SINGING AND VOCAL TECHNIQUE by David Wright
1.
Introduction
2. General information
3. A Brief Introduction to the anatomy of the voice
and how we breathe
4. Ranges and register; Diction and
expression
5: Style and interpretation
4. Ranges and register; Diction
and expression
There are three registers of the voice namely chest, medium and head.
The chest register covers notes from the lowest notes that a male bass
can achieve to E above middle C.
The medium range is from about A below middle C to two E's above middle
C.
The head register is from C above middle C upwards.
You will see that there can be overlaps.
For a bass whose top note may be the E above Middle C he will have
one voice register namely the chest voice.
A tenor's usual range is from C below middle C to A above it. Therefore
he has two registers . His low notes C to A will be in the chest register
and the rest in the medium register.
A contralto is largely in the medium register although she will probably
experience the changes as does a soprano which changes I will detail
later.
The soprano may have a few low notes in the chest register but will
have both a medium and head register.
For a soprano she should be able to hear the changes in her register
when singing an ascending scale. It is rather like listening to the
engine of your car and knowing when you have to change gear. If a soprano
can manage a low G usually the changes are the low G to A below middle
C, the next change is E to F above middle C and the final change C to
D to the head notes. However, a soprano usual lowest recommended note
is B below middle C.
But a good singer has to hide these changes so that it sounds as if
he or she has one register.
The usual range of singers is as follows:
Soprano------------ B below middle C to two Gs above middle C. Some
very special singers can reach five tones above. Exceptional singers
can reach a few notes even higher than these. Some sopranos can reach
a low G
Mezzo Soprano--- F below middle C to two Fs above.
Contralto----------- -E below middle C to two Ds above This may seen
a limited range but the quality of the voice is usually velvety or earthy..
Tenor-----------------C below middle C to a or B above.
Baritone------------ Two Gs below middle C to F above.
Bass -baritone----- Two Es below middle C to E above
Bass-------------------Two Ds below middle C to d above middle C
The chest register is called the chest register becomes the sound comes
from the chest. The middle register refers to the sound from the throat
and the head register speaks for itself.
The quality of sound depends largely on what we call the open throat.
Some have simplified this by calling it the yawning sensation where
there is a sense of space at the back of the tongue.
Sound can also be enhanced by speaking practice. It is important to
speak both vowels and consonants clearly.
The problem is that vowels have several separate sounds.
Take the vowel a
It can have a long sound as in accident. The a here is hard
It can have a short sound as in appreciate. The second a here is soft
It can have an intermediate sound as in absolutely. The a here is halfway
between the two
It can have a broad sound as in Joshua or Paul. The a sound here seems
extended.
There is a lot of nonsense talked today about people 'speaking posh'
and 'lardy-dar' or as if 'they have a plum in their throat.' But it
is vital that people hear and understand what you say partcularly as
both speech and singing are about communicating.
It is harder, but more sensible and profitable, to say , "I want to
hold your hand", rather than, "I wanna 'old yer 'and."
Singing is a discipline and if speech is to be rendered accurately
it will go a long way to helping your diction in singing.
It is said that vocal expression is built on vowels and verbal expression
is built on consonants.
Vocal expression is linked to the words of a song. It is so easy to
sing the words of a phrase without expression. What you do with the
content can lift the song. How we sing words determines character and
colour to the song.
Verbal expression has to do with diction and diction is not only pronunciation
but articulation, intonation, declamation and punctuation.
Articulation has to do with what is clear and understood. In singing
it is more exaggerated than in speech. Here consonants are the real
problem. The shorter they are and the longer the vowels the more effective
the articulation will become.
Pronunciation is obviously vital but we must ensure that we do not
sing with neutral sounds or unspecified accents.
Intonation is sometimes described in a complex way, but in simple terms
it is making every note true and exact. Singing out of tune, or bad
intonation, may be due to poor technique, ill health, tiredness or defective
hearing. Sometimes singers do not listen to what they sing and when
they do detect something is wrong are often hesitant to admit it.
Declamation means to articulate the words in the manner most suitable
to convey their meaning.
Punctuation is the use of accents, breaths and commas.
There is a lot of nonsense talked about interpretation. So many take
this to mean licence to sing the song as they feel and mess about with
it. Consequently, the time in the song may change without authorization
and people put in extra notes particularly a high one at the end, or
leave bits out. But interpretation means to realise the notes and words
as in the given text just as someone translating German into English,
for example.
For example
Ich auf der erd',am Himmel du,
Wir wandern beide rustig zu
Translates as:
I upon Earth, you in heaven,
We both go our vigorous ways.
But if I were to say that it meant I am in Heaven and you are on Earth.
You are I are going timidly in the same direction that interpretation
would be hopelessly wrong.
The function of the singer, the accompanist, the members of the orchestra
and the conductor is to perform what is written and how it is written.
If you don't, you cannot be a good singer, good accompanist, good orchestral
player or a good conductor.
If a singer sticks to all the rules then the saying among professionals
comes true. Tears were not shed in the concert. They were shed at rehearsals.
1.
Introduction
2. General information
3. A Brief Introduction to the anatomy of the voice
and how we breathe
4. Ranges and register; Diction and
expression
5: Style and interpretation
