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10 Feb 01 - 08:52 AM (#394901) Subject: Singing From: GUEST,Autograph I cannot make my students in the choir sing higher and on the correct pitches. I show them high with my hand to sing higher and they do not do it. Perhaps they can not sing higher but the problem I think is that they do not know how to make their voices higher. And again they have a very limited range and they speak more the notes rather than speaking them. Whatever register I give them seems wrong. In addition their voices are too soft and as a choir they do not sound loud and clear. What shall I do? |
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10 Feb 01 - 09:04 AM (#394909) Subject: RE: Singing From: Dave (the ancient mariner) Perhaps the song they are singing is not one they love enough to emmote when singing. Very often choirs need to hear a song sung well on a recording, to relate the emmotion they must generate in their voices. You can usually tell when a choir really enjoys doing a particular song more than others. Yours, Aye. Dave |
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10 Feb 01 - 09:44 AM (#394925) Subject: RE: Singing From: nutty Guest - without meaning to be disrespectful in any way, I would suggest that input from an experienced choirmaster/mistress might be of benefit both to yourself and your choir |
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10 Feb 01 - 09:46 AM (#394927) Subject: RE: Singing From: Gern How loud is the room they're singing in? Self-consciousness can cause a singer to hold back in volume, and less wind thru the pipes can make the resulting effort flat. They need to belt it out in order to reach the higher registers, and this requires confidence. Sounds like they need some enthusiastic abandon to their performance: perhaps, as the Ancient Mariner says, the choice of material doesn't inspire such enthusiasm. Or perhaps they are intimidated by their own volume. If the room is 'boomy,' move them outdoors and see if they let go. |
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10 Feb 01 - 10:17 AM (#394951) Subject: RE: Singing From: Jeri One of the things I regret about my education was that music classes and choir in school never really taught anything about the voice. The focus was entirely on the songs, not the singers. I learned a bit about the music itself, but not how to sing it. Perhaps you could find someone who can come to choir practice and put on a voice seminar. I don't mean they can be taught a lot of fancy classical stuff in such a short time, but just some basics about throat and chest relaxation and support, including how to breathe. The breathing bit can make a dramatic change, and is relatively simple for a good teacher to get accross. See Threads on the Singing Voice. This thread was started by Alice to provide links to all the threads where the art of singing was discussed. |
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10 Feb 01 - 12:48 PM (#395083) Subject: RE: Singing From: Lyrical Lady Try arrangements in a lower key ... the young voice should not be forced to do any thing high until the singer is at least 14. The chords are not fully developed at a younger age and can be easily damaged. A singing workshop for your choir is a good idea. LL |
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10 Feb 01 - 03:14 PM (#395189) Subject: RE: Singing From: GUEST Jeri, I agree with you; at school we were never taught how to sing. I do now appreciate the fact that the book we sang our way through again and again included many songs that I now know are "folk songs", though I find it difficult to define just what that means. It's only in recent years that I've started to learn a little about how to sing - it has given me great pleasure. I ddo now belong to a choir, and agree with many of the comments above. We have a varied repertoire, and though each of us has our favourites, we do enjoy what we do.
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10 Feb 01 - 06:49 PM (#395325) Subject: RE: Singing From: Liz the Squeak I used to scare people because I was the only one in the junoir (priamry) school who could reach certain notes (even if it was just a C or a D - I go nearly an octave above that now.....) and they would look at me. So I stopped. Maybe everyone is afraid of making that extra step into volume and pitch because they don't want to be heard getting it wrong. Try a few scales to warm them through, and you can get an idea of who is most likely to hit it, the near misses and those who need to be alto/bass. Or try slippng in a ringer - someone who knows the piece, hits the notes and isn't afraid of funny looks. Once there is someone else up there, they may decide it isn't so bad after all. LTS - AKA the ringer...... |
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11 Feb 01 - 07:56 AM (#395576) Subject: RE: Singing From: AllisonA(Animaterra) Also, don't be discouraged if they aren't singing loud. Our pop culture has elevated loud, belting voices as the norm for kids (I call it the "Annie" syndrome) but the true child's voice is much softer, and is a "head" voice, not a "chest" voice. I agree with much of the above, and suggest you talk to a local choir director, sit in on their children's choir rehearsals, and listen to some recordings of children's choirs. The self-consciousness factor is a biggie. I sometimes have to do a real pep-talk about all of us joining in, supporting the "team", the courage that we will all feel if we hear the singers next to us, the joy of the experience of singing together, etc etc. |
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11 Feb 01 - 09:07 AM (#395594) Subject: RE: Singing From: GUEST,Autograph What is "head voice" ad what is "chest voice? How can I develop the head voice of middle school students and how do I develop part-work competence? |
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11 Feb 01 - 12:09 PM (#395655) Subject: RE: Singing From: Alice Autograph, I think you need to find a voice teacher in your local area and work with him or her on these questions. This is not something you can easily understand by reading in a book or on the internet. It has to be demonstrated in person to really "get it". Each person in your chorus has a physical potential and limitation to the range their voice is capable of singing, even after it is developed with good technique. Middle school students are not at an age when their voices are fully developed - their voices will change in puberty. Don't make them push their voices into a range that they cannot comfortably sing. Transpose the music to another key if necessary. If the kids are feeling shy, let each of them sing scales privately for you to find where their range is. If you want more detailed information about directing a children's chorus, you can email to gorders@mcn.net and tell her Alice Flynn referred you. Alice |
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11 Feb 01 - 03:46 PM (#395758) Subject: RE: Singing From: AllisonA(Animaterra) Right on, Alice! |
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11 Feb 01 - 11:28 PM (#396008) Subject: RE: Singing From: GUEST,Burke There's a Usenet group/mailing list devoted to choral issues. The group name is rec.music.makers.choral. This kind of topic comes up there all the time & you'll have other choral people to talk to. They also have a web site called ChoralNet that might be of interest. |
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12 Feb 01 - 06:15 PM (#396667) Subject: RE: Singing From: Liz the Squeak Chest music usually comes from the gut, and is usually the louder more sustained noise. I found my chest early on, and frightenend people... Being me I ignored the funny looks and snide comments and got on with being noisy. And I owe it all to a teacher who said, 'come on Liz, I've heard you make more noise in the playground'. I just opened it up and let her rip and scared the bejasus out of her!! The head voice is the one where you are just singing along to yourself, the one that goes first when you have a cold. The chest voice is the one that makes the most noise. It's the difference between shouting and projecting. It's the loud voice that gets to the back of the classroom, and gets attention. If you find a good one, nurture it, you never know where it will end up. LTS |