Building Voice Foundation In Young Choristers and Singers
– The Application of The Aural, Visual and Kinesthesis in Singing

Is Singing A Natural Act?

Unlike the act of speech, cry, yell and laugh, singing is a skill to be acquired, especially classical or operatic singing styles that require perfect physical coordination and it takes years to perfect. The young singers who sing well has a balance of the three essential qualities: IQ (intellectual intelligence – the brain, aural, visual), EQ (Emotional Intelligence – the mind) and what I called the PQ (Physical Intelligence -the voice and th body). Singing is primarily dictated by the emotions, directed by the brain, and produced by the body (and the voice). These 3Qs work like three heads grown on the same body. If the teacher or the conductor has the privilege to pick the best brains, good instinct on physical coordination, a natural vocal instrument and a passion for music, the task is done, but, most of the time, this is not the case. Hence, deciding on the level of intelligences your are looking for, deciding on a realistic expectation and devising a plan to develop the vocal arts with periodical evaluation and flexibility.

It is the responsibility of the voice coach or choral conductor to guide the young learners to discover, understand and develop the best potentials using the facilities (aural, visual and kinesthesis) that the children are inclined to while progressively help them to develop the not so instinctive but useful facilities. Exploring these facilities together with the concept of the whole body as an instrument rather than teaching songs by rote or solely on learning music reading does little to instill education value of fine arts in the young ones. The following discussion in this paper illustrates how one can tap on and incorporate one, two or all three of these facilities to improve on common vocal obstacles in the young, untrained or troubled voices.

The Aural Application –

Vocal Culture, Language influence and Ideal Sound Image

It is essential for young singers to be exposed to good sound models from the start. The choice of sound model depending on the repertoire one performs. The author suggests the young singers should establish the western classical choral sound as the foundation. After the ideal sound model is established and practiced, other singing qualities such as the nasal (found in ethnic singing), speech, twang and operatic and belting may be introduced as a comparison. This will benefit young singers in the Asian region whose choral repertoire includes both western and ethnic voice qualities or a fusion of both found in contemporary choral music. In a multi-racial society with rich aural influences from British and American English, Malay, Chinese, Indian language and a list of Chinese dialects (which consists of nasal, twang, chest, head voice and other qualities), Singapore young singers are provided with a rich spectrum of sounds, resonance and colors to adjust its vocal resonance and quality to play with. For example, if a choir's vocal production tend to be too bright, nasal and forward, it should be introduced aurally and vocally to repertoire and sound model that are neutral in sound quality (with the exception of the nasal French and the American's country style of singing). On the hand, if a choir sounds too dark and hollow, it should include repertoire and languages with bright and forward sounds.

Most children from five years old onwards have the ability to distinguish and even mimic the different vocal qualities. Most of them imitate well from voice qualities closer to theirs, namely the high, light and clear (less vibrato-ed) voices rather than deep or overly rich matured voices. If the coach or conductor's voice is not suitable for demonstration, in case of male teacher/conductor, he should demonstrate in his falsetto voice (lightly) or train up a talented young singer (could be a senior singer to th young ones) to demonstrate or best, invite a suitable voice teacher to work with the young singers.

Vocal model (speech and singing) begins in the family or the people of the environment which the child spent most of the time in. This could serve as an area for observation when a child is not able to imitate a desired sound that he or she is asked to. Therefore, forming good habits for speech at an early age with guidance is a foundation to good singing.

A person in a positive and happy mood tend to sound energized, good air flow and less physical tensions as opposed to singers in a negative mood. All it takes is a singer in the negative mood to destroy the balance of the the entire vocal section. Therefore, it is useful to remind the singers to find the balance of a well being body should not be affected by an emotional or sad song. It

The Visual Application

Voice Mapping for Singing - Voice mapping on the score is like reading a street map to have an idea of how to get to a destination and a big picture of the location or an instruction book with details on how to assemble an instrument. Voice mapping helps singers to have an idea of the overall melodic movement, unique characteristic, to visualize the space, depth and energy needed and the momentum of the challenging phrases (such as long melisma passages, big interval leaps and long sustaining phrases etc) and to secure memorization. This can be a fun task for choristers or voice students to take a break from singing or listening to instruction from the conductor or the voice coach for a short few minutes. Vocal or musical problems occurred in lessons are very often caused by a lack of an understanding of the music they are singing, physical coordination, inactive listening, breath control and the worst, not knowing what's ahead in the next phrase. Like a good piano or string player, he would sit down with the score to figure out the best fingering, pedaling, phrasing, articulation and so on.

Combined Visual-Mental Stimulation

Singing is truly a mental and gutsy affair. Fear, anxiety, timidity, stubborn old vocal habits can only lead the singer onto further problems. Practice visualizing positive image such as the perfect sound and perfect performance of the singers or choristers themselves before actually vocalizing it can have a positive effect. The effort of positive imagination and visualization stimulate the brain, the mind and the body to work together silently. This mental image practice taps on all the inner abilities - aural, visual and muscular control. If the singers are not picking up the energy or physical and mentally in a passive mode or a lack of confidence, one can watch segments of gymnast performing a challenging and beautiful floor exercise or an athlete performing a high jump with audience cheering at the end to stimulate the brain, the emotion and the body. This can be a useful move especially for choirs or singers preparing for competitions or performances or one who is short of confidence.

Kinesthesia with Aural and Visual Application

Singing is a sound movement. It requires the combined effort of the internal abilities and the external physical control. It is arguably the most complex instrument to learn because the instrument has to be assembled every time one performs! Rhythm showcases the precision and character of the singing and the strength of the voice. The repetitive breath movements, the precision of vocal onset and offset, the quality of strike at the beginning, middle and end consonants, amongst others, are all rhythmically controlled. Therefore, a good foundation in rhythm and movement have a great effect on singing. The following examples illustrate how rhythm and movement, aural and visualization can help to build the vocal elements below:

Space, Depth, and Energy [See Ex. 1]

The High Note Syndrome [Ex.2]

Breath Management [See Ex. 3]

Accuracy in Rhythm, Pitch and Diction [See Ex. 4]

Managing Momentum and Dynamics [See Ex.6]

Physical Coordination and Retraction [See Ex. 7]

Conclusion

A pianist can practice 8 hours a day but the voice is a limited company with no liability. Practice intelligently and diligently are crucial to singing well. The Art of Singing requires discipline, physical fitness, a sound mind, and wisdom in doing what one is born with (performing) or called for (conducting and teaching). When all tools and tricks are exhausted at the rehearsals and the result is still not desirable, look into the following areas for better evaluation and improvement:

How many times did we find ourselves running out of voice at the end of a session after a long period of regimental practice, worse, sore throat, lost of vocal range and all sort of discomfort developed over a long period strenuous rehearsal when conducting intensive rehearsals for competition and performances? (This happens not only to the choral singers but also the conductor him or herself). Vocal fatigue and problem arise from the imbalance of the 3 Qs. How do we take precaution to avoid vocal injury (vocal and mental fatigue) caused by unwise rehearsal management, repertoire that requires special technique, unnecessary repetition led by inexperienced sectional leaders or conductors and emotional and environmental stress? Is the vocally demanding repertoire causing the vocal strain? Is there enough vocal diversity between songs to flex the vocal muscles and refresh mental alertness? Is the chorister's body in a constant happy and energetic mode regardless of the temperament of the songs? Did the tone of voice and negative attitudes of the conductors towards the unsatisfying choral practice and unsolved problems affecting the choir's behavior? Have you ever take advantage of taping the rehearsal for self evaluation? Did you spend enough time preparing for the lessons?

A good vocal foundation lies very much in the hands of the choral educators or voice coach who brace themselves with solid foundations, understanding and a moral duty to the young voices. As Robert Shaw said: “good fundamentals is prerequisite to free flight.” Together with a clear short and long term objectives, purposeful lesson planning, implementation, sensibility and wisdom, one achieves not just a gold medal for doing well at a competition but more importantly, the values of education.