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> On Wed, Dec 27, 2000, Hild wrote:
>
HI!!! Well.... i have a big problem singing in tune! Like... sometimes,
> once in a while by accident i get to sing it right *LOL* aNYWAY My
> teacher said that when i got there she thought there was no way out! But
> she told me i'm getting better. My question is: Listening to A LOT of
> music(even if it's just played) can help me with my perception???
> Hild
>
I see nobody has taken Hild up on this one, but I would like to run it
again.
I am teaching many Xhosa students at the College of Music. Most of them
come from a strong choral tradition, where they sing Western as well as
African Traditional songs. The Traditional songs tend to use something akin
to a whole note scale, and this is what the singers have grown up with. When
we now confront this ear with your western major/minor scale, not to
mention the odd semitone in another place, you are asking for trouble.
Fi- soh and ti-doh seem to be the most precarious intervals to negotiate
correctly. A semi-tone is just that much bigger than a quarter-tone!!!.
Just listening to music passively won't do the trick, although it must be
part of a holistic programme to tackle the problem. I have tried putting my
pupils onto Vaccai Exercises, especially the semitone one (which has been
the downfall of many a western singer , by the by). Doing specific
ear-training exercises such as those required for Trinity College and Royal
Schools Grade exams eventually bring some success, provided that the ear is
open to suggestion.Repitition, repitition, repitition. I have always been
amazed how tennis-players can actually place the ball exactly where they
want it. Practise, practise, practise.
And then one has to accept that a colour-blind person will never get to see
the difference between red and green.......... I suppose that doesn't mean
he can't paint for pleasure.
The psychological state of the singer also seems to play a large part in
pitching correctly. I had one lady who sang flat all the time. Then she
divorced and hey presto, she sang in tune!!!
Does anyone have specific exercises that have helped singers sing in tune?
That is, after the obvious technical problems such as over-support/sharp,
under-support/flat, and wrong mix at the passagio-points have been dealt
with?
Regards
Susi
Cape Town
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