Chapter 6 Vocal Music

The Uniqueness of Voice Voice part of individual’s personality; many factors shape and refine one’s performance timbre, register, culture, style of music Vocal Ranges Register Female Male Highest Coloratura Countertenor High Soprano Tenor Mid Mezzo-soprano Baritone Low Contralto Bass

Marian Anderson Grew up in Philadelphia singing in church choirs Studied music and achieved great renown in Europe Suffered from great racial prejudice back in US Refused permission to perform at prestigious concert hall in Washington, DC 1st Lady Eleanor Roosevelt arranged for concert to be held at Lincoln Memorial

Andrea Bocelli Italian Tenor Born in Tuscany and began singing at early age Went blind after being hit in head by ball Graduated from law school, but chose to pursue music career instead One of several famous crossover tenors

Crossover – Opera and Pop Trained opera singers moving into pop music market Charlotte Church Records sales topping 10 million albums By age 14, had performed for many heads of state Youngest solo artist to have a record in Top 30

Voices in Your School Community Most high schools have choirs Concert choir, show choir, jazz choir, gospel choir, etc. Can bring school sense of pride, accomplishment, and enjoyment Musical textures Polyphonic – independent melodies that stand alone Homophonic – melody supported by harmonic accompaniment Monophonic – melody without accompaniment or harmony

Using Your Voice to Express Yourself Some of humanity’s most profound thoughts expressed through music Performing both exhilarating and demanding Develop control and confidence Must be certain of high level of musical quality Great deal of practice and repetition until piece of music is mastered

Audiation Musicians audiate before performance Hear music in your “mind’s ear” Composers think sounds before writing them down Internalize pitches and rhythms of a melody

Singing A Capella Singing without instrumental accompaniment From Latin phrase meaning “as in the chapel” Early days of Christian Church when no instruments allowed and singing only unaccompanied

The Art of Vocal Performance Culture Influences the Voice Each culture has own style of singing they find pleasing to the ear Vocal timbres reflect sound of a country’s language Function of music varies from culture to culture Bel Canto Style Operatic singing style Italian for “beautiful singing”

The Art of Vocal Performance (cont.) Blues Style Vocal timbre reflects sense of sadness Originated in African American spirituals and work songs Simple and direct; expression of life’s painful experiences and the reasons for them First popularized by WC Handy

12-Bar Blues harmonic pattern of 12 measures that repeats Three chords based on the tonic, subdominant, and dominant Chords numbered by the pitches of the scale using Roman numerals chord I built on 1st pitch of scale, chord V built on 5th pitch, and so forth… Assists improvisers since they always know what’s coming next

Vocabulary Registers – vocal ranges Range – the distance in pitch between the lowest and highest pitches of the voice Coloratura – the soprano voice that is light and flexible enough to perform rapid scales and trills Soprano – the high female register Mezzo-soprano – the intermediate female voice that sings in the lower part of the soprano range Contralto – a low female register with a full, rich, dark, and powerful quality

Vocabulary (cont.) Countertenor – the highest male voice with a falsetto range and quality and a register in the female alto range Tenor – the high male range with a powerful, ringing quality Baritone – the intermediate male voice Bass – a lower male register with a rich, robust, resonant, and full quality Audiation – the capacity to think sound A capella – singing without instrumental accompaniment

Vocabulary (cont.) Bel canto – a style caracterized by lyrical and flowing phrases, beauty of vocal color, and brilliant technique Blues – a genre of African American music that often expresses frustration, sadness, or longing Blue notes – selected pitches, usually on the third and seventh degrees of the scale, whose intonation is altered at the discretion of the performer