technique by spending a few minutes at the beginning of each rehearsal on relaxation, good posture, and a few breathing exercises. The idea is to create in your members a sense of physical and mental readiness for singing. Your singers have probably been using their voices (talking) all day. Their voices do not really need much more warming-up. It is more important to help them concentrate on breathing and on warming-up their thinking for singing. Then, get to the music.

       If your chorus were preparing O Magnum Mysterium of Tomas Luis de Victoria, for example, you will have already made some observations about the nature of music and possible vocal pitfalls. A most important element of O Magnum Mysterium is the fluid and continuous nature of the phrases. It is imperative that the choral director and singers avoid the mistake of accenting the downbeat of each bar. The music must move across the bar lines with slight accents occurring only where the word stresses fall. The key to this kind of singing is good breath control. It does not suffice, however, to tell a choir to sing "long lines" or to "sing across the bar lines." It is essential to teach them how to do what you ask.

       If you find that your chorus has some problems with breath control in the Victoria, stop and try some of the following exercises. It is breath, after all, that keeps the line moving.

 

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