consonants: the key to intonation
TRANSCRIPT
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CONSONANTS: THE KEY TO INTONATION Jo-Michael Scheibe, DMA Professor and Chair
Department of Choral and Sacred Music
USC Thornton School of Music
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CONSONANTS: THE KEY TO INTONATION
• Basic Principles of Phonation • The Importance of Consonants • Technical Considerations for Articulating Consonants • Consonants in Music • Music in the Body
So many of us have been taught to work on vowels as conductors that we forget that most words begin and end with consonants!
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BASIC PRINCIPLES OF PHONATION From the work of W. Stephen Smith
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BASIC PHONATION (From Smith)
• Train air to flow freely • Sound quality & longevity of voice depend more on use of voice than
physical gift of singer
• Good technique • It’s NOT: knowing what is going to happen when we sing • It IS: being very clear and sure what we are doing and the parameters in which
the action occurs • Vulnerability • Spontaneity • Constant motion • Creativity
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BASIC PHONATION (From Smith)
• Technique • Moves through time • Seems natural
• Just open our mouth and speak • Exactly what we should do when we sing • Lips are best shapers of color
• Use of the [n] before all the five pure vowels • Keeps the voice speaking • Requires no movement of the lips of jaw • Only slight movement of the tip of the tongue
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BASIC PHONATION (From Smith)
• Resources • The Naked Voice
• W. Stephen Smith • What Every Singer Needs to Know About the Body
• Melissa Malde, Kurt-Alexander Zeller, & MaryJean Allen
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THE IMPORTANCE OF CONSONANTS From the work of Willard Zemlin, William Vennard, & Allan Zester Laino
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IMPORTANCE (From Zemlin, Venard, & Laino)
• Definitions • An obstruction of the vocal tract • Characterized by place and manner of articulation • Voiced or unvoiced; Sonant or surd (Venard) • Differ from vowels due to their noise
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IMPORTANCE (From Zemlin, Venard, & Laino)
• Importance • Comprise 62% of all English speech sounds • 1.5 consonants occur in each syllable • Carry more “information” than vowels • Intelligibility in a large hall due to consonant noise carrying as consonants
• Consonants should bring out the vowels • Consonants increase intelligibility, incl. vowel intelligibility
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IMPORTANCE (From Zemlin, Venard, & Laino)
• Vocalization • Choral vocalizations often target proper vowel production • Lack careful consideration of consonants • Carefully analyze mechanism which produces the vowels and the consonants
• Articulate with ease and energy • The secret of keeping in the voice the development and equality obtained in simple
vocalization
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TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR ARTICULATING CONSONANTS
From the work of W. Stephen Smith, Richard Miller, & Allan Zester Laino
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TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS (From Smith, Miller, & Laino)
• Become aware of what certain sounds do to the average singer • http://www.seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipachart/display.php?
chart=1&datatype=1&speaker=1
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TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS (From Smith, Miller, & Laino)
• Process • Begin by using vernacular speaking
• In the mother tongue • First invention – simply speaking simply
• We start with the vernacular speech • Less entangled with typical singing
• Consonants interrupt the airflow • Use for clarity • Minimal interruption to airflow
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TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS (From Smith, Miller, & Laino)
• Consonants Grouped by Airflow During Phonation • [ h ] - highest rate • Voiceless fricatives [ f, s, θ ] • [ v, z, ð ]
• Higher degree of laryngeal tension • Glottal involvement
• Semivowels [ m, n ŋ ] • Add a puff through the nostrils before singing consonant sound • Lateral [ l ], retroflex [ r ] • Glides [ w ] and [ j ] are also considered semivowels
• [ r, l ] - slightly lower rate
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TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS (From Smith, Miller, & Laino)
• Consonants Grouped by Airflow During Phonation (…continued) • [ b, d, g ]
• Stopped air and sudden release • Locating articulatory sensation for the singer.]
• [ p, t, k ] • Fast burst release • Slower return to airflow
• Airflow velocity of consonants should approximate the airflow of preceding or following vowel
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TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS (From Smith, Miller, & Laino)
• Rate of Airflow Through Consonants
Lower airflow rate <——————————————————————————> Higher airflow rate
voiceless plosive
voiced plosive
voiced fricatives
alveolar nasal “semi-
vowels”
voiceless fricatives
p b v r m f h
t d z l n θ
k g ð
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TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS (From Smith, Miller, & Laino)
• Quick Tricks • Mouth, lips, tongue and jaw must be sufficiently supple to provide timing of
movements for each successive sound • Dentalize consonants [ d, n, t, l ]
• As in Italian • Helps free resonance
• Allows tone to continue with “minimum interference”
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TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS (From Smith, Miller, & Laino)
• Resources • http://www.seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipachart/display.php?
chart=1&datatype=1&speaker=1 • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfoRdKuPF9I • http://www.voiceinsideview.com/docs/Phonation.pdf • http://www.yorku.ca/earmstro/ipa/consonants.html
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CONSONANTS IN MUSIC From the work of W. Stephen Smith, Richard Miller, Allan Zester Laino, & Richard Duane Karna
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CONSONANTS IN MUSIC (From Smith, Miller, Laino, & Karna)
• Philosophical Statements • In summary, the most important principle in defining both vowels and
consonants is maintaining the legato line . … minimize interruption in every way possible. (W. Stephen Smith)
• Singers that failed to “support the expiration “or allowed consonants to interrupt the flow of air weakened the continuity of sound (Allan Zester Laino)
• “The consonant, whether voiced or unvoiced, need not play the villain to the heroic vowel, but can serve as a beneficial agent in delineating the vowel more plastically than would otherwise be possible were one continuous string of vowels be sung.” (Richard Miller)
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CONSONANTS IN MUSIC (From Smith, Miller, Laino, & Karna)
• Execution • Rapid movement from one vowel position, through the consonant, to the
following vowel • Neither vowel is affected by consonantal articulation • Consonant must have enough duration to possess undeniable entity • Consonant must complement the vowel
• Shorter duration • Never be of lesser importance
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CONSONANTS IN MUSIC (From Smith, Miller, Laino, & Karna)
• Execution (…continued) • Move rapidly within the rhythmic framework
• Flexibility of jaw, lips, mouth and tongue • Slightly before each point of the beat to permit the vowel to sound on the beat • Every consonant must be slightly anticipated by the proper preparation of the
articulators
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CONSONANTS IN MUSIC (From Smith, Miller, Laino, & Karna)
• Execution (…continued) • Vowel formations and articulations of consonants improves
• Vowel uniformity • Pitch accuracy • Ensemble blend and intonation • Articulation • Enunciation and clarity of the text • Rhythmic precision • Control of dynamic levels and tone color • Efficient use of breath management and a better, regulated support of tone • Eptimal resonance potential for each singer and ensemble
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CONSONANTS IN MUSIC (From Smith, Miller, Laino, & Karna)
• Modification • Vowel modification
• Deliberate shading of sung vowels with respect to the frequency location of vowel formants
• Notated pitch (i.e., the fundamental frequency) or one of its harmonics receives a boost in acoustical output by being near a formant
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CONSONANTS IN MUSIC (From Smith, Miller, Laino, & Karna)
• Modification (…continued) • Consonant modification
• Intentional de-emphasizing, altering or even substitution of consonants • Assist vocal production or text expression when singing • Consonant modification
• Pasaggi areas • Extreme ranges • Extreme dynamics • Expressive purposes & onomatopoeia
• Problematic consonants • Stop plosives and lateral [l, g, k, d, b, t], especially in higher passages
• Solutions • Substitute fricative consonants • Keep consonants forward • Avoid interrupting breath stream
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CONSONANTS IN MUSIC (From Smith, Miller, Laino, & Karna)
• Modification (…continued) • Pitched consonants
• Certain consonants can be pitched • [ f, v, z, ʃ, θ ]
• Certain consonants can produce sub-glottal pitch • [ b, d, g, k, p, t ]
• Teach students to move air through consonants
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CONSONANTS IN MUSIC (From Smith, Miller, Laino, & Karna)
• Modification (…continued) • Vowels & consonants modification
• Enhances diction and intelligibility • Increases the intensity range available for the singer • Improves legato and the comfort level of the singer • Aids in vocal production
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EXAMPLE 1 ‘i carry you in my heart’ by David Dickau
Measure Words Modification
9 carry eliminate first ‘r’
9 your move ‘r’ to next word: ‘(r)heart’
9 heart eliminate ‘r’ and move ’t’ to next word: ‘hea (t)with’
9 with add ‘oo’ before ‘with’ and move ‘th’ to next word: ‘(oo)wi thme'
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EXAMPLE 2
Measure Words Modification
11 carry eliminate first ‘r’
11 it move ’t’ to next word: ‘(t)in’
11 in my move ’n’ to next note, move ‘m’ in ‘my’ back one note: ‘mn’ sung on the second tied eight note: ‘nm’ sung on second tied eighth note; only the vowel in ‘my’ is sung on the pitch above ‘my’, i.e. ‘nm ah’
11 heart eliminate ‘r’ and move ’t’ to next word: ‘hea (t)i’
13 am never move ‘m’ to next word, move ‘v’ to next note, move ‘r’ to next word: ‘a (m)neh (v)eh (roo)with’
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EXAMPLE 3
Measure Words Modifications
18 ever move ‘v’ to next note, move ‘r’ to next word: ‘(r)is’
18 is move ’s’ of ‘is’ to next word and sing as ‘z’: ‘(z)do’
18 done move ’n’ to next word: ‘(n)b’
18 by move ‘y’ to next word: ‘(y)o’
19 only soprano sings the ’n’ on the A: ‘yo(n)’; bass moves the ’n’ to the next word ‘(n)ly’
19 is final sound ‘z’ moves to next word: ‘(y)our’
19-20 your move ‘r’ to next word: ‘(r)doing’
20 doing move ‘ng’ to next word: ‘(ng)my’
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EXAMPLE 3 (cont…)
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EXAMPLE 4
Measure Words Modficiation
31 fate move ’t’ to next word: ‘(t)fo’
31 for eliminate ‘r’
31 are eliminiate ‘r’
32 fate move 't' to next word: ‘(t)my’
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EXAMPLE 5
Measure Words Modifications
35 world for eliminate both ‘r’s, move ‘ld’ to next word, shadow vowel after ‘d’: ‘wo (lduh)fo’
36 world my elminiate ‘r’, move ‘ld’ to next word, shadow vowel after ‘d’: ‘wo (lduh)my’
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EXAMPLE 6
Measure Words Modifications
54 knows eliminate ‘w’, ’s’ is sung as a ‘z’: ‘kno (z)’
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EXAMPLE 7
Measure Words Modifications
61 which add ‘h’ before the ‘w’, move ‘ch’ to next word: ‘(h)wi (ch)gro’
61-62 grows eliminate ‘w’, move ’s’ sung as ‘z’ to next word: ‘(ch)gro z’
62 higher eliminiate ‘r’
62 than soprano do no move ’n’, sing it on the A; bass move ’n’ to next word: ‘tha (n)the’
62 soul can soprano move ‘l’ to next word, do not move ’n’ of ‘can’, sing it on the G: ‘so (l)can’; bass sing ‘l’ of ‘soul’ on G#/D#, move ’n’ of ‘can’ to next word: ‘soul ca (n)hope’
63 hope move ‘p’ to next word: ‘ho (p)or’
63 or eliminate ‘r'
63 mind can soprano sing ‘nd’ on C#, sing ’n’ on E above ‘can’: ‘mind can’; bass move ‘nd’ to next word, sing ’n’ of ‘can’ on B/G# above ‘can’: ‘mi (nd)can’
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EXAMPLE 7 (cont…)
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CONSONANTS IN MUSIC (From Smith, Miller, Laino, & Karna)
• Precision • Demand precision from the lower voice parts (basses, baritones and altos) • More flexible with vowels and consonant adjustments in the higher voice parts
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MUSIC IN THE BODY From the work of Willard Zemlin & W. Stephen Smith
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MUSIC IN THE BODY (From Zemlin & Smith)
• Mythology • Things we say to improve sound, but have the opposite effect
• Lifted soft Plate • Raise the eyebrows • Smile when you sing
• People often do funky things with their mouths in an attempt to make their voices bigger or stronger. • This practice infuses extraneous tensions into their voice
• Results • Facial tension • Stop of breath • Artificial resonating space • Vocal production in back vs. front
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MUSIC IN THE BODY (From Zemlin & Smith)
• Importance of Flow • Abdominal tension results in a stronger sound due to over-adducted vocal cords • Stiffening the muscles while singing inhibits the flow of air • What most people feel as support is actually subglottal pressure • Use of term “support” almost always causes increased air pressure • Singers need airflow not pressure
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MUSIC IN THE BODY (From Zemlin & Smith)
• Healthy Singing • Singing is not staid or stiff
• Let go of illusion of stability • Usually leads to stagnation and tension
• Vowels and pitches ring in different, changing spaces • Body alignment
• Static body = static breath = static sound • Flexible body = flexible breath = flexible sound
• Most common faults • Tuck and roll • Chicken necks • Facial tension • Shoulders
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MUSIC IN THE BODY (From Zemlin & Smith)
• Healthy Singing (…continued) • Posture and “Onset”
• Release abs for full, relaxed breath • Vocal line is only as good as the first note
• Breathe for the climax of the phrase • Alignment of body when seated going to standing
• Most lean too far back • Hyper-extended knees • Sway back
• To check for good onset establishment • Palm in front of mouth • Singing and breathing are one motion • Roll pencil between hands
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ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS From years of experience…
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ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
• Facilitating Consistently Accurate Intonation • Conclude each warm-up with a tuning exercise • Encourage the mental & physical engagement of the singer
• Perhaps through singer gesture, movement, or imagery • Not simply “adding energy”
• Conductor’s ear & gesture are inextricably linked • Audiate the desired sound • Find a gesture that elicits this sound
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ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
• Facilitating Consistently Accurate Intonation (…continued) • Placement of singers
• Sensitive to voice type • Sections or mixed
• Beware of the perilous piano • Tempered instrument • Grooving of pitch
• Conductor’s understanding of various tuning systems
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THANK YOU Jo-Michael Scheibe, DMA Professor and Chair
Department of Choral and Sacred Music
USC Thornton School of Music