My choir director always asks the bigger voices to sit toward the back, but
I don't think that's written in stone as a general rule. As far as blending
goes, I wouldn't take remarks directed to the group too personally,
particularly if you can hear others singing loudly with a bad vocal quality.
I wouldn't try to hold back, because you'll get exactly the response you've
noticed with support. If you're really concerned about whether you're the
problem, don't be shy about asking the conductor.
When I started my church choir section leader job 15 years ago, I had blend
problems because of the size of my voice. (I'm a mezzo and can double on
soprano, but primarily sing alto.) I found that if I made sure I was
singing with a relaxed, open throat with a relaxed, steady stream of breath
and darkened my sound a bit my blend was a lot better. The two things that
were causing my blend problem in the first place were that I was tensing in
an effort to lead the section and make sure the other altos could hear what
notes I was singing, which gave my sound an edge that just wouldn't blend,
and my normal solo sound is fairly bright. When I relaxed and darkened the
sound slightly, the problem went away.
I have a friend who is one of the best choral conductors I know. I
complimented him on the blend he achieved with his choir and he said he
never, ever mentions blend. He just encourages his singers to sing with the
most relaxed, open sound they can and the blend happens.
Lee Morgan
Mezzo-soprano
-----Original Message-----
From: RossiniSop@a... [mailto: Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 1:40 AM
To: vocalist-temporary@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [vocalist] Re:soloist voice singing in the choir
Hi all!
I have decided to sing with a local Messiah group here, and have some
questions for those of you with very soloistic voices who have tried this.
I have already had a few very thinly-veiled comments about blending from the
soprano section leader when I asked about being seated near the back.
I sang with them 9 years ago, and did the solos for some of the
performances,
as well as sang the choral stuff. At that time the director had me in the
back with all the tall people. I assumed he did this so that my voice would
stick out less.
Anyway, I asked to be put in the back this time, and instead I got put smack
dab in the middle of the sopranos. When I mentioned this to someone, they
said that's where the best voices should be, but I never heard this before.
So, where do they put the stronger singers? And should I try to blend? I
have been holding back a little, and can feel my support going, which I just
don't like. They keep telling the sopranos to lighten up when they go up to
G, A, and Bb, but that's where my voice is big and vibrant. Also, every
time
the director makes a comment about the sopranos singing loud on high notes,
I
feel self-conscious. I think he is talking about somebody else, really,
because I stopped to listen and heard some not-very-pretty sounds up there
and they were loud.
I am very conscious of actually singing the dynamics, which not a lot of the
people can do or are doing, but I am not sure if this sort of situation can
ever work itself out. Do any of you have experiences like this to relate?
Do you think it is just better not to sing with choruses (even if you love
the music)? Or should I ignore everything and just sing?
Any comments welcome.....
Elise Curran
Orlando, FL
|
|  |
