Voice & Vocal Concepts Revision Main types of voice: FEMALE •Soprano – High MALE •Counter Tenor – Very High (choir boy) •Mezzo Soprano (in between soprano •Tenor – High & alto) •Baritone (in between Tenor & Bass) •Alto - Low •Bass - Low Voice Uses Solo Duet Choir Unison Harmony A Cappella Accompanied Descant SOLO – one voice DUET – Two people singing together CHOIR – A group of people singing together (SATB = Soprano, alto tenor & bass voices) UNISON – two or more voices sounding at the same pitch or an octave (8 notes) apart HARMONY – the sound of two or more notes made at the same time A CAPELLA – unaccompanied singing ACCOMPANIED – when instruments are played along with the singing DESCANT – a melody above the main tune, mainly in vocal music e.g. (Hark the Herald) Songs •Recitative •Aria •Chorus •Round RECITATIVE – a type of vocal writing where the music follows the rhythm of SPEECH (think KFC advert!!), bare accompaniment ARIA – a SOLO song in an opera, oratorio or cantata, lots of decoration in the melody, orchestral accompaniment CHORUS – 1. a GROUP of singers with several people to each part (SATB) 2. the refrain between verses of a song ROUND – each part sings the same melody entering one after the other. When they reach the end they start again, eg Frere Jacques Styles •Musical •Opera •Chorale •Passion •Oratorio •Cantata MUSICAL – singing (solo, duet, chorus), speech, costumes/scenery, band accompaniment, modern OPERA – singing (recitative, aria, duet, chorus), NO SPEAKING, costumes/scenery, orchestral accompaniment, often in a foreign language, old(er) CHORALE - a German hymn tune usually homophonic in texture written for SATB PASSION – tells the story of the crucifixion from the GOSPEL, singing (recitative, aria, duet, chorus), NO SPEAKING, NO COSTUMES/SCENERY, orchestral accompaniment ORATORIO – tells a story from the bible, singing (recitative, aria, duet, chorus), NO SPEAKING, NO COSTUMES/SCENERY, orchestral accompaniment (smaller group of players) CANTATA – as oratorio but on a smaller scale Styles Strophic Through Composed Scat Singing Homophony Polyphony Syllabic Melismatic STROPHIC – a vocal/choral composition where the same music is repeated throughout (verse-chorusverse-chorus) THROUGH-COMPOSED – a vocal/choral composition in which there is little or no repetition of the music SCAT SINGING – nonsense words, syllables and sounds are improvised by the singer (doobie-doobie-shop-shoo-wap) HOMOPHONY – all parts move together at the same time POLYPHONY – 2 or more parts moving independently SYLLABIC – each syllable gets one note MELISMATIC – many notes are sung to one syllable Scots Songs Waulking Song Bothy Ballad Scots Ballad Gaelic Psalm Mouth Music WAULKING SONG – a working song sung in Gaelic by women while they ‘waulked’ woollen cloth to soften and shrink it, led by a soloist with a response from the rest of the women (call & response), strophic BOTHY BALLAD – a folk song with many verses, tells a story of rural or farming life, usually sung by men, led by a soloist with a response from the rest of the group (call & response), strophic SCOTS BALLAD – a slow song which tells a story of love/an event/death, strophic GAELIC PSALM – sung in church, led by a precentor with a response sung by the congregation (call & response), sounds untidy MOUTH MUSIC – Gaelic nonsense words sung in imitation of the sound of bagpipes as an accompaniment to dancing