The Art of Choral Conducting 1. Taking Care with the Text A. Poetry 1.’ Immerse yourself in the words, Read the words aloud rhetorically, with great feeling, for their: a. Meaning~separately and together b. Music (inherent beautiful sounds)—separately and together c. Meter and rhythm 2. Don't be afraid to repeat words or phrases for your own enjoyment, understanding, or experimentation. 3. Write out the text--separate it from the music. This can be very revealing. 4, Record a native speaker if the text is in a different language or dialect. B. Word Stress and Color 1. Underline words or syllables that deserve the special stress within 2 the textual phrase. (Within one dynamic level, there can and should be many levels of intensity and emphasis.) Decide whether the stress or accent should be a "metric" accent (weight and prominence) or an “agogic" accent (length only, not weight). Underline the phrases(s) that constitute the substance or mark the ___ climax of the text. 3. Note in outside margin the definition of words new to you, or translation of foreign languages. 4, Each word is unique in meaning, impact, message, color, and therefore, emphasis. (ie.- song—sing, touch~caress, happiness—joy, fire~burn, light-shine, anger~fight, peace--love. 5. Mark words presenting problems in diction- word combinations requiring glottal stops, vowels whose unification is troublesome, and consonants needing greater stress. 6. Use IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). v I. International Phonetic Alphabet (Examples taken from Joan Wall's "International Phonetic Alphabet for Singers", PST. . . Inc., 1989.) ‘The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a true phonetic alphabet in which one symbol stands for one sound. Many of the symbols are the same as the letters in our roman alphabet, in fact, sixteen of the English letters are identical to the symbols of the IPA. This leaves only nine new consonant symbols and sixteen pure vowel symbols to be learned. (in English, there are twenty-two vowel sounds, sixteen pure vowel sounds and six diphthongs.) 47Helpful_Hints: 1. 4, 5. 6. Brackets: IPA symbols are placed in brackets and are called symbols to distinguish them from the letters of the English alphabet. Letters and Symbols: The letters of the alphabet of a language are referred to as orthographic letters, which distinguishes them from IPA symbols. Names of symbols: An IPA symbol is normally referred to by its sound. Some have special names which will be noted. ‘Transcribing: Writing a word in IPA symbols is called spelling or transcribing the word. When writing in IPA symbols, be sure to transcribe the sounds within a word and not the orthographic letters. a. Silent letters: Do not transcribe silent letters into IPA. b. Double letters: Transcribe only what you hear. Double letters do not sound different from singie letters. c. Capital letters: IPA symbols remain the same whether or not the orthographic word being transcribed is capitalized. d. Punctuation: Do not use apostrophe marks in IPA. e. Penmanship: Take care in writing the symbols. Several symbols look similar and can be confused if written carelessly. Accent Marks for Syllabic Stress: In IPA, small marks are used to show where the stress falls within the word, The mark which indicates the primary stress is placed above and before the syllable. reason would transcribe as ri zon] In some two-syllable words, there is equal primary stress. bookcase would be ['bvk ‘kets] Words which have two or more syllables often include a syllable with secondary stress. The secondary stress is indicated with the accent mark below the line and before the syllable. yesterday would be[j€s tor det] Terms: Phoneme- an individual language sound Allophone- any slight variation within that same sound Phonetic Transcriptions: When reading IPA transcriptions from different sources, you will discover that authors rarely agree completely on IPA’ spellings. The following examples are specifically to help singers.Vowels A. The Forward Vowels-vowels produced with the high point of the tongue forward in the mouth, near the teeth ridge or hard palate. For each forward vowel, the tip of the tongue touches the back of the bottom front teeth. The lips are in a neutral position, neither spread nor rounded. The soft palate is raised, closing off the nasal passage. IPA Sound Examples (IPA Spellings) fi] as in beet beet [bit] heat [ric] green [erin] {1} asin bit bit [bre] pin [pin] hyma [nim [e] as in chaotic* chaotic [ke 9 uk] vacation [ve ‘kel fa] [Cer] as in bain bait [bert] pay [pet] cape [ket] [€] asinber bet [ver] fed [rea] cent [sent] el as in bat bat [baet ] can [ken] man [men] (in singing|:e the student should avoid placing the sound too far forward in the mouth. A dropped jaw will help.) *The mid, forward vowel [e], as in chaotic, is rarely used in its pure form in American English, although it is occasionally found in unstressed syllables. In American English, the diphthong [el] is consistently used in place of the pure{e]and may be considered an allophone of]. The bright[aJexists in two English diphthongs: [al] as in Hit and [al] as in house. B. The Back Vowels-vowels which are articulated with the high point of the tongue in the back of the mouth. Each back vowel is produced with the tip of the tongue touching the back of the bottom front teeth and a raised soft palate, closing off the nasal passage. Four of the five back vowels are produced with rounded lips. 49IPA Sound Examples (IPA Spellings) [e] asin boot boot [our] tomb {rum] 200 [e| [ur] asin book book [bv] foot [rut] took [tv] &] (paresOttcliom used)” [2 "oet] patow for | | uv] as in boat)* boat [pov] coat [out wrote [roux] [>] as in saw saw [so] caught [x04] awed [og] [e] as in father father [ra bo] box [ous] pot [pat] *Diphthong[oU] is consistently used in American English in place of pure[o]. C. The Central Vowels- are produced with the high point of the tongue centrally located in the mouth. Although there are several IPA symbols for the central vowels, they represent only two basic sounds: "uh" as in up and "ur" as in burr. Each central vowel has a specific relationship to stress within a word. Stressing and Unstressing Stressing and unstressing in the English language is a phenomenon which influences both the pronunciation of the word and its IPA transcription. In unstressed syllable, the degree of emphasis is changed by altering the vowel itself. ‘There are three levels of stress in English words, Primary stress refers to the syllable having the strongest emphasis within a word; secondary stress refers to a syllable with medium emphasis; and unstressing refers to the syllable with the shortest and weakest stress. In unstressed syllables, the American speaker actually changes the stressed vowel to a indistinct, brief "uh" or "ih.” (The symbol for the brief “uh” sound is(3], known as schwa.) 50UNSTRESSED SYLLABLES THAT DO NOT HAVE THE NEUTRAL VOWEL Although most unstressed syllables have the neutral vowel, there are some that have other sounds. A. Unstressed syllables whose vowel sound is spelled with the single letter "i" or 'y” [I] — including monosyllables with this spelling. with ruin doing divine imagine in music walking implore —_ imitate spirit singing _ invite primitive B. “Beautiful”- no neutral vowel on any of the syllables [ bju ¢l f C. "Evil"- In speech, there is no vowel sound between the "v" and "I" of the word evil. It is ev'l. But because the singing voice requires a vowel for every syllable, the second syllable of evil, when sung, has the vowel [I]. . Unstressed Final "Y" or "ies" uses the [I] sound. Jady ladies carry carries E. Prefixes- When the neutral vowel occurs in a prefix, its treatment is governed by the length of the note. If the vowel is as short as it would be in speaking (16th note) it is sung as a neutral vowel. If the note is of longer duration, the vowel must be modified. 1. Sung as [I] when longer than a 16th note de- delight re- remember pre- prepare be- beloved se- serene e- emotion 2. Beginning with "e" plus consonant (em-, en-, etc.) sung as [2] on more than one note. 3. Sung as uh [4] when longer than a 16th note a- away at- attempt ca- caress la- lament 4. The prefixes "Sur-" and "Per-" are pronounced [5 ] as in learn. 5. Unstressed sung as [ 0 ] except prefixes "com-" and "con-" sung as [\]. 6. Unstressed suffix "-ow" sung as [oU]. 7. Secondary accents sung with full vowel~especially the prefix "un-" sung as [4 Taken from The Singer's Manual of English Diction by Madeleine Marshall.IPA Sound Examples (IPA Spellings) [a] as in up (stressed “uh") up [ar] shut faq] [a] as in about (schwa-unstressed "uh") about [2'bav'd]_ until [n't] [3] as in herd (not r-colored) herd [h3rd] carn [3x] [3] as in herd (stressed r-colored vowel) herd [hFa] carn [Zn] [ a] as in butter (unstressed, r-colored vowel) butter [ba tr] D. Diphthongs- A diphthong is a vowel unit made up of two pure vowels with the acoustic result being perceived as a single distinguishable unit. IRA Sound Examples (IPA Spellings) [et] as in bait* bait [ber] say sel] play [pte | [ov] asin boat boat [boue] sew [sou] blow [vio] [a1] asin bite bite [bart] mine [main] buy [bat] [av] asin ouch ouch [avy}iown ftavn] crowd|krat’a] [or] asin boy boy. [bo7] noise fnor] toy [rot] [ia] asin use use [jus] youth [ine] new {osu *Sometimes written as [€.] These diphthongs (ei and é1), along with the IPA vowel (e 1 ,are essentially the same sound in English, differing in the stress and color given to the second, or fade-out vowel, and the brightness of the initial(£ Jor[e ]part of the diphthong. Consonants A. Stop plosives- are consonants in which the air flow is completely stopped from passing through the mouth or nose and is then suddenly released. Stop-plosive consonants are further defined by whether the consonant is voiced (produced with vocal fold vibration) or unvoiced 51(without vocal fold vibration). Cognates are paired consonants which have the same manner and place of articulation but are differentiated only because one is unvoiced and the other is voiced. Stop-plosives consonants can be grouped into three cognates: IPA Symbol Sound English word [p] P pet [>] b bet te] : = [a] a doe [x] k kit [e] @ give B. Nasal Consonants- are ones in which the oral passageway is blocked at some point and the soft palate is lowered to allow the air to flow through the nasal passageway. There are only three nasal consonants in English: IPA Symbol Sound English_word {ml im moon ta] a neat [x ]eatiea "eng"£y) ng hung C. Fricatives- are consonants in which the air flow is partially interrupted as it passes through the vocal tract, thus producing a noisy sound. Fricatives are longer sounds than the short stop-plosives. Because they can be sustained, they are called continuants. (Four are cognates.) IPA Symbol Sound English word [r] f feet [v] v vain 52[elcatica "theta unvoiced th think [a]eatied "ethe" voiced th than [:] . wea [ 2] Z zip iy ‘fatted "esh" unvoiced sh she [3] voiced zh azure [a] h heat Lateral- A lateral consonant is one in which the sides of the tongue are lowered, not touching the upper molars. The breath flows laterally over one or both sides of the tongue, and comes out the sides of the mouth. The "I" is the only lateral consonant in English. IPA Symbol Sound English word i ] 1 lift E. Glides- A glide is a consonant whose sound is characterized by a movement of the articulators from one position to another. Glides are sometimes referred to as semi-vowels or semi-consonants. IPA Symbol Sound English _word tr] r rose [ifcalted you y yes [hw] unvoiced w when [v] voiced were F. Combination Consonants- are also called affricatives, and are those consonants which combine the articulation of two consonant sounds into a single speech unit. In English, there are two combination 53consonants, both of which are cognates and are composed of a stop- plosive and a fricative consonant. IPA Symbol Sound English word [ +f } unvoiced ch cheek [43] voiced j jeer, gin IL. Diction A. Vowel Unification- Once the singers have learned to breathe properly and support a properly placed and resonant tone, then we must teach them to form their vowels in the same way. Compare and contrast the differences of closed and open vowels, and the placement of the tongue, jaw, and lips for forward, back and central vowels. Vowel Type Tongue Lips Soft Palate [eee eee ae eee close close to teeth ridge uunrounded sides touch upper molars Fae peer eesceee eee eee close close to teeth ridge lower than "i"_more open than "i" sides touch upper molars [e] forward —_tip-touches back of lower than "I". unrounded raised mid bottom teeth frontraised & forward sides touch upper side molars ¢ forward frontof tongue- _—lower than “e"unrounded raised mid arched & forward ‘more open than “e! tip touches bottom teeth sides touch inside upper teeth [=] forward high point-forward lower than" " unrounded raised open’ Lip touches bottom teeth ‘more open than" " sides do not touch upper back teeth [2] forward high pointlower low position —_ open raised J open than for ae & unrounded tip rests behind bottom teeth 54back close back close back mid back open back open central open central mid central mid very rounded rounded, but more lax than "u" rounded high point-back relaxed close to soft palate slightly lowered high point-back slightly lower close to soft palate then for "u" back elevated to slightly lower mid-back roof than for" " less raised than" " tip touches bottom front teeth back slightly raised lower than "o" toward roof of mouth not as high as "o" tip touches bottom front teeth body of tongue in relaxed Jow position & dropped tip touches lowest position bottom teeth middle in mid-low ow position position slightly arched back of center of mouth tip touches bottom teeth high point-center of relaxed- rounded open, oval position neither rounded nor open & unrounded neutral or slightly mouth slightly rounded tip touches bottom dropped teeth tongue arched dropped to open & slightly high point- mid-low pos. rounded mid-central position higher than uh or schwa tip touches bottom teeth raised raised raised raised raised raised raised raised 55GENERAL RULE FOR ALL VOICES: OPEN UP LIKE /A/ (FATHER) IN EXTREMELY HIGH RANGE. Vowel Basic Modification: Men |Basic Modification: Women, Other ‘Always Round Mouth i (at) mix in short // (1};open| mix in space of ah; use ii to make a warmer onascending lines | openon ascending lines —_| sound e (day) /€/(set) pure vowel | women mix in /i/ (she) for men /&/(set) —_/z/ (lamb) pure vowel | women mix in /i/ (eat) for men ‘women: add /i/ for forward placement 40, (father) /A/ (sung) (must) for _| /u/ (soon) for women; in ‘men using rounding of | general, sopranos and altos | In general, women's basic the lips and the space | can maintain /a/ extremely rule: think oo, sing ah ofah high and think oo a v (all) (foot) for men women mix in /u/ (moon) /o/ (boat) /U/ (foot)for men women mix in /u/ (moon) ful (food) /U/ (foot) for men women open like /a/ (father);} singbo™ i hit) @ pure vowel & round] /i/ (she) for women mouth mix in i for warmer sound VOWEL MODIFICATION FOR CRESCENDO DOWN MAJOR RULE: Change a closed vowel to an open vowel. The lower you sing, the “brighter” you sing (two rabbit teeth). u (moon) change to (foot) © (moment) change to U (foot) a (father) changeto A (sung) = (lamb) changeto & (set) € (may or German; selig) change to € (set) i keep) change to I (him) From: Haasemann, Frauke and Jordan, James. Group Vocal Technique. Chapel Hill: Hinshaw Music, Inc. 1990.