FOLKESTONE CHORAL SOCIETY - HANDBOOK.
BASIC NOTES TO HELP YOU MAKE BETTER NOTES !
Many members of Choral Societies, such as ours, have had little or no formal musical education or training, but have learnt their notes by "sitting next to Nellie". Don`t be overawed if you seem to be surrounded by those more competent than you are - ask them to help you. These notes are intended to help you, and the Society, to achieve a more satisfying and enjoyable result.
The famous American choir trainer and conductor, Robert Shaw, identified three elements as important when preparing choirs for performance; (1) getting the words and pronunciation right (the sound); (2) getting the rhythms and note lengths right; and (3) getting the note pitches and tuning right. He would not progress to putting all three together until each element was secure. But he might expect singers to come to at least two three hour practices weekly, and to be taking individual singing lessons. We have to work faster with less time.
The famous American choir trainer and conductor, Robert Shaw, identified three elements as important when preparing choirs for performance; (1) getting the words and pronunciation right (the sound); (2) getting the rhythms and note lengths right; and (3) getting the note pitches and tuning right. He would not progress to putting all three together until each element was secure. But he might expect singers to come to at least two three hour practices weekly, and to be taking individual singing lessons. We have to work faster with less time.
BREATHING. Planned breathing is central to singing. Develop the habit of deep breathing in and controlling the letting out of the air (try hissing over 20 seconds or more). Use your diaphraghm and practice expanding your lungs - your chest cavity will expand outwards, sideways and downwards given the chance, greatly increasing your air capacity. Know where in a piece you are going to breath - avoid unnecessary breaths. With practice you will be able to sing much longer phrases than you imagine.
SINGING WITH EARS. Good singing comes from careful listening. Listen to yourself and to your neighbours and the other parts. As an individual, are you making a pleasant sound ? Are you focussing the sound, typically a foot or so in front of your forehead, or is it diffuse and woolly ? Are you wobbling ? Are you singing in tune ? Are you even singing the right note ? If you think you have the right note, stick to it even if you differ from your neighbours. If you are not sure, ask the conductor. Don`t be shy; the sooner the mistakes are put right the quicker the progress. Are you starting and ending the note at the right time ? (Are you on the right page ?!)
A useful trick for listening to yourself in private is to stand in the corner of the room and place the open hands in front of the ears (so the palms face backwards), to allow the sound to travel less directly to the ear. While doing this, experiment with different vowel sounds, by altering the shape of the mouth and placing the tongue. Even a ventriloquist cannot get different vowels without altering his mouth. Compared with speech, singing requires an exaggereated movement of the jaw and mouth.
A useful trick for listening to yourself in private is to stand in the corner of the room and place the open hands in front of the ears (so the palms face backwards), to allow the sound to travel less directly to the ear. While doing this, experiment with different vowel sounds, by altering the shape of the mouth and placing the tongue. Even a ventriloquist cannot get different vowels without altering his mouth. Compared with speech, singing requires an exaggereated movement of the jaw and mouth.
SEEING. Hold your book up, so that you can just see the conductor over the top of it. Keep it nearer level than vertical (i.e., don`t sing into it but over it). Always have your finger in the next page as soon as you have turned. Try to read ahead. Don`t just read the notes and words; read all the other information provided, including dynamic and expression marks.
POSTURE. Stand with feet slightly apart. Keep the upper part of the body relaxed, particularly the jaw and shoulders. Stand tall, not hunched. If singing seated, aim for the same body posture as if you were standing - sit tall. Do not imitate a bag of potatoes. Sit erect for good balance and breath control.
READING MUSIC. If you cannot read music then you can easily start to learn. Two later pages in this document contain much of what you need to know, though putting it into practice takes some time. Reading music and being able to sing at sight comes with repeated application of the basics. Alternatively, get hold of the EUP "Teach Yourself Music" by King Palmer, or the more recent Pelican, "Introducing Music" by Otto Karolyi - a set book of the Open University, or "How to Read Music" by Roger Evans, published by Elm Tree Books, who also publish Graham Hewitt1`s "How to Sing" . You may have access to an instrument, if not a little electronic keyboard will help you find your notes, or a descant recorder in conjunction with a stage 1 tutor costs only a few pounds, and can be great fun of itself. (Still helpful even for those reading the bass clef.)
COUNT. Work out, of find out, how many beats in a bar. They may be crochets or minims, dottted crochets etc. Then count in your head while you sing. Try to develop this to the point where it has become such a habit that you do it sub-consciously, especially in long notes and rests. Don`t rely on cueing for youir entry from another part; they may get it wrong and lead you astray ! The length of a note is relative, and depends on the tempo indicated at the beginnning or the movement or section, (or by the conductor). Thus in one piece a crochet may be of greater duration than a minim in another. Avoid using the pedal "metronome"; it is a bit distracting, especially if you are stamping at a differrent time from the conductor`s beat !
FINDING THE NOTE. Be sure of what note you are going to sing before you start. Don`t try to feel your way in; work out your note from the accompaniment or another part, or remember it from the note you have just sung. (Observe when the key signature has changed). Start with confidence; don`t leave it to others and join in later. In rehearsal, it is better to come in confidently, even on the wrong note, than not to come in at all. The conductor, as chorus master in the rehearssal, is there to put things right. He cannot do this if you don`t sing !
If the conductor asks your section to sing, on their own, a passage that is causing difficulty, don`t drop out until the rest have got it right and then try and join in; it is more than likely that you will still have it wrong ! And when members of another section are doing their bit, don`t try to help them by "singing along", either their part or yours.
If the conductor asks your section to sing, on their own, a passage that is causing difficulty, don`t drop out until the rest have got it right and then try and join in; it is more than likely that you will still have it wrong ! And when members of another section are doing their bit, don`t try to help them by "singing along", either their part or yours.
ANNOTATION. (A different kind of note!) Always have a soft pencil (and an eraser) with you; to mark your mistakes for revision, the beats where the rhythm is tricky, the expression where not indicated in your part or as indicated by the conductor, the places at which to breathe (or not), and occassionally to mark the final consonant at the end of a long notre or run.
MISTAKES. When things go wrong, don`t just hope they will be OK next time, mark your copy and analyse the cause. You will often find the problem is just before the point where you seem to stumble. Frequently it will be a repeated note, or group of notes in a run, or a repeated word, that is giving trouble. If you (or you and your colllegues) cannot sort it out, ask the conductor; he wants to have it right at least as much as you do ! It has been said that the weakest passage should be worked on until it becomes the strongest.
DISCIPLINE. Do resist the temptation to talk during the rehearsal. If you talk, you may miss some vital instructions from the conductor, you will make it more difficult for the conductor and the other singers to hear what is going on, and you will spoil the enjoyment of those around you.
HOMEWORK. Try to get hold of a recording of the work in hand. Listerning to it will help you to get the general "feel" of it, besides helping you to learn your notes. If you have a computer, YouTube has some good recordings of standard works. You may find it helpful to work privately with a friend. Between rehearsals, look through the vocal score so that you know where your part lies on the page, what comes when you turn each page, and where the `problem` passages are (you should have marked these during rehearsals). It saves a lot of time if you familiarise yourself at home with the words, especially where these are not English.
Ken Tee
Revised August 2011 and by Berkeley Hill in January 2013.
Revised August 2011 and by Berkeley Hill in January 2013.
Treble Clef.
Used for soprano, alto & tenor music. Tenors also sometimes use a bass clef. |
Aids.
FACE (Spaces)
Every Good Boy (lines) Deserves Food |
Bass Clef (Bass Music) |
ACCIDENTALS A# raises a note by a semi-tone A♭ lowers a note by a semi-tone A ♮ cancels the # or ♭ |
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A dot after a note makes it half as long again
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In US Terminology.
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TIME SIGNATURES.
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INTERVALS. Recognising intervals is one of the critical elements in singing music at sight. It needs practice to develop the skill, and lack of use tends to make the skill go rusty. In many cases tunes progress by notes going up and down by only one note in the scale - the problems start where there are jumps.
A useful starting point for calculating the size of the interval between two notes is to count the number of lines and spaces encountered when moving up and down from the first to the second REMEMBERING TO COUNT BOTH THE FIRST AND THE SECOND NOTES. This will tell you whether the interval is a Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh or Octave (8th). That will get you a long way if you are dealing with major scales. The following exercise assume a major scale starting on G (which has a key signatiure of one # - F is sharpened).
The next step is to ask what TYPE of interval it is - major, minor, perfect (applied to Fourths and Fifths, which are the same in minor or major scales), augmented or diminished (which narrow or expand the interval by a semi - tone respectively). Here you need to count the number of semi - tones, which means being aware of notes that are sharpened or flattened, either by the use of accidentals or in the key signature (that affects the note whenever it occurs.) The main ones you will encounter, with examples from the key of G (which has an F sharp, are ;
Minor 2nd (one semi - tone) - G to A flat; Major 2nd (two semi - tones) - G to A.
Minor 3rd (three semi - tones) - G to B flat; Major 3rd (four semi - tones) - G to C sharp.
Perfect 4th (five semi - tones) - G to C; Augmented 4th (six semi - tones) - G to C sharp (sounds the same as a Diminished 5th - G to D flat).
Perfect 5th (seven semi - tones) G to D.
Minor 6th (eight semi - tones) G to E flat; Major 6th (nine semi - tones) - G to E.
Minor 7th (ten semi - tones) G to F natural; Major 7th (eleven semi - tones) G to F sharp.
Octave (twelve semi - tones) G to G.
Minor 2nd (one semi - tone) - G to A flat; Major 2nd (two semi - tones) - G to A.
Minor 3rd (three semi - tones) - G to B flat; Major 3rd (four semi - tones) - G to C sharp.
Perfect 4th (five semi - tones) - G to C; Augmented 4th (six semi - tones) - G to C sharp (sounds the same as a Diminished 5th - G to D flat).
Perfect 5th (seven semi - tones) G to D.
Minor 6th (eight semi - tones) G to E flat; Major 6th (nine semi - tones) - G to E.
Minor 7th (ten semi - tones) G to F natural; Major 7th (eleven semi - tones) G to F sharp.
Octave (twelve semi - tones) G to G.
