Vocal Ease 4th Edition

By Patti Christopher

Vocal Ease is a complete vocal technique textbook, complete with detailed descriptions, illustrations, and descriptive as well as notated vocal exercises. Posture, breath control, resonance, vowels, consonants, and performance are all covered in separate chapters, as well as a vocal trouble-shooter chart, and glossary. This textbook is intended for both teachers and students of vocal music in solo and choral form. The purpose of this textbook is to promote an unfettered manner of singing, to enable freedom of the vocal instrument, proper and efficient breath control, tonal placement and resonance, proper diction, and good study, practice, and performance methods for singers of all musical genres, voice types and standards. It is a combination of the Italian Bel Canto method, English method, and German method of singing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Oct 29, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098340087

Book preview

Praise

Introduction

Singing is speech at its ultimate level of production because singing is sustained speech. There are many levels of interpretive speech which make the spoken voice beautiful, but none quite surpass the beauty of the voice in song.

Speech, like song, requires vocal inflection (range), interpretation (musicality), diction, tempo, rhythm, resonance, and most importantly, breath control. But because the range of notes is far greater than in speech, and because the notes are elongated, the beauty of the voice is more readily apparent in song.

The act of singing is in itself a purging experience for the soul, enabling the singer to pour out his joy, emotions, fears, thoughts and problems. The singing voice is thought of, therefore, as the mirror of the soul.

But to mirror the soul in all its beauty requires a great deal of self-knowledge, concentration, understanding, imagination, and practice. An individual who is distraught, angry, or otherwise negatively affected shows this in the various muscular tensions which appear while singing. A timid individual shows this in the lackluster way in which he produces the tones. The singer must become aware of the outside forces which affect him and lay them to rest prior to attempting to sing. To use emotions unwittingly can cause more damage than good. It is better for a beginner to sing without emotions initially so that the true technical ability may be developed. Then, once these abilities become habitual, the emotions may enter into the picture. This must be done with full knowledge and must not be mistaken for blind emotionality which tears at the instrument.

I have experienced many emotionally charged moments while singing. The times when they were most destructive were when I had little grasp of my technique. The times when they were most successful were when I fell back on my well-learned technique and planned my way through the piece. We cannot always be aware when emotions will grab us. But when we are fortified with the knowledge that there are certain things which, when done correctly, will produce the desired effect, we can face the unknown with confidence. The emotions and nervousness which accompany all new singers can be turned into usable energy when the techniques spelled out in this book are applied. This is one of the reasons for the writing of this book.

To give a clear-cut, understandable explanation to the singer in order to get rid of the mystique surrounding the art of singing is another reason. It is my intention to help singers become independent of the teacher so that, when faced with pressure situations, they will not be incapable of singing. Too many singers are unaware of proper use of their instrument, due in large part to the teacher not allowing time for thought before criticism is thrust at the poor student. Aware only that something is wrong, but not yet grasping the why, the singer stumbles on in a hit or miss attitude that can only spell disaster when performance time arrives.

It is my intention to equip the student with the vocabulary used to describe the art of singing, and to give as many different ways of thinking, feeling, and hearing the correct tonal production as is possible. It is not my intention to deride, belittle, or in any way discount other interpretations of the art of vocal production, but rather to encourage the student to seek many points of view in order to better understand proper vocal production.

The lack of scientific language is due to the need to get to the meat of the matter in as direct a manner as possible, to speak in a language that any individual can understand. This is not to say that the science of voice is not to be taken seriously, but that there are other writers who are equipped to use that language better than I. It is my earnest hope that my students and others will understand all natural and scientific aspects of the voice.

My most heart-felt thanks go out to my own voice teachers and coaches, who have given me the language, exercises, insights, and confidence to pursue the study of voice. Probably the greatest impetus to writing the book has been the desire to share this knowledge with my students in a more permanent form other than by word-of-mouth. My students have forced me to verbalize the complexities of proper vocal production, rather than to leave it at an imitative level. I am sincerely grateful to all my students for enlarging my scope of reference by providing me with their own interpretations of tonal production. I especially thank my problem students, who stayed with me while I puzzled out their problems. I thank my colleagues, who listened and argued with me that I might better understand my art. I thank Louis Dupuy for help in printing the vocal exercises; Roberta Rainwater for her art work and editing; Chris Christopher for his work in layout, editing, type setting, numerous revisions, and blood, sweat, and tears. I thank my family for all the loving support received