Dear Listers:
A colleague called me the other evening. 2.5 hours later, I'd advised him about a potential solution to his church choir alto issue.
This issue has been and still is an issue for me as well. My "fix" was cheaper than his had been. He called in a mezzo voice teacher who worked with the singers. I hastily add here that I've not worked with his singers, nor have I heard these singers personally. I also greatly respect the level of dedication these singers have to their church choir. They simply aren't altos.
In this "tell-all" age in which we are living and working, some of us, myself included, have difficulties with not getting our full dollar value. A "short-ranged soprano" will never be an alto (mezzo-soprano or contralto). Period. Thru the many years I've worked with church choirs only one trick has emerged. Even this "trick" is no wonder bra for an anemic volunteer alto section.
I vocalise these singers on a simple vocalise given me by a wonderful internationally known and respected mezzo-soprano. Again, it helps, but it's no "wonder bra"! Here goes: Beginning in the key of D Major have the singers sing like they'd imagine an opera singer singing the syllables: ee, ee, ee, ee, AW (on 5,4,3,2,1).
Having "Madame" come in and work with them can provide them with a mental picture of what they should sound like. As voice teachers, we're concerned about letting singers imitate "other singers" on a full-time basis, although choirmasters who participate in the Royal School of Church Music regularly require their sopranos to imitate the white tone (the directors imagine) that boy sopranos have. At best, one can detect some improvement in the tone of the volunteer "altos". (Note: my colleague spent the big bucks and had little or no "return" on his music budjet money!) This is the "best case scenario". I'm afraid that in the real world, they continue to sing as they always have.
A dearly departed colleague gave me a sign for my choir room in 1982. It never has been displayed there, nor will it ever be. It simply reads "Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig."! Again, these ladies are doing their best. We can't expect apples to become oranges on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings! Also in the early 80s a colleague bragged to me about his "glorious alto soloist". I was singing the bass solo in the Bach cantata we were singing at the time. I invited a mezzo-soprano friend to attend the performance because both of us hadn't heard a contralto perform this cantata. The time for the aria arrived, the soloist stood and the sound that issued forth was...you've got it...a short-ranged soprano (under pitch, breathy, poor tone quality)!!
I feel I handled the inquiry proactively. Does anyone else on this list know any "secret recipes" I've yet to find?
Thanks!
Ed
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