Top Techniques for Velvet Harmony

Gillyanne writes:
“The day began with a tough question – ‘Why am I here?’ This enabled the group to identify the problems they wanted to work on and any areas for improvement:
Managing breath; increased volume and ability to grade dynamic; range and volume; range and gear changes (placement); tuning (especially going flat by the end of numbers); support and word colouring.

Using the basic structure of our Vocal Process Top Techniques – finding breath; the silent laugh; the siren and the nasal port, we worked to get the chorus vocally in shape. The important thing is to clarify the purpose of each exercises, teach it and then for chorus members to practise the technique in small groups. This proved to be very successful and (mostly!) enjoyable, enabling me to give individual input, for the ladies to learn by giving each other feedback, all without putting anyone ‘on the spot’. We finished each topic by applying the work with Neil directing a section of a song. It was very satisfying to see and hear the ladies in control of their breathing, producing more harmonics for the famous Barbershop ‘expanded sound’ and – finally – getting through a number without even a suspicion of ‘flatting’. The group were quick to learn and take on the techniques, which meant that we had time to address muscular support and advanced resonance using twang. Altogether a very enjoyable day".

If you are interested in a Vocal Process tailored course for your group, you can email Gunvor or telephone on 020 8291 1758.

Student places: There are a limited number of places for students in full-time FE at a reduced price. Please call Gunvor on 020 82911758 for further information.

Advanced Core Training

A new one-day seminar on teaching singing and voice to children and adolescents was created for us by Jenevora Williams in May. It proved to be an enormously satisfying day, with a good balance of information, discussion, and demonstration of techniques in an informal masterclass with young singers.

The Voice Wizard goes on tour

Jeremy has just returned from a concert tour of the Channel Islands, 25 years after his first visit. The tour means 8 shows in 4 days on 4 islands, and this year included bringing opera and singing to the local children. The age range was wide - 5 to 16, and groups of up to 400 children were entertained and informed by the Well Wicked Opera workshop, an hour's interactive presentation courtesy of Hatstand Opera.

Jeremy is the company's 'Voice Wizard' and gave the pupils exercises in different voice qualities including crying and laughing. He also introduced them to Mr Boring, an excellent way of getting into speech quality. The format is flexible enough to add information relevant to each age group. Having spotted one boy on the back row with a beard, Jeremy was able to include information on the five stages of change in boys' voices. Hatstand Opera is the only group to have been invited back three times for this concert tour, and it is fascinating to see how the pupils have developed while we have been away.

Sandwiched between the Channel Islands tour and the production of this eZINE was a trip to Glasgow. Jeremy is a tutor on the Musical Theatre MA programme at the RSAMD, and this week he spent two days working with the students on portfolio preparation. It is vital that Musical Theatre singers have a repertoire that suits both their physical and vocal casting, and the opening class was devoted to the FOAL Process. Jeremy created this process for the book Successful Singing Auditions as an innovative way to find your Falling Off A Log areas, to seek out new repertoire and target appropriate songs. This sideways view of your personal characteristics helps you match your "look and feel" with repertoire or performance angles.

Newly added to the FOAL Process is a question on commercial casting. If you were to be cast in a non-speaking role in a television commercial, what would you be cast as? This goes entirely on physical characteristics and energy type - there is no script for you to act with or song for you to sing. Answers for the group included Disney newlywed, Walmart checkout girl, secretary with a secret life, and keen Human Resources manager.

Ask your friends, it's very revealing!

[For those who are interested, Jeremy would play a vicar, a university professor or a botanist. How true life is.]

Gillyanne writes:
This was the third international conference on the Physiology and Acoustics of Singing (a biennial event) and, for me, a first. The conference was set in St. William's Conference Centre at York Minster and it is difficult to think of a venue more closely associated with the tradition of British Choral singing. First things first - the food was excellent! Conferences in my opinion require 'brain food' and the caterers were able to deal with dietary emergencies (I don't do wheat or red meat) without fuss. The event was also extremely well organised from technical support to entertainment. Shopping is also good in York, as many of the female delegates discovered.

Topics for presentation varied enormously, while remaining (mostly) under the PAS umbrella, so we ranged from 'When in Rome…? The use and value of historically-informed pronunciation in modern performances of early music' to 'Resonance strategies in Bulgarian Singing' and 'Acoustic and perceptual attributes of vocal projection in carnatic [Indian] classical singers' from Paul Gameson, Nathalie Henrich and Sirisha Duvvuru respectively and from 'The cognitive theory of multiple intelligences: Toward a rapprochement between science and art in vocal pedagogy' to 'Voice timing and language' and examination of 'The Virtual Castrato?' (Lynne Helding; Fourcin and Abberton; and A. Mecke).

Some highlights for me were Michael Ashley's lively presentation on a study that asked why boys might not want to sing (apparently it is the girls who put them off) with some excellent sound files and interesting findings from hundreds of interviewees. I was also very interested to see and hear Christian Herbst's presentation on glottal configurations associated with different vocal qualities produced by the same singer, since this makes sense of singers' abilities to produce distinct sound qualities even on the same pitch. Ingo Titze gave a clear and concise talk on emergent theory on source-filter interaction, which identifies a feedback loop between source and filter i.e. sound as a non-linear event. The epilarynx is, in Titze's opinion, the key to non-linearity in sound production. Last, but by no means least, was a fascinating presentation on 'Synthesis of different singing voices' by Johan Sundberg and Sten Ternstrom, where we were treated to a synthetic production of different voice types using typical formant frequencies. This presentation also contained my favourite comedy moment: as frequency numbers were being called out to alter the synthetic sound, one young researcher was moved to call out 'Bingo'!.

It's impossible to do justice to an event like PAS in a few hundred words and there were many papers that I enjoyed and valued as a researcher that are not mentioned here. Co-authors who did not make the actual presentation should also not be offended if there names and not included in this text. A full record and write-up of the event will be available post conference on the official PAS3 2006 site in due course.

Keyboard Skills for reluctant pianists...

We are starting a new section in the eZINE on related products and companies. The first related product is Sue Anderson's new workbook, Keyboard Skills for Reluctant Pianists.

Jeremy writes:

"I have worked with so many singers who have not been trained to play the piano or even to understand how music is written. It can be a big step to start a new element of musical training when you are already highly experienced in a related branch of performing. Sue Anderson is a singer and pianist herself and has created this workbook specifically for singers who want to play. The book is written with a great deal of insight, both as a performer and as a teacher.

I have been involved with this project from an early stage, as an expert reader, an exercise guinea pig, and a recording demonstrator. The first thing that struck me was that this is not a standard "start at middle C and put your hands in this position" book. Sue's sense of adventure (and fun) is evident throughout. She uses information from all sorts of influences, including Eloise Ristad's groundbreaking Soprano on her Head book. Music is turned upside down, even played sideways, and explained in simple terms that really make sense. Reading the workbook made me remember how and why I learned to play. Sue uses song accompaniments and singing exercises to illustrate her points - real-life and relevant. As an expert sightreader it is great to see exercises and techniques that echo my own experience of "sight-understanding".

There is an extensive collection of sound files on the accompanying CD that help the auditory training experience (the fruits of a fun day recording all the piano tracks). Sue also uses sung examples to help the student move from hearing melodies to finding them on the keyboard. Two of my colleagues provide the voices - baritone Bryan Kesselman (singer and composer with Hatstand Opera) and soprano Jenni Rhodes (who sings all the female examples on Gillyanne's Singing and the Actor Audio Guide).

I was excited when I read the first draft of Sue's workbook in 2004, and I am still excited now that it is finished. This is a really useful and friendly tool for singers who want more confidence in understanding the piano, to play for themselves or for others. I confess that I have worked through every exercise and every musical passage in the workbook, and so I can say with total confidence:

"Buy it!""

Keyboard Skills for Reluctant Pianists (workbook and CD) is available from June 23rd and costs £21.00. Distributed by South London Music: Tel: 020 8693 9879: info@slmusic.co.uk

Published by Marco Publications: 141 Rosendale Road, London SE21 8HE Tel 020 8670 0982

Article: Learning and memorising

Earlier this year Jeremy was commissioned to write an article for the Music Teacher magazine on modes and methods of learning and memorising music. The full article is available on the website, and contains the complete "Learn a song in fifteen minutes" routine from the book Successful Singing Auditions. Also included are sections on memorising tips for Auditory, Visual or Kinaesthetic learners, moving from assimilation to recall, changing language, and where to get help. An excerpt of the article is reproduced below.
 

Learning and memorising

Learning and memorising are different processes, and it is important to separate the two. It can be time-consuming to correct something that has been learned imperfectly, so the first task is to learn the music accurately. Take a little time to check every note, every rhythm and every word. This does not necessarily mean that you have to spend hours pouring over the score, merely to be aware of each note and rhythm as you read it. Singers have the added difficulty of dealing with words and storyline. Following the notes and words with a pencil or finger while singing seems to focus the attention and can help highlight tiny problem areas..

Learning music can be a whole-brain experience, and all of the tools listed below have worked with my singing students, singly or in combination.

Click here to read the rest of the article

If you are interested in a coaching session with Jeremy, contact Gunvor to book an appointment.

Remember to visit Jeremy's blog at http://www.singingcoach.blogspot.com for thoughts and insights into the life of a performance coach - touring, audition coaching, rubber chickens...