Naomi Gurt Lind wrote:
> My theory (which works better for amateur choruses than professional
> choruses) is that untrained or ill-trained choral singers may have
> vibratos that distort the pitch (too wide, too fast, too slow,
> whatever) and that instead of dealing with the specific issues of
> helping each singer find a vibrato that sounds in tune, the conductor
> is more likely to ask everyone to cut their vibrato. You must admit
> that in voices that are not operating at their technical best, pitch
> is much clearer when vibrato is absent.
Having just returned from a chorus rehearsal, what made the
choir sound the best was a clear sense of vowel. A problem
with a section was worked on, and was not getting better,
until the director identified the vowel as the culprit and
insisted that the section in question focus on a good vowel
sound - /a/ in the diphthon "ou" in this case. And
EVERYTHING bad about the note was instantly corrected:
pitch, vibrato, volume, clarity. The difference between the
"before" and "after" was striking - the difference in tone
between amateur and professional (this with a choir of 100%
non-auditioned amateurs). My director (in other contexts)
explains it this way: The vowel is how the brain tells the
larynx what to do. If the larynx doesn't get a clear
message from the brain, it will be confused and the sound
will not be good, so a good vowel thought takes the singer a
long way towards a good singing tone. I think most choral
directors come from a keyboard rather than a vocal
background, so many don't know how to say things that will
elicit optimum vocal technique from untrained singers.
Peggy
--
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh@i...
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