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Building Choral Tone (Emily Floyd)

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20 views38 pages

Building Choral Tone (Emily Floyd)

Uploaded by

rosarubra21
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Building Choral Tone

Emily Floyd
Tone is the first thing perceived
by an audience.
Let’s explore ways to build your choir’s
tone so that it is pleasant and special.
Lets’ make this concrete!

There are particular steps that


we can take to sequentially
teach choral tone.
SINGLISH

We speak in English
We sing in “Singlish”
SINGLISH
• When we sing words, it’s best to sing them
differently than the way that we speak them.
If singing sounded like speaking, it wouldn’t
be art. It wouldn’t “preach” to the
congregation. Singing should sound special.
• How do you make it special?
• Singing in “singlish” means putting more
space in your mouth.
SINGLISH
• How do we make SINGLISH a habit in our
choral singers?

-Introduce the concept of tone.


(bright, dark, spread, tall, round, angular)
-Teach the formula: P + B + S = TONE
How do we get good tone?
POSTURE
+
BREATH
+
SPACE
=
TONE
TONE
PLACEMENT GAMES
• Meow
• Woof
• Holy moly
• Roller coaster
• “Dad, can I have the keys?”
TONE
PLACEMENT GAMES INVOLVE:
• FUN
• Pitch approximation
• Variety
• Use them during warm-up
time
TONE
Descriptor Words
• Clear
• Round, natural
• Ringing - ping, buoyant
• Bright, forward
• Light, feathery, airy, light
• Dark, swallowed, back, thick, heavy
How do we get good tone?
POSTURE
+
BREATH
+
SPACE
=
TONE
POSTURE
• Alignment
• Just like putting together your instrument
• Change mindsets…..defy the laptop, defy the
cell phone, defy traffic, take out your swords
• Research tells us that how we hold our bodies
affects the way we sound. Data proves this.
• Feet, hips, knees,waist, rib cage, shoulders,
neck, chin, jaw, where spine and skull meet.
BREATHING
8 ways to teach breathing concepts

1. Christmas Tree Breath - still vs. expand*


2. Hoberman Sphere - shows where to expand*
3. Milk Shake Breath - cold, silent breath,
where to fill (not shoulders!)*
4. Swan Breath
BREATHING
8 ways to teach breathing concepts

5. Blow out birthday candles - silly vs. singer*


(how to use breath in a meaningful way)
6. String – manage air, sing through long notes*
7. Magic carpet ride (fist/voice, palm/carpet)*
8. Sand in hand – supporting the sound*
BREATHING

BREATH is the
fuel for your
sound
SPACE
• Sneeze, Yawn, Ping Pong Ball, Ring – sinuses
RESONATORS for space
Your voice resonates (rings) in your vocal tract.

VOCAL TRACT
THROAT
MOUTH
NASAL PASSAGES
---------------------
*SINUSES*
SPACE
SPACE
WHAT’S WITH THE QUESTION MARK?

• Stimulates imagination
• Familiar image
• Places the sound
• Creates different posture – research tells us!
SPACE
SPACE
• What’s with the beard and ponytail?

• It helps singers release tension


• It helps singers sing beyond their mouth/face
area. (gives the tone direction)
• It helps with alignment (posture – research
tells us!)
SPACE – modify?
Treble/Female voices:
• more space on high notes (ah, oh)
• trumpet lips on low notes (ee, oo)

Changed Voices/Male voices:


• less space up high (oo, ee)
• open on bottom (ah, oh)
SPACE

How can you maximize


space in your mouth?
It’s done through shaping
vowels
SPACE - VOWELS
VOWELS – what body parts?
JAW – relaxed

LIPS - shape
Round, Oval, Square

TONGUE - get it out of the way


Hard vs. soft surface
Tip down
Forward or back?
VOWELS – How to teach?
ECHO
COLOR CARDS
HAND SIGNS
*Choirs that have variance in their vowels, don’t
have good tone. UNIFICATION IS KEY
TONE STEALERS

• Ping Pong ball in mouth – space


• Tongue Puppet (hand – thumb)*

R, L, M, N
TONE STEALERS
TONE STEALERS
FLIP THE “R” NEGATE THE “R”

ṟ
TONE
STEALERS
Students should mark “r”s
in their music. (underline
or diagonal slash)

Let students make the


determination of flipping
or negating “r”s.

Get the singers involved in


making the decisions.

Hold them accountable for


executing the decision
made about “r”s.
PHRASING
• Can good choral tone be produced without
shaping a phrase?
• Default Settings (factory settings) * < >
• Sing the LINE = use string*
• The highest note is usually the loudest
• When there is a tie over the barline,
crescendo over the barline *
PHRASING
SHAPING
• Long note → do something
(usually < )
• Factory Settings ˂ ˃ (don’t forget)
• Good phrasing makes your already
good tone sound better!
What else is needed for good tone?

1. IMAGINATION of the
singers (conductor)

2. CONTEXT of the song


THE EXTRA MILE
In addition to getting singers to use
their imaginations, what else is
needed?

VOCAL MODELING
THE EXTRA MILE
VOCAL MODELING
What is it?

The teacher use his/her voice as a model to


demonstrate what is desired from the singers.

Sounds easy, right?


THE EXTRA MILE
VOCAL MODELING
What’s so challenging about it?

1. The teacher may not be confident


2. The teacher may have vocal problems
3. The teacher may use a voice that is too heavy
or too mature for the singers in front of them
THE EXTRA MILE
Rising up to the challenge
1. Confidence – work the songs into your voice
2. Vocal problems – Seek advice from a
colleague or a local voice teacher
3. Record yourself to be sure that your
demonstrating voice is one that is
appropriate for young singers (consider
weight, intonation, vibrato, diction)
REVIEW
1. Establish the idea of SINGLISH
2. Play “placement” games to introduce the
concept of tone, the quality of our voices.
3. Introduce the formula: P + B + S = tone
4. Teach good posture.
5. Teach breathing.
6. Teach space (including vowels).
7. Eliminate tone stealers.
8. Teach phrasing.
9. Go the extra mile yourself (vocal modeling).
GOOD TONE - ACCOUNTABILITY
• Challenge your singers. Don’t simply accept what
your singers give you. Don’t be complacent.
• Challenge yourself to listen deeply to your choir.
• Challenge yourself to use your imagination as a
conductor. Be a “decider” and “communicator”.
• Challenge yourself to use your own voice to produce
what you are asking for in terms of tone. While
experimenting, take note of the steps you took to
achieve the sound you want (record yourself). Then,
design a lesson plan to get your singers where you
want them to be.
SET THE TABLE FOR GOOD TONE

MUSICIAN’S MINDS
&
ARTIST’S HEARTS

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