Vocalist.org archive


From:  "Michelle <drama_diva_au@y...>
Date:  Sun Dec 15, 2002  3:59 am
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] RE: Tone deaf?

>
> What do you think, and what has worked in correcting this
> sort of problem with singers?
>
> Peggy

Spending an inordinate amount of time physicalizng the rhythm
process. Teaching them to conduct. Telling them to go home, take
their shoes off, crank the music up and FEEL the vibrations in the
floorboards. Anything and everything that got them feeling and
responding to rhythm. Clapping, stomping, jumping, anything to
physicalize it. Working with more than one sense at a time.
Vocalizing (aural), clapping (kinesthetic) and watching (visual) all
at once. And by vocalizing, not neccesarily a whole song to start
with, but rather percussive vocalization (like rap) or using the
voice as an instrument vocalizing short vowel sounds or consanant
groups (sh-sh-sh) etc, etc, etc.

I worked as a volunteer music teacher at my daughters school for
three years. With my littlies (gr 1-4) in school, I had made up a
series of tapes with all types of music from Michael Jackson, to
tribal African drums to Classics that was predominantly rythmic
and/or made them feel like dancing and encouraged them to clap and
dance and stomp. (We had to go down the back paddock with a portable
recorder so as not to disturb the other classes!). Schoolyard
clapping games were also great for teaching this and rope skipping
believe it or not. Once the boys got a bit of encouragement and
applied themselves most of them really blossomed and even the most
challenged improved when they were having fun and were able to get
past their self consciousness. I also used group activites with
percussion instruments (everything from rice in an empty milk carton
to proper triangles) building their improvisations into a type of
band performance.

I took some of these same activites into the studio and put
tambourines and maracas etc into the hands of some singers and got
them to feel and/or beat out the time even in classical arias if they
had rhythm issues. I had them listen to the (same) resource tape/s
and try out games at home. (So little time in the studio) What worked
for one student who was highly visual was teaching him rudiments of
music. Once he got the hang of sight reading he gradually improved in
practical performance.

Of course, time-wise this gets in the way of the progress of actual
vocal training but for some it simply had to happen. For some it also
created some habits that later had to be broken. One notable example
couldn't keep time unless she physicalized it (stomped her foot or
slapped her thigh) so eventually (after two years!) we just had to
give in and leave it alone. Drove band members crazy,(contemporary
Christian), didn't look too great to me from an audience point of
view, but it worked for her and she was happy, so I guess thats one
type of success yes? (At least she now uses a tambourine.)

I've had far more success with instilling rhythm than improving "tone
deafness" but then I don't think I've had any truly, incurably
hopeless material to work with when it comes to the "rhythm impaired"
mercifully.

Michelle




emusic.com