Page 33 - CJOct23

Choral Pedagogical Tools and Vocal Exercises A Practical Guide to Teaching Handel's Messiah

Vowel Choices in Melismatic Exercises are informed by the text of the original melisma:
The Melisma Exercises (see pages 34-35) are designed “born.” Transitioning from a voiced labiodental frica-
to sequentially build the appropriate muscle memory tive [v] to a voiced bilabial plosive [b] is an easier motor
to offset the technical challenges of florid vocal lines. movement for singers. Exercises intended to build vocal
While teaching vocalises, conductors need to continu- agility need to involve the alteration between front and
ously gauge the progress of their singers and offer spe- back vowels: for example [i] and [o]. Miller states:
cific technical feedback. These corrections should as-
sess breath control; release of potential tongue and/ Subsequent alteration between front and back
or jaw tension; resonant vowel placement; appropriate vowels is then drilled using changing vowel
vowel modifications throughout shifts in singing regis- combinations…with the aim of maintaining
ter. the same vocal resonance… There should be
The sequence begins with lip trills as a form of no attempt to hold one position of lips, jaw,
semi-occluded vocal tract exercises or SOVTE. These tongue, or mouth… No attempt should be
SOVTE efficiently reinforce balanced phonation while made to differentiate the vowels by excessively
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ingraining pitch accuracy. For singers that struggle with mouthing or shaping them…
lip trill production, conductors can modify the semi-oc-
cluded vocal tract location with closure through tongue These expectations should be applied to the exam-
trills or lip closure through singing on a sustained [v] or ple sequence of vocalises when moving between the [i]
[m] consonant. and [o] vowels. The adjustments should be made with-
The exercises progress to scalar vocalise patterns on out over-expanding the oral space; this unfortunately
eighth notes using the syllable: [vi]. The voiced labio- happens with the general directive to “drop the jaw.”
dental fricative [v], enables singers to sing pitch during The lips and tongue should move accordingly to pro-
the production of the consonant and place the sound duce the correct vowel shapes. The alteration should
forward into the “singer’s mask.” The [i] vowel is es- remain natural and flexible per ensemble member.
sential to building resonance when singing, as stated by Conductors can remind their singers of this flexibility
Miller: by reiterating a natural release of the tongue and jaw
interspersed between melismatic exercises. The exer-
The acoustic nature of the vowel [i]…plays cises included are written in C major. This key is se-
a significant role in vocalises devoted to vowel lected as a general example key, and conductors should
differentiation and to resonance adjustment.... transpose vocalise keys appropriately per voice section.
the vowel [i] is useful in developing the full As a general note, the use of the [i] vowel is excellent
timbre of the voice. 23 in building resonance in the mid-register. The inherent
acoustical properties of the [i] vowel formants are less
The [i] vowel efficiently develops vocal resonance accommodating for high voices above C5. Instead, the
and must be sung with a rounded release of the lips. formants for [o] make it a desirable vowel choice for
As singers ascend in range, the [i] vowel should be ap- sopranos and altos vocalizing in the upper register.
propriately modified in the oral cavity. The sequence
of exercises begins with notes of larger rhythmic value Reinforcing Stylistic Skills in Agility Exercises
to notes of shorter rhythmic value: essentially moving To further expedite the pedagogical process, techni-
from slower to faster. Skill acquisition that moves from cal exercises can be combined with informed perfor-
slow to fast enables singers to not only build muscle mance practice skill sets. Pitch practice can be paired
memory and pitch memory but gives them time to self- with exercises utilizing notes inégales patterns and their
correct during the process. rhythmic inverse as shown in Figure 13 on the next
The vocalises further include the syllable [vo] and page.
eventually [bo]. These consonant/vowel combinations The use of strong-weak beats and the inverse of

CHORAL JOURNAL October 2023 Volume 64 Number 3 31