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From:  "lestaylor2003 <LesTaylor@a...
Date:  Fri Feb 21, 2003  12:56 pm
Subject:  Re: Question about legato

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





  Replies Name/Email Yahoo! ID Date  
22806 Re: Question about legatoSteve Fraser <Steve.Fraser@j...>dstevenfraser Fri  2/21/2003  
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