1. Chapter 6
Vocal Music

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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”

11. 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. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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