DOCSLIB.ORG

Perception of Singing

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Perception of Singing Dept. for Speech, Music and Hearing Quarterly Progress and Status Report Perception of singing Sundberg, J. journal: STL-QPSR volume: 20 number: 1 year: 1979 pages: 001-048 http://www.speech.kth.se/qpsr STL-QPSR 6/1979 r, I , -1 . I. MUSICAL ACOUSTICS .- . .'' , A. PERCEPTION UF*SINGING . ' %L J. Sundberg <j. , - ,. ... .T ., ., .. , - ' .: , .$:.. , ,i... .-, "' ,, . ....,.<.,:,, '.. .... .................: :. :..... , . , . ' .' '\ Abstract 9s .This article reviews investigations of the singing voice which ,. possess an interest from a perceptional point of view. Acoustic hnction, formant frequencies, phonation, pitch, and phrasing in , singing are discussed. It is found that singing differs from speech in a highly adequate manner, k. g. for the pufpose of increasing the loudness of the voice at a minimum cost as regards vocal ef- fort. The terminology used for different type's of voice timbre . seems to depend on the properties and use of. the voice organ rather than on specific acoustic signal characteris tics. - Pr- STL-QPSR f/i979 ? c 4. partials decrease monotonically with rising frequency. As a rule of thumb a given partial is 12 dB stronger than a partial located one oc- tave higher. However, for high degrees of vocal effort this source spectrum slopes less than 12 d~/octave. With soft phonation it is I steeper than 12 d~/octave. On the other hand, the voice source ;n+rr,. spectrum slope is generally not,,dependeet on which voiced sound is produced. :: br:,iec,:.ceii~9 !: -<; c,*>iriF cat i~::5~:- I VIXJ ko 31i30e .JTT The spectral differences between various voiced sounds arise when the sound from the voice source is transferred through the vocal tract, i. e. from the vocal folds to the lip bpeiliig. The reason for this is that the ability of the vocal tract to transfer sound is highly dependent on; the frequency of the sound being transferred, This ability culminates -,ti-- .lr ------ JAIJ- id LLW~JXS~ -2 at certain frequencies, called the formant frequencies. A& a 16nse- quence of this, those voice source partials which lie closest to the <- formant frequencies are radiated from the lip opening with greater amplitudes than the other, neighboring partials. Hence, the formant frequencies are manifested as peaks in the spectrum of the radiated - - :< sound. - The formant frequencies vary within rather wide limits in response to changing the position of the articulators, i. e. , lips, tongue body, tongue tip, lower jaw, velum, and larynx. We can change the two lowest formant frequencies two octaves or more by changing the posi- t. ' . , :A,' c. CJj, >, tion of the articulators 4 The frequencies of these two formants deter- mine the identity of most vowels. The higher formant frequencies can- 58 not be varied as much. They seem to be more relevant as personal ?r, -? :rii.r~uo3,133 of ls~r5ns 1.1 voice characteristics. Thus, properties of vowel sounds which are of great importance to the vowel identity can be described in a chart showing the frequencies of the two lowest formants, as is done in Fig. .-- 3' .-.. I-A- 1. Note that each vowel is represented by a amall area rather than *a " . STL-QPSR i/f '979 by a poizit in the chart. In other words, these formant frequencies may vary within certain limits without changing the identity of the vowel. This reflects the fact that a given vowel is normally observed to possess higher formant frequencies in a child or in a woman than in a male adult. The .. ..,i reason for such differences is differing vocal tract dimensions, as Grill I r I be shown later;cl-,:J a ill( - -2i In singing, more or less substantial deviations are observed from the vowel ranges shown in Fig. I-A-I. Indeed, a male opera singer may change the formant frequencies so much that they enter the area of dif - ferent vowel. For instance, in the vowel [il * as sung by a male opera .. singer the two lowest formant frequencies may be those of the vowel [ yJ according to Fig. I-A- 1. And in female high-pitched opera singing the formant frequencies may be totally different from those found in normal speech. Still we. tend to identify such vowels correctly. This shows that the frequencies of the two lowest formants do not determine the vowel iden- tity entirely. Next we will see how and why these deviations from normal ,adhau?) as:!,.:.!iq $2 (lr.qz&2 +s Z!$W~)V zL''.j;- .. speech are made in singing, - -.- - - - - -c 7.: s n~ol2;sd: ~i+trr'r,:lr iisw )I. eprij ,91~%i'f-A? 111. ~esonator~aspects ,cc +;; rlh: sfi? , rfq~.r*js jr,rj avt- (faJ $3.S*Gq:s? i . Formant frequencies ;- , 4 I rf?..'CC." 3 .'(i -4.4 n* x--jZ . \ . I. - 1 Soprano singer is required to sing at fundamental frequencies as high as f 000 or 1400 Hz. In normal female speech the fundamental £re- 02 ,. i .I;;.i.rrsa: OR ir , * quency rarely exceeds ca 350: Hz. The normal value of the first (and in . _.- some vowels even the second) formant frequency is far below 1000 Hz, as can be seen in Fig. I-A- I. If the soprano were to use the same articula- arf ..>'G tion in singing a high pitched tone as in normal speech, the situation illust- rated in the upper part of Fig. I-A-2 would occur. The lowest partial in the spectrum, i. e. the fundamental, would appear at a frequency far be- . ,, 3 .,, low that of the first formant. In other words, the vocal tract ability * All letters appearing within C J are symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet. ~a 4 STL-QPSR f/i979 to transfer sound would culminate at a frequency where there is no sound to transfer. It seems that singers tend to avoid this situation. Instead they abandon the formant frequencies of normal speech and move the first f~rmantfrequency to a close neighbothood of the fundamental. The main articulatory gesture used to achieve this tuning of the first formant i~ P change of the jaw opening, which $5 particularly effective for changing the first forrnant frequency (cf, Lindblom, & Swdberg. 1971). This explains why female singers tend to change their jaw opening in a pitch dependent manner rather than in a vowel dependent manner, as in normal speech. The acoustic result of this is illustrated in the lower part of.the same Fig. I-A-2: the amplitude of the fundamental and hence ,>. I. ,the sound power of the vowel increases considerirbly. Note that this gain , 1 in sound pover results from a resonatory phenomenon. It is obtained 1 ', ", 9 I Fig. 1-A-3 shows formant frequencies measured"in a soprano singing 1 various vowels at varying pitches (Sundberg 1975). As can be seen in . the figure, the vowels maintain their formant frequencies cf normal speech up to that pitch where the fundamental coincides with the fir'st formant. Above that fxequency the first formant is raised to a frequen- cy close to the fundamental. If the jaw opening is changed, the main t IX'i $* :.3* ' ' " but effect is observed in the first formant frequency, the higher for- , LT ', , mant frequencies a1 so change to some extent. This is illustrated in Fig. I-A-3: all formant frequencies change when the first formant starts (3 IL 3.~3.lfIk;,bY +<*+ ' 'I to match the fundamental frequency. >,& .,: . !- /,.-: .,yz7. -.:l-.JA:113 5 $ (L 2. Sound intensity and masking , , ' rf~ids yn.$rrlt r- rr - As was mentioned above, the amplitude of the fundamental increases '< when the first formant is tuned to that frequency. *This results in a gain in overall sound pressure level (SPL). The magnitude of the gain can .. .I tlL i,, PARTIALS FREQUENCY FORMANTS W D 3 C- %$ PARTIALS -*FREQUENCY Fig. I-A-2. Schematical illustration of the formant strategy in female singing at high pitches. In the upper case the singer has Fig. I-A-I. Ranges of the two lowest formant fre- a small jaw opening. The first formant appears at a fre- quencies for different vowels repre- quency far below the frequency of the lowest partial of the sented by their symbols in the interna- vowel spectrum. The result is a low amplitude of that tional phonetic alphabet (IPA) . Above partial. In the lower case the jaw opening is widened so the scale of the first formant frequen- that the first formant matches the frequency of the funda- cy is translated into musical notation. mental. The result is a considerable gain in amplitude of that partial. Reprinted from Sundberg (1977). STL-QPSR 1/1979 be seen in Fig.'P-A-4 which shows the increase in SPL associated with the formant frequencies plotted in Fig. I-A-3. We can see that the pitch de- pendent'choice of formant frequencies results in an amplitude gain of almost 30 dB in extre-me cases. This. cor.responds to a thousandfold in- crease of sound power. A perceptually important conclusion is that the female singer will gain in loudness to a corresponding extent. i.0 ,->: The singersJ1need2for exceptionally high degrees of loudness is of 'coujrse a consequence' of the fact that opera singers are generally accom- I.' panied by an orchestra The average SPL of an orchestr&.playing loudly I I ' in a concert hall is on the order of mangitude of 90 to 100 dB. This is , much mForethan we can expect from .a human speaker. The masking ef- fect which the orchestral sound will exert on a-singer' s voice is deter- mined byJthe'distxibution of sound energy along tfrg frequency scale.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Rise of the Tenor Voice in the Late Eighteenth Century: Mozart’S Opera and Concert Arias Joshua M
    University of Connecticut OpenCommons@UConn Doctoral Dissertations University of Connecticut Graduate School 10-3-2014 The Rise of the Tenor Voice in the Late Eighteenth Century: Mozart’s Opera and Concert Arias Joshua M. May University of Connecticut - Storrs, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://opencommons.uconn.edu/dissertations Recommended Citation May, Joshua M., "The Rise of the Tenor Voice in the Late Eighteenth Century: Mozart’s Opera and Concert Arias" (2014). Doctoral Dissertations. 580. https://opencommons.uconn.edu/dissertations/580 ABSTRACT The Rise of the Tenor Voice in the Late Eighteenth Century: Mozart’s Opera and Concert Arias Joshua Michael May University of Connecticut, 2014 W. A. Mozart’s opera and concert arias for tenor are among the first music written specifically for this voice type as it is understood today, and they form an essential pillar of the pedagogy and repertoire for the modern tenor voice. Yet while the opera arias have received a great deal of attention from scholars of the vocal literature, the concert arias have been comparatively overlooked; they are neglected also in relation to their counterparts for soprano, about which a great deal has been written. There has been some pedagogical discussion of the tenor concert arias in relation to the correction of vocal faults, but otherwise they have received little scrutiny. This is surprising, not least because in most cases Mozart’s concert arias were composed for singers with whom he also worked in the opera house, and Mozart always paid close attention to the particular capabilities of the musicians for whom he wrote: these arias offer us unusually intimate insights into how a first-rank composer explored and shaped the potential of the newly-emerging voice type of the modern tenor voice.
    [Show full text]
  • Falsetto Head Voice Tips to Develop Head Voice
    Volume 1 Issue 27 September 04, 2012 Mike Blackwood, Bill Wiard, Editors CALENDAR Current Songs (Not necessarily “new”) Goodnight Sweetheart, Goodnight Spiritual Medley Home on the Range You Raise Me Up Just in Time Question: What’s the difference between head voice and falsetto? (Contunued) Answer: Falsetto Notice the word "falsetto" contains the word "false!" That's exactly what it is - a false impression of the female voice. This occurs when a man who is naturally a baritone or bass attempts to imitate a female's voice. The sound is usually higher pitched than the singer's normal singing voice. The falsetto tone produced has a head voice type quality, but is not head voice. Falsetto is the lightest form of vocal production that the human voice can make. It has limited strength, tones, and dynamics. Oftentimes when singing falsetto, your voice may break, jump, or have an airy sound because the vocal cords are not completely closed. Head Voice Head voice is singing in which the upper range of the voice is used. It's a natural high pitch that flows evenly and completely. It's called head voice or "head register" because the singer actually feels the vibrations of the sung notes in their head. When singing in head voice, the vocal cords are closed and the voice tone is pure. The singer is able to choose any dynamic level he wants while singing. Unlike falsetto, head voice gives a connected sound and creates a smoother harmony. Tips to Develop Head Voice If you want to have a smooth tone and develop a head voice singing talent, you can practice closing the gap with breathing techniques on every note.
    [Show full text]
  • A Countertenor's Reference Guide to Operatic Repertoire
    A COUNTERTENOR’S REFERENCE GUIDE TO OPERATIC REPERTOIRE Brad Morris A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF MUSIC May 2019 Committee: Christopher Scholl, Advisor Kevin Bylsma Eftychia Papanikolaou © 2019 Brad Morris All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Christopher Scholl, Advisor There are few resources available for countertenors to find operatic repertoire. The purpose of the thesis is to provide an operatic repertoire guide for countertenors, and teachers with countertenors as students. Arias were selected based on the premise that the original singer was a castrato, the original singer was a countertenor, or the role is commonly performed by countertenors of today. Information about the composer, information about the opera, and the pedagogical significance of each aria is listed within each section. Study sheets are provided after each aria to list additional resources for countertenors and teachers with countertenors as students. It is the goal that any countertenor or male soprano can find usable repertoire in this guide. iv I dedicate this thesis to all of the music educators who encouraged me on my countertenor journey and who pushed me to find my own path in this field. v PREFACE One of the hardships while working on my Master of Music degree was determining the lack of resources available to countertenors. While there are opera repertoire books for sopranos, mezzo-sopranos, tenors, baritones, and basses, none is readily available for countertenors. Although there are online resources, it requires a great deal of research to verify the validity of those sources.
    [Show full text]
  • Common Opera Terminology
    Common Opera Terminology acoustics The science of sound; qualities which determine hearing facilities in an auditorium, concert hall, opera house, theater, etc. act A section of the opera, play, etc. usually followed by an intermission. arias and recitative Solos sung by one person only. Recitative, are sung words and phrases that are used to propel the action of the ​ ​ story and are meant to convey conversations. Melodies are often simple or fast to resemble speaking. The aria is ​ ​ like a normal song with more recognizable structure and melody. Arias, unlike recitative, are a stop in the action, where the character usually reflects upon what has happened. When two people are singing, it becomes a duet. ​ ​ When three people sing a trio, four people a quartet. ​ ​ ​ ​ backstage The area of the stage not visible to the audience, usually where the dressing rooms are located. bel canto Although Italian for “beautiful song,” the term is usually applied to the school of singing prevalent in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (Baroque and Romantic) with emphasis on vocal purity, control, and dexterity blocking Directions given to actors for on-stage movements and actions bravo, brava, bravi An acknowledgement of a good performance shouted during moments of applause (the ending is determined by the gender and the number of performers). cadenza An elaborate passage near the end of an aria, which shows off the singer’s vocal ability. chorus master Person who prepares the chorus musically (which includes rehearsing and directing them). coloratura A voice that can sing music with many rapid notes, or the music written for such a voice with elaborate ornamentation using fast notes and trills.
    [Show full text]
  • Using Bel Canto Pedagogical Principles to Inform Vocal Exercises Repertoire Choices for Beginning University Singers by Steven M
    Using Bel Canto Pedagogical Principles to Inform Vocal Exercises Repertoire Choices for Beginning University Singers by Steven M. Groth B.M. University of Wisconsin, 2013 M.M. University of Missouri, 2017 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts College of Music 2020 1 2 3 Abstract The purpose of this document is to identify and explain the key ideals of bel canto singing and provide reasoned suggestions of exercises, vocalises, and repertoire choices that are readily available both to teachers and students. I provide a critical evaluation of the fundamental tenets of classic bel canto pedagogues, Manuel Garcia, Mathilde Marchesi, and Julius Stockhausen. I then offer suggested exercises to develop breath, tone, and legato, all based classic bel canto principles and more recent insights of voice science and physiology. Finally, I will explore and perform a brief survey into the vast expanse of Italian repertoire that fits more congruently with the concepts found in bel canto singing technique in order to equip teachers with the best materials for more rapid student achievement and success in legato singing. For each of these pieces, I will provide the text and a brief analysis of the characteristics that make each piece well-suited for beginning university students. 4 Acknowledgements Ever since my first vocal pedagogy class in my undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I have been interested in how vocal pedagogy can best be applied to repertoire choices in order to maximize students’ achievement in the studio environment.
    [Show full text]
  • THE MESSA DI VOCE and ITS EFFECTIVENESS AS a TRAINING EXERCISE for the YOUNG SINGER D. M. A. DOCUMENT Presented in Partial Fulfi
    THE MESSA DI VOCE AND ITS EFFECTIVENESS AS A TRAINING EXERCISE FOR THE YOUNG SINGER D. M. A. DOCUMENT Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Diane M. Pulte, B.M., M.M. *** The Ohio State University 2005 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Karen Peeler Approved by Dr. C. Patrick Woliver ______________ Adviser Dr. Michael Trudeau School of Music ABSTRACT The Messa di voce and Its Effectiveness as a Training Device for the Young Singer This document is a study of the traditional Messa di voce exercise (“placing of the voice”) and it’s effectiveness as a teaching tool for the young singer. Since the advent of Baroque music the Messa di voce has not only been used as a dynamic embellishment in performance practice, but also as a central vocal teaching exercise. It gained special prominence during the 19th and early 20th century as part of the so-called Bel Canto technique of singing. The exercise demonstrates a delicate balance between changing sub-glottic aerodynamic pressures and fundamental frequency, while consistently producing a voice of optimal singing quality. The Messa di voce consists of the controlled increase and subsequent decrease in intensity of tone sustained on a single pitch during one breath. An early definition of the Messa di voce can be found in Instruction Of Mr. Tenducci To His Scholars by Guisto Tenducci (1785): To sing a messa di voce: swelling the voice, begin pianissimo and increase gradually to forte, in the first part of the time: and so diminish gradually to the end of each note, if possible.
    [Show full text]
  • Le Haute-Contre En Question : Significations Socioculturelles D’Une Crise Vocale En France Autour De 1830 Olivier Bara
    Le haute-contre en question : significations socioculturelles d’une crise vocale en France autour de 1830 Olivier Bara To cite this version: Olivier Bara. Le haute-contre en question : significations socioculturelles d’une crise vocale en France autour de 1830. Der Countertenor. Die männlische Falsettstimme vom Mittelalter zur Gegenwart, Schott, pp.137-154, 2012. hal-00910187 HAL Id: hal-00910187 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00910187 Submitted on 27 Nov 2013 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Le haute-contre en question : significations socioculturelles d’une crise vocale en France autour de 1830 Olivier Bara Université Lyon 2 - Unité Mixte de Recherche LIRE (CNRS-Lyon 2) Sans doute y a-t-il quelque esprit de paradoxe dans le choix d’évoquer, dans un colloque consacré au contre-ténor, la voix de ténor. Il ne s’agit pas, toutefois, de prendre le contre-pied de cette recherche collective : plutôt de jouer en contrepoint et de convoquer le cas particulier du haute-contre français au moment de sa remise en question. Sera examiné, plus précisément, le passage de l’aigu émis en falsetto ou en falsettone, en voix de tête ou en voix mixte, à l’aigu chanté en voix de poitrine.
    [Show full text]
  • Note by Martin Pearlman the Castrato Voice One of The
    Note by Martin Pearlman © Martin Pearlman, 2020 The castrato voice One of the great gaps in our knowledge of "original instruments" is in our lack of experience with the castrato voice, a voice type that was at one time enormously popular in opera and religious music but that completely disappeared over a century ago. The first European accounts of the castrato voice, the high male soprano or contralto, come from the mid-sixteenth century, when it was heard in the Sistine Chapel and other church choirs where, due to the biblical injunction, "let women remain silent in church" (I Corinthians), only men were allowed to sing. But castrati quickly moved beyond the church. Already by the beginning of the seventeenth century, they were frequently assigned male and female roles in the earliest operas, most famously perhaps in Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and L'incoronazione di Poppea. By the end of that century, castrati had become popular stars of opera, taking the kinds of leading heroic roles that were later assigned to the modern tenor voice. Impresarios like Handel were able to keep their companies afloat with the star power of names like Farinelli, Senesino and Guadagni, despite their extremely high fees, and composers such as Mozart and Gluck (in the original version of Orfeo) wrote for them. The most successful castrati were highly esteemed throughout most of Europe, even though the practice of castrating young boys was officially forbidden. The eighteenth-century historian Charles Burney described being sent from one Italian city to another to find places where the operations were performed, but everyone claimed that it was done somewhere else: "The operation most certainly is against law in all these places, as well as against nature; and all the Italians are so much ashamed of it, that in every province they transfer it to some other." By the end of the eighteenth century, the popularity of the castrato voice was on the decline throughout Europe because of moral and humanitarian objections, as well as changes in musical tastes.
    [Show full text]
  • The Evolution of the Heldentenor
    THE EVOLUTION OF THE HELDENTENOR : SIEGMUND, GRIMES, SAMSON, AND OTELLO by JAMES HENRY SEAY, III SUSAN CURTIS FLEMING, COMMITTEE CHAIR PAUL H. HOUGHTALING STEPHEN V. PELES LINDA PAGE CUMMINS AMANDA W. PENICK ELIZABETH S. AVERSA A DMA MANUSCRIPT Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in the School of Music in the Graduate School of The University of Alabama TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA 2014 Copyright James Henry Seay, III 2014 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT The purpose of this manuscript is to set into context a recital which highlights the attributes of the Heldentenor. The recital was held on 11 March 2014 and was comprised of operatic excerpts from Wagner’s Die Walk üre (1870), Saints-Sa ëns’ Samson et Dalila (1877) , Britten’s Peter Grimes (1945), and Verdi’s Otello (1887). All four of these operas have become mainstays in the repertoire of the Heldentenor . The program from the recital appears in the appendix at the end of this manuscript, and the program includes translations of the operatic excerpts and the text of spoken introductions that were read as part of the recital. Since the mid-nineteenth century, the Heldentenor voice classification has played an integral role in popular opera theater. The origin of the Heldentenor classification can be traced back to the abrupt change in the performance practice of the upper register of the tenor voice with the now famous performance of the full-throated, chest high Cs in Rossini’s Guillame Tell sung by Gilbert-Louis Duprez (1806-1896) at the national opera in Paris in 1837.1 As the technique involving the upper register of the tenor voice changed, the vocal and dramatic demands placed on the voice type increased.
    [Show full text]
  • Singers Success Path
    Singers Success Path Stage 1: Discover Your Potential In this stage you’ll get a greater understanding of your voice. You’ll see how your past singing experiences have shaped your current thoughts and feelings about your voice. Most importantly, you’ll discover your vocal type and start doing singing exercises tailored for your vocal type. You’ll begin to see your true potential as a singer as you’re experiencing new and exciting progress in your voice. Your minimum achievement is: You will better understand your voice and how to improve it. You will sing higher with greater ease, improved tone quality and strength. You’ll believe in new possibilities for your voice! Stage 2: Conquer the Bridge If you’re in this stage, you have a better understanding of your voice. You’ve discovered your vocal type and are starting to sing from low to high notes with a connected tone. You’re excited about the new possibilities for your voice. Now you’re ready to learn about the key to great singing, the vocal bridge. Understanding your vocal bridge will begin a transformation in your singing and your life. Your minimum achievement is: You will know where the first bridge is in your voice. You’ll be able to sing through the first bridge with a connected tone without breaking or cracking. You’ll discover your middle or mix voice. Stage 3: Eliminate Vocal Weaknesses You know all about the first vocal bridge and you’re beginning to sing with a connected tone from chest to head voice.
    [Show full text]
  • Abstract Effects of Training in Vocalises on Singing
    ABSTRACT EFFECTS OF TRAINING IN VOCALISES ON SINGING PERFORMANCE By Ruchita Rao Motor learning literature demonstrates that training in a specific motor movement can improve performance for that movement and other similar tasks. Vocalises are exercises used in vocal training to improve quality and precision in singing performance. It was hypothesized that a short-term training program using a specific vocalise would improve singing performance on the practiced vocalise and vocalises of similar and greater complexity. Twelve female sopranos were divided into two groups, only one of which completed the short-term vocalises training program. Performance was assessed for pitch and rhythm accuracy. Results indicated that the group that completed the short-term training program did not significantly improve their pitch and rhythm accuracy on the three vocalises compared to the group that did not complete the training. Also, no carryover effect was seen after a 1-week rest-period for either group. This study demonstrates that short-term training in vocalises may not improve motor performance. Effects of Training in Vocalises on Singing Performance A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology by Ruchita Rao Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2005 Advisor_________________________________ Susan E. Baker, Ph.D. Reader__________________________________ Barbara Weinrich, Ph.D. Reader__________________________________ Wendy
    [Show full text]
  • The German School of Singing: a Compendium of German Treatises 1848-1965
    THE GERMAN SCHOOL OF SINGING: A COMPENDIUM OF GERMAN TREATISES 1848-1965 by Joshua J. Whitener Submitted to the faculty of the Jacobs School of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree, Doctor of Music Indiana University May 2016 Accepted by the faculty of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Music Doctoral Committee ______________________________________ Costanza Cuccaro, Research Director and Chair ______________________________________ Ray Fellman ______________________________________ Brian Horne ______________________________________ Patricia Stiles Date of Approval: April 5, 2016 ii Copyright © 2016 Joshua J. Whitener iii To My Mother, Dr. Louise Miller iv Acknowledgements I would like to thank Professor Costanza Cuccaro, my chair and teacher, and my committee members, Professors Fellman, Horne, and Stiles, for guiding me through the completion of my doctoral education. Their support and patience has been invaluable as I learned about and experienced true scholarship in the study of singing and vocal pedagogy. Thanks too to my friends who were also right there with me as I completed many classes, sang in many productions, survived many auditions and grew as a person. Finally, I would like to thank my international colleagues with whom I have had the opportunity to meet and work over the past 15 years. Their friendship and encouragement has been invaluable, as have the unparalleled, unimagined experiences I have had while living and performing in Germany. It has been this cultural awareness that led me to the topic of my dissertation - to define a German School of Singing. Vielen Dank! I would like to give a special thanks to my mother without whom this paper would not have been possible.
    [Show full text]