Deryn Tye

Choral Music in the Schools

Dr.Zinter

Chapter 15: Vocal Development Answers

1. Aural acuity differs from pitch discrimination because aural acuity
refers to the keenness of hearing certain sounds or pitches and pitch
discrimination refers to the ability to recognize changes in noise based
upon pitch.
2. We know that tonal memory decreases as the length of musical
phrases or patterns increases. Also we know that students need much
repetition in the learning process to develop good tonal memory.
3. Tonal memory can be developed and extended by; using familiar
pitches such as starting notes from familiar songs, also by establishing
opening chords and pitches. Tonal memory can be extended by singing
tonal patterns from memory, gradually increasing difficulty of pitches
and rhythms.
4. Gordon describes audiation as someone remembering and
understanding/labeling what they hear.
5. Because they are the building blocks of tonal music. They help develop
a good ear for major and minor keys and the understanding of pitch
discrimination.
6. The speaking voice influences the singing voice because speaking
correlates to singing; students with poor speech habits often develop
poor sing habits. Also, the physiology for speaking and singing are very
similar.
7. Vocal register is defined as a series of pitches produced by the same
adjustment of the vocal mechanism. The basic registers in the human
voice include the upper, middle and lower singing registers.
8. The vocal folds work by vibrating as air passes between them. The
vocal muscles, also known as the thyroarytenoids, produce pitch.
9. Characteristics of the resonant voice include; uniformity of vowel color,
depth and fullness of tone, and projection or "ring".
10.
Constructive interference creates formant frequencies by
modifying the position of the articulators. These four formants produce
pitches and tone quality.
11.
The quality of the voice can be made lighter or darker by the
position of the larynx.
12.
A person sings with an open throat by singing with relaxed jaws
and lips, forward and relaxed tongue, a larynx that stays at rest, a soft
palate that is arched, and pharyngeal muscles that are relaxed.

13.
When the larynx is raised or lowered too much, the tone quality
will either be too bright or too dark and "hooty".
14.
The forward and flared "oo" position of the lips helps warm the
vocal tone.
15.
The jaw should be relaxed and lowered from the back.
16.
The three basic guidelines for vowel enunciation are; vertical
vowels, deep-set vowels, and forward placement of vowels.
17.
Deep-set vowels and vocal resonance are achieved by; a resting
laryngeal position, an arch in the soft palate, a forward tongue position,
a jaw positon lowered from the back, and slightly flared lip position for
all vowels for the "oo" sound.
18.
Singing in the mask refers to singing forward rather than singing
in the throat.
19.
Vowel modification is switching vowel shapes when switching
registers to maintain pureness of the vowels.
20.
Diphthongs are vowel combinations that are problematic for
singers. In order to execute them, one must sustain the initial vowel for
as long as possible with the second vowel added very quickly at the
end.
21.
The difference between "sung-speech" and "rhythmic diction" is
that sung speech is more suitable for popular music and ballads, where
the rhythmic integrity of the music is not as important as the stylized
continuity of the music's flow and rhythmic diction is used to maintain
the rhythmic integrity of the music and is useful when performing
Classical and Baroque style music.
22.
There are four basic rules that govern articulation; consonants
are to be exaggerated with breath energy, not muscular tension,
consonants are to be executed quickly, consonants that are voiced or
tuned are to be sung on pitch, and consonants that begin words occur
slightly ahead of the beat.
23.
Diction refers to the manner in which any language is spoken,
and pronunciation is the manner in which individual words are spoken.
Enunciation is the pronunciation of vowels, and articulation is the
execution of consonants.
24.
The study of diction is important to expressive singing because it
helps one communicate effectively with an audience.
25. The variations add effective musical expression.