On Fri, 6 Oct 2000, Patricia M Smith wrote:
> My personal experience with singing gospel & spirituals is that, at least
> as a caucasian who has been taking voice lessons for 8 years now &
> studied with an African-American singer for 2 of those years, the style
> has to do with the inflection in the voice, not the technique.
I sang for a few years with a gospel choir, and it's a little of both. The
style is obviously different, but there are also a few technical
differences in production as well. In general, the mix is "harder" for
women (ie more chest quality), than in most other styles. That is why the
female gospel voice tends to top out between E5 and A5, of course, the
chestiness gives them a lower extension to make up for it.
The tenors (most male gospel singers are tenors, whether they were born
that way or not ;) sometimes extend their voices with a reinforced
falsetto, and often sing up to about E5. The mix is very similar to most
male pop singers.
A well-trained gospel singer may also have a "sympathetic" jaw vibrato,
which is not to be confused with a "tight" jaw vibrato. In the healthy
case, the jaw is loose and is gently moved in concert with the natural
pitch vibrato to give it a "timbral" element as well. It is a coloring
effect to piggy back the pitch fluctuation, and is voluntary.
IMO, it is a healthy way to do the "vibrato crescendo" which is so popular
in modern styles... A gospel singer always has a vibrato, but can draw
attention to it by virtue of adding the timbral vibrato, without ever
having to use the "clench and release" of the larynx to control the
natural vibrato there.
Like in most genres, there are many, many untrained singers, some
excellent naturally and, some hurting themselves. There are also some
trained singers. The Revered Daryl Coley has a great instrument and sings
well.
Tako
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