Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Techniques:
The New Bel Canto?
By Danielle Buonaiuto
Students and scholars of voice and
vocal literature have a veritable wealth of music
at their fingertips, spanning 500 years and
developing what we now refer to as bel canto
technique. This music is part of the canon of
music literature for the voice from which we
draw for recitals, auditions, and performances.
However, at its introduction, this music was
revolutionary and previously uncharted
territory- at one time, audiences would not
have recognized the melodies so familiar to us
now, and indeed would have been shocked and
excited to hear the developments that were
unfolding before their eyes.
Our bel canto school is so well
established that we have long since accepted
these works and techniques as standards, tried
and true. It is very easy to forget that aside
from this familiar repertoire there is an evergrowing literature of new music, complete with
intriguing compositional techniques and vocal
productions. We refer to these productions as
extended vocal techniques.
Schoenbergs experimentation with
Sprechstimme in Pierrot Lunaire opened doors for
composers and vocalists alike. Suddenly, it
seemed, there were no holds barred, and we
now have music such as Ligetis Aventures,
Berios Sequenza III and Circles, and Joan La
Barbaras countless experimental sound
paintings. Extended techniques appearing in
these works and others, include, besides
Sprechstimme, laughter, crying, shouts,
whispers, glottal and tongue clicks and stops,
inverse phonation, speech, extremities of
range, timbral variations, deletion of vibrato,
vowel morphing and muting, whistling,
microtones, reinforced harmonics, and
multiphonics.1 They are not, as some less
1Sharon
78.
Grammophon, 1998).
Luciano Berio, Recital I For Cathy, Weill, Berio and
Niles, (RCA,1995).
6Daniel Albright, Modernism and Music (Chicago:
University of Chicago, 2004), 145.
7 Cathy Berberian, Stripsody (New York: C.F. Peters,
1966), Foreword.
3Arnold
17
14
these effects remain in the vocabulary of avantgarde composers and performers, and serve to
expand the sonorities composers imagine
would most accurately depict characters,
moods, or scenarios.
Timbral variations include everything
from falsetto, white tone, and other vocal
coloration to vowel muting and use of
phonemes. Timbral variation is something
easily experimented with and utilized by
composers; we are constantly playing with the
timbre of our voices, be it through imitating
the sound of another person or an animal or
through attempts to accurately communicate
our mood or meaning. It is used in virtually
every piece of music from this repertoire. Joan
La Barbara, a noted avant-garde performer, is
renowned for her ability to imitate musical
instruments accurately, and this has been put
to use extensively in her sound paintings and
her work early on in her career for Philip
Glass.20 John Cage frequently asks singers to
delete vibrato for his works, notably Aria and
A Flower. Works such as Phonemes pour Cathy by
Henri Pousseur use only sounds built from
combinations of IPA characters, making the
possibilities of sound endless.
Vowel
morphing and muting create continuums
between pure vowels, so that there is infinite
freedom to experiment at the discretion of the
performer.
The effect of deleting vibrato is useful
in pieces where tuning is essential (such as
Stimmung by Stockhauesen, which asks singers
to produce the overtone series of the B flat
below the bass clef) or where the composer
requires a certain aesthetic to be unobstructed
by bel canto (the case with the
aforementioned Cage pieces, which are for
voice and closed piano).21 The main concern
with deletion of vibrato is a tendency to engage
in pressed phonation or physical tension while
attempting to execute straight tone; the idea is
not to try to sing without vibrato but to let
oneself. Isolating head tone is also somewhat of
Plunket, p.5
Hemsley, p.47
31 Hemsley, p.100
32 Peterson, Paul W. Natural singing and expressive
conducting. (1966). North Carolina: John F. Blair. p.19
29
30
Hemsley, p.113
ibid, p.190
37 Peterson, p.50
35
36
34
Peterson, p.54-55
8
Caldwell and Wall, go further to suggest a twostep method for interpreting the text of a song
in their book, Excellence in Singing:
1. Have your student read the text for its content and
develop her own interpretation of its meaning.
a.) Ask her to think about who is singing to
whom. Have her decide whether she is singing
to a specific person, to a group, or to herself.
b.) Ask her to explore the intent of the singer
what prompts the singer to say these words?
2. Then ask her to read the words aloud with a
meaningful dramatic interpretation.39
38
ibid, p.60
ibid, p.81
41 Christy, Van A. Expressive singing: Volume 2. (1975).
Dubuque, Iowa: WM. C. Brown
Company
Publishers. p.111
39
40
ibid, p.122
Plunket, p.9
44 Hemsley, p.33
42
43
Aggiustamento
in Male and
Female Voices
By Julie Grieve
The skilled singer, trained in the bel
canto technique, appears to have a single
register. There are, however, several events
which occur at various regions of this
apparently uniform voice. While there are
several different opinions regarding the
registers of both the male and female voices,
there is one generally accepted view of the
twentieth century. This approach states that
there are specific registral events that take place
in every voice. With the male voice, he sings in
the voce di petto (chest voice) until the primo
passaggio. The primo passaggio and secondo passaggio
are register transition points, with the zona di
passaggio (the passage zone) between them.48
During the zona di passaggio, he sings in the voce
mista (mixed voice), and he sings in the voce di
testa (head voice) above the second passaggio.49
Likewise, in the female voice, she sings in the
chest voice, which terminates with the lower
passaggio (similar to the males primo passaggio),
followed by the zona di passaggio ending with the
upper passaggio (similar to the males secondo
passaggio), followed by the females upper
range.50 It is important to note that within the
zona di passaggio in the female voice, there is the
lower middle voice and the upper middle
voice. The concept of vowel modification, or
aggiustamento, which is the focus of this paper, is
used to unify the registers of both the male and
female voices.
While there are several
similarities between aggiustamento in male and
female voices, there are distinct differences as
well. There are several schools of vocal
pedagogy which share, to some extent, the idea
of vowel modification, yet the degrees and
48Richard
46
10
55Richard
51Richard
embouchure.63
Although it may sound
complicated, the process of a gradual opening
of the mouth in order to adjust the vowel is
very natural.
As the mouth opens to
accommodate a rise in pitch, the vowel
naturally moves towards a neighbouring, more
neutral vowel: [i] to [I], [I] to [e], [e] to [], []
to [a], [a] to [ ], [ ] to [O], [O] to [U], [U] to
[u].64 Sundberg states: Some variability exists
between singers using different singing
techniques. In other words, some singers can
be expected to be considerably easier to
understand at high pitches than others.65 This
reflects the contrast between the several
schools of singing that exist, particularly the
differences between the Germanic and
Italianate teachings. As it was stated earlier,
severe vowel distortion may occur when using
deckung, whereas a slight alteration of the vowel
when employing aggiustamento achieves what
deckung aims for, without the muscular strain
and loss of vowel integrity.
The male voice and the female voice
share both similarities and differences when
modifying vowels. In the male voice, vowel
modification is used to maintain a consistent
timbre throughout the range of the voice and
thus avoid the feared break between
registers. Although it is chiefly the secondo
passaggio point that often frustrates a tenor, the
problem generally results from what has taken
place below it66 in the zona di passaggio. It is,
therefore, necessary to begin a very slight
degree of aggiustamento at the primo passaggio.
This allows him to have the chiaroscuro quality in
a relatively lower part of his range. As pitch
ascends, and there is a continued, but not
extreme, use of aggiustamento, the bright/dark
timbre is carried into the zona di passaggio, the
secondo passaggio, and the upper register. An
indication of the effectiveness of vowel
63Arden
61D.
67David
71Ibid.,
134.
Miller, Training Soprano Voices (New York:
Oxford University Press, 2000), 130.
73Ibid., 132.
74Ibid.
75Ibid.
72Richard
13
Performance Anxiety:
The Musicians
Struggle
In summation, aggiustamento is a
valuable technique within the Italian school.
In both the male and female voice, vowel
modification produces a consistency in vocal
colour: the chiaroscuro timbre. This consistent
timbre is created by slightly turning the vowel
that is being sung towards a more neutral
neighbour. It allows for uniformity of the
registers, creating the impression of an
apparently seamless voice. In the female voice,
however, the main difference is that there are
fewer vowel-defining upper partials the higher
the pitch. Understandably, the male voice,
since it is lower, has more overtones and so his
vowels (before applying vowel modification)
are better-defined than in the females upper
register. Therefore, he does not require the
same degree of aggiustamento that the female
singer does. Both male and female voices,
however, when employing aggiustamento,
epitomize the vocal quality the bel canto school
advocates.
By Beth Hrst
On some level, all performers,
including
musicians,
public
speakers,
magicians, dancers and actors, fear some aspect
of performing. Instrumentalists may fear
muscle spasms or shakes that would affect
positioning and fingering, woodwind players
and singers may fear trembling lips and jaws,
and all artists fear loss of concentration or
memory lapses.
Most performers have
anxieties over the factors they have little
control of.
An audiences reaction and
judgment are relevant sources of concern for
performers, and the fear of making public
mistakes is often overwhelming. A performer
may dread the outcome of the performance,
imagine failure, or go into the performance
with a dread of inaccuracies or other
shortcomings.76 The irony of the situation is
that this fear of the future (the impending
performance) affects the present performance
and results in a more negative outcome than if
the performer had had no, or less, initial fear.
Although a certain amount of performance
anxiety is normal, and perhaps even helpful, it
is when anxiety begins to limit or affect the
performance that it becomes a real point of
concern. The following will examine the
causes and effects of performance anxiety, as
well as a variety of solutions and treatments of
this common singers ailment.
An age old dilemma, anxiety has been
present in performance arguably since man
began to perform, though research into the
issues and effects of stage fright have only
recently become a social science.77
Early
Mark Ross Clark, Singing, Acting, and Movement in Opera:
A Guide to Singer-getic (Bloomington: Indiana
University Press, 2002), 105.
77 Elizabeth Valentine, The Fear of Performance, in
Musical Performance: A Guide to Understanding, ed. John
Rink. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
76
14
2002), 168.
Charlene Ryan, Gender Differences in Childrens
Experience of Musical Performance Anxiety,
Psychology of Music 32, no. 1 (2004): 90.
79 Kato Havas, Stage Fright: Its Causes and Cures (London:
Bosworth & Co. Ltd., 1973), 2.
80 Ibid., 2.
81 Valentine, 168.
82 Clark, 105.
83 Deborah Caputo Rosen, R.N., Ph.D. and Robert
Thayer Sataloff M.D., D.M.A., Psychology of Voice
Disorders (San Diego: Singular Publishing Group),
141.
Clark, 104.
Valentine, 158.
86 David Roland and Glenn D. Wilson, Performance
Anxiety, in The Science and Psychology of Music
Performance, ed. Richard Parncutt and Gary E.
McPherson. (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2002), 9.
87 Andr-Francois Arcier, Stage Fright, in Medical
Problems of the Instrumentalist Musician,
ed. Raoul Tubiana and Peter Camadio. (London: Martin
Dunitz Ltd., 2000), 507.
88 Roland., 48.
78
84
85
15
Arcier, 512.
Roland, 48.
91 Ryan, 89.
92 Ibid., 91.
93 Arcier, 507.
94 Roland, 49.
89
Havas, 2.
Clark, 105.
97 Ibid., 104.
98 Valentine, 158.
99 Clark, 101.
90
95
96
16
Roland, 48.
Anne Petrovich, How Teachers Can Help
Performance Anxiety, American Music Teacher 53, no.
3 (2003), 24.
102 Arcier, 513.
103 Valentine, 169.
104 Roland, 47.
105 Lucinda Bassett, Life Without Limits (New York:
Harper Collins Publishers, 2001), 127.
106 Petrovich, 26.
100
101
Arcier, 515.
Rosen, 140.
109 Clark, 105.
110 Ibid., 107.
111 Julie Lyonn Lieberman, You Are Your Instrument: A
Definitive Musicians Guide to Practise and Performance
(New York: Huiksi Music, 1991), 79.
107
108
17
form
of
treatment,
positive
verbal
reinforcements can be delivered under
hypnosis, reinforcing to the subconscious a
sense of confidence and self worth.117 Proper
warm-ups are necessary. Being physically
prepared, as well as mentally prepared, is
critical for all musicians. Aside from the
aforementioned self-preparation and relaxation
techniques, general musical preparation is often
the key to an anxiety free (or low anxiety)
performance;
practice
makes
perfect.
Knowing the music as well as humanly
possible is a sure way to reduce at least some
anxiety, whereas being under prepared can be
detrimental to a successful performance, and
heighten anxiety. Running the piece(s) or
portion of the performance in front of some
form of an audience prior to the public event
can serve to reinforce a performers
confidence.
Regular
performance
opportunities, such as master-classes can serve
in this purpose.118 Attending to non-musical
matters, such as administrative or logistic
issues, well in advance, can help reduce the
stress of a performance, whereas a
disorganized performance can contribute to
stress and distract a performer.119
To reiterate, certain personality
types and lifestyle choices contribute to the
level of anxiety experienced by different
musicians.
Those with stressful lifestyle
elements in general, such as family disharmony,
other addictions or substantial financial stress,
may suffer from greater anxiety in general, as
well as higher performance anxiety. Having an
organized, low- to moderate-stress lifestyle can
obviously contribute to reducing performance
and other anxieties.
Valentine suggests
creating a performance-free or music-free
component to ones life, such as a non-music
related hobby, to balance the demands of a
performing career with a happy nonperforming home life.120
Diet can also affect ones performance,
as well as ones anxiety levels. High caffeine
Ibid., 80.
Roland, 57.
114 Joann Kirchner, Managing Musical Performance
Anxiety, American Music Teacher 54, no. 3 (2005), 31.
115 Ibid., 32.
116 Eloise Ristad, A Soprano on Her Head: Right-side-up
Reflections on Life and Other Performances (Moab: Real
People Press, 1982), 171.
112
113
Roland, 54.
Kirchner, 32.
119 Kristy Meretta, Clammy Hands and Inner Voice,
International Musician 102, no. 7 (2004), 11.
120 Valentine, 173.
117
118
18
Clark, 110.
122 Brian Finn, M.D. and Laura Musselmann, M.D.,
telephone interviews, January 19, 2005.
121
19
Issues of the
Tenor Voice
By Jason Kehler
There are many issues that the tenor
voice needs to deal with when developing
proper singing technique. In order to achieve
this goal, a singer must balance vocal elements
such as breath management, register
integration, and tonal imagery.132 While this
may sound simple in theory, many other vocal
issues come into play in the achievements of
Valentine, 175.
Arcier, 515.
127 Ibid., 519.
128 Roland, 51.
129 Valentine, 175.
130 Petrovich, 26.
131 Lieberman, 79.
125
126
132.
20
Tenor Types
In order to be able to discuss the tenor
issues outlined in the introduction above, it is
important to describe the various types of
tenors that exist and how they differ in there
vocal quality, approach to registration and
repertoire. Richard Miller has provided a clear
and descriptive outlines of the various tenor
voices in his book, Training Tenor Voices,
describing both the quality of tone, timbre,
passaggi points, repertoire, and other vocal
characteristics133. These categories of the
various tenor types are based upon the
information found in the book mentioned
above.
There are four categories of light tenor
that are mentioned by Miller: tenorino, tenore
leggiero (tenore di grazia), spieltenor, and tenore buffo.
They all have similar vocal qualities and tone,
but vary in subtle ways which affect the
repertoire that they perform. Some of these
dividing lines seem so subjective that it would
be difficult to discern one of these four tenor
types from the next.
Tenorino is the lightest of all the tenor
voices, which can sing through the first
passaggio point without any registration
modification. The primo passaggi is often found
at E4 and the secondo passaggi at A4.134 The
speaking voice is very light and high and when
singing, this tenor may or may not find
adequate chest voice resonance (voce di testa).
Miller goes on to mention that professional
performance opportunities are quite limited.135
136.
137.
138.
133.
139.
140.
141.
142.
21
Ibid., p.9.
Ibid., p.9.
Ibid., p.10.
Ibid., p.10.
Ibid., p.10.
Ibid., p.11.
Ibid., p.11.
Ibid., p.11.
Ibid., p.11.
Ibid., p.11.
Ibid., p.12.
Ibid., p.12.
Ibid., p.12.
Ibid., p.12.
Ibid., p.12.
Ibid., p.12-13.
152.
155.
Ibid., p.66.
Douglas Stanley, The... Science of ... Voice (New
York: Carl Fischer Inc., 1958), p.16.
157. Ibid., p. 16.
158. Ibid., p.17.
159. Miller, p.3.
156.
160.
Fuchs, p. 84.
Reid, Cornelius L., Bel Canto: Principles and Practices,
New York: Coleman-Ross Company Inc., 1950: p.30.
23
Agguistamento (Cover)
Agguistamento tends to be one of the
most difficult and later aspects of vocal
technique for a tenor to develop. This may be
due to the various terms and approaches that
are and/or have been taught in developing the
technique of agguistamento. Various terms are
attached to the technique of agguistamento, such
as Richard Millers preference for the term
vowel modification162 and Marilee Davids use of
the term cover, which she says includes vowel
modification.163 It becomes difficult for a tenor
to know how to use the terminology with a
proper understanding of meaning and how his
teacher defines each term. But only after a
balanced registration has been established and
proper breath control is being used can a tenor
focus attention adequately on the meaning and
proper technique of agguistamento.
There are certain aspects of
agguistamento that are characteristically common
of most descriptions of this vocal adjustment.
Marilee David (1995) quotes Hertegard,
Gauffin and Sundberg as defining the vocal art
of covering as:
162.
166.
Miller, p.38.
Marilee David, The New Voice Pedagogy
(Maryland: Scarecrow Press Inc., 1995), p.75.
164 David, Marilee, The New Voice Pedagogy, London: The
Scarecrow Press Inc., 1995: p.75
165. Ibid., p.75.
163.
24
Appoggio
There is so much imagery and various
descriptions of breathing that are used to
develop an understanding of even and
supported breath control. By developing the
breathing mechanism, a tenor can align or aid
other vocal challenges such as agguistamento,
balanced registration, tension, and high notes. Every
singer has different strengths and abilities, and
breathing in itself is an art-form that needs to
be strengthened and internalized in a manner
that connects with both the mind and the body
of the singer. Breathing is the foundation of
singing and needs to be treated with great
importance.
Some approaches speak primarily of
the mechanical action and explain what needs
to happen inside the body. The description of
such an internal and mechanical function
cannot and does not always translate into a
smooth working of the art of breathing, even
though the concept is logically understood.
Stating the facts of proper breath support does
not explain to a singer how to attain that
desired goal.
An example of such a logical approach
is found in Viktor Fuchs book, The Art of
Singing and Voice Technique. Fuchs lists eight
main principles in breathing for singing:
169.
175.
26
Fuchs, p.83.
Summary
Many of the comments and references
made in this paper apply not only to tenors,
but singers in general. Nevertheless, some of
these vocal issues may be termed as being
more characteristically found in the tenor
voice. The challenge for any tenor is to create
a natural and even tone throughout the vocal
range by studying the different aspects
mentioned and discussed in this paper. The
aim being to create a natural sound out of a
more unnatural instrument (especially in the
high register) that needs to be trained and
developed
through
dedication
and
determination.
176.
177.
Ibid, p.83.
Barefield, p.37.
27
Alexander Technique
and Traditional
Vocal Pedagogy:
Conceptual Connections
and Their Implications in
the Process of Voice
Teaching
By Christopher Mayell
28
181
185
30
Alexander, pp. 7, 8
Miller, p. 24
191 Munro, Martha and Larson, Maren. The Influence of
Body Integration on Voice Production. Journal of Singing.
53:2, 1996: p.21
189
190
192
193
31
Alexander, p. 48
Alcantara p.3
Alexander, p. 48
Laux, L. The Alexander Technique: Its Purpose and
Validity in Singing and in the Teaching of
Singing. Thesis excerpt. Viewed January 31,
2005. http://lauxweb.com/lori/thesis.html. p.4
196 Stark, p. 45
197 Miller, p. 151
194
195
of inhibition.
He then realized that an
intermediate step was needed between the
second and third. He argued that, before the
third step, the pupil must choose a direction. At
the last moment before step 3, the pupil
chooses between singing, not singing, or doing
something different (like raising a hand). The
choice belongs entirely the student. Alexander
posited that, As long as reasoned direction
was maintained it would result in an activity
different from the old habitual activity.198 He
realized that he had been trying to employ a
new use of his self which was bound to feel
wrong to him (since it was unfamiliar), while at
the same time trusting to his feeling of what
felt right to tell him if he was successful. This
leads back to the idea of faulty sensory
awareness. By subjecting his processes to an
entirely new experience one dominated by
reasoning instead of feeling (choice to sing,
instead of feeling whether the singing was
correctly executed) he was able to
overcome his bad habits by skipping over
faulty sensory awareness completely.
This seemingly long tangent is
necessary to illustrate an important
psychological component of the learning
process which can often be skipped in vocal
pedagogy, as teachers become focused on
particular vocal technique issues in the pupil.
The whole self must always be considered
physical and mental (emotional). Alexander
further illustrates the importance of psychology
and emotion in learning by telling the story of
the end-gaining golfer who, after being told by
his teacher to keep his eye on the ball, finds
himself unable to do so:
198
Alexander, p. 33
33
Keys to Divadom:
201
34
35
learning something.216
Conductor Rescigno
bore witness to the way in which Callas was
"always the first to arrive at rehearsals and the
last to leave, because of her eagerness to
learn".217 Callas herself maintained that When
it comes to music, we are all students, all our
lives218 and her suggestion that the more you
learn, the more you realize how little you
know, confirms her fascination with the
learning of her art form. Both Te Kanawa and
Forrester demonstrated their devotion to the
vocal learning process by working many hours
at non-musical jobs in order to be able to pay
for their own singing lessons as youths. When
they began their professional careers, these two
women joined all singers with international
careers in having regular sessions with language
specialists, dramatic coaches, and specialists in
various specific singing techniques, which also
attests to the commitment of opera singers in
general to continued learning. Outside of
individual coachings, female opera singers
must take opportunities to learn from those
around them. Isola Jones, for example, found
that just singing at the Metropolitan Opera
House provided her with an incredible
occasion to soak up knowledge about good
singing merely by listening. Natalie Dessay
asserts a similar desire to continually learn with
the following statement: ''After ten years of
my career, I have done all the [standard] roles I
can do in this repertoire. I don't want to repeat.
I have to progress, to work on the voice, and
to move on to something else, something that's
more interesting, acting-wise''.219 Many have
echoed her sentiments and have continued to
expand their role repertory and their
understanding of particular opera characters in
order to expand their knowledge base.
Matheopoulos maintains that todays top
singers are smart and no wonder, when the
learning process never stops for them.
ibid.
Rescigno, N. (1987). Foreword to Callas at Juilliard:
The master classes. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. p.
xii
218 Ardoin, p. xvii
219 Kellow, B. (2001). Femme du monde. Opera News
65(10), p.33
216
217
36
Fingleton
Bambarger, B. (1999). Global classical pulse. The
International Newsweekly of Music, Video and Home
Entertainment 111(36), 54-55.
232 Lowe, D. (Ed). (1986). Callas as they saw her. New
York: Ungar, 1986. p.177
233 Baker, p.140
230
231
37
Kellow, 2001
Ardoin, p. 6
236 Eatock, C. (2001). The great singers: What sets the
best apart from the rest? Opera Canada 42(2), 16-19.
234
235
ibid.
ibid.
240 Eatock, C. (2001). The great singers: What sets the
best apart from the rest? Opera Canada 42(2), 1619.
241 ibid.
242 Fingleton
243 Malafronte, Judith (2002).Recordings: Recital:
Kathleen Battle. Opera News 67(2), 58-59.
244 Mark, M. (2003). Collections: "The Very Best of
Jose Carreras"; "The Very Best of Placido Domingo";
"The Very Best of Jessye Norman." American Record
Guide 66(5), 253.
245 Steane
238
239
Eatock, p. 19
Braun, W. (2003). Mainstays [Resident Members of
the Metropolitan Opera in the 1980s]. Opera News
68(3), 53-57.
248 Steane
249 Kellow, 2001
250 Matheopoulos
251 Baker
252 Eatock
246
247
38
Steane, p.173
Steane
255 Ardoin, p.6
256 Albright, W. (1999.) [Review of the book On stage,
off stage: A memoir]. The Opera Quarterly 15(1),
p.109
257 Eatock
258 Kellow, p.36
259 Driscoll, F. P. (2003). Upward bound. Opera News
68(3), p.6
260 Eatock
253
254
39
40
Fleming, p. 175
266
41
Fleming, p. 175
Fleming, 175
Robert Toft, Heart to Heart (New York, Oxford
University Press, 2000) p. 168
269
42
Rodenburg, p.137
Richard Miller, Wrapping up the Performance
Package, (NATS Journal, vol. 49, no.3)
43
The Cognitive
and Physiological
Aspects of
Performance Anxiety
277A
295Ibid.
296Dorothy
Hardy, 20.
286Steptoe,
287Ibid.
298
288Ibid.
299Harris,
34.
Martens, Sport Competition Anxiety Test (Illinois:
University of Illinois, 1977) 5.
301Harris, 34-35.
302Martens, 5.
303Diane L. Gill, Psychological Dynamics of Sport (Illinois:
Human Kinetics Books, 1986) 117.
289A
300Rainer
45
304A
315Gill,
121.
40.
317A Discussion on Performance Anxiety, 3.
318Kenny et. al., 539.
319Ibid.
320Ibid.
321A Discussion on Performance Anxiety, 3.
322Ibid.
323Ibid.
324Ibid.
316Harris,
46
Laryngeal Plight:
A critical analysis of
laryngeal height and
its significance to
oral interpretation
and intelligibility
By Geoffrey Sirett
Since the beginning of history, experts
have been intrigued and mystified by the
unique voiceprint of the singing voice, and
have thus tried to codify it. Music is a
profound expression of the soul common to all
cultures; the universal vehicle of such
expression is song. Singing as a cultural entity
is evident through all traces of history. Until
the end of the Renaissance, methodologies and
instruction on singing was learned through
word of mouth326. Some of the efforts in
325Graham,
326
Hardy, 37.
Bernhard Ulrich, Concerning Principles of Voice Training
47
330
48
49
345
50
52
353
357Charlotte
53
54
55
371
374
56
377Ingo
382Large,
34.
L. Lawrence, Laryngo-scope, The NATS
Bulletin: 37:3 (Chicago: The National Association of
Teachers of Singing, 1980): 24.
384Gates, 195-98.
385Linda Gates, Voice for Performance: Training the Actors
Voice (New York: Applause Books, 2000): 194.
386Brodnitz, 64.
387Joseph J. Klein, Singing Technique (Anaheim: National
Music Publishers Inc., 1972): 135.
388Titze, 22.
389Ibid., 103.
390Large, 33.
383Van
391Richard
398Large,
34.
121.
400Brodnitz, 176.
401Richard Miller, Training Soprano Voices (New York:
Oxford University Press, 2000): 158.
402Sataloff, Common Medical Diagnoses: 107.
399Bunch,
403Boone,
143.
171.
405Large, 35.
406Ibid., 37.
407Brodnitz, 171.
404Brodnitz,
59
108.
415Boone,
102.
Common Medical Diagnoses: 108.
417Teresa Radomski, A Singers Notes: Preventing
Vocal Nodules, Wade Forest University Baptist
Medical Center. March 2, 2005
www.thevoicecenter.org/singers_notes.html.: 1.
418Radomski, 1.
419Joseph C. Stemple, Voice Therapy: Clinical Studies, 2nd
ed. (San Diego: Singular Publishing Group, 2000): 392.
420Bunch, 110.
416Sataloff,
408Titze,
22.
34.
410Boone, 126.
411Miller, Structure of Singing: 229.
412Ibid., 220.
409Large,
60
An Alexander Technique
Response to Lamperti
By Olga Tylman
A singers competence, as that of any
musician, rests upon her ability to use her
instrument to achieve the desired musical
sounds. A musicians body forms part of the
instrument in the case of a non-singer, and
comprises the exclusive instrument of the
singer. The Alexander Technique, concerning
itself as it does with the efficient use of ones
body, applies very well to singing, as it does to
every other physical endeavour. If one accepts
as true, good, and all encompassing the
principles Alexander discovered and taught,
one is inclined to use his Technique as a
criterion by which she evaluates all other
methods. It is from this perspective that I
would like to evaluate Lampertis famous vocal
treatise, The Art of Singing.
I would like to begin by talking about
the published treatise as a teaching medium.
The effectiveness of such a treatise, like the
effectiveness of any form of instruction, rests
upon the condition of the student at the time
of instruction. There is a Zen story which
illustrates this point:
423
http://www.ashidakim.com/zenkoans/zenindex.ht
ml. I find many parallels between Zen philosophy
and Alexander Technique. The famous Zen
instruction, When hungry, eat, when tired, sleep,
embodies Alexanders ideal of natural, efficient
response to stimuli.
424 The Resurrection of the Body, p. 11.
61
425
http://www.zenmeditation.org/chan_buecher_zen_
beyond_leseprobe.html or
http://www.sentientpublications.com/catalog/finge
rs_pointing.php
62
430
433
63
436
434
http://www.ashidakim.com/zenkoans/zenindex.ht
ml
435 The Art of Singing, p. 14.
64
443
444
65
445
http://www.ashidakim.com/zenkoans/zenindex.ht
ml
446 Mastering the Alexander Technique is an end with
which I have struggled since I discovered the
technique. That is likely why I have not yet mastered
it! Its a battle. I like calling it the eternal battle of
good and evil, or The Force vs. The Dark Side, or
Heaven vs. Hell. Other names for end-gaining are
sin, greed, ego, ambition, and attachment. Christian
mysticism (i.e. the teachings of Jesus) addresses these
faults, as do Buddhism and Zen. The absence of sin
is known, in these philosophies, as the kingdom of
heaven, enlightenment, and satori, respectively. I
appreciate Alexanders teachings for their complete
avoidance of religious or spiritual terminology, which
is so much misunderstood by so many people, and
for his reliance on what are essentially scientific
principles to achieve a deep sense of wellbeing.
66
448
451
67
Ibid., p. 22.
68
69
ExpressiveVocal
Techniques
By Alicia Woynarski
Musical expression is the key
component to an effective, vocal performance.
In order for a singers expression to touch ones
audience and clearly represent the sentiment
implied by the text, the singer must employ
many different vocal techniques. Musicologists
for centuries have held numerous studies to
discern the components of a truly musical
performance. Although there is still much
speculation about even the definition of
musicality, most musicologists agree that the
effective use of dynamics and tempo are two
of the most important components that
distinguish one performance from another.
Gabrielsson noted, The ability to perform
70
469Ibid.
, 140.
, 141.
471 Herman Klein, The Bel Canto:with particular
reference to the singing of Mozart (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1923) 32.
470Ibid
71
Ibid, 31.
473 James Stark, Bel Canto: A History of Vocal
Pedagogy ( Ontario: University of Toronto Press
Incorporated, 1999) 98.
474 Owen Jander and J.B. Steane: 'Messa di Voce',
Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed [Sun. 20,
Feburary, 05]), <http://www.grovemusic.com>
475 Robert Toft, Heart to Heart:Expresive Singing in
England (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000)
71.
476 James Stark, Bel Canto: A History of Vocal Pedagogy (
Ontario: University of Toronto Press Incorporated,
1999) 95.
472
477
72
481
482
73
Definitions and
Controversies
By Meagan Zantingh
Attempts at codifying anything in the
realm of vocal pedagogy usually end in
disastrous confusion and biased terms. The
Fach system, however, is one system of
codification that is generally recognized
throughout the world, with varying degrees of
specificity. The Fach system began as a
classification of voice types, in order to guide
opera companies in their casting, and to
protect singers from performing inappropriate
roles. However, today it has spread far beyond
the opera company, becoming a marketing
tool, and in some cases, a definition of
character. Each broad Fach can be subdivided
into more specific sub-categories, containing
specific roles suitable for each voice type.
Determining a singers voice type, or Fach, has
become a controversial issue of vocal
pedagogy, often being given too much
importance in the training of a young voice.
The idea of Fach, to todays degree of
specificity, is a relatively modern concept.
Historically, singers could perform roles of a
different voice type, without the baggage of
Fach definition. Today, the importance of Fach
for casting differs according to the country and
the politics of the opera company. In any case,
Fach is a factor in the casting process, either as
a marketing device, or as a determination of
persona.
The Fach system developed from the
traditional categorizations of soprano, alto,
tenor, and bass. These four main voice types
are divided into Fcher, or literally, divisions,
that relate more specifically to individual
voices.
Originating in Germany, these
subdivisions also stipulate what dramatic roles
are suitable for each voice type. The whole
system is intended as a guide for opera
companies in their audition process; to help
487J.B.
490
75
76
Grace Bumbry,
http://home.swbell.net/gyurci/bumbrybio.htm.
500 Denyce Graves,
http://www.denycegraves.com/biography.html.
501 Elina Garanca,
http://www.elinagaranca.com/en/news.html.
502 Joel Kasow, An interview with Grace Bumbry,
http://www.culturekiosque.com/opera/intervie/rhe
bumb.htm, Sept. 2/97.
499
503
77
78