Vocalist.org archive


From:  "Carol Spradling" <cspradli@t...>
"Carol Spradling" <cspradli@t...>
Date:  Thu Mar 8, 2001  11:11 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] students with pitch problems


I'm SO glad that other people find this predicament challenging as well. I
too have a student that just seems unable to 'hear' certain notes. I've
been kind of teaching around the problem, which I think is also connected to
a wooden tone in her low notes. When she came to me she had no connection
to her chest voice and every time the pitch went below middle C she just
popped out this little wooden 'anti-note'.

The other responses are really helping me think of ways to help this girl.
Thanks.

Carol S.

Carol Ansell Spradling, Mezzo-soprano
Director of Music, St. Augustine's, Syracuse
http://home.twcny.rr.com/spradling

----- Original Message -----
From: Peter Louis van Dijk <plvdijk@i...>
From: Peter Louis van Dijk <plvdijk@i...>
To: <vocalist-temporary@yahoogroups.com>
To: <vocalist-temporary@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2001 5:12 PM
Subject: Re: [vocalist] students with pitch problems


| Dear Vocalisters.
|
| I seem to have missed the original post but would like to share a
nightmare
| that a young student of mine is going through at the moment.
|
| She auditioned for Dorothy in The Wiz. After she got the role (because of
| her sweet acting, I have since been told!) she started coming to me to
help
| her. I sensed that all was not entirely well and that her ear was not
| entirely secure, but we learnt the songs without too much stress.She was
| given a recording of a melody line and the sheet music only had a melody
| line to play from.I added some aural training as part of the lesson to try
| to sharpen the hearing skills, but this cannot happen overnight. If I ask
| her to repeat a short phrase of three notes, she does actually have a
| problem.
|
| I'm not too charmed with the range required of the role (either too high
or
| too low for a young developing voice, but that's my primary gripe about
| having youngsters sing musicals in the first place, but I digress) Well,
she
| has now been given a backing-track to sing to and her pitch is all over
the
| place, just not on the note.There is not much of a melody line on the
track,
| rather a wash of sound.If a live piano plays her notes while she is
singing,
| she is more secure, but the intention is to perform with the backing track
| only, and she just cannot cope. At present she is a very unhappy and
| confused youngster.She is told that she is "out" but can't actually
correct
| it.Sometimes she is sharp, mostly flat. Oh, the dilemma of singing
| quarter-tones. The other girl who is singing Dorothy is managing
perfectly,
| but then she has a solid musical background and has been playing clarinet
| for years.I teach her as well, by the way.
|
| I feel the producer who selected her has the responsibility to see the
girl
| through this experience,even if it means one of the "flowers" on stage has
| to play violin or recorder to help her stay in tune. Funnily enough, it
| happens particularly around the passaggios, but identifying this won't
help
| her when she is under stress. We have discussed the possibility of
speaking
| her way through the most exposed passages, using Rex Harrison as an
example,
| but obviously she is not too keen.
|
| My main concern is that she survives what could become a most horrifying
| experience and isn't traumatized for life.She really has worked very hard,
| but just cannot do it.
|
| If she were a dancer with only one foot, one would not expect her to
dance.
| Why does this kind of thing happen with singing!!
|
| I really am quite angry that the school has put her into this position.
|
| Any other experiences like this out there? What were the so;utions?
|
| Regards
|
| Susi
|
|
|
| ----------
| >From: "DIANE M. CLARK (MUSIC DEPARTMENT)" <DCLARK@r...>
| >From: "DIANE M. CLARK (MUSIC DEPARTMENT)" <DCLARK@r...>
| >To: vocalist-temporary@yahoogroups.com
| >Subject: Re: [vocalist] students with pitch problems
| >Date: Thu, Mar 8, 2001, 8:28 PM
| >
|
| > In reply to Lisa N:
| >
| > In my experience, problems with matching pitches are almost always a
problem
| > of coordination between what the ear hears (usually correct) and what
the
| > vocal instrument can produce (usually undeveloped). If the student
cannot
| > audiate (hear/think sounds silently in his head) correctly, there is no
hope
| > of pitch matching. Once he can auditate, he still must teach the vocal
| > mechanism to be responsive tto his mental commands. All of this has
nothing
| > to do with rreading music.
| >
| > |\ Dr. Diane M. Clark, Assoc. Prof./Chair of Music Dept., Rhodes
College
| > | 2000 N. Parkway, Memphis, TN 38112, 901-843-3782,
dclark@r...
dclark@r...
| > () http://gray.music.rhodes.edu/musichtmls/faculty/dclark.html
| >
| >
| >
| >
| > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
| >
| >
|
|
|
|
| Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
|
|
|


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