Avis officiel de l’Association des Professeurs de Chant de Suisse

September 2000 Nr. 48 Sensation Associated with Melismatic Movement Von Prof. Richard Miller Nachdruck aus „The NATS Journal of Singing“ mit Erlaubnis des Autors Melismas, Rouladen, and runs are gener- Question: What should be the sensa- ally composed of series of gruppetti. tion in the abdominal wall region when I Quickly occurring articulated passages am singing a lot of fast notes in a can be accomplished in both staccato or melismatic passage? I’m wondering mode. In either instance abdominal what the abdominal muscles do and what wall movement, not conscious throat ac- they feel like when they do it. Do they ac- tion, should be the motivating source. It is centuate every note by small movements generally helpful to establish awareness or is some of that action done in the of this action by executing a rapid throat? (I hope some is done with throat because I have trouble making my ab- “Hm-hm-hm-Hm!” sequence on a six- dominal muscles move that fast.) teenth-note pattern followed by a quarter note on any single pitch in comfortable speaking range, as though engaging in omment: As is the case for all C quiet laughter. This achieves an articu- voiced phonation, vocal fold lated gruppetto, with a slight aspiration adduction/abduction (closure/opening) that before each note. Continue with a “Ha-ha turns breath into tone must never be ha-ha-Ha!” pattern, as in gentle laughter. consciously controlled by the throat. Then raise the figure to somewhat higher However, in the execution of agility pas- pitch and dynamic levels. The next step is sages, if each individual note of a to apply the “Ha-ha-ha-ha-Ha” laughter gruppetto commences with an aspirated to a descending 5-4-3-2-1 scale figure. In [h] articulation, the singer may get the im- all of these maneuvers, the abdominal pression that the throat has participated. wall, epigastric, and umbilical regions en- In answering the question posed, both as- gage in slight articulatory movement. pirated and nonaspirated articulation will (When constantly relied on for achieving be considered. agility in performance, this kind of aspi- Vocal phrases often include turns, rated melismatic treatment is sometimes shakes, and longer groups of running referred to as “the Ha-haha-ha-Ha notes. A short pattern (usually three, four, school of articulation.) or six notes) is termed a gruppetto. The next maneuver is to execute the same patterns without the assistance of

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[h], as in “Ah-ah-ah-ah-Ah!” The glottis lated legato (no [h] insertion) should be- is now automatically closed in advance of come the aim. The small articulatory each onset note. This should be normal movements that occur in singing staccato procedure for executing both articulated are retained in legato mode. legato and staccato passages. Next, brief agility patterns built on scale Abdominal-wall articulation should passages (e.g., 1-2-3, 1-2-34, 1-2-3-4-5) take place while the singer remains should be introduced in comfortable appoggiato (that is, while retaining the lower-middle range. They are first per- basic inspiratory position that occurs ini- formed staccato, then in legato mode. In tially during the breath cycle in the both cases, the nonaspirated onset (“ah” appoggio technique of breath manage- as opposed to “ha” should be used). The ment). There is a gentle, almost impercep- alternation of quick staccato and legato tible epigastric bouncing action, but no in- modes then follows. ward pulling or outward pushing on the In all of these procedures, whether stac- abdominal wall during articulatory ma- cato or legato, abdominal wall movement neuvers. Of course, as with all phrases of is the articulatory generator. Radiologic long duration, the lower abdominal wall observation indicates that the diaphragm eventually must move inward at phrase responds to these small articulatory endings, because breath capacity has been movements of the abdominal wall by pro- depleted. However, this motion is not nec- viding proper impetus for the apportion- essary in short phrases or in brief agility ment of exiting breath. The vocal folds re- exercises. The important factor is that the act (they are not the initiators) by turning slight articulatory movements associated the minute bursts of air into tone. One has with agility not be impeded by an inward the feeling that there is an immediate and pulling on the abdomen. precise correspondence between minimal air flow and vocalfold approximation. Similar flexible abdominal-wall action occurs in stifled laughter. (Recall the ele- After short patterns have been mastered, mentary school child rocking with silent longer passages should be introduced, as laughter behind the teacher’s back, hand with the ascending/ descending 9-note over mouth so that no sound can escape.) scale. Traditional triadic and arpeggiated Epigastric/abdominal wall bouncing in patterns should be subjected to alternat- suppressed laughter can be felt and seen. ing staccato and legato modes. Whether The same kind of movement occurs in au- staccato or legato, the same articulatory dible panting. Place the hands on the ante- motions take place in the anterior/lateral rior/lateral abdominal wall during several abdominal wall. seconds of panting and note the action that Excerpted passages from familiar litera- takes place in the epigastric/umbilical ture sources serve as splendid routining area and at the sides of the torso. Then re- vocalises for agility. For : Han- place rapid noisy panting with rapid silent del’s Rejoice Greatly and O Had I Jubal’s panting. Lyre; for mezzo-soprano: Handel’s Iris, Initially using an aspirated agility pat- Hence Away! and Rossini’s Cruda sorte; tern alerts the singer to abdominal-wall for : Handel’s Evr’y Valley and Mo- action. But as soon as this energy source zart’s Il mio tesoro; for low male voice: for agility has been discovered, articu- Handel’s For He Is Like a Refiner’s Fire and Mozart’s Hai giá vinta la causa. 3

From melismatic portions of each of these without the constantly inserted [h]. Such (and from many others), short vocal- melismatic technique is exceedingly inef- ises of several bars may be constructed. ficient because of constant loss of breath, Transposed sequentially, they serve as ex- and it has no place in the performance of cellent drills for the establishment of solo literature. articulatory movement. It is true that consecutive velocity pat- Some passages in the literatures for all terns are sometimes so rapid (as in many voices require light articulation, while Rossini arias) that it is temporarily helpful others require firmer accentuation. The to introduce the first note of each required degree of articulatory action will gruppetto with slight aspiration. How- determine the extent of discernible ever, to hear pyrotechnical arias epigastric movement. To be avoided at all sung with constant “Ha-ha-ha-ha-Ha” us- costs is artificial impulsing (shaking) of age is neither stylistically correct nor aes- the abdominal wall as a means for gener- thetically pleasing. ating either articulatory movement or vi- For all singers, agility patterns should be brato. included as part of the daily technical rou- tine. Because of their freedom-inducing Because bel canto is based on the ability nature, they should be among the first ex- both to sustain and to move the voice ercises used in warm-up sessions. They (note the / juxtaposi- are intended not solely for voices where tions of numerous arias), the agility factor the literature calls for frequent should be introduced early in systematic and fioritura passages, but for the voices voice training. Indeed, if freedom induced of every . by velocity facility is lacking, sostenuto singing will never be totally free. As explained, melismatic passages can be accomplished through the aspiration of each note, a favorite device among some choral conductors who lack understan- ding as to how to attain clean melismas