Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for General Music

Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: 8th Grade Music Rooms: 126 Week: 31 04/23/12

UNIT OUTCOME(S): 1. THE HUMAN VOICE (Vocal Pedagogy)

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: What skills are required to be a good singer?

Resources (Materials/Texts/Visuals/Technology

):Teacher-Generated Resource Lists, chalkboard, and student portfolio/notebooks.

COLLEGE READINESS SKILLS:

27.A.3b Compare and contrast how the arts function in ceremony, technology, politics, communication and entertainment.· Describe how various arts are used to persuade and promote ideas in political conventions, campaigns and advertising.26.B.3c Sing or play with expression and accuracy a variety of music representing diverse cultures and styles.· Sing music on pitch; in rhythm; with appropriate timbre; maintaining a steady tempo; with good breath, with clear articulation/diction; and with expression appropriate for the work being performed.

MODIFICATIONS AND ACCOMMODATIONS (for the week): N.A.

Examples of Instructional Activities and Strategies: (i.e. demonstration, explanation, discussion, lecture, lecture—discussion, case studies, cooperative learning, discovery learning, problem based solving, scaffolding, please be specific)

MONDAYDaily Objective: Knowledge: What the students will know…

The student will sing a series of scales on solfege syllables in ascending and descending patterns as directed by the instructor with appropriate vocal technique.

Activities and Strategies

1. Do Now – Bell Ringer #_________ (Student-Selected from 1st period)2. I will review vocal vocabulary and demonstrate quality/appropriate vocal technique.3. The student will sing a series of scales on solfege syllables in ascending and

descending patterns as directed by the instructor with appropriate vocal technique.4. CLOSURE – Performing vocals on pitch in rhythm with appropriate timbre while

maintaining a steady tempo (with good breath control), clear articulation/diction with expression exemplifies quality singing.

Alternative Instructional Activities and Strategies: (anticipating student confusion, please include other strategies to help students who do not understand after the first set of instructional activities and strategies)

N.A.

Homework: (Not a completion of class activities!)Preview the Human Voice vocabulary; range, register, styles, textures, and timbres for tomorrow’s lesson. Practice breathing exercises while lying down in bed or on a hard surface to become familiar with your diaphragm.

TUESDAY - WEDNESDAYACT TESTING – NO CLASSES

THURSDAY - FRIDAYDaily Objective: Knowledge: What the students will know…

The student will sing a series of scales and patterns on solfege syllables with focus on breathing, posture and vocal technique.

Activities and Strategies

1. Do Now – Bell Ringer #_________ (Student-Selected from 1st period)2. I will vocalize students in preparation for vocal classification placement for each

student.3. The student will sing a series of scales and patterns on solfege syllables with focus

on breathing, posture and vocal technique.4. CLOSURE – In our society, music is often used to sway public opinion.

Alternative Instructional Activities and Strategies: (anticipating student confusion, please include other strategies to help students who do not understand after the first set of instructional activities and strategies)

N.A.

Homework: (Not a completion of class activities!) Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day Holiday!

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for General Music

Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: 8th Grade Music Rooms: 126 Week: 31 04/23/12

Name ______________________________________ Period ________

Date ___________________________

UNIT QUIZ: THE HUMAN VOICE1. When do the vocal folds

change shape?

2. What is phonation?

(Describe the process)

3. Explain why the human

voice considered the most

natural of all instruments?

4. What is the synonym for

vocal folds?

5. What happens if a singer

sings with too little

energy?

6. How does the voice sound

when it is forced?

7. Which instruments (name

the families) have been

designed to mimic the

human voice?

8. List the four major vocal

classifications.

a. c.

b. d.

9. List the three essential

things for good vocal

health.

a.

b.

c.

10. What 3 major skills are

required of classically

trained singers?

a.

b.

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for General Music

Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: 8th Grade Music Rooms: 126 Week: 31 04/23/12

c.

THE HUMAN VOICEVOCAL

1. range The range of notes that a singing voice can encompass.2. register A particular series of tones, produced in the same vibratory pattern of the vocal folds, and

possessing the same quality.3. styles Term that distinguishes one style of vocal music from another. Among the many different

vocal styles, there are: sacred, secular, Baroque, Classical, Renaissance, Romantic, solo, choral, operatic, madrigal, jazz, pop., etc.

4. textures5. timbres The color and quality of your voice. Everyone has their own natural sound that is distinct to

themselves. Some people’s voices are more distinctive then others.

"Vocal Registers" - A grouping of notes that are created by the same vocal cord coordination and possess the same sound quality.

Most men have about three registers, while women may have as many as four to six. They include Chest, Middle (or 'Mix'), Head, Super Head, and Whistle registers.

1. Chest - The term referred to as the lowest part of one's range. It is also the register most used for speech and is called "chest voice" because a by-product is the vibration felt in the chest.

During chest voice the vocal cords are vibrating at their full length as sound waves bounce off the hard palate before leaving the mouth.

2. Middle (mix) - Also called "Middle Register". A blend of chest and head registers. During mix, there is a split in resonation causing some of the sound waves to bounce off the hard palate and resonate in the mouth, while some of the sound waves travel behind the soft palate and resonate in the head.

In "mix" the singer controls the percentage of sound waves that resonate in the head and mouth on a given note by keeping the vocal cords adducted so that no sudden shift in tone occurs.

3. Head - The term referred to the higher part of one's range after the vocal cords have transitioned through the first two bridges (the first bridge is 'mix') while maintaining their adducted position.

It is referred to as "head voice" because a by-product is the vibration felt in the head cavities during resonation.

4. Super Head - The 4th bridge of the women's range, which is located above the head voice and below the whistle range.

It is rarely found in men's voices but can be developed.

5. Whistle - The highest of all registers found primarily in the female voice.

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for General Music

Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: 8th Grade Music Rooms: 126 Week: 31 04/23/12

Ranges/Exercises

Vocal Ranges

Soprano -High female voice Mezzo-Soprano -Middle female voice Alto or Contralto -Low Female Voice Tenor -High Male Voice Baritone -Middle Male Voice Bass-Low Male Voice Bass-Baritone- A male voice that sound more like a bass than a baritone, without the low bass notes Basso Cantante - A high bass voice suitable for solo singing Basso Profundo- A deep bass voice having a compass of about two octaves above C below the bass staff Coloratura- A singer, usually soprano, who sings ornamental passages in music Countertenor- The highest male voice, also called alto, which is often falsetto Heldentenor- A tenor with a powerful dramatic voice well suited to heroic roles

How Do I Know My Vocal Range?

You don't. Well, at least not at first. The problem is that most first-time singers are used to speaking in a different range than they sing at. Americans usually speak lower than they sing, and Europeans usually speak higher than they sing.

Your voice is determined by where your strongest tones, or notes lie. For some people, this is the middle, and for some it is higher or lower. It may take a few years before you actually determine what your voice is. In addition to this, every voice type reaches its prime at a different age, staying at that prime for a number of years (the last estimate I heard was 35-40 years.) Sopranos usually reach their peak at 21-24 years of age, and the lowest bass usually begins his prime at about 30-32. In the meantime, your voice may go through a lot of changes. If you are a 21-year-old tenor, you may be a bass by the time you are 25. Only constant practice will help you through these changes.

Why I Didn't Put Vocal Exercises On This Page

It is a simple thing, really. I didn't put vocal exercise on this page for two reasons:

1. If I decide to put a vocal exercise on this page, I would like it to be one that I can explain to those who may not have musical education, as well as those who do, and would benefit both. The only one I have found thus far is The Great Scale.

2. There are a great many vocal exercises, many of which do the same thing for your voice, if done correctly. 3. One good place to check is my links page.

However, if I do come across one, or a few exercises that are worth it, and can be explained to musicians and non-musicians alike, I will definitely put them up in the best fashion I can. Please place suggestions here.

A Little More Than 50 Great Singing TipsAny tip or combination of tips can be used to improve your voice, your style, or fix a sore throat. Some of these represent ideal situations, which many certainly do not live in. Others represent the complete opposite of things you may have heard.

Review them. Anything that is highlighted has already been addressed. You need only to click on the tip to view to question and the answer. I no longer answer questions, but you can still join my discussion list and get the opinions of the 1000 members of the group.

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for General Music

Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: 8th Grade Music Rooms: 126 Week: 31 04/23/12

Join Tessitura: 1000 members can't be wrong! Plan ahead Sore throat? Try an apple or pear (or their juices) Don't do anything that will hurt your voice in any way When looking for a teacher, ask about his/her background in music, and whether they are willing to help you learn

how to sing something other than their style of singing Just because a singer sounds nice doesn't mean s/he can sing When you are learning to sing, you are doing it to find out what your voice is capable of, not someone else's; be

happy with what you have To those who want to sing pop music: There is nothing wrong with learning classical To those who wish to sing classical: There is nothing wrong with learning popular You are not the person on the radio-don't try to imitate them unless you are trying to learn something Don't inhale any kind of smoke at any time whatsoever

Reason: Smoke sticks to and burns your vocal cords.Related Question #1

Don't drink Don't do drugs Don't allow people to come at your vocal cords with sharp instruments. In other words: Don't allow doctors to

perform surgery on your vocal cords, as there is a possibility you may never sing again after this. The only way to not have vocal problems is to not do harm to your voice in the first place, a skill which isn't taught due to lack of information.

No more yelling You can forget ice-cold drinks unless you have some sort of trauma to the throat area, i.e. tonsils removed, that

sort of thing. Reason: It tightens up your vocal cords. They must be warm and loose in order for you to sing properly.

Don't talk too much Reason: It wears down your vocal cords.

Try to stay away from a lot of dust Try to cough a little quieter Don't sing in groups, choirs, etc.

Reason: Blending with other people can throw off your ear. Choruses don't usually stay in key. Don't sing any song out of you range No more than 3 performances per week Don't use vibrato Don't dance and sing at the same time Don't sing your loudest for extended periods of time Ask as many questions of as many people as you can about singing Don't go to a vocal coach who is only a vocal coach because he hurt his voice and could not fix it, unless he is

willing to explain to you how he hurt his voice, and how you can avoid the same fate Reason: What they teach you will eventually hurt your voice in the same way it hurt theirs

Keep away from air conditioning for at least two hours before a performance Get to know and understand the organs involved in singing Singing will help to cure a sore throat that is not the result of over singing or over talking Practice as slowly and softly as possible Learn every style of singing you can Dairy products cause phlegm Singing helps to get rid of phlegm Keep a mint or hard candy handy When singing, make sure you know what the song is about by knowing what all the words mean and what is

going on in the music. A dictionary of English and English to other languages can be found here

If you must sing in a group, make sure you know what the other voices are doing Know what the music is doing Contrary to classical tradition, taking pictures is not a distraction It is harder to make an audience sit in quiet awe than it is to start a party Play to the back of the crowd Being hoarse in the morning does not mean you will be hoarse in the evening

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for General Music

Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: 8th Grade Music Rooms: 126 Week: 31 04/23/12

After performing, place a warm, wet towel around your neck and do not speak for 10 minutes Gargle with warm water containing 1/2 tsp each of salt and baking soda Try to wear only one fabric on stage

Reason: Those lights get hot Learning how to sing well takes time. There are no shortcuts. Try to make as little air as possible come out of your mouth when you are singing a musical phrase Train your ears by playing only the first note of a musical exercise Always take one day a week off Unless it's called for, always stand with good posture (this does not mean standing stiffly) when you sing Any move you make will affect the sound you are trying to produce Keep the tip of you tongue below your teeth Don't exert yourself the day before a performance

Not So Frequently Asked QuestionsOn this page are answers to various questions I've received on the site. I no longer answer questions, but feel free to contact Tessitura and ask your questions there.

Q. How do people hit those high notes? (Mariah Carey, etc.)

A. A person's range is affected by a few things:

1. What range the person would have if all conditions were absolutely perfect. (I myself will never be able to hit the "Mariah note" again.);

2. If the person is male or female, and the body type, which also affects the range; 3. How long the person has been singing; 4. Technique; 5. If he has a good teacher, or can teach himself well; 6. What kind of music the person is singing (some people can hit higher notes in opera than they can in pop); 7. If the person is doing anything that will damage his voice; 8. The tessitura (which is the area that the notes generally hang around in the song); and; 9. How well the melody is written.

That's what I can think of off the top of my head.

Q. How long does it take for your vocal cords to be cured of smoking? Can they be cured? Is there anything that I can eat or drink to cure them?

A. The length of time it will take for your vocal cords, and the other systems affected by smoking, to be healed from their injuries depends on how long you have been smoking, how fast your body naturally heals itself, and what you do to help your body heal itself.While there is no food or drink that will automatically cure that which you have done to your body, but quitting smoking will allow your body to begin to heal itself immediately, with the exception of whatever cilia you may have lost. I was told they are irreplaceable and will not grow back.In order to help your voice along, I would recommend a few of the tips I have stated on the front page, including, but not limited to gargling once a day with warm water containing baking soda and salt (1/2tsp each), using the Great Scale, taking one day off a week from everything, even cooking, and in the case of smokers (or former smokers), you can also help yourself by taking up some sort of aerobic exercise (running, dancing, basketball, etc.) as it will help you gain or regain your stamina.As for the nicotine itself, it will take a few days for it to be removed from your system and will take time, depending on how long you smoked, for your body to be used to working without it.Another question on smoking can be found here.

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for General Music

Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: 8th Grade Music Rooms: 126 Week: 31 04/23/12

Can you help me find a vocal coach? Sure, why not? If they can't help, try Music Web Hunter.

Why do you say the following:

1. No more yelling A. Some people who wish to become singers yell much of the time in their everyday speech. While yelling some of the time is probably inevitable, one cannot have spent the last week, or even the last day yelling and expect to put on a very effective performance.You state that yelling is a very good way to know what your vocal chords can and cannot do. At what point will a fire engine noise be used on stage? How does a high pitched noise, such as a fire engine sound, help your lower register? How exactly does this benefit your voice?Hospitals are riddled with cases of people who cannot speak or sing due to excessive yelling. Go to a sports event, cheer, boo, talk for two hours and then have a performance that same night, or the next night for that matter.A person knows how in shape his singing voice is by singing, and if he will be performing, singing that which he is to sing. If that same person must wear a costume, dance, or anything else out of the ordinary, he must practice the songs in that manner after learning the songs.

2. Don't sing in groups, choirs, etc.A. What singing in groups develops is your ability to blend in with other people. While this in itself is a useful skill, it has nothing to do with developing your ear.Developing your ear involves the ability to go from one interval to another, perfectly, as well as the ability to sing back a given pitch. In concert, "A" is tuned to 440 Hz. When the chorus sings back "A,", some will sing it at 442, some at 438, some at 440½. After a minute of tuning, the sound will very likely cover a range of 439½-440½, unavoidable in most choirs as most choral singers are not professionals.Ask a guitarist what happens when one string is out of tune: Not only is the entire guitar out of tune, but the one string will drive others out of tune with it. This effect is often noticed in a'cappella singing, where the group usually and most likely will finish the song one-half step lower than where they started. Of course, the only times this is noticeable to an average audience is if one person in the chorus has perfect pitch and has stayed in tune the entire time, while the chorus falls out of tune.In addition, how do you get a soloist from this group? Will he not also fall out of tune for trying to blend in with others who cannot stay in tune?Work on your own ear first, then work with others.

3. Try to make as little air as possible come out of your mouth when you are singing a musical phrase A. You say that one should have "breath support." What I have said is the very definition of "breath support." One cannot have too much air in his lungs, for if his lungs are too full, he cramps the very muscles with are needed to support the air used to produce the sound in the first place. Taking in too little air is no good for his singing, either. I propose an experiment: Take in all the breath you can and try to sing the longest musical phrase you can. Do the same with little air. Finally, take in a moderate amount of air and hold it in your lungs with the aid of your diaphragm and rib cage, letting as little air come out as possible during the musical phrase, to see which works best. I will be writing an article on the subject of athleticism in singing. Look for it.

Q. Is it possible to keep singing if you're a smoker? A. Yes. However, smoking has certain effects on your body which will affect your singing:

Smoke burns the cilia that line the airways to your lungs. These cilia protect the surface they line from infection. In addition, without these cilia lining your airways, you will likely begin to experience retention of fluid in your lungs because the mucus created in your nose and elsewhere will continually slide down your windpipe.

You will find yourself short of breath not only because of fluid in your lungs, but because the smoke burns, turns black, and destroys your alveolar, the air sacs in your lungs. Less of them means less air, the exact thing you need to have to sing. (I found a great picture of this in 8th grade.)

Nicotine and other things you may be inhaling will have, as per the definition of "drug," will affect your mental state, and you may not be able to convey the emotion or feeling you are trying to get across. Imagine trying to sing these words while on cocaine: "...And now it's time we say goodbye..."

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for General Music

Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: 8th Grade Music Rooms: 126 Week: 31 04/23/12

I have also included for you a few sites on the subject of smoking:The American Cancer SocietyThe American Lung AssociationCDC's Youth TipsSmoking from All Sides

Q. When I practice singing softly it comes out just fine. But, when I do it louder, I have trouble with certain notes. Any suggestions? A. I have a few. Maybe one or two of these will help:

1. It is possible that you are producing the sound differently when you sing loudly and softly. You can check to see if it is the case simply by getting away from as much noise as you can and trying to sing whatever phrase you are having difficulty with at different volume levels. Anything from using your muscles differently to holding your mouth in a different prostitution to standing differently to trying to force the air out another passage could be the culprit. Take note of any little thing you may be doing differently at different volume levels and try to do whatever it is you are doing at softer volume levels.

2. The notes that you are having problems with may be among your weaker notes. Try to practice, only focusing on the note(s) you are having problems with.

3. See if you are forming the vowel the same loudly and softly. You'd be amazed how many different ways you can pronounce the vowel "a" as in "face."

4. It may be the way you produce the sound in the first place. Try to make the sound resonate off of your hard palate. Also see The Great Scale.

5. It could be the words themselves. In English, words such as "to" and "you" have a tendency to go out of tune because of the way the words are formed. Another problem with singing in English is our diphthongs, vowels that are actually pronounced by saying two vowels at the same time. Our "a" is actually pronounced "ayee," our "i," "iyee." The difference continues with changes in dialect. Check to see if the words are causing the problem.

It will truly help to be aware of what you are doing when you practice, so that it will be easier for you during your performances, even if your performances are in the shower.

Q. Do you feel that not inhaling smoke is idealistic? A. Yes.

Q. Under what circumstances would there be no smoke?

1. If you don't smoke. 2. If you don't allow smoke in your home. Of course, if you burn your food, well... :) 3. They don't allow smoke in Carnegie Hall, or most New York City buildings. 4. If you are on stage performing, you don't have time for a smoke break. 5. If you don't use special effects containing smoke. Of course, if you are in a cabaret or some place like that, you

can't exactly do anything about it. But, for the most part, it can be avoided.

Q. What do I mean by "don't talk too much?" A. I mean just that. On the day of a performance, if you speak too much, you will not be able to express yourself effectively.You do not feel it wearing down your vocal chords, just as a person with hypertension has no idea his blood pressure has gone up. Reducing how much you speak helps you in the long term. Uncontrolled speech (perhaps I should have been clearer), which is the manner in which most people speak, is very harmful to your voice and does wear it down.

Q. How do you propose singers develop their ears?A. It is the case that you did not notice it when I said, "If you must sing in a group, know what the other parts are doing."As for ear training, one cannot develop his ear by singing his part and listening to the other's parts at the exact same time. In order to develop an ear, a person must be able to reproduce a tone after hearing it for only a short period of time. This is best done on a one-on-one basis. There are a few sites that have ear training online (I'll put them up when I find them again), and there are also books and other resources which can help you. I have been looking at a few, but I have not as yet found any to recommend.

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for General Music

Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: 8th Grade Music Rooms: 126 Week: 31 04/23/12

If each singer involved in a group does not know his own part, then the other parts suffer. Imaging trying to blend in with one part being sung a half step flat, and another part being sung a microtone sharp! In addition, I have found some sites

Q. Could it be that I am using the correct technique and I am capable of singing more than 3 performances a week? A. Everyone is capable of doing more than 3 performances a week, performance being defined as a show of 1 hour or more. This is just for the preservation of your voice, so that you will be able to sing just as well as you do now 40 years from now.

Q. Tell Michael Jackson and others not to sing and dance at the same time. A. I have not heard Mr. Jackson sing in a long time. He, along with many others, actually lip-synch much of the time. As for Broadway singers, I do not know if you are aware of it or not, Broadway singers use microphones. Ask the Broadway singer to dance, and fill the hall with his voice at the same time without a microphone, during a performance. As for dancers, a dancer's career is a short one, and as I said before, this is a rule to help preserve your voice in the long run.

Q. Explain how singing will help cure a sore throat.A. Once again, I digress to the Lehmann book, which you can also find in your local library. The best way, even with throat problems is contained on p. 96 of this book. It is called The Great Scale. In short, it is a long-tone scale {this means that you spend a lot of time, maybe 2 minutes, on each individual note}("Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do") of two octaves up and down, which takes about 50 minutes to complete. It is also the case that singing is the only way to cure throat problems not associated with diseases.

Q. How many styles of singing are you proficient in?A. I can do classical, jazz and popular with no problem. Now, as for the different division within each category, that is different. There are too many divisions, many of which I may not even be aware of to say which of those I am proficient in. However, being a young baritone, I will not do much performing in the way of jazz or classical until I get older and much, much better. My voice will not mature for the next few years, so I cannot say where it will "settle" at. I would like my voice to be its absolute best. If I continue to practice in the manner in which I do now, my voice should be very well off for at least the next 40-50 years, which is exactly what I want.

My point, however, was not about proficiency. One can learn a great deal about singing from studying different styles. With the knowledge of another style in one's head, he can choose a particular way of singing a phrase or word; an option that is not available to those who only study one style of singing.

Q. What about when you are vocally fatigued, and you continue to sing? A. I never said to sing when you are fatigued. That is inadvisable to anyone at any time in any language in any place...

Q. Why keep a mint handy?A. Because your breath will smell after you sing.

Q. Is it a generalization to say your voice will not be hoarse in the evening if it is hoarse in the morning? A. Not if you use The Great Scale or something similar to it.

Q. One should be very careful about gargling with salt. It is very abrasive.A. That's what the baking soda is for.

Q. What fabric would you suggest?A. It is the case that wearing one fabric from head to toe keeps you cooler than wearing blends or combinations. I would suggest natural fibers, since they allow your skin to breathe the best.

Q. How do you pronounce your words with the tip of your tongue under the back of your teeth? A. Just about every consonant can be said in that manner, and placing your tongue there keeps it out of the way of the sound. Otherwise, learn how to pronounce your consonants quickie by practicing them slowly.

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for General Music

Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: 8th Grade Music Rooms: 126 Week: 31 04/23/12

Q. You must perform in very sheltered, controlled environments. A. I do not always perform in sheltered or controlled environments. In fact, I live in a very dusty area. All the more reason to protect my voice any way I can in any environment I can control.

Q. Do you think that classical voice training is detrimental to being able to sing pop, or do you think it helps with dynamics and stuff? I've had people tell me both ways.

A. No.(see here) If you know how you want to sound and you have the ability to control how you want a vowel or consonant to sound, classical technique can only help your voice. Take for example the word 'can't.' If you listen to the song "It's Your Thing," sung by The Jackson 5, you will distinctly hear Michael Jackson sing the word with what those of us in New York call a "country" accent- i.e., Michael sings "can’t." In opera, you will hear "can’t" and on Broadway, you will hear variations on the same theme.

The reason for this is that the singer controls the sound, which is coming out his mouth, and different shapes create different sounds, or different variations on the same sound. You can find many examples of singers who can sing more than one style: Pat Benetar (former rock star) was classically trained, Aretha Franklin received a standing ovation when she substituted for Luciano Pavoratti in the Grammy Awards. She sings classical as well. Andrea Bocelli, myself: the list goes on.

Floating from style to style is nothing more than being able to produce the sounds and style that the people who normally listen to that style are accustomed to hearing. How you produce sound has nothing to do with your style.

Q. How many octaves can the average person sing?

A. 1 and a half. A professional (classical) must have at least 2. (A to A to A constitutes 2 octaves). Any time your hear that someone can sing 5 octaves, the person reporting the story is mistaken. It is humanly impossible to have a range of 5 octaves. (Test this theory on a keyboard if you don't believe me.)

Q. With training, can I improve my belt range?

A. The answer is the same as it would be if you were singing classical: You will not improve your range, you will simply become more adept at using whatever range you already have. It may seem like you are increasing your range, but you are not.

Q. My voice is very weak. When I sing at a microphone I am not heard. What can I do to make my voice stronger?

A. The first thing I would recommend when dealing with microphones is to find out how the sound system works in the places you are performing. In some cases, you may not be able to hear yourself, while others hear you just fine. Or, the sound man may not know what he's doing. Or, the club, or any part of the system could not be working properly. I've even heard of some cases where the person working in the sound booth was believed to have purposely brought the levels on the microphones down. Definitely check that out.

As far as strengthening your voice, or more specifically, "projecting" your voice (as it is called here) is concerned, I would first have to hear what the problem is. There could a number of things your might be doing wrong, from blocking the passageway for the sound to come through to using your vocal chords improperly in some fashion. If you have the time, money, etc. see if you can find a speech therapist, or an acting coach, or vocal coach, and explain to any one of these people that you would like to learn how to project your voice. If you can find someone that would be willing to help you out with that exclusively, then you shouldn't have a problem with learning it in a little while. The suggestions I can offer are:

1. Make sure the passageway from the lungs to the mouth is clear and open. This can be done by pronouncing the English letter "Y" and holding the position of it.

2. Use your hard palate (the hard part of the roof of your mouth) as a sound board.

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for General Music

Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: 8th Grade Music Rooms: 126 Week: 31 04/23/12

3. Learn how to use your falsetto (again, if necessary). Your falsetto is the part of the voice which carries the farthest. Incorporating it into your normal singing voice will help it to carry a little farther.

4. Work, work, work. With and without a microphone. 5. Try to do the work in a room without a lot of items that soak up sound. It isn't useful if you can't really tell how

much louder you are.

Q. What exactly is meant by "nasal"?

A. Think Ned Flanders (The Simpsons), Steve Urkel (Family Matters), Fran Drescher (The Nanny), or the sound most people make when they close their nose as a result of being sick or holding the nostrils together. It is also produced by using the the sounds m, n, and ng.

In short, sound produced when someone produces a sound through his nose, and as you are well aware, this has certain unique characteristics, one of which is an ability to carry across distances. Some singers use this in order to sing. I have found that I don't like the way it feels or the way it sounds, but being able to control my breath so that part of it resonates there is useful to my particular style.

Why You Shouldn't Use VibratoMy first experience hearing a vibrato noticeable enough for me to ask, "What's that?" was when I attended a program for music studies in my state. The staff consisted of a number of people who I am sure had excellent credentials and were considered true professionals, if not experts in their respective fields. Among these was a soprano who was to sing the soprano solo in the oratorio we would perform at the end of the program.

Some of you may be aware of the practice of rehearsing the soloists and chorus separately until it is close to the time of the performance, and that is what happened in this case. It was our first full rehearsal, and I was anxious to see what the entire piece sounded like, so I paid close attention to the soloists when it was time for them to sing. The soprano rose to her feet, and at the conductor's direction began her solo. As she sang, sustaining note after note, I noticed something I considered very odd: her mouth was opening and closing, and I was not at all pleased with the sound that came out of it. After being chastised for being flat on numerous occasions over the course of a month, I was now hypersensitive to notes that were less than stellar. I recall thinking, "What's wrong with her voice?" though I don't recall if I asked anyone. In either case, I didn't get an answer until a few years later in a book I was reading on singing--"It's vibrato, it totally natural, and not to use it will harm your voice."

Vibrato in singers, as I'm sure some of you are aware, is the word used to describe the sound that emanates from a singer's mouth that is literally a going up and down in pitch and volume when a given note is being held. Vibrato also occurs in other instruments as well, but must be forced by the instrumental player, and unlike singing, there is usually no variation in the pitch, though there is one in the volume. But, how does the singer produce this and what causes this to happen?

Van A. Christy's Foundations in Singing and Lillie Lehmann'sHow to Sing present opposing views on this particular point. (I have provided links to the respective sections of their books to your left.) Christy states that it is "one of the qualities we listen for in a voice", and "when we hear it, we feel that a voice is free and relaxed, warm and expressive." Christy believes that vibrato is the natural result of vocal maturity, that is can be controlled, and encourages the use of it.

On the other hand, Lehmann believed that it is caused by uncontrolled pressure of the breath against the vocal cords, it is damaging in that it gradually grows wider, it is uncontrollable, and she discouraged the use of it.

The question that has been asked of me since I posted my 50 Tips page is "What makes you believe one set of information over the other, particularly since the warnings against the use of vibrato come from such ancient and obviously wrong sources?"

Lehmann's book presented me with something I had not considered before: that certain acts may be harmful to my voice, and also detrimental to my sound. Her description is striking: air pushing against the vocal cords causes this effect. This causes these two little folds to work harder than they have to, eventually losing their elasticity the way a rubber band does

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for General Music

Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: 8th Grade Music Rooms: 126 Week: 31 04/23/12

after is has been stretched too many times, resulting in the characteristic wide wobbling up and down of the tremolo, a sound which has been described by both Christy and Lehmann's books.

Let's take a look at the elasticity issue for a moment: String players, when producing vibrato, must physically pull on the same string in order to produce this effect. When I asked a violinist if the string went out of tune faster when this was done, I was told, "yes". (In order to give you an idea of how quickly stringed instruments go out of tune, consider that an orchestra generally tunes its instruments twice during a performance, and pianos are tuned before every performance.)

As in the case of the overused rubber band, an overused string must eventually be replaced in order for the instrumentalist to produce the kinds of sounds that only new strings can. Until one of the world's countries approves cloning, the singer only has one pair of strings to work with.

Another issue that has been brought up is that of clarity. What exactly is clarity anyway? My dictionary wasn't much help, because it defines "clarity" as "clearness", a form of the word "clear" which has a large number of definitions. Of these the 4th definition seemed to best suit our purposes: "easily seen, heard, or understood; not confused; plain; distinct. (As I stated, not the greatest explanation in the world, but workable) We should ignore distinct for these purposes, as sounds with and without vibrato can make a claim of being distinct. "Seen," "understood", and "not confused" also are not what we are looking for here. That leaves us with "plain" and "easily heard". Many people throughout the years have considered it, vibrato, to be nothing more than ornamentation or embellishment, and though I am sure you can find a great number of people who will take the opposite view, perhaps it would be best to think of the term "clarity" in the terms of a coronet player who is playing a reveille or "taps". All of these notes would be described as "clear".

Christy stated that vibrato is "one of the qualities we look for in a voice, whether we know it or not." Recognizing that my musical tastes have changed as my level of skill has increased, I truly can't say what I felt about vibrato before I knew what it was. I was merely trying to reproduce the sounds, styles, and voices of my favorite singers, much to the chagrin of my teachers and choral directors, who encouraged me to "be myself." As I gained experience, and began to be able to distinguish between a variety of sounds, I recall finding myself more drawn to notes sung without vibrato: I liked the voices that were clear like the bell or trumpet, as a young child's voice often is. In this, my taste agreed with the taste of those persons recorded in Grove's Singing who wrote music "to be performed by singers with voices 'high, sweet and strong'."

In addition to this, I found it refreshing to have a good example available of clarity: the doo-wop style. On PBS (American Public Television) a special aired “Doo-Wop 51”, showcasing a number of acts from the doo-wop era. Many of these singers, years removed from their teens, still had voices that, without looking, you would believe the singer was, in fact, a teenager. I had never heard that before: voices without vibrato, and voices youthful and childlike from singers who have been performing for 30-40 years. Not from opera, rock, or jazz have I ever heard this, and I find the sound, clear, with no vibrato, sung over a well-written melody, a joy to listen to.

Perhaps I wasn't thinking along the same lines as the musicians and writers or earlier centuries, it is nice to know I am not alone in my sense of taste.

A statement made by Gaffunus, recorded in Grove's Singing leads me to my next point: The statement was:

Singers should not produce musical tones with a voice gaping wide in a distorted fashion or with an absurdly powerful bellowing, especially when singing at the divine mysteries; moreover they should avoid tones having a wide and ringing vibrato, since these tones do not maintain a true pitch and because of their continuous wobble cannot form a balanced concord with other voices. Vibrato, as you will remember, is the act of a tone going above and below a given note, which is supposed to be the one being sounded. Though I have had experiences with a number of different people, all with different views, due to my own tendency to sing flat (below the pitch), it was drilled in to my head that if I was going to be off, it was better to be sharp than flat, because it is easier to reach a note from above that note than it is from below that note: in fact, I have been told that it was nearly impossible to "creep up" and hit the right note because you never quite make it. (If you've had this problem, leave a note in my guestbook.) Obviously, this presents a problem for anyone who wishes to have a long career as a singer: if using this particular technique drags my voice down so that it is out of tune with the other instruments, what will my career be like? Had the subject never come up, I would have been disappointed to learn that I could not sing notes in tune after working all those years to gain control and beauty and mastery of my voice.

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for General Music

Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: 8th Grade Music Rooms: 126 Week: 31 04/23/12

Recording technology allows us to view changes over time, especially in one of our favorite voices. It is now easy to compare a singer's voice at different stages of his career and notice the differences as the creep up. Furthermore, if you know something about that person's life, as many people know intimate details about the life of his favorite celebrity, you can judge to some extent, how activities you know or merely speculate that singer to have engaged in have affected his or her voice. It may be interesting for you to listen for and to notice effects like an increase in the size of the vibrato or the older sound associated with smoking.

There is no way to deny the fact that people who do not spend years training in any given field have a different sense of what is and isn't good than the person who does, and this case is no different. I recognize the fact that something that may be harmful to your voice may actually improve your career. Indeed, if you decide to take vibrato out of or put it into your voice, it changes your style and quality, and your audience may prefer your vibrato to your notes without them. Therefore, I leave the choice up to you, the reader of this article because you should have the best idea of what exactly you want out of yourself, your voice, and your career.

If, after reading this article, you still wish to produce vibrato, one way I know of (as stated earlier) is to add pressure to your vocal cords and to loosen your jaw. If you don't want to produce it, concentrate on the note, direct your breath toward your chest and the sound on virtually anything other than the vocal cords.

Please follow the links on the left to the full text of both Christie and Lehmann's arguments. An additional argument for the use of vibrato appears at voiceteacher.com.

Why You Shouldn't Use Vibrato: Why You Should Always Use VibratoThe following text comes from Foundations in Singing by Van A. Christy, Wm. C. Brown Publishing.

Vibrato A student who was searching for words asked me, "What do you call it when a voice kind of waves up and down and it's nice?" Answer: vibrato, one of the qualities we listen for in a voice, whether we realize it or not. Very few voices use vibrato all the time, but when we hear it, we feel that a voice is free and relaxed, warm and expressive.

When we hear a tone with vibrato, we think we are hearing a certain pitch. Actually, we are hearing the voice rise above and fall below the pitch. At the same time, the volume and quality vary as well. Vibrato is such a natural part of a freely produced voice that we are likely to think that a voice without it is "no good".

An attractive vibrato occurs at a rate of six or seven cycles per second. It often carries the tone 1/4 tone above and below the basic tone. As with the other vital attributes of a good voice, almost everyone can develop a pleasing vibrato. (Some individuals have difficulty recognizing vibrato, as musicologists have found. Even some accomplished singers who have a perfectly normal vibrato are unable to say whether they have one or not.)

Some voices have vibrato from childhood and are never without it. They would do well to experiment with the straight tone, deliberately removing the vibrato, primarily by imagining a tone without vibrato. Some conductors may ask you to eliminate vibrato for a particular style, and you need this kind of control.

Other voices could use vibrato but inhibit it. The following are some reasons I have heard:

"My teacher said that if I try to use vibrato it will be unnatural; I should wait until I'm older and it will come naturally." False: The vibrato you have in your teens is yours. Use it with pride.

"The choir director said my vibrato made my voice stick out." Translation: One mature voice among a group of immature voices caused a problem that the director didn't know how to solve. It would be better to improve the weaker voices than to stifle the one good voice.

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for General Music

Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: 8th Grade Music Rooms: 126 Week: 31 04/23/12

"I don't want my voice to sound 'operatic' and affected." Don’t worry, you won't go overboard. Try singing with vibrato and ask your friends if they like it. Also listen thoughtfully to your favorite singers; you will hear some vibrato in almost any style, not just opera.

With an attitude change, such students sometimes begin to use vibrato immediately. All they need is to give them (selves) permission.

If you have never experienced a tone with vibrato, it may take a while before you can achieve the right balance of energy and relaxation to allow vibrato to occur spontaneously. When you hear vibrato come into the voice on any single tone, take note of it and encourage it to reappear.

Singers use vibrato differently in different styles; some country singers seldom use it, while some gospel and blues singers use more than a half tone. Jazz stylists, particularly, add and subtract vibrato at will as part of their expressive technique.

Sometimes we hear a vibrato that is too wide, too fast, or too slow, or one that pulses hard and soft like a bleat. Like too much of any good thing, all such excesses are unpleasant. We use the word tremolo to describe any of them. Tremolos can usually be corrected by improving breath support and learning the right balance of vitality and relaxation in singing.

Why You Shouldn't Use Vibrato: Why You Should Always Use VibratoThe following text comes from Foundations in Singing by Van A. Christy, Wm. C. Brown Publishing.

Vibrato A student who was searching for words asked me, "What do you call it when a voice kind of waves up and down and it's nice?" Answer: vibrato, one of the qualities we listen for in a voice, whether we realize it or not. Very few voices use vibrato all the time, but when we hear it, we feel that a voice is free and relaxed, warm and expressive.

When we hear a tone with vibrato, we think we are hearing a certain pitch. Actually, we are hearing the voice rise above and fall below the pitch. At the same time, the volume and quality vary as well. Vibrato is such a natural part of a freely produced voice that we are likely to think that a voice without it is "no good".

An attractive vibrato occurs at a rate of six or seven cycles per second. It often carries the tone 1/4 tone above and below the basic tone. As with the other vital attributes of a good voice, almost everyone can develop a pleasing vibrato. (Some individuals have difficulty recognizing vibrato, as musicologists have found. Even some accomplished singers who have a perfectly normal vibrato are unable to say whether they have one or not.)

Some voices have vibrato from childhood and are never without it. They would do well to experiment with the straight tone, deliberately removing the vibrato, primarily by imagining a tone without vibrato. Some conductors may ask you to eliminate vibrato for a particular style, and you need this kind of control.

Other voices could use vibrato but inhibit it. The following are some reasons I have heard:

"My teacher said that if I try to use vibrato it will be unnatural; I should wait until I'm older and it will come naturally." False: The vibrato you have in your teens is yours. Use it with pride.

"The choir director said my vibrato made my voice stick out." Translation: One mature voice among a group of immature voices caused a problem that the director didn't know how to solve. It would be better to improve the weaker voices than to stifle the one good voice.

"I don't want my voice to sound 'operatic' and affected." Don’t worry, you won't go overboard. Try singing with vibrato and ask your friends if they like it. Also listen thoughtfully to your favorite singers; you will hear some vibrato in almost any style, not just opera.

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for General Music

Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: 8th Grade Music Rooms: 126 Week: 31 04/23/12

With an attitude change, such students sometimes begin to use vibrato immediately. All they need is to give them permission.

If you have never experienced a tone with vibrato, it may take a while before you can achieve the right balance of energy and relaxation to allow vibrato to occur spontaneously. When you hear vibrato come into the voice on any single tone, take note of it and encourage it to reappear.

Singers use vibrato differently in different styles; some country singers seldom use it, while some gospel and blues singers use more than a half tone. Jazz stylists, particularly, add and subtract vibrato at will as part of their expressive technique.

Sometimes we hear a vibrato that is too wide, too fast, or too slow, or one that pulses hard and soft like a bleat. Like too much of any good thing, all such excesses are unpleasant. We use the word tremolo to describe any of them. Improving breath support and learning the right balance of vitality and relaxation in singing can usually correct tremolos.

Why You Shouldn't Use Vibrato: Why You Should Never Use VibratoThe following text comes from How to Sing by Lilli Lehmann, published by Dover Books, which has given me permission to duplicate these pages of the book here.

The TremoloBig voices produced by large, strong organs through which the breath can flow in a broad, powerful stream, are easily disposed to suffer from the tremolo, because the outflow of breath against the vocal cords occurs too immediately. The breath is sent there directly from the diaphragm instead of being driven by abdominal pressure forward against the chest, the controlling apparatus, from whence it, in minimal quality and under control, is admitted to the vocal cords. Even the strongest vocal cords cannot for any length of time stand the uncontrolled pressure of the breath, that is, the direct breath pressure. One must learn to tense them by means of the various muscular functions.

In inhaling, the chest should be raised not at all or but very little-unless an exercise for the expansion of the chest is to be made of it. The pressure of breath against the chest must be maintained as long as it is desired to sustain a tone or sing a phrase. As soon as the elastic abdominal and chest pressure ceases, the tone and breath are at an end. Not till toward the very end of the breath, that is, of the tone or phrase, should the pressure be slowly relaxed and the chest slowly sink, although tone- and word-form must continue to remain even beyond the very end.

While I am singing, I must press the breath against the chest evenly, for in this way alone it can be directed evenly against the vocal cords, which action is the chief factor in a steady tone and in the only possible and proper use of the vocal cords. Control of the breath should never cease. Only in the beginning of singing does the chest--against which the breath is to be pushed--start to slowly inflate, reaching its greatest distention only when the breath phrase is ended. Then the chest slowly sinks. The tone should never be made stronger or weaker beyond the control of it, but the breath must always be decreased. This should be an inflexible rule for the singer.

I direct my whole attention to pressure against the chest, which forms the door of the supply chamber of breath. Thence I admit to the vocal cords uninterruptedly only just so much as I wish to admit. I must not be stingy, nor yet extravagant with it. Besides giving steadiness, the pressure against the chest (the controlling apparatus) establishes the strength and duration of the tone.

Upon the proper control and the continual articulation depends the length of breath, which, without interruption, rises from here, vibrates in the resonating chambers, and, kept in check in the elastic form of the resonating apparatus, obeys our will through articulation.

It can now be seen how easily an uncontrolled current of breath can injure the vocal cords, if it is directed against them in all its force. One need only see a picture of the vocal cords to understand the folly of exposing these delicate little bands to the explosive force of the breath. They cannot be protected too much; and they also cannot be too carefully exercised.

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for General Music

Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: 8th Grade Music Rooms: 126 Week: 31 04/23/12

They must be spared all work not properly theirs. This must be left to the resistance and tension of the chest muscles which in time learn to endure an out-and-out thump.

The tremolo can also be produced by false placement of the larynx which is not always fixed close enough under the nose and chin, and being disunited with e [as in "she"] and oo [as in "shoe"] by means of y it wabbles about alone. The only remedy here is the energetic placement of the larynx with a, [as in "way"] that is, the placement of the tension of the chest and diaphragm muscles, which must always be renewed continually by articulating the a. It might possibly come from the inactivity of the diaphragmatic muscles which do not make a counter-movement, that is, do not cooperate with the upper organs. This fact must be investigated by the teacher.

Even the vibrato, to which full voices are prone, should be nipped in the bud, for gradually the tremolo, and later something even worse, is developed from it. Life can be infused into the tone by vowel-mixing, a way that will do no harm.

Vibrato is the first stage, tremolo the second and much more hopeless, which shows itself in flat singing on the upper middle tones of the register. Referable in the same way to over-burdening of the vocal cords is the excessive straining of throat muscles, which through continual constriction lose their power of elastic contraction and relaxation, because pitch and duration of the tone are gained in an incorrect way, by forcing. Neither should be forced; pitch should be merely maintained soaring, as it were; strength should not be gained by cramped compression of the throat muscles, but by the most complete possible filling with breath of the breath-form and resonance chambers, under the government of the controlling apparatus, and that means a decrease of breath.

The more violent the exertions are made to force pitch and duration, the worse are the results. For most of the unhappy singers who do this, there is but one result: the voice is lost.

If the first and second stages of the tremolo are difficult to remedy because the causes are rarely understood and the proper measures to take still more rarely, the repair of the last stage of the damage is nothing less than a fight in which only an unspeakable patience can win the victory.

Singing, The Full-Body ExerciseA voice teacher once told me, "Sing from your feet." Another once told me, "Sing from your diaphragm." To this day, I have no idea what either of them meant. Lillie Lehmann also describes this apparent lack of clarity (100 years ago!) in her book. While I cannot honestly say that I know was meant by what the teachers told me, I believe I can theorize.

Singing from your diaphragm, breath support, breath control are all commonly used terms among singers. Of course, what does one mean when he uses these terms? It would help the signer to learn about his own body, his organs, their functions and how they all relate to the production of sound. In this particular case, your diaphragm is what we normally call the stomach. It is the largest muscle in your body, located directly below your ribs. You can, if you wish, use this muscle to breathe, or to control your breathing. Many teachers suggest that you use this muscle exclusively to control the amount of air coming out of your lungs. The problem with this method is that it ignores your lungs, your ribs, the position of your body, etc.

Now imagine instead tightening (contracting) your diaphragm, using that to loosen the muscles in your lower back, opening and closing your ribs to breathe, but leaving them stationary while singing, and instead of directing the air out of your mouth or nose, directing it against your chest. In your opinion, wouldn't hearing that and an explanation of how to do each of these things be much more useful?

Now, on to the subject of "singing from your feet." Like I said, I do not know what was meant by that. What I do know is if you place your feet flat on the floor and stand with "good posture," (many books can tell you how to do that) you can actually use that to your advantage. If you lift weights to increase your strength, you may already be aware of the fact that your legs are the strongest muscles in your body. You use these muscles every day, and a 160-pound person who may not be able to lift 100 pounds with his arms can easily lift twice that with his legs. In baseball, a pitcher who throws 95mph with his arm only soon hurts it. Mr. Nolan Ryan pitched 90 mph until he was 50! (not a common thing)

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for General Music

Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: 8th Grade Music Rooms: 126 Week: 31 04/23/12

You may have also heard the expression "lift with your legs." you can actually apply this to singing (unless you're not on your feet). You may have to change your thinking about your body, though. Try thinking of your entire body as an instrument, with your voice only being the end product of various exercises you are performing simultaneously. Your legs provide power, your bones all the way to your skull provide vibrations and overtones (or at least they should), your lungs, diaphragm, and ribs provide the air, your vocal cords create sound, your head amplifies the sound, your tongue and otherwise shape the sound you make and your brain controls your comprehension of the music, and allows you to put your own personal slant on the music you are making.

As with any athletes, the physical acts involved in the actual competition, or in this case the actual performance, are preceded by what may be days, weeks, months, or years of training to get each and every aspect of the body's performance to its optimum level. Lack of preparation results in sloppy performances and disinterested audiences. Proper preparation by one with half as much skill in any given area often outweigh the performance of even the most gifted individual. This is true for academic tests, sports, singing, etc.

You, acting as an athlete (in the sense that singing is an athletic as well as aesthetic performance) should be, preferably, in complete control of your instrument and its various parts, and have full knowledge and understanding of the various functions of these parts in order to maximize the desired effect of your performance.

Breathing exercises, calisthenics, light jogging, etc. may seem like overdoing it, but the strengthening of your various muscles holds many rewards with regard to performance and what is commonly called "overall health." One should find workout techniques (singing and non singing) that give the various muscles the greatest amounts of strength, flexibility and control. A good physical trainer who can explain why each exercise works for what it works for they way it does is a good option.

Keeping these things in mind, the singer can easily (with the right material) capture the audiences' attention and hold it for the duration of his performance, as well as getting a nice workout in the process.

How To Sell Yourself in an Audition by

Ja-Naé DuaneWhat makes a successful audition? I’ve heard this question asked so many times. Within three installments, I am going to give you some very useful suggestions on how to sell yourself in an audition. After hundreds of auditions (both good and bad), this is what I have found.

If you think about it, the process begins with one thing: A great attitude! What do I mean by that? Before you audition, ask yourself the following questions: Why do I want this audition? How do I walk into the audition? Do I walk in thinking I already have the part or do I walk in saying, “Why on earth would they want to hire me?”

Am I dressed for success? How do I walk out of the audition? What can I learn from this audition?

By asking yourself these questions, they can help put you in the right frame of mind. You are a product in a business, so you have to learn how to sell yourself! Learning how to sell product YOU is easy and can be done in a few steps. The first step is a positive attitude.

Why do I want this part?

Of course the easy answer is that you want the part, but you have to think broader than that. Will this part be good for my career advancement? Is this a company that I want to work for? People audition for hundreds upon hundred of gigs all the time. I suggest you do some soul searching. What type of auditionee do I want to be? The one that auditions for everything and anything or the one that is more selective? If I do become more selective, why?

How do I walk into an audition?

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for General Music

Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: 8th Grade Music Rooms: 126 Week: 31 04/23/12

The first thing that the auditors notice when you walk in is your appearance. When you walk in, they immediately start examining you. How does she carry herself? Is she smiling? Do the clothes she wears exemplify her personality while maintaining professionalism? Even if they are not aware of the types of questions they are asking the auditors will immediately make a judgment on whether or not they like you.

I used to walk into an audition saying to myself, “I’m not good enough to get this gig. Why would they even hire me?” As awful as that is, it’s true! That’s what would run through my mind. And inevitably I would never get the gig. Why? Because I conveyed that attitude in my face and in my presence, without even knowing it. People immediately noticed it. Finally, someone (who later become a good friend) said to me, “Ja-Naé, with your attitude the way it is, you are never going to make it. Being humble is one thing and a great thing, but thinking that you are not even good enough for the gig. If you think you’re not good enough, then you’re not.” She was right! If I wanted to survive in this competitive field, I definitely had to have an attitude adjustment.

Am I dressed for success?

What you wear to an audition says TONS about who you are as a person. You want a look that is professional, classy, yet shows off your personality. Though I’m a crossover artist, my primary genre is opera and those are the auditions that I have had the most experience with. Also, it is tricky with opera. You audition outfit changes with the season and the time of day. Here are some tips for both sexes in the opera world:

MEN

Use the cut of the suit, color of the suit, and the color of the tie to show off your personality. The colors and style you wear can say a lot about you.

Make sure your shoes are not scuffed. No one likes a well-dressed man with scuffed shoes.

Make sure that the shirt is ironed and the suit is dry-cleaned.

Auditors want to see you face, so clean-shaven is preferred.

WOMEN

Keep it simple. Daytime/Nighttime (ANYTIME): black or gray is great! Unless it is a competition: NO EVENING GOWNS!!!! Mezzos: The general consensus is to wear a skirt, unless you are auditioning specifically for a pants role. Long or medium length skirts: NO MINIS! They distract from your voice. Try solid colors (prints distract the listener away from your face and especially your voice). Dark colors on the bottom with a lighter colored top (attracts more attention towards your face). If wearing dark on top and bottom, accentuate it with a colorful scarf or an accessory. Wear your hair away from your face and out of your eyes. This doesn’t mean that it has to be up, just out of the way. NEVER wear stockings with open-toed shoes. That is a big no-no!

Before you walk out that door, ask yourself: Am I dressed for success? Would I hire a person that is dressed like me? Remember: Your first impression on the auditors happens as you walk in the door, so be smart about it!

How do I walk out of an audition?

Walk out of the audition the same way you walked in: with confidence and a smile. Even if it was the worse audition that you have ever done, do not show it. Your audition ends when you are out of the building you auditioned in and no sooner. If it was a bad audition or if you did not like the people who you auditioned for, it is better to keep it to yourself. You never know who might be watching you.

What can I learn from this audition?

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for General Music

Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: 8th Grade Music Rooms: 126 Week: 31 04/23/12

I would have to say the best thing that you can do for yourself during the audition process is to form a healthy objective attitude. No matter if you get the audition or not, after the audition is over, analyze it. Ask yourself the following questions:

What could I have done better? No audition is perfect. It is the ability to learn from your experiences and other people’s experiences that will make every audition better than the last.

Did I prepare myself well for the audition (we’ll get to preparation in the next installment)? What did I learn from other people? You can learn a great deal from observing the other auditionees. Things like:

what to wear, what not to wear, what new repertoire you can use, how people prepare and conduct themselves right before they go into the audition, how people prepare and conduct themselves right after their audition, etc.

Am I willing to learn? This is the biggest of them all. If you are not willing to learn from your mistakes along with your successes, then frankly speaking, you should get out of the business. You are a product, which means you are constantly changing, particularly your marketable angle. If you’re not willing to do that, then you’re not willing to do what it takes to sell yourself to your potential buyers: the auditors.

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for 8 th Grade Music Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: Music Rooms: 152 Week: 13 11/14/11

Now that you are have a good (or at least better) attitude about the audition process, it is time turn our attention to

Step II: how to successfully prepare for the audition you are going into, which we will cover in our next installment of “How To Sell Yourself In An Audition.”

   Up and Coming diva, founder of the National Artistic Effort, and expert self-promoter, Ja-Naé Duane, is taking the music world by a storm. . . one gig at a time. She is also a member of my email group, Tessitura.

How to Sell Yourself in An AuditionPart II: Successful Preparation

In my last article, I gave some suggestions on how to be in the right frame of mind for and during your audition. Now we are going to discuss how you actually prepare for the real deal.

Step II: Preparation

There are a plethora of different things that one needs to do in order to fully prepare themselves for an audition. Things such as:

Investigating whether or not the company you’re auditioning for has a role or part for you in the up-coming season

Finding out background information on the company. Doing self-inventory by listing your strengths and your weaknesses. And most importantly: Preparing musically and theatrically.

What’s in a company?

Even before you send a company your materials, it is always wise to do some investigative work. Check the companies website and view their mission statement and demographic. Then ask yourself if you have an angle to your artistry that would benefit the company. If so, then capitalize on it. You are selling yourself.

Also, do you have friends who have worked with this company before? If so, what were their experiences like? You don’t want to get hired by a company that is known for treating their artists poorly and/or putting out a bad product. Your name is on every product from every gig that you do and from every company you work for.

Another thing: before sending your PR kit, make sure that they have something for you within the up-coming season. If not, it’s ok to still send your materials, just don’t make it top priority when figuring out who you should send your materials to first.

When you go into the audition (that you successfully got through your brilliant self-marketing skills), make sure that you remember the background information about the company. You never know when they might ask you a question about what drew you to audition for them. Review the information the day of the audition.

There was an audition I did this past winter for Minnesota Opera’s Young Artist Program. I forgot to review what the program entailed exactly and what their mission statement was. Though I had a pretty good idea, pretty good doesn’t cut it. I went in and sang for them. I thought I sang pretty well. They then sat me down and had a 15-minute interview with me, asking a myriad of questions. Though I was able to hold my own, I didn’t wow them. I wasn’t able to completely sell myself because I couldn’t figure out what the best angle to take would be. If you are going to remember anything, remember this: YOU ARE A PRODUCT, SO MAKE SURE YOU SELL YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!

Strengths vs. Weaknesses

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for 8 th Grade Music Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: Music Rooms: 152 Week: 13 11/14/11

No one likes to do an inventory of oneself, but it is good for you! In doing so, you not only have to look at your good points, but also your bad. In this business however, knowing your weaknesses is IMPERATIVE. When a company’s first and maybe only chance to hear you is a total of 5 minutes, you better not suck! For example, if you can’t sing coloratura well, then you’re not going to go into an audition with an aria full of it. Sell yourself! Know what you are good at. Show off your strengths and leave your weaknesses unseen.

Also, no audition experience is ever perfect. Most of the time, you’re running late or you get lost and have to go into the audition right as you get there. In short, be prepared for the worst! Which means, be prepared to open with something that you know cold. Something that you can just roll out of bed and perform with as little preparation as possible.

I’m going to tell you a horrible story. But, it’s horrible because I cannot believe the outcome. I was auditioning for graduate schools. I woke up and realized I had an audition in fifteen minutes. Luckily, the conservatory was 5 minutes away. I wasn’t sure if I was going to do the audition in the first place, since I had already been accepted to Carnegie Mellon University with a full scholarship but I decided to get dressed and do the audition anyway. I quickly walked over to the conservatory, trying to warm up as I was walked. I arrived and realized I was next to sing. I had one song length to warm up. I ran into the men’s bathroom (thank GOD there wasn’t anyone in there!) and did whatever I could in that short time. Then it was time. I went into the audition with Barber’s “Must the Winter Come so Soon?” from Vanessa. It’s a song that I had often used to warm my voice up with. I then proceeded to have an incredible audition. I not only got accepted, I found out from the voice faculty that I received the highest audition score given in the past four years. My point is this: I wouldn’t have sung well at all had I started with something that I either didn’t know well or couldn’t sing unless my voice was completely warmed up. When you don’t have time, rely on what you know you can do. Find an aria or a song that fits your voice the best because that is your starting place!

Musical and Theatrical Preparation

I like to think that this one goes without saying, but you never know. When going into an audition, make sure that you are fully musically prepared. This also means memorized!!! I saw an audition with someone who walked in wearing shorts and sandals, and then started to sing with the music in his hand. The auditioner stopped the audition and said, “A word of advice: When coming into a job interview, make sure that you are prepared for it.” I think I’ve made my point.

But being musically prepared does not just mean being memorized. It means asking these questions:

What key is the aria/song in? What is the chordal progression throughout the piece? Does the piece end in the same key and/or on the same chord as it began? What is going on in the form of the piece and why?

These are just a few of the questions you should be asking. Why, you ask? Simple: it will help you to know what the composers’ intentions were for the piece, particularly dramatically.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when singers don’t feel like they have to act. I HATE IT! I just want to tell them to get off the stage. Please, do yourself a favor and don’t be one of those singers. Learn how to communicate on stage and in an audition!!! And the first step for you on this road is to look at your piece dramatically.

If the piece came from a larger musical work, then find out what happened before hand and what is going to happen after. It gives you a better idea of where the character is coming from. If the piece is not from a larger work, then use your imagination. Make up a story of why you would be singing this or even derive from some of your own personal experience and make that the subtext of the piece. Either way it will lead to a more interesting presentation of the piece.

When doing your homework about a piece, here are just some of the things you should be doing:

1. Read the entire libretto. Just knowing part of the story cannot help you fully transform the character. 2. If the libretto was based on a book or a play, read that too. It will add to your prospective of the character.

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for 8 th Grade Music Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: Music Rooms: 152 Week: 13 11/14/11

3. Research the time period in which the piece was written. If you are performing something that was written in 18th century, you’d need to know how your character would have acted, reacted, and held themselves within that culture and society.

4. Act! Forget the music for a moment and just act the words. You will be amazed at what you might find.

Now that you’re on the right path it is time to turn our attention to Step III: How to Have A Successful Audition, which we will cover in our next installment of “How To Sell Yourself In An Audition.”

How to Sell Yourself in an AuditionHaving a Successful Audition

In my last article, I gave some suggestions on how to extensively prepare you for an audition. Now we are going to discuss what you actually have to do when that day comes.

Step III: The Audition

Ok, today is the big day! You’ve been preparing for these precious five minutes for a while now. Before heading to the audition, ask yourself these questions:

1. Am I dressed for success (covered in Step I)? 2. Do I have my music with me? 3. Do I know where the audition is and do I have directions? 4. Have I warmed-up yet?

These are just some small details that should be running through your mind before the audition. It’s better to show up prepared and early, than unprepared and late. Allow yourself enough time to get to the location and warm-up there. Even if it means showing up just to relax and get into the right mind frame. Extra time usually works to your benefit.

How should I bring my music?

You want a successful audition with as little problems as possible, right? Well, then help your accompanist out! Make sure that the music is photocopied and hole punched in a black binder. Oh, and PLEASE: NO plastic covers on the music. This is an accompanist’s biggest pet peeve. Sometimes the lights will cause a glare on the music, making it hard to see and causing a huge obstacle. Also, if you have cuts in the music, make sure that they are indicated. If they’re large cuts, tape white paper over the cut part. This will allow for the accompanist to just focus on what he or she is supposed to play. TRUST ME! This will save you a lot of grief in the long run.

What auditors watch for

First impressions are lasting ones. The auditors are watching you closely. You will immediately be judged by what you look like, how you walk into your audition, and how you announce your name and your selection. So, make that first impression count. Walk in with confidence and conviction. Forget for a moment that it is actually an audition. Think of it as a performance, which means you better make it count.

Auditors want to see if you are able to get into character at a drop of a hat. So, do just that. Walk into the audition as yourself; announce your selection (and please, announce the title of the piece in the same language as you are singing it in), then take a brief moment (and I mean brief) to ground yourself before you begin. That moment will give you chance to transform into your character. After your piece is over, take another brief moment and let go of your character (or breath it out). This way you can walk out the way you walked in, as yourself.

Though you are judged when you walk in, the auditors' main concern is your audition. They want to hear your voice. Their ears will be listening intently on the first couple of notes that come out of your mouth. So, make sure that they are on the money because that’s the only way you’ll even be considered for the job.

My accompanist and me

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for 8 th Grade Music Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: Music Rooms: 152 Week: 13 11/14/11

In most cases, you won’t know the person who is sitting at the piano waiting to play for you. It is possible that this person could even help make or break your audition, so BE NICE! Walk up to whomever is playing and introduce yourself with a smile and a handshake. Then show them what you’ll be starting with and start them if they need a tempo on the piece. If it is standard rep, then usually not. But it is better to not assume anything.

Listen, accompanists mess up. They’re human just like the rest of us. If either you or your accompanist mess up, FAKE IT. Faking, itself is an art form and something that should be mastered in worst-case scenarios. If you forget the words or the accompanist messes up on counting (or any countless number of things that could go wrong), just keep going. You won’t impress anyone if you stop and say that you need to start again. What would you do if that happened in a performance? The people auditioning you want to make sure that you can go on and stay in character no matter what. So, be professional and do just that.

Walk away smiling

No matter how your audition goes, it is better to just be professional about it. Thank both the auditioners and the accompanist for their time and walk out with a smile. When you get into the hallway, do not start complaining to the people around you if the audition went poorly. The walls have ears! They really do! And you just don’t know who might be listening to your conversation. So, save it for home.

But no matter what happens in there (good or bad), make sure that you learn from it. Each audition is a learning experience and each one will help you assess what you need to strive towards to get the next gig. If you keep that positive attitude, then every audition will be a successful one.

   Up and Coming diva, founder of the National Artistic Effort, and expert self-promoter, Ja-Naé Duane, is taking the music world by storm. . .one gig at a time. She is also a member of my email group, Tessitura.

Links

On this part of the page are my personal recommendations for sites. It's going to be a little more organized in the near future. If

Diaphragm Description: Technical description of the diaphragm from Vocalspledor.com Big Ears: Java-Based Ear TrainingSight singing Tips: From Western Michigan University's Aural Comprehension Guide PrivateLessons.com A site to find a voice teacher Backstage: Weekly newspaper containing audition information and articles for people in the entertainment industry. Show Business Online: Weekly casting notices, trade resources, reviews, and more for the performing arts industry. Musical America Online: Official website of the publishers of Musical America International Directory of the Performing Arts, a wonderful resource listing mostly jazz and classical contests, schools, musicians, magazines and more. Hoarseness Prevention and Tips: from Ear, Nose, & Throat Associates of Corpus Christi Billboard Weekly music magazine Center for Voice Disorders of Wake Forest University University of Pittsburgh Voice Center: Specialized Care for the Voice Professional and Individuals with Voice Problems

Practical Music Theory: A Site dedicated to Music Theory Gary Ewer's Easy Music Theory MENC (The National Association for Music Education) State Affiliates: Find an Association of Music Educators in your State (in the US, that is) The Ultimate Band List: Information archive on musical bands Wickham Vocal Studios Your Voice Coach Austin State University presents the Texas School Music Project Tips from faculty members on Band, singing, musicianship, etc.

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for 8 th Grade Music Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: Music Rooms: 152 Week: 13 11/14/11

LARYNX

Standards-Based Weekly Lesson Plan for 8 th Grade Music Instructor: Carol McDaniel Content Area: Music Rooms: 152 Week: 13 11/14/11