top ten complaints - presented by nats at acda - powerpoint
TRANSCRIPT
Sharon HansenAllen Henderson
Scott McCoyDonald Simonson
Brenda Smith
Choral Directors are from Marsand
Voice Teachers are from Venus:
Top Ten ComplaintsFrom Both Sides of the Aisle
Or “The Farmer and the Cowman Should Be Friends”
Choral Directors vs. Voice Teachers
• A history of complaints• Are these complaints
substantiated? • Are we actually approaching
the same ideas with different language?
• How are NATS and ACDA working together?
GOAL
To build a common language that reflects our common goal of providing excellence in instruction and performance.
Tone Quality
“The voice teachers keep changing my vowels, and they tell my sopranos to
ignore my instructions about straight tone!”
“The choir conductor has the students singing straight tone for 45 minutes straight!”
Individual Sound vs.Group or Cooperative Sound
INDIVIDUAL SOUND• Soloist develops best
individual sound that she can• Soloist uses everything that
an individual voice can show (power, vibrato, range,
dynamic)
GROUP SOUND• Homogeneous group sound• Quasi-English boy choir, blended group sound • Full-bodied group sound • Cooperative sound
Questions
Do we know it all?
OR
Are we on a journey
of discovery?
People often look at the
exact same research and
draw widely differingconclusions.
Solo Selection
“This is a young, exciting, ringy voice that can easily negotiate the
tessitura.”
“The choir director selected my student for a solo and that student has no business singing the Verdi Requiem solos as a Freshman!”
Common Ground
• Include voice faculty in auditions.
• Require voice teacher approval before audition.
• Communicate!
Age/Size Appropriate Repertoire
“The choral conductor thinks one size fits all. The repertoire in the top choir this semester is all over the map in terms of styles and periods. One voice does not fit all styles.”
“The voice teacher is teaching every student in his studio exactly the
same, whether the student has a naturally large instrument or a small
one. They all are learning huge Verdi arias this semester for their
juries. Most of these students are not going to end up at the Met!”
Repertoire Selection
“FABULOUS” Repertoire
vs.Repertoire selection according to the students at hand
Common Ground• Experience great master works• All have preconceived notions of what
those are.• Some masterworks are appropriate for
some students, but not all great masterworks are appropriate to all students at any one time.
• Whether students can adapt to tonal requirements of some repertoire should be a matter of discussion
• Neutral third party involved when inflexibility exists.
Voice Placement
“S/he placed my soprano in the alto section.”
“The student has the range necessary to sing
the lower part with ease. She will gain in musical
development and can contribute to the
ensemble’s success.”
Common Ground
• Communicate!• Placing in a lower part
MAY be acceptable.• Special instruction by
voice teacher on being successful singing another voice part.
Rehearsal Technique
“They don’t understand my limitations on rehearsal time.”
"What do choral conductors mean about ‘limitations on
time’? They have our singers for 4 hours every
week. We only have 60 minutes with them weekly.
In the end, it is the solo performance that counts"
Rehearsal Technique
The choral director has MANY singers in mind at one time. The voice
teacher works with one singer
at a time.
Singers Must Be Taught
• The ART of Practice• How to concentrate• Responsibility for vocal
technique• Importance of resting
between periods of exertion
Dynamics
“They just sing loud all the time.”
“Voice teachers are asking my students
to sing too aggressively, their voices stick out in
my choir.”
Two Issues
Being asked as a group to sing at a dynamic level that is barely sustainable by a single voice Being asked to sing
at high dynamic levels while
minimizing vibrato and holding to “pure” vowels
Vocal Fatigue
“My students come from rehearsal and are totally worn out for their lesson.”
“The voice teacher keeps telling several of
my sopranos just to mouth the words.”
Two Types of Vocal Fatigue
• Muscle fatigue
• Tissue fatigue
D.D. Michael/Lyons Voice Clinic
• Like our bodies, our voices have individual strengths and weaknesses.
• Some vocal mechanisms are made of “cast iron”, some are made of “porcelain.”
• Cast iron is NOT BETTER than porcelain. A delicate vocal mechanism can be a good thing.
• Don’t compare one person’s vocal endurance to another’s.
• Louder voices are not necessarily more talented (nor do they necessarily have more stamina).
Avoiding Conflicting Statements• Variety• Cool down• LOOK as well as listen• Communicate• Vocal Distress
Meetings?• Students are still
learning to manage their voices
Vocal Fatigue
Poor planning on our part DOES create vocal emergency on our
students’ parts.
Terminology
“Voice teachers tell my students I am asking them to sing too quietly in the piano passages, and with too little vibrato in the loud passages.” “My singers are always
asked to ‘tone it down ,’ taking the ‘soloist’ out of the voice by reducing the
singer’s formant and inhibiting their natural
vibrato.”
Terminology
• Misunderstanding of acoustics and resonance is pervasive from both sides.
• Nasality• Formants
Vocal “Gold”“I hear the choir rehearsing the same phrase over and over, wasting vocal gold through needless repetition.”
“If singers are vocal athletes, I need to work
on timing and stamina like a sports coach
would. If we have to repeat sections to get
everyone on task, it simply must be done.”
Outside Activities
“The choir tour always rules and my students have to miss NATS auditions and other competitions.”
“The high school musical was scheduled the same weekend as NATS/MTNA/Music Club auditions preventing my students from participating.”
“During opera staging and tech week I basically lose two weeks of productive rehearsal because my singers are simply worn out.”
“I hear from students: ‘We are having a NATS competition and so I cannot sing in choir today.’”
Outside Activities
• HS directors: Involve voice teachers of your students in annual planning.
• Annual planning should involve ensemble, opera, AND voice teachers.
• Consider a cycle for major works/larger operas, etc.
• Be prepared for the inevitable “special opportunity.”
• Most NATS and choral events are planned well in advance.
THANKS!
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continue the conversation at:
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