RossiniSop@a... wrote:
RossiniSop@a... wrote:
> So, where do they put the stronger singers?
The conductor puts the singers where he/she wants them. My
conductor usually lets people stand where they want. Most of
his directed moves are to place less experienced singers
next to an experienced singer, to give the new folks
confidence and help develop their skills, and also improve
technique. In concert, soloists from the chorus usually
stand at the end of the row or near the front to ease their
coming forward for solos. Me, I like to stand in front
because I'm short!
And should I try to blend? I
> have been holding back a little, and can feel my support going, which I just
> don't like. They keep telling the sopranos to lighten up when they go up to
> G, A, and Bb, but that's where my voice is big and vibrant. Also, every time
> the director makes a comment about the sopranos singing loud on high notes, I
> feel self-conscious. I think he is talking about somebody else, really,
> because I stopped to listen and heard some not-very-pretty sounds up there
> and they were loud.
I think you should sing with your best technique, as you no
doubt did when you auditioned. By all means, seek your
director out before or after a rehearsal and ask HIM your
question. Directors love singers who ask these questions
and can actually respond to their preferences. I have also
found that the best way to "blend" is to listen to my
neighbors, rather than consciously try to modify my tone
quality. (In my opinion, the only effective way to achieve
choral blend is for the singers to all sing the same vowel.
Directors have to harp on this to achieve it, because we all
use different vowels when we speak.)
I would agree with you that the people your director wants
to "lighten up" are probably the ones who are over-singing
up high - forcing the air out because that's the only way
they think they can do it. My director often has sopranos
make a sighing sound, starting high in the range and letting
the pitch fall easily and naturally, to get an easy breath
onset. Then he has them sing the high note "like the sigh",
and it improves the sound a great deal. Often I and other
he knows can make this sound well get to demonstrate this
for the section.
My director likes a well-trained singer with a large voice
to sing with full voice at the dynamic he's asking the choir
for. If he wants something different, he'll be specific
about what he wants a particular singer to do. For example:
"I'm hearing just the right amount of Jane (large-voiced
singer), but I need more from the the rest of the section."
or "I need a little less of Jane and a little more of
everyone else." Nobody ever gets offended, because it's
only the best singers who get singled out. It's a sign
you've "arrived"!
> I am very conscious of actually singing the dynamics, which not a lot of the
> people can do or are doing, but I am not sure if this sort of situation can
> ever work itself out. Do any of you have experiences like this to relate?
> Do you think it is just better not to sing with choruses (even if you love
> the music)? Or should I ignore everything and just sing?
I think it's important for the singers with good technique
to sing the dynamnics as written/directed. In my
experience, the good singers bring the rest of the choir
with them. I think large voices who have a solid technique
anchor a section and make the rest of the singers sound
better than they are. Me, I love standing next to our best
singers, because it lifts my technique a notch. When I'm
next to a singer who's, say, singing under pitch, I "try"
too hard to compensate the other way, and often do less than
my best.
Have fun!
Peggy
--
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh@i...
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