Teaching Expressive Singing in the Choral Rehearsal
by Richard A. Disharoon, MMEA Past President, Hall of Fame member, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Liaison
reaches into the soul of listeners and singers alike, transporting them to a world of inner peace and/or exhilaration. Teaching expressive singing is the greatest challenge faced by choral music educators, because it requires singers to synthesize melody, rhythm, and harmony into an artistic entity that transcends notation. As a young teacher, I was constantly frustrat-
T
ed with my attempts to teach students to sing expressively. I asked them to observe and respond to melodic shape and dynamic and phrase markings by moving one arm in an
he essence of the choral art is commu- nication. This communication can only be accomplished through singing that
overhead arc from one side of the body to the other, which worked in rehearsals, but not when the physical act was absent in perform- ance. I asked them to write in or highlight crescendo and decrescendo marks to and away from the apex of a phrase, and emphasized cor- rect singing technique to support the shape of each phrase - all to less-than-satisfying results. Finally, in a workshop with Weston Noble,
longtime conductor of the internationally renowned Luther College Nordic Choir, I learned that the answer to teaching expressive singing lay in understanding the inner struc- ture of rhythm through Baroque phrasing. This article provides an overview of Baroque phras- ing as the key to expressive singing.
Baroque Phrasing The term “Baroque phrasing” was coined by
James Thurmond in Note Grouping: A Method of Achieving Expression and Style in Musical Performance, to apply to music from the end of the sixteenth century (when the bar line was introduced in vocal music) to the pres- ent. Although Thurmond’s work goes far beyond what most choral music educators need to share with inexperienced singers, it is recommended for acquiring a full under- standing of the concept required for teaching. Noble provides a practical application of Baroque phrasing in Creating the Special World: A Collection of Lectures, which forms
the basis for this article. “Baroque phrasing emphasizes what hap-
pens on the weak beats and between beats, quite the opposite of the traditional concept of the dominating importance of primary accents (or natural accents) as commonly taught.” (Noble, p. 77.) This traditional approach is reinforced by printing notation for ease of visual identification of each beat, which often results in mechanical, unexpres- sive singing. Baroque phrasing is based on the ancient
Greek concept of arsis (lift or rise) and thesis (fall). This concept is the basis of the four rules of Baroque phrasing identified by Noble: weak to strong, short to long, repeat- ed notes, and change of song. (Noble, pp. 79- 84) See examples 1-9. These rules are over- laid with the concept of note grouping, meaning that the arsis may consist of one beat, a portion of a beat or a group of notes - whatever gives forward motion to the phrase. Brackets in examples 1-11 indicate arsis groupings.
Applications to Literature 1. Selecting Music Choose only well-crafted literature in
which the composer has matched text rhythm with musical rhythm that moves phrases forward while preserving the natural accentuation of the text. For example, dotted
See Dr. Disharoon’s choral articles in previous issues of Maryland Music Educator:
“Establishing and Maintaining a Firm Foundation,” Fall 2009 “Teaching Breathing Technique,” Winter 2009 “Teaching Resonance,” parts one & two, Spring 2010, Summer 2010 “Diction,” parts one & two, Fall 2010, Winter 2010 “Resolving Vocal Register Problems,” Spring 2011 “Planning for the Choral Year,” Summer 2011 “Working with Developing Voices in the Choral Rehearsal,” Fall 2011 “Solving Intonation Probems in the Choral Rehearsal,” Winter 2011-2012 “Reading and Writing Notation in the Choral Rehearsal,” Spring 2012
30 33 Maryland Music Educator Summer-2012
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