Dear Karena et al, Excellent question! I'd bet you are a fine student. You asked:"What do you do to get it? (a good legato). ******************************************************************** Several things are involved; the ability to "evolve" one vowel into another * independently of the text * while enunciating consonants quickly and crisply (good, crisp consonants are also helpful in "launching" your vowels); a good working understanding of the rules of delayed articulation; and a good working understanding of the rules of syllabification.
I feel that each of the 3 elements above are worthy of independent threads. I sometimes ask my students to sing a song using only the vowels, seamlessly "dovetailing" one vowel into its successor. It's pretty strenuous at first but well worth the effort to learn.
Understanding the aesthetic of "Line" on the other hand, is a slightly different thing (though I do believe line and legato are often related). I tend to think of line as a sort of contour of intensity that roughly involves scale position, interval dissonance, rhythmic movement and intensity of emotion. In any good song, there are moments of intensity and stress and moments of release and rest. A smart singer will take advantage of these and use them to tell the story the song contains both within the music and the text. I think a thread on concepts of "Line" would make a wonderful thread too. Regards, Les
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