To begin this lesson, Marcus reviewed the breathing-motion and breath management exercises of placing the hands on the stomach and expanding while breathing in and flattening the tummy while breathing out, and then applying this concept to "sipping air through a straw." Again, he read the poem "Looking Forward" in Stevenson's Child's Garden of Verses, to reinforce the strong speaking voice. To finish the warm-up, he echoed some animal sounds in high and low voice.
To work on vocal resonance, I taught Marcus about humming. I asked him to sing a comfortable pitch (F) on the vowel ah, and then close his lips lightly. I checked with him to make sure that the tip of his tongue was still resting against his lower front teeth, and that his jaw was still relaxed. Next, I had him place his fingers just below his ribcage in the front and gently pulse with a pushing motion while he was humming. I directed his attention to the effect that the pulsing stomach muscles had on the sound of his voice. Then I told him to hum the same note and think about feeding the sound from the same spot that his hands had pushed (without pulsing). This activity is related to the "lifting" feeling of flattening the stomach while inhaling. He alternated between actively pulsing with his hands and singing naturally using whole notes and the pattern do, do, re, re, mi, mi, re, re, do, do. Once he had the hang of it, I mixed it up with some different patterns such as quarter notes so, fa, mi, re, do; so, fa, mi, re, do.
We don't sing a language in the same way that we speak it, especially when it comes to vowels. The five pure vowels - [u], [o], [a], [e], and [i] - form the basis for singing, and they should be uniform. In other words, there is much "chewing" of the vowels when we speak, but the mouth-jaw position should retain a vertical, lip-flared shape from one vowel to the next when we sing. The "vowel color wheel" consists of the colors (and sounds) Blue, Gold, Aqua, Beige, and Green.
I told Marcus that the best vowel to start with is "oo as in blue." When he echoed me, I made sure that his lips were not too close together, and recommended that he have at least one finger's width of space between his teeth. I also checked to see that his lips were slightly flared forward and his jaw was relaxed. However, he had difficulty achieving the right shape, so I had him say "blah-blah-blah-blah-blah" and notice how far his jaw dropped on the word "blah." Then I had him repeat the exercise saying "blue-blue-blue-blue-blue" with as much jaw drop for blue as for blah. Next, I had him put one finger between his teeth and say oo, then repeat the word oo without the finger, but keeping the space. He got it this time, and learned the correct shape for singing oo.
Next, I had him use his upper register voice and hum a G above middle C, using the humming technique from the first part of the lesson. Then I showed him the visual cue to open from the hum to an oo sound, a closed fist to an open hand, while maintaining the pitch. He repeated the exercise in his lower register voice on a middle C, and he was easily able to sing these two notes in tune. To review the abdominal pulse from earlier, I had him place his hands below his ribcage at the front and pulse, listening to the effect on the sound.
Finally, we moved on to coordinating the different vocal registers. I would sing a rhythm on one pitch in a specific register using the syllable loo, and Marcus would echo. I had him point up for high register, hand flat for middle register, and point down for lower register to see if he could recognize what register he was in. After several successful attempts, we switched to echoing solfege patterns using loo. To work on inner hearing, Marcus first had to sing the echo mentally before singing it out loud. After this, I had Marcus sing the melody of "Au Claire De La Lune" on the syllable loo, focusing on the proper shape and voice register.
[There is also a section in the book about helping inaccurate singers through coordinating vocal registers. Solutions include: (1) repeated opportunities to sing alone after a model, (2) using simple tonal patterns instead of a single pitch, (3) finding the correct register through "animal farm" sounds, (4) remind the student about the upper register often, (5) practicing inner hearing by singing mentally, (6) using the "abdominal pulse" on sustained pitches and "sipping air", (7) matching the student's pitch and then expanding range, (8) covering one ear while singing, (9) using hand gestures to signify registers, and (10) have the student describe the sensation and then giving feedback.]
This ended the lesson, and I sent Marcus out to practice the right shapes for humming and singing the oo vowel.
I had difficulty teaching the proper mouth shape for humming. The results of directing the students where to put their tongue, how much space to have, etc. were too contrived. I've heard of other methods such as pretending to hum with an egg in your mouth, and I'd like to learn more about alternative methods such as analogies or images.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of "feeding the sound" from the abdomen really clicked when I had a student volunteer to hum in front of the class as I pushed on their diaphragm using a gentle motion with my fist. Everyone could hear the sound get louder. Then they tried it with partners, and finally tried it to themselves (rather than starting by trying it on themselves). I also revisited this activity several times. It had a very noticeable effect on my choir.
I did not spend much time on vowels, although I know how important it is to have unified vowels. It seemed like the results would be too contrived, and I thought that it would take too much time. I did use the words of the color wheel, which is a great idea. I'd also like to make a color wheel and post it in my classroom, but I don't have much space to post anything. I did have my students go from the hum to a vowel, but it didn't seem very effective in producing a better tone.
I didn't use the "oo as in blue" and "blah-blah-blah, blue-blue-blue" exercise. I should have at least tried it, but I am having problems with goofy behavior.
The warm-up that I am using now uses pure vowels and is very effective. I use descending 5 note scales on dah-dah-dah-dah-dah, and transpose up a half step. After 4 or 5 half steps, I restart and use another word: day, dee, koh, and koo. Another part of the warm-up is simply to sing a long tone on ha/he/hi/ho/hu while I play a I/IV/I/V/I progression underneath. It works great!
I have used the quizzing game to get younger students to identify high and lower registers, but it doesn't work as well with mixed choirs and especially with junior high choirs where voice registers can change from day to day.
One quiz that I give often and use as part of a warm-up with elementary music classes is to have students echo solfege or vocal patterns one at a time. Whether the student is on or off pitch, they get immediate feedback. I alternate doing a few individuals with doing the whole class together in order to keep everyone's attention.
While I have used the "inner hearing" echo concept only a few times, I know that it is really important to train the skill of audiation, especially beginning at early grades. Also, when students have to "think the echo first," they are usually more accurate when I say, "Okay, now sing it."
I have found that there are two types of inaccurate singers: one is the kid who doesn't want to sing and doesn't care if they are right or wrong. All you can do with this person is offer feedback and encouragement and hope that they come around. It sounds harsh, but don't waste all of your time and effort on this person. The second type is the kid who gives an honest effort but just isn't a good singer or doesn't have a good ear. I've found that students who say that "they don't have a high voice" benefit from speaking in head voice often. That is, every time I pass them in the hallway, I say, "Good morning, Student," in my head voice and they respond, "Good morning, Teacher," in their head voice. It's goofy, but it seems to be somewhat effective.
Overall, the best activity from this lesson was my modified version of the abdominal pulse with the older students, and the register identification and echoing with younger students.