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Vocalists play an instrument - their instrument is their voice
Vocalists play an instrument - their instrument is their voice
The voice is probably the most versatile and in many ways most advanced musical instrument of all. The sounds the voice can produce are only limited by one's imagination.
The voice is probably the most versatile and in many ways most advanced musical instrument of all. The sounds the voice can produce are only limited by one's imagination.
Vocalists on the GCSE course are marked substantially on their 'expression and interpretation'. This effectively means communicating emotion in the performance.
Vocalists on the GCSE course are marked substantially on their 'expression and interpretation'. This effectively means communicating emotion in the performance.
Note that I didn't say 'singing emotionally'. Singing well involves much more than simply using emotion. Many young singers think that to sing with emotion literally means using all their emotions. Most non-musicians believe this also. In fact musicians create the illusion of emotion, sometimes sub-consciously, by using a mixture of the following and much more:
Note that I didn't say 'singing emotionally'. Singing well involves much more than simply using emotion. Many young singers think that to sing with emotion literally means using all their emotions. Most non-musicians believe this also. In fact musicians create the illusion of emotion, sometimes sub-consciously, by using a mixture of the following and much more:
Articulation - a mixture of slides, accents, short and long notes and more
Ornamentation - a mixture of decorative features such as vibrato, riffs or licks, melismatic runs, accidentals, trills or ulutations, shouts and more
Dynamic control - going from loud to soft and vice versa, sudden loud moments, sudden soft moments, whispers and more
Pitch control - slides instead of going up or down note-by-note, fall-offs, a mixture of talking with singing, singing high using falsetto outside of one's expected vocal range, leaps in pitch, ascending or descending in steps, arpeggios, ad-libbing, imitation, improvisation and more
Rhythm - use of syncopation, triplets, straight rhythms, dotted rhythms, long note values and short values and more
There is much more that vocalists do to create their style and ultimately communicate emotion in their performance. Listen to the vocals carefully in any piece of music to see if you can spot all of the details that contribute. Much of the above will be present.
To learn how to do this involves daily practise and learning the various techniques rather than just trying to use one's emotions
To learn how to do this involves daily practise and learning the various techniques rather than just trying to use one's emotions
Vocalists should be working on the following each day
Vocalists should be working on the following each day
Technical exercises based around:
Technical exercises based around:
Breathing exercises and techniques
Enunciation and pronunciation. To enunciate is to sound clearly. To pronounce is to sound the word correctly
Projection
Dynamic control
Articulation such as staccato, legato, slides (portamento), fall-offs, accents, slurs and much more
Pitch control
Pitch flexibility and agility
Falsetto voice
Riffs and runs
Relative pitch training
There's much more that students can explore when it comes to vocals.
In music at Wrotham School students almost exclusively are encouraged to use one online resource to help with all of the above and almost all things that vocalists would have to cover. This is the YouTube channel Jacobs Vocal Academy. This resource avoids talking and 'fodder' and simply has a wealth of exercises that students can use daily.
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