First the words…
1. First study the text to gain both a clear understanding of it and a feeling for the emotions expressed. If the text is in a foreign language, make a word-by-word literal translation, to be sure you understand the poem, the text, completely.
2. Practice speaking the text as an actor, discovering how to most effectively convey the emotions, the mood changes, the changes of tempo and dynamics.
3. Memorize the text and continue to speak it aloud.
Then the music
1. Study the music independent of the text, for a clear understanding of the melody and the rhythms. This can be done at the piano, playing the melody and familiarizing yourself with the melody line and the rhythms.
2. Put words and music together, noting how the composer blends the mood of the poetry with the music. His dynamic marks (p, f, etc.) and tempo fluctuations (rit., accel., etc.) as well as other specific instructions must be translated in your mind into motivated expressions. If you sing softly merely because the composer indicates “piano” or if you sing loudly just because you see a “forte” written, you will definitely “miss the boat.” Always seek a motivator for the composer’s “road signs.”
3. At this point begin work with your accompanist or coach. Note how the song’s accompaniment clarifies and intensifies the text and the melody. Finally, complete the memorizing process.
Remember that all of the above is preliminary work. Now comes the real enjoyment of giving birth to your creation, a re-creation of the composer’s inspiration!
Bringing the Song to Life
As with all music the song must flow, eternally flow, allowing no difficulties to cause a lessening in the ever-onward impetus of the rhythm. If the flow falters, the voice tries to compensate, and it begins to function with less ease. After all, life is motion: Your awareness and use of this powerful, primitive instinct is your strongest interpretive tool. Without it all else becomes more difficult. No matter how tender and calm the mood, no matter how hushed, there must always be the binding-together flow of energy that supports and stimulates the singer’s intentions.
Melody always flows forward in a horizontal line. It never looks back. The rise and fall of notes on the printed page (our system of notation) is definitely an illusion. For the singer there are no high notes and no low notes, only variations in the vibration rates of the vocal cords. Consequently, to reach mentally for a “high note” or to dig for a “low note” is to interfere with the easy flow of both voice and melody.
The beginning of the song may seem difficult at times, especially if there is no introduction. Before the song begins you must know what you are going to say, and you must feel immersed in the appropriate emotion. As in speech, first comes the idea, then come forth the words to express that idea in melody. You know the tune. You know the text. Take a timed, motivated, energized breath and flow directly into the song. The song itself dictates the mood and needs of the ensuing phrase: a slow, calm breath prepares for a tenderly flowing phrase; an energetic breath intimates a more dramatic outpouring. Avoid “just taking a breath.” A breath must contain matched timing, energy, and motion exactly matched to the coming phrase because it is indeed the actual physical beginning of the phrase. REMEMBER: First comes the emotionalized idea, then the emotionalized breath whose energy must flow directly into the song without a hint of hesitation. Breathe and sing. “He who hesitates is lost.”
The song thus launched carries onward, ever onward to the end, each phrase flowing its energy on to the next, over melodic hills and valleys through changes of mood and tempi, until the end is finally reached and the story told.
Concerning Practicing
It is important that when practicing singing (or anything else, for that matter) that we always endeavor to practice constructively and with concentrated attention. A phrase practiced incorrectly, over and over, becomes difficult to correct at a later time. The reason for this is that our conscious mind has been sending false information to our subconscious mind. It is the subconscious that controls and activates the singer’s performance of the myriad details, according to the way it was trained by the conscious mind. The subconscious has no sense of right or wrong. It accepts whatever information is flashed to it by the conscious mind. Therefore, through countless repetitions the subconscious becomes conditioned to these patterns and accepts them as being correct.
It is always difficult to correct mistakes that have been “sung-in.” The subconscious screams: “Let me alone! I like it the old way! You always said to do it that way!” Only by persistent correct repetition does the subconscious relent, become reprogrammed, and accept the new information from the conscious mind.
In performance the singer’s conscious mind must be free to concentrate on the “big picture,” the overall concept. It should not be expected to have to cope with the thousands of small details. That is the duty, cheerfully accepted, of the subconscious.
The human mind, the world’s most complex and advanced computer, is indeed a marvel beyond comprehension. Let’s give it a chance!
Concerning legato
For the singer, “legato” is one of the most important words used to describe beautiful singing. In Italian the word legato means “tied,” or “tied together.” In singing, what is it that we tie together, and why is this so important? We tie successive vowels together to maintain an intensive flow of tone, vowel to vowel, with no apparent interruption by intervening consonants. The consonants are required to be rapid and neat. Mushy or sluggish consonants interfere with a good legato. They are hard to understand, and tend to be followed by vowels lacking focus. We do not always choose to use legato in every instance, but the proper understanding and use of it assists immeasurably in creating a smooth vocal line. It conserves breath, and the interpretive result gives an added degree of intensity felt by both singer and audience. It is no wonder that in the days of Bel Canto the mastery of legato was regarded as a “pearl without price.”
Concerning nuance
A musical phrase is a series of notes that flowingly express a musical idea, either intellectual or emotional. Composers select certain notes to express their interpretation of a chosen text, using a framework of a few important notes decorated with much filler or ornamentation. The whole is interwoven so as to create a melody that is expressive, interesting and reflective of the composer’s interpretation of the text. Of course, the accompaniment bears equivalent importance in the composer’s total concept. The skilled singer will mentally connect the salient important note (just as he mentally connects the important key words), allowing the ornamenting note patterns to rise and fall between them.
This, then, brings us to the essence of beautifully expressed singing: this something called nuance, or inflection. Inflections are of two types. First, there are dynamic inflections, which confer degrees of softness or loudness to successive tones. And, second, there are rhythmic inflections, which confer a lengthening or shortening to successive notes. We observe both of these types of inflection in our daily speech, and both are invaluable guides in contouring expressive singing. Composers make use of these natural expressive devices in their choice of note values and pitches. At times, they use the sostenuto sign over a note to indicate a very slight elongation. At other times we find an accent mark indicating either a stress or a firm taking of the note. In any event, the correct inflections of speech need to be recaptured in singing. This at times requires very subtle adjustments of the printed note values. These infinitely small rhythmic inflections, properly used, contribute greatly to the musical believability and strength of a performance.
How do we determine the location and amount of the nuances? First, we must make a proper study of the song’s text to determine its meaning and the most effective manner of speaking it, just as an actor would do. We become aware of the word stresses in all their subtlety and then incorporate them into the melody.
The melody itself has its own structural and expressive needs. The key notes which carry the outline of the melody must be recognized and mentally connected. The notes which ornament these key notes must then point the way onward and keep the song moving and interesting. In all of this, much is left to the good taste and skill of the performer.
Musical phrases as they appear on the singer’s printed page are full of seeming valleys and peaks. The higher notes (the peaks) normally seem to require a greater energy than the lower notes (in the valleys). This ebb and flow of the energy, this rise and fall of the melody should not require the voice to be forced for the high notes. Likewise, there should be no abandonment of needed support for the lower notes. To push or to reach for the high notes causes the beauty of the tone to suffer, and can, indeed, cause the singer and the audience some discomfort. Conversely, “letting-go” or over-relaxation on lower notes causes them to lose focus. They become breathy, and the singer feels that he is on spongy ground. The onward flow grows slack. The momentum is weakened.
For the singer every singing breath requires an awareness of the length of the ensuing phrase, the energy output required (p, f, etc.) and the emotional demand of the text. Each breath must be timed, energized and motivated. This is as necessary for successful interpretation of the song as for the singer’s technical comfort. One should avoid just taking a breath or taking a breath with only the first note in mind. Likewise, making a hesitation after the breath, before launching the phrase, interferes with the singer’s ease of attack and sends out signals of insecurity.
When a large amount of energy or volume is expended on high notes the body tends to continue this same outpouring onto a lower note which then follows. Only a strong mental command to “dip down” to the lower note, not drop down, will enable the singer to maintain balance and immediately swing into the next ascent.
A constant awareness of the insistent, compelling flow of the rhythm is the singer’s best friend in achieving interpretive effectiveness. No matter how flexible the rhythm may be, no matter whether the rhythm races along like a surging river or meanders through peaceful meadows, the impelling onward flow ceases only when the song is finished. To lose the flow of the rhythm is to lose the song! When the rhythm sags all else becomes more difficult, the interpretation falters, and the voice loses some of its life, confidence, and control.
If singing is truly to reflect life, then it must, at all times, be alive. And it must always flow, flow, flow.
