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National Association of Teachers of Singing

Join us for a workshop on training the male high voice, featuring renowned vocal pedagogues Karen Peeler, Dale Moore, and Stephen Austin. Learn techniques to navigate the passaggio, expand range, and achieve flexibility and beauty in the high voice. Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your singing skills!

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National Association of Teachers of Singing

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  1. National Association of Teachers of Singing Training the Male High Voice July 7-8, 2004 New Orleans, Louisiana

  2. In Memoriam William McIver 1942-2003

  3. Featuring Karen Peeler Professor of Voice and Vocal Pedagogy The Ohio State University

  4. Featuring Dale Moore Visiting Professor of Voice Indiana University

  5. Featuring Stephen F. Austin Associate Professor of Voice University of North Texas

  6. Training the Male High Voice Wednesday, July 7 • 7–8 p.m. Introduction – Stephen Austin • 8–9 p.m. Teaching session – Karen Peeler Thursday, July 8 • 9–10 a.m. Teaching session – Dale Moore • 10–11 a.m. Teaching session – Stephen Austin • 11-12 p.m. Panel discussion The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  7. The ability to sing the high voice is a learned skill for most men Composers expect an addition three to five notes above the secundo passaggio (D4-G4) This is a physiological barrier between the chest voice and the falsetto in the untrained singer They must sing through and above the passaggio with considerable intensity They must sing through and above the passaggio with flexibility, ease, and beauty The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  8. Some men have all the notes they need, but: Must learn to negotiate the passaggio Timbre must often be addressed May have difficulty maintaining the tessitura Most men must add notes to their range The native range may not be the best means of deciding voice type The native timbre may not be the best means of deciding voice type The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  9. This is a multi-faceted issue that requires a great deal of knowledge and skill to achieve the goal. Perhaps the most important ingredient is a responsive pupil! Expectations have always been high for the professional singer, but they have not always been what they are now. The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  10. Carlo Bassini (1812-1870)Bassini’s Art of Singing, 1856 …for, if a singer should present himself at the opera in Paris and fail to give the renowned chest C in the “Huguenots” or “William Tell,” though singing never so well otherwise he would gain but few admirers and be quite certain of producing but little effect. The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  11. Genesis: The Closed Timbre • In 1837 Duprez shattered the peace with a cannon shot across the stage. The singing world has never been the same. • The French vocal style was: • Nasal “That they sang through their noses, is as certain as that the Parisian opera songstresses terrified Dr. Burney and Horace Walpole, by their energetic screaming.” Chorley, Music and Manners in France and Germany, 138 The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  12. Traditions • The French vocal style was: • Characterized by liberal use of falsetto in the high voice “Many of them, too, were afflicted with that diseased tendency towards a falsetto, which, in our own country, has run the inordinate length of pushing innocent, portly, middle-aged gentlemen into warbling (more oddly to the eye than agreeably to the ear) the sublimest songs of Handel’s “Messiah”. Chorley, 139 The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  13. Traditions • Domenico Donzelli (1790-1873) • First ‘dramatic tenor’ having a baritone quality • Rossini’s Othello • Created Pollione in Norma • Sang A4 in ‘chest’ The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  14. Traditions • Adolphe Nourrit (1802-39) • Many premiers by Rossini and Meyerbeer • Rossini’s favorite – the original Arnold in William Tell • Student of the elder Garcia The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  15. New expectations • Adolphe Nourrit (1802-39) • Vocalism represented and earlier taste • Fine actor, refined taste • Falsetto dominated high voice • A member of the elite social circles The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  16. Changing Traditions • Gilbert-Louis Duprez (1806-96) • 1837 – Paris • Replaced Nourrit as Arnold in Rossini’s Guilliame Tell • Do di petto • Learned the technique in Italy The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  17. Guglielmo Tell: “O muto asil del pianto”. Act IV The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  18. New expectations • Adolphe Nourrit (1802-39) • Threatened by Duprez’s success • Left Paris for Italy • Studied the new technique in Italy with some success The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  19. New Expectations “Possibly in his less gloomy moments, he (Nourrit) believed that his day was not yet over; that he had still energy to recompose himself anew; that he would, in short, have a chest voice in place of his own nasal and brilliant falsetto di testa and learn that honeyed and long-drawn cantabile which his countrymen were beginning to praise as an indispensable treasure.” Chorley, I, 74. Nourrit committed suicide in 1839 by throwing himself off of his balcony in Naples. The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  20. New expectations “After Duprez, the ut de poitrine became a requirement for the Romantic tenor high C, then or now, for the success or failure of tenors.” Stark: Bel Canto: A History of Vocal Pedagogy The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  21. New Expectations • Change of tradition in France reflected existing practice in Italy. • Voice teachers at The Paris Conservatory included: Mengozzi (method based on the teaching of Bernacchi), Garaudé (pupil of Crescentini) • What did these methods have in common? • Why did they have to go to Italy to gain this technique? The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  22. Manuel Garcia II (1805-1906) • 1832 appointed to Paris Conservatory • Central figure in 19th C pedagogy • Famous pupils: • Battaille • Stockhausen • Malibran • Marchesi • Lind The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  23. Voix Sombrée! • June, 1840 – Diday and Pétrequin reported to the Académie des Sciences on the subject of timbre and laryngeal position as related to Duprez’s do di petto. • Voix sombrée ou couverte (dark and covered) • November, 1840 – Garcia presented his theories to the academy • Garcia claimed to have been teaching the lowered laryngeal posture and ‘covered tone’ since 1832. The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  24. A time of controversy • Garcia’s methods were not universally accepted: • Register definition • Intentionally lowered larynx throughout the range • Coupe de la glotte • Register building and coordination • Grandfather of the ‘mechanistic’ approach The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  25. A time of controversy • Agreement upon ‘quality’, not terminology or method • Falsetto no longer acceptable • ‘white’ or ‘open’ (voix blanche) quality not acceptable The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  26. A time of controversy • G. B. Lamperti (1830-1910) • Opposed to many Garcia techniques • As recorded by William Earl Brown in Vocal Wisdom: • ‘Covered tone’ is a misleading term. ‘Closed tone’ should take its place. • In their inception all tones are dark to be opened or closed at will. • ‘All tones are closed until opened’. The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  27. A time of controversy • G. B. Lamperti (1830-1910) • Although you may acquire a wide range of voice, you cannot modulate the sounds until the resonance of your tones becomes round and rich, chiaroscuro. • When a tone ‘opens’ the ‘focus’ of vibration does not change. • Return to ‘closed’ quality is impossible if the tone becomes too ‘white’. The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  28. Chiaroscuro! There can be little doubt that in desirable “closed voice” (voce chiusa), a timbre that should prevail throughout the singing voice regardless of range, as opposed to “open voice” (voce aperta), there is a stabilized laryngeal position – relatively low – and a somewhat widened pharynx. These conditions together with proper vowel modification (aggiustamento) produce the so-called “covered sound” of the upper range. Miller, The Structure of Singing, 151 The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  29. Methods Vary to a Similar Goal • Keeping the ‘open throat’ in the high range goes against nature! The larynx will rise along with pitch unless trained to do otherwise. • Indirect control • Yawning, deep inhalation, ‘feeling hollow’ • Vowel choice [ o ], [ u ] • Vowel modification (migration) • Physical manipulation The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  30. Methods Vary to a Similar Goal D. A. Clippinger “The Head voice and Other Problems” decried the ‘lowered larynx’ as an abomination! First exercises were ascending scales on [o] and [u] The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  31. Methods of Approach • Importance is more than timbre: • Lowered, stabilized larynx provides the physiological environment to withstand the breath pressure and effort level of the intrinsic muscles necessary for high voice while keeping the margin of the folds free of excessive tension • Julius Stockhausen to Oren Brown agree that the open throat is the only environment where the registers will coordinate. The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  32. Speaking of… OREN BROWN 1909 – 2004 The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  33. Summary: • The modern ‘operatic head voice’ had its beginning in the second or third decade of the nineteenth century. • It seems to have been the result of a manipulation of the vocal tract which allowed the chest voice to exceed its normal boundaries. • Called the voix sombrée ou couvert • Regardless of method or terminology, it requires that the laryngeal position be maintained at its neutral level or slightly below, above the secundo passaggio The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  34. And the rest of it… • Range extension • Register coordination • Support • Artistry • Languages • Many others… The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

  35. Oh, Yes! • It’s not only about the tenors! • Same issues prevail for all male voices • There is a common thread that links the present to the past.; the ‘closed’ quality was there at the beginning and is present in most successful singers, to some degree or another. The National Association of Teachers of Singing New Orleans, 2004

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