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Choral  Directors  are  from  Mars  
              and  
Voice  Teachers  are  from  Venus:    
                  
    Top  Ten  Complaints  
From  Both  Sides  of  the  Aisle  
 Or  “The  Farmer  and  the  Cowman  Should  Be  Friends”  
                                               Sharon  Hansen  
                                              Allen  Henderson  
                                                Sco/  McCoy  
                                              Donald  Simonson  
                                                Brenda  Smith  
                                                        
Choral  Directors  vs.  Voice  Teachers
           •  A  history  of  complaints
           •  Are  these  complaints  
              substantiated?  
           •  Are  we  actually  approaching  the  
              same  ideas  with  different  
              language?  
           •  How  are  NATS  and  ACDA  
              working  together?
GOAL


To  build  a  common  language  
that  reflects  our  common  goal  
of  providing  excellence  in  
instruction  and  performance.
Tone  Quality
“The  choir  conductor  has  the  
students  singing  straight  tone  
for  45  minutes  straight!”
                                “The  voice  teachers  keep  
                     changing  my  vowels,  and  they  tell  
                               my  sopranos  to  ignore  my  
                       instructions  about  straight  tone!”
Individual  Sound  vs.  
            Group  or  Cooperative  Sound  
                          
GROUP  SOUND  
•      Homogeneous  group  sound  
•      Quasi-­‐English  boy  choir,  blended      
       
group  sound    
•      Full-­‐bodied  group  sound    
•      Cooperative  sound  
                                                   INDIVIDUAL  SOUND  
                                          •    Soloist  develops  best  individual  
                                                             sound  that  she  can  
                                           •    Soloist  uses  everything  that  an  
                                          individual  voice  can  show  (power,  
                                                       vibrato,  range,  dynamic)  
Questions

Do  we  know  it  all?
         OR

        Are  we  on  a  journey
               of  discovery?
People  often  look  at  the  
exact  same  research  and
  draw  widely  differing
       conclusions.
Solo  Selection
“The  choir  director  selected  
my  student  for  a  solo  and  that  
student  has  no  business  
singing  the  Verdi  Requiem  
solos  as  a  Freshman!”
                               “This  is  a  young,  exciting,  
                               ringy  voice  that  can  easily  
                                 negotiate  the  tessitura.”
                                                               
                                                                 
Common  Ground

 •  Include  voice  faculty  in  
    auditions.
 •  Require  voice  teacher  
    approval  before  audition.
 •  Communicate!
Age/Size  Appropriate  Repertoire
“The  choral  conductor  thinks  one  size  fits  all.  
The  repertoire  in  the  top  choir  this  semester  is  
all  over  the  map  in  terms  of  styles  and  periods.    
One  voice  does  not  fit  all  styles.”


                                    “The  voice  teacher  is  teaching  every  student  in  
                                  his  studio  exactly  the  same,  whether  the  student  
                                    has  a  naturally  large  instrument  or  a  small  one.    
                                            They  all  are  learning  huge  Verdi  arias  this  
                                 semester  for  their  juries.    Most  of    these  students  
                                                 are  not  going  to  end  up  at  the  Met!”
Repertoire  Selection


     “FABULOUS”  Repertoire
       
 
 
 
 
vs.
     Repertoire  selection  
     according  to  the  students  
     at  hand
Common  Ground
 •  Experience  great  master  works
 •  All  have  preconceived  notions  of  what  
    those  are.
 •  Some  masterworks  are  appropriate  for  
    some  students,  but  not  all  great  
    masterworks  are  appropriate  to  all  
    students  at  any  one  time.
 •  Whether  students  can  adapt  to  tonal  
    requirements  of  some  repertoire  
    should  be  a  matter  of  discussion
 •  Neutral  third  party  involved  when  
    inflexibility  exists.
Voice  Placement

“S/he  placed  my  soprano  in  
the  alto  section.”

                                “The  student  has  the  range  
                           necessary  to  sing  the  lower  part  
                         with  ease.  She  will  gain  in  musical  
                        development  and  can  contribute  to  
                                  the  ensemble’s  success.”
Common  Ground
 •  Communicate!
 •  Placing  in  a  lower  part  MAY  be  
    acceptable.
 •  Special  instruction  by  voice  
    teacher  on  being  successful  
    singing  another  voice  part.
Rehearsal  Technique
“They  don’t  understand  
my  limitations  on  
rehearsal  time.”
                   "What  do  choral  conductors  mean  
                    about  ‘limitations  on  time’?    They  
                   have  our  singers  for  4  hours  every  
                 week.    We  only  have  60  minutes  with  
                    them  weekly.    In  the  end,  it  is  the  
                       solo  performance  that  counts"  
Rehearsal  Technique

The  choral  director  
has  MANY  singers  in  
mind  at  one  time.


                          The  voice  teacher  
                             works  with  one  
                            singer  at  a  time.
Singers  Must  Be  Taught

     •  The  ART  of  Practice
     •  How  to  concentrate
     •  Responsibility  for  vocal  
        technique
     •  Importance  of  resting  
        between  periods  of  exertion
Dynamics

“They  just  sing  
loud  all  the  time.”

                          “Voice  teachers  are  asking  
                            my  students  to  sing  too  
                           aggressively,  their  voices  
                              stick  out  in  my  choir.”
Two  Issues

Being  asked  as  a  group  to  
sing  at  a  dynamic  level  that  
is  barely  sustainable  by  a  
single  voice
                               Being  asked  to  sing  at  high  
                                      dynamic  levels  while  
                                    minimizing  vibrato  and  
                                 holding  to  “pure”  vowels
Vocal  Fatigue

“My  students  come  from  
rehearsal  and  are  totally  worn  
out  for  their  lesson.”

                          “The  voice  teacher  keeps  
                    telling  several  of  my  sopranos  
                         just  to  mouth  the  words.”
Two  Types  of  Vocal  Fatigue



       •  Muscle  fatigue

       •  Tissue  fatigue
D.D.  Michael/Lyons  Voice  Clinic
          •  Like  our  bodies,  our  voices  have  individual  
             strengths  and  weaknesses.
          •  Some  vocal  mechanisms  are  made  of  “cast  
             iron”,  some  are  made  of  “porcelain.”
          •  Cast  iron  is  NOT  BETTER  than  porcelain.    A  
             delicate  vocal  mechanism  can  be  a  good  thing.
          •  Don’t  compare  one  person’s  vocal  endurance  
             to  another’s.    
          •  Louder  voices  are  not  necessarily  more  
             talented  (nor  do  they  necessarily  have  more  
             stamina).
Avoiding  Conflicting  Statements
          •    Variety
          •    Cool  down
          •    LOOK  as  well  as  listen
          •    Communicate
          •    Vocal  Distress  Meetings?
          •    Students  are  still  learning  to  
               manage  their  voices
Vocal  Fatigue



Poor  planning  on  our  part  DOES  
create  vocal  emergency  on  our  
         students’  parts.
Terminology
“Voice  teachers  tell  my  students  I  am  
asking  them  to  sing  too  quietly  in  the  
piano  passages,  and  with  too  little  
vibrato  in  the  loud  passages.”

                              “My  singers  are  always  asked  to  
                            ‘tone  it  down  ,’  taking  the  ‘soloist’  
                               out  of  the  voice  by  reducing  the  
                                singer’s  formant  and  inhibiting  
                                           their  natural  vibrato.”
Terminology

•  Misunderstanding  of  
   acoustics  and  resonance  is  
   pervasive  from  both  sides.
•  Nasality
•  Formants
Vocal  “Gold”
“I  hear  the  choir  rehearsing  the  
same  phrase  over  and  over,  
wasting  vocal  gold  through  
needless  repetition.”
                              “If  singers  are  vocal  athletes,  I  
                                 need  to  work  on  timing  and  
                                   stamina  like  a  sports  coach  
                                 would.    If  we  have  to  repeat  
                           sections  to  get  everyone  on  task,  
                                      it  simply  must  be  done.”
Outside  Activities
“The  choir  tour  always  rules  and  my  students  have  to  miss  
    NATS  auditions  and  other  competitions.”
“The  high  school  musical  was  scheduled  the  same  weekend  
    as  NATS/MTNA/Music  Club  auditions  preventing  my  
    students  from  participating.”
“During  opera  staging  and  tech  week  I  basically  lose  two  
    weeks  of  productive  rehearsal  because  my  singers  are  
    simply  worn  out.”
“I  hear  from  students:    ‘We  are  having  a  NATS  competition  
    and  so  I  cannot  sing  in  choir  today.’”
Outside  Activities
•  HS  directors:    Involve  voice  teachers  of  
   your  students  in  annual  planning.
•  Annual  planning  should  involve  
   ensemble,  opera,  AND  voice  teachers.
•  Consider  a  cycle  for  major  works/larger  
   operas,  etc.
•  Be  prepared  for  the  inevitable  “special  
   opportunity.”
•  Most  NATS  and  choral  events  are  
   planned  well  in  advance.
THANKS!

Download  this  presentation  and  a  
handout  version  and  continue  the  
        conversation  at:
                 
     http://acda.nats.org
                 
         allen@nats.org

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Top Ten Complaints - Presented by NATS at ACDA - PowerPoint PDF

  • 1. Choral  Directors  are  from  Mars   and   Voice  Teachers  are  from  Venus:       Top  Ten  Complaints   From  Both  Sides  of  the  Aisle   Or  “The  Farmer  and  the  Cowman  Should  Be  Friends”   Sharon  Hansen   Allen  Henderson   Sco/  McCoy   Donald  Simonson   Brenda  Smith    
  • 2. Choral  Directors  vs.  Voice  Teachers •  A  history  of  complaints •  Are  these  complaints   substantiated?   •  Are  we  actually  approaching  the   same  ideas  with  different   language?   •  How  are  NATS  and  ACDA   working  together?
  • 3. GOAL To  build  a  common  language   that  reflects  our  common  goal   of  providing  excellence  in   instruction  and  performance.
  • 4. Tone  Quality “The  choir  conductor  has  the   students  singing  straight  tone   for  45  minutes  straight!” “The  voice  teachers  keep   changing  my  vowels,  and  they  tell   my  sopranos  to  ignore  my   instructions  about  straight  tone!”
  • 5. Individual  Sound  vs.   Group  or  Cooperative  Sound   GROUP  SOUND   •      Homogeneous  group  sound   •      Quasi-­‐English  boy  choir,  blended       group  sound     •      Full-­‐bodied  group  sound     •      Cooperative  sound   INDIVIDUAL  SOUND   •    Soloist  develops  best  individual   sound  that  she  can   •    Soloist  uses  everything  that  an   individual  voice  can  show  (power,   vibrato,  range,  dynamic)  
  • 6. Questions Do  we  know  it  all? OR Are  we  on  a  journey of  discovery?
  • 7. People  often  look  at  the   exact  same  research  and draw  widely  differing conclusions.
  • 8. Solo  Selection “The  choir  director  selected   my  student  for  a  solo  and  that   student  has  no  business   singing  the  Verdi  Requiem   solos  as  a  Freshman!” “This  is  a  young,  exciting,   ringy  voice  that  can  easily   negotiate  the  tessitura.”  
  • 9. Common  Ground •  Include  voice  faculty  in   auditions. •  Require  voice  teacher   approval  before  audition. •  Communicate!
  • 10. Age/Size  Appropriate  Repertoire “The  choral  conductor  thinks  one  size  fits  all.   The  repertoire  in  the  top  choir  this  semester  is   all  over  the  map  in  terms  of  styles  and  periods.     One  voice  does  not  fit  all  styles.” “The  voice  teacher  is  teaching  every  student  in   his  studio  exactly  the  same,  whether  the  student   has  a  naturally  large  instrument  or  a  small  one.     They  all  are  learning  huge  Verdi  arias  this   semester  for  their  juries.    Most  of    these  students   are  not  going  to  end  up  at  the  Met!”
  • 11. Repertoire  Selection “FABULOUS”  Repertoire vs. Repertoire  selection   according  to  the  students   at  hand
  • 12. Common  Ground •  Experience  great  master  works •  All  have  preconceived  notions  of  what   those  are. •  Some  masterworks  are  appropriate  for   some  students,  but  not  all  great   masterworks  are  appropriate  to  all   students  at  any  one  time. •  Whether  students  can  adapt  to  tonal   requirements  of  some  repertoire   should  be  a  matter  of  discussion •  Neutral  third  party  involved  when   inflexibility  exists.
  • 13. Voice  Placement “S/he  placed  my  soprano  in   the  alto  section.” “The  student  has  the  range   necessary  to  sing  the  lower  part   with  ease.  She  will  gain  in  musical   development  and  can  contribute  to   the  ensemble’s  success.”
  • 14. Common  Ground •  Communicate! •  Placing  in  a  lower  part  MAY  be   acceptable. •  Special  instruction  by  voice   teacher  on  being  successful   singing  another  voice  part.
  • 15. Rehearsal  Technique “They  don’t  understand   my  limitations  on   rehearsal  time.” "What  do  choral  conductors  mean   about  ‘limitations  on  time’?    They   have  our  singers  for  4  hours  every   week.    We  only  have  60  minutes  with   them  weekly.    In  the  end,  it  is  the   solo  performance  that  counts"  
  • 16. Rehearsal  Technique The  choral  director   has  MANY  singers  in   mind  at  one  time. The  voice  teacher   works  with  one   singer  at  a  time.
  • 17. Singers  Must  Be  Taught •  The  ART  of  Practice •  How  to  concentrate •  Responsibility  for  vocal   technique •  Importance  of  resting   between  periods  of  exertion
  • 18. Dynamics “They  just  sing   loud  all  the  time.” “Voice  teachers  are  asking   my  students  to  sing  too   aggressively,  their  voices   stick  out  in  my  choir.”
  • 19. Two  Issues Being  asked  as  a  group  to   sing  at  a  dynamic  level  that   is  barely  sustainable  by  a   single  voice Being  asked  to  sing  at  high   dynamic  levels  while   minimizing  vibrato  and   holding  to  “pure”  vowels
  • 20. Vocal  Fatigue “My  students  come  from   rehearsal  and  are  totally  worn   out  for  their  lesson.” “The  voice  teacher  keeps   telling  several  of  my  sopranos   just  to  mouth  the  words.”
  • 21. Two  Types  of  Vocal  Fatigue •  Muscle  fatigue •  Tissue  fatigue
  • 22. D.D.  Michael/Lyons  Voice  Clinic •  Like  our  bodies,  our  voices  have  individual   strengths  and  weaknesses. •  Some  vocal  mechanisms  are  made  of  “cast   iron”,  some  are  made  of  “porcelain.” •  Cast  iron  is  NOT  BETTER  than  porcelain.    A   delicate  vocal  mechanism  can  be  a  good  thing. •  Don’t  compare  one  person’s  vocal  endurance   to  another’s.     •  Louder  voices  are  not  necessarily  more   talented  (nor  do  they  necessarily  have  more   stamina).
  • 23. Avoiding  Conflicting  Statements •  Variety •  Cool  down •  LOOK  as  well  as  listen •  Communicate •  Vocal  Distress  Meetings? •  Students  are  still  learning  to   manage  their  voices
  • 24. Vocal  Fatigue Poor  planning  on  our  part  DOES   create  vocal  emergency  on  our   students’  parts.
  • 25. Terminology “Voice  teachers  tell  my  students  I  am   asking  them  to  sing  too  quietly  in  the   piano  passages,  and  with  too  little   vibrato  in  the  loud  passages.” “My  singers  are  always  asked  to   ‘tone  it  down  ,’  taking  the  ‘soloist’   out  of  the  voice  by  reducing  the   singer’s  formant  and  inhibiting   their  natural  vibrato.”
  • 26. Terminology •  Misunderstanding  of   acoustics  and  resonance  is   pervasive  from  both  sides. •  Nasality •  Formants
  • 27. Vocal  “Gold” “I  hear  the  choir  rehearsing  the   same  phrase  over  and  over,   wasting  vocal  gold  through   needless  repetition.” “If  singers  are  vocal  athletes,  I   need  to  work  on  timing  and   stamina  like  a  sports  coach   would.    If  we  have  to  repeat   sections  to  get  everyone  on  task,   it  simply  must  be  done.”
  • 28. Outside  Activities “The  choir  tour  always  rules  and  my  students  have  to  miss   NATS  auditions  and  other  competitions.” “The  high  school  musical  was  scheduled  the  same  weekend   as  NATS/MTNA/Music  Club  auditions  preventing  my   students  from  participating.” “During  opera  staging  and  tech  week  I  basically  lose  two   weeks  of  productive  rehearsal  because  my  singers  are   simply  worn  out.” “I  hear  from  students:    ‘We  are  having  a  NATS  competition   and  so  I  cannot  sing  in  choir  today.’”
  • 29. Outside  Activities •  HS  directors:    Involve  voice  teachers  of   your  students  in  annual  planning. •  Annual  planning  should  involve   ensemble,  opera,  AND  voice  teachers. •  Consider  a  cycle  for  major  works/larger   operas,  etc. •  Be  prepared  for  the  inevitable  “special   opportunity.” •  Most  NATS  and  choral  events  are   planned  well  in  advance.
  • 30. THANKS! Download  this  presentation  and  a   handout  version  and  continue  the   conversation  at: http://acda.nats.org allen@nats.org