Pitch Is A Specific Address…
NOT A ZIP CODE!!!!!!!!!
I Think We Can All Agree…
THIS IS A PUG
King Henry VIII?
Count Dracula?
Spock?
Dress Them Up
However You Want To,
But They Are Still Dogs!
“Intonation problems tend to fall into two
fundamental categories: physiological and
psychological.”
• Physiological
– Way that singers produce the tone
• Psychological
– How singer hears tone before they sing
Wine, Thomas, “Check Your Intonation,” The Choral Journal, (April 2004): 23-27.
“The majority of intonation problems stem from
faults in vocal technique. This is mentioned to
dispel one of the biggest myths regarding
intonation: one with good ears does not always
sing in tune…The biggest mistake choral conductors
make is attributing a problem with intonation to
‘singers' understanding of a pitch, rather the
production of it.”
Skelton, Kevin D, “Choral Intonation,” The Choral Journal, (September 2005): 28-49.
Vowel/Placement/Production
• Vowels
– Open vs Closed
– Tongue, Jaw, Lips
– Modification
Open
Closed
(front)
i
e
a
Tongue Lips
o
u
Closed
(back)
Breath
• Often lack of energy or commitment
– ‘Quality’ of exhalation
• Posture
• Vocalisms
– Tongue Trills/Lip Flips
– ‘V’
• Gestures/Movement
– Twirl or Belly Slaps
– Shake The Monkey
– Fire Feet
Placement/Registration
• Typical Issues
– Fuzz, lack of resonance
– Pressed/Chesty/Heavy
– Swallowed
• Funny Hum
– Funny Hum Text
• “It Is A Fa Fa Fa Day”
• Top Down – falsetto or [tri-u]
“Engaging and connecting the
mind’s ear to the vocal process is
critical to developing independent
singers with good intonation.”
Johnson, Eric A & Klonoski, Edward, “Connecting the Inner Ear and the Voice,” The
Choral Journal, (October 2003): 35-38.
Stop Playing The Piano!
• Audiation
– Multiple keys!!!??
– Imaginary Rehearsal
• Multiple Keys
– Nursery Rhymes
•
•
•
•
Twinkle (C)
Mary (Bb)
Row Row (D)
My Bonnie (G)
• Change Keys
– Sing a monophonic line and
modulate gradually
– Change the key of the piece –
might fix your problem!
• Overtones
– Nasal [i]
– [si – e – a]
• ‘Shaw 16’
• Chords
– Root, 5th, 3rd
Building the chord
Building the chord
1. Root
Building the chord
2. Fifth
1. Root
Building the chord
2. Fifth
3. Third
1. Root
Building the chord
2. Fifth
4. Added
tones
3. Third
1. Root
Choristers must posses “knowledge of
musical and expressive concepts
pertaining to intonation and well-tuned
singing, particularly the establishment of
a systematic approach to music reading”
Grant, Joe, “Improving Pitch and Intonation,” The Choral Journal, (December 1987): 5-9.
Literacy
• Don’t train your kids to be mocking birds!
– Teach them to read!
• Inhibitions
– Fear of being wrong
• Culture of ‘testing’
• If I don’t play it for them?
– “No, but we can read it together!”
– Raise your hand if you perceive you’ve made a
mistake
Literacy
• Probing Questions
–
–
–
–
Was it correct?
What was wrong? How was it wrong?
Too High? Too Low? Etc.
How might we fix it?
• Basics
–
–
–
–
Direction
Step vs leap
Kids will get dangerously close!!!!!
Just take the time to talk about it
Literacy
• Try and teach/incorporate a little theory
– Scales, intervals, chords
– Teach them the vocabulary
• Error detection
• General rehearsal idea
– CORNERS
– Give them responsibility
• Solfege is your friend!
– Hand-sign solfege can be your BEST friend!
Literacy
• Scales (paired with solfege also)
–
–
–
–
–
–
Major
Minor
Chromatic
Whole Tone
In Combination???!!!!
Round???
• Call & Response
– Neutral syllable – Solfege
– Solfege – Interval
– Neutral Syllable – Interval
Literacy - Solfege
• Moveable Do
• La Based Minor
• Hand-signs
– Assessment
• Visual – may not sing it but you see it
• Writing similar – cognitively get it, just can’t perform
– Range of Motion
• A singers ‘button?’
Literacy - Solfege
• In the Air First
• Patterns
–
–
–
–
–
Descending minor 3rd
Arpeggio
Scales
Do, mi, re, fa, mi, sol, etc
Do, do re do, do re mi re do, etc
• ‘skip’ a note
• Make it a game
– Do, re do, mi, do fa, do sol, etc
Literacy - Solfege
• Transfer to written page
– NO STAFF
– Circles first (whole notes)
•
•
•
•
Stack thirds
New chord next to it
Add ‘lines’
‘spread’ them out (scale)
– Key Signatures WAY later!!
• Farthest Flat is Fa
• Last Sharp is Ti
Literacy - Solfege
• Write Solfege Into Score
– It’s Ok!!
• Resources
– John Armstrong
• http://www.armstrongmusicliteracy.com/solfege-bythe-sea.html
• http://www.armstrongmusicliteracy.com/146.pdf
• http://www.armstrongmusicliteracy.com/movieclip.ht
ml
Literacy - Solfege
• More Resources
– Masterworks Press
•
•
•
•
http://www.masterworkspress.com/files/catalog.pdf
American Folk Songs
371 Bach Chorales
Palestrina Motets
– http://www.masterworkspress.com/files/palestrina.pdf
– Choral Net
• http://www.choralnet.org/list/resource/1888
REMEMBER!!!
”It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.”
~ Howard Ruff (financial advisor)~
“Your present circumstances don't determine
where you can go; they merely determine
where you start.”
~ Nido Qubein (President of High Point Univ) ~
REMEMBER!!!
• Takes Longer
– Slow And Steady Wins The Race!!!!
– Better in long run
• Incorporate into your teaching/rehearsal style
• Be discerning
– Every publisher has something they are ‘willing’ to sell you!
• IT WILL PAY OFF!!!!!!
“I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer
now and live the rest of your life as a champion.”
~ Muhammad Ali ~
“Don't judge each day by the
harvest you reap but by the
seeds that you plant.”
~ Robert Louis Stevenson (author: Treasure Island) ~
“Teaching, like any truly human activity, emerges from
one’s inwardness, for better or worse. As I teach, I project
the condition of my soul onto my students, my subject, and
our way of being together. The entanglements I experience
in the classroom are often no more or less than the
convolutions of my inner life.
Viewed from this angle, teaching holds a mirror to the soul.
If I am willing to look in that mirror and not run from what I
see, I have a chance to gain self-knowledge—and knowing
myself is as crucial to good teaching as knowing my students
and my subject.
-Parker Palmer
from “The Courage to Teach”
When You Look Into the Mirror, What
Do You See?
• Are you teaching and developing skills,
independence, and LITERACY?
– Or simply ‘pounding’ parts?
• What do you’re students deserve to see?
Thank You!
Ryan Beeken
Indiana University Of Pennsylvania
ryan.beeken@iup.edu
Just Give Them The Pug!
BUT MAKE IT A GOOD ONE!