Building a Beautiful Sound with Young Tenors
by Stephen Sieck
Why does it seem so diffi cult to to whom they are bringing onto the of low and high male voices. If we build a strong tenor section? Why do team. As strange as this may sound, assume that vocal range follows the we spend so much rehearsal time ad- a signifi cant part of the problem with same population distribution—the dressing their intonation issues? As a most tenor sections is that they are not bell curve—as height or other physi- conductor who also used to wear the staff ed with only tenors. If you popu- cal attributes, then an exceptionally hat of professional tenor, I sympa- late a tenor section with baritones, low male voice and an exceptionally thize with both sides of the podium. tenors, and trebles, you will have a high male voice would occupy the In my experience, I have found that tenor section that struggles. two outer ends of the curve, with the building a strong tenor section has a In our search for the right singers highest proportion of male voices in great deal to do with getting the right for the right section, we need to ac- the middle. This would suggest a few people in the section, teaching them knowledge some important challeng- true basses, a lot of baritones, and how their voices work, and exercising es. First, we will be working against a few tenors, as indeed most of us patience in their learning process. nature if we want even distribution fi nd in our audition results. Hence
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CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 56 Number 7 51 our bell-curve distribution looks like orchestra. I often use the analogy of tends to sing Mozart or some Illustration 1. runners: a 100-meter sprinter and an Verdi; But choral repertoire divides male ultra-marathoner share in common voices in half, equal parts low and the sport of running, but they are • Full lyric tenor, e.g. Fritz Wun- high. Thus, in the pursuit of balanced signifi cantly diff erent specializations. derlich: rich, powerful voice that sections we are forced to choose Professional singers distinguish their manages operatic repertoire of between having smaller tenor sec- voice types by using the German Fach Verdi and Puccini especially tions, cutting many good baritones, system, which was designed both to well; or putting baritones into the tenor help singers protect their voices and section. In my experience it is bet- to succeed with appropriate roles. • Dramatic tenor, e.g. Placido Do- ter to have twelve basses and eight Within this system, there are multiple mingo: high notes in moments tenors than ten basses and ten tenors types of tenor: of exceptional dramatic eff ect; (which includes two baritones singing repertoire focuses on Wagner too high). • Leggiero tenor, e.g. Mark Padmore and specifi c roles (Fidelio, I Pa- Moreover, the term tenor can refer or Ian Bostridge: incredibly gliacci, e.g.). to vastly diff erent kinds of voices. light and fl exible, easy with high The tenor who performs the Evan- notes; tends to sing early music It is worth noting right away that gelist for a Bach passion, e.g. Mark and song repertoire; the kind of timbre and fl exibility Padmore, sounds signifi cantly diff er- most choir directors want out of the ent than the tenor who performs the • Tenor di grazia, e.g. Lawrence Brown- tenor section is most compatible title role in Verdi’s Otello, e.g. Placido lee: smooth passaggio, rich upper with the leggiero tenor. I have worked Domingo. True, both can sing a high register; tends to sing Rossini with several young dramatic tenors, B. But Mark Padmore might sing 30 and Carmina Burana; and while they were fully capable of high Bs with exceptional tenderness, singing a high B-fl at, they were less while Placido Domingo might sing • Light lyric tenor, e.g. Frank Lopar- comfortable singing high notes with a three high Bs that fi ll a 3000-seat do: fi nesse with upper register light ‘ensemble-focused’ tone, and felt opera house and soar over a large but more power in lower range; much happier in the baritone section. Before we can effectively hear tenor voices in distinction from other changed male voices, we need to remember that most of these singers will use their voices in a very limited way. Most young men perceive their own vocal instruments in this bimo- dality (Illustration 2). This concept fi ts their untrained usage—they open their mouths and sing higher and higher until it breaks, and then they have a small and brittle falsetto range. [Listen: a tenor with a typical “break” in the Bb3-Bb4 major scale: http://acda.org/fi les/ choral_journals/Soundfi le_1_Bfl at_ Illustration 1. Male voice bell-curve distribution. Octave_(untrained).mp3] What they
52 CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 56 Number 7 Modal (chest) voice Falsetto
Illustration 2. Untrained tenor voice bimodality.
Fry Resister Modal(chest) register Mixed registerr H Head register Falsetto
Illustration 3. Trained tenor voice with continuous and multifaceted range. cannot imagine on their own is the A young tenor will usually stop sing- [a] becoming 20% more [æ]. But the kind of voice that we are seeking for ing clearly around a B-fl at2 (plus or A-fl at 4 /A4 barrier is where every them to develop, which looks more minus a step), will feel his transition to untrained tenor meets his natural like Illustration 3. mixed register around E-fl at4, and his limit, at which point he will fl ip into In this continuous and multifac- second and more defi nitive transition falsetto (or scream like Robert Plant eted range, our tenors develop the after A-fl at4. In an eff ort to expand from Led Zeppelin) (Figure 1). capacity to sound beautiful in choral the range down, a young tenor can repertoire. [Listen: a tenor singing press his tone, bearing heavily on a continuously adaptive Bb3-Bb4 the vocal instrument to ‘squeeze out’ TTessituraessitura major scale: http://acda.org/fi les/ another half-step or so in his lower The notes a singer can reach are choral_journals/Soundfi le_2_Bfl at_ range, but the tone change will be diff erent than the notes a singer can Octave_(focus_on_mix).mp3] And, evident to the director and should be comfortably maintain in the choral set- given this richer perspective on the discouraged. Even then, where this ting. I have worked with many fi ne vocal instrument, we can more accu- happens (around B-fl at or A2) will young tenors who can “hit” a high A rately select true tenors for our tenor be notably diff erent than the same (when did notes so mistreat us that section based on where these register eff ort in a young baritone (around they deserve to be hit?) but cannot changes occur in the voice. This leads F-sharp2 / E2). Many young tenors comfortably sing in the D-G4 range us to a discussion of the audition and will move imperceptibly through the that tenors frequently stay in for an placement process. fi rst registration event at E-fl at4, and hour’s rehearsal. What matters here the only distinction the director might is tessitura, an Italian term for where hear is a shallower, wider vowel, as in the vocal range lies in a song. To help How to Identify Tenors in an Audition
RRangeange We determine vocal range assign- ment fi rst by listening for the natural events of the voice. Where a singer reaches his lowest comfortable notes in the low range, where his modal register transitions to upper register, where his upper register switches over—these are crucial data points.
CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 56 Number 7 53 make this distinction in auditions, I Country” sounds pained. We place in his twenties. ask every singer to sing “My Country them in the baritone section. By ‘Tis of Thee” in a variety of keys, putting the right singers on the right noting the eff ort or tension they bus, we accomplish two goals: 1) our Trebles, Basses, and bring to diff erent ranges and asking tenor section no longer strains and Unnecessary Gender for their feedback as well. If a young fl attens in an eff ort to maintain too Stereotypes man sings a great high A but cannot high a part, because now it is only In the quest to get the right voices manage “My Country” in B-fl at (in populated with tenors, not tenors in the right section, it is vital that which the “Land where…” phrase is and baritones, and 2) the baritone we remember that the designation all F4s), he is not going to sing tenor section sounds brighter and warmer “tenor” is for a changed male voice. music beautifully, at least not Tenor than most baritone sections because An unchanged treble male is not a I. [Listen: a tenor unable to man- the higher, lighter lyric baritones are tenor—he is a treble, and that is okay. age the passaggio in “My Country” back in the right section. I did not sing in middle school be- in C major: http://acda.org/fi les/ cause I was a treble and the choir had choral_journals/Soundfi le_3_My_ BBaritenorsaritenors changed male baritones and female Country_(focus_on_passaggio).mp3; Inevitably we hear several young altos and sopranos—I was none of a tenor favoring head-voice almost men in auditions who can best be the above. I started high school with exclusively: http://acda.org/fi les/ categorized as “baritenors.” Their an unchanged treble voice, and when choral_journals/Soundfi le_4_My_ low range cuts out around A-fl at or I auditioned for choir I was put with Country (focus_on_head).mp3; and G3; the chest/mixed register transi- the tenor section. I learned that choir a tenor mixing registers: http:// tions at D3; and the mixed/head was about blending, so I pushed and acda.org/files/choral_journals/ register transitions at G4. Looking pressed in an eff ort to sound like my Soundfi le_5_My_Country_(focus_ at typical range demands for choral changed-voice peers. on_mix).mp3] works, these men will have to sing An unchanged treble male has a Usually we fi nd clear categories too high or too low every day. Our beautiful timbre and can manage alto of ranges from this process. Those fi rst rule as choral conductors must be or soprano parts wonderfully when singers with the highest registration to do no harm to their voices. Since he is allowed to soar. Ironically, the events (a low end of about C3, an the majority of vocal damage comes rich high tone that a treble possesses unperceivable E4 transition, and a from singing too high, too loud, too is precisely what the changed male smooth A4 transition to head tone) long, I most often assign these voices voice will work very hard to maintain. and the easiest high tessitura are the to the baritone section and instruct When a treble is sent away from boy- ones I designate as Tenor I; those them to drop out when the part goes choir the minute his voice changes, singers with slightly lower events too low, which is gentler on their still- he fails to carry forward the head (B-fl at2, a mild E-fl at4 transition, developing voices than having them tone that his new changed voice des- and an obvious A-fl at4 transition) I sing in too high a tessitura. And just perately needs. When a treble male designate as Tenor II. Every year I as any middle-school director learns is put into the tenor section, he never hear multiple men who sound like to do, I thread a line for each of my develops his natural head voice in tenors and have sung tenor through- baritenors, for example having them the fi rst place. Hence, to deprive the out high school, but the registration join the Tenor IIs from measure 34- treble voice of its true range injures its events say baritone: a low end of F2 56, then join back with the baritones present beauty and inhibits the future / F-sharp2, a mild D-fl at4 transition from measures 57 on. The baritenor tenor’s ability to access his head voice. and a more obvious G-fl at4 transi- phenomenon reminds us all that we Why do we move unchanged tion. Further, their tessitura says should never speak in absolutes about trebles into the tenor section? Most baritone—the B-fl at key of “My a male voice until that singer is well often, we assume that because most
54 CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 56 Number 7 males in eighth through twelfth head voice. Indeed, many adolescent fessional singers. So in this metaphor grades have changed voices, the un- males feel as if they have no head I ask singers to imagine if Captain changed males will obviously want to voice, so severely do they feel the new America were given only super bi- be with fellow males, not with fellow break in their ranges. When I work ceps muscles but retained the normal high voices—favoring gender identity with young males, I often use the triceps he had before. His arms are over actual vocal range. We can help analogy of superheroes like Spider- now out of balance. As Henry Leck our students understand that being Man or Captain America. In both and Patrick Freer and other research- male does not have to mean having comic-book cases, the protagonists ers and advocates for changing male a low voice. Implicit in our decision go from having normal muscles to voices teach, young men need to keep to put a treble voice in the tenor sec- superhero muscles, and they have to singing in their head voices before, tion is the assumption that otherwise learn to adapt to their new size and during, and after the voice change, he is not gender-normative, that it strength. In the case of our young which in this analogy means working would be better for him to fake lower men, the vocal folds thicken and out the triceps muscle. But until they notes in order to conform than to sing they adapt to a new and much lower, fi nd that balance, they will struggle. healthily. When we equate a lower vo- richer instrument. The problem, Let us examine these muscles more cal range to more being more manly, though, is that in the story, Captain scientifi cally. In Illustration 4, note we likewise teach the changed male America gets all of his muscles boost- the thyroarytenoid muscle, which tenor that while he is a man, he is not ed, whereas adolescent males only engages in modal vocal production as much a man as his bass peers. At get a new lower vocal range, not the (e.g., a man singing an A3), and the precisely the age when we know our complete range we expect from pro- cricothyroid muscle, which engages students are having their highest lev- els of anxiety about their bodies and identities, we must commit ourselves to creating a choral community that focuses on the acceptance and col- laborative eff orts of every student and shed unnecessarily gendered and cul- turally biased language. Being a treble versus a tenor versus a bass is not a question of degrees of manliness; it’s a question of vocal fold thicknesses. The cello is not more (or less) special than the violin just because its strings are thicker, and we need all the instru- ments to make an orchestra.
Challenges for Younger Tenors Illustration 4. Superior view of intrinsic muscles of the larynx The adolescent tenor fi nds himself (looking at the vocal folds from above). with an unwieldy new instrument. His vocal folds have thickened, and Lions Voice Clinic. “About the Voice.” umn.edu. his chest voice is now stronger and http://www.lionsvoiceclinic.umn.edu/page2.htm#anatomy201, suddenly much more distinct than his accessed Oct. 30, 2015.
CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 56 Number 7 55 head-voice production (e.g., a man going from the A string to the C string demands the most out of them. They singing in an A4). on a cello. But they do not yet have have a new low voice and a now- As the modal range begins to ap- control over the fi ne-tuning of these unfamiliar old high voice, yet tenor proach its natural limit, the cricothy- thicker folds with the cricothyroid repertoire sits in the passaggio between roid muscles tilt and stretch the vocal muscles. those ranges. To answer the question folds to produce higher tones. Young In other words, young tenors have posed at the beginning, we spend so tenors gain rapidly thicker vocal folds as the weakest part of their emerging much eff ort on the tenor section in in puberty—hence pitch drops, like voices the range that choral music rehearsal because they have such a diffi cult learning curve. And choral composers throughout history have rarely written with adolescent tenor voices in mind. Most quality choral literature sounds excellent with thirty- fi ve-year-old tenors and poor with sixteen-year-old tenors, just as most football plays are better executed in the NFL than on the junior varsity squad. If we recall that the typical tenor begins to shift from modal chest voice to mixed and upper registers around E-fl at4, we can better see the world through their eyes by examining typical repertoire selections. If we are young tenors who do not yet negotiate that E-fl at4 well, how do we see the music we sing? Figure 2 shows a standard Solo & Ensemble selection for high school tenors. If we remember that they struggle through the E-fl at4 passaggio, consider how diffi cult this becomes. Notice how little of this song falls
56 CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 56 Number 7 in his new low range, and how much Many young men do sing high notes passaggio, but it is not their best one. of it falls in the passaggio. Here is a in falsetto, with its signature timbre of Head voice, by contrast, is what a beloved solo for the tenor section that “crackle” and “hoot.” This airy tone great counter-tenor uses and can be gave me much vocal grief in high is usually their default sound above heard in the exquisite higher voices school for reasons I now understand (Figure 3). And here is a lovely line that needs great nuance and control through the passaggio (Figure 4). In short, our young tenors have the least control over the range that we ask the most of them.
How to Build a Young Tenor’s Voice There are no secret tricks for im- mediate results in singing. Lasting results come from extended hours of deliberate practice. And beyond whatever practice a singer made with his treble voice, the change to the adult male voice creates new challenges. So while mature sing- ing can develop in the late teens for A women (despite a real vocal change as well, c.f. Lynn Gackle’s research), SERVICE OF we will not hear a professional sound- REMEMBRANCE ing tenor emerge until his twenties, typically. Since middle, high school, collegiate directors will thus not con- duct professional-sounding tenors, we FOR THE CHILDREN WHO DIED IN RACIAL VIOLENCE ON should focus on the best process for their beautiful singing, not the quick- SEPTEMBER 15, 1963, IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA est product. This choral work is in a traditional AfricanAmerican worship style and is appropriate for such The essential task for choral directors is to events as Martin Luther King Jr. Day, programs during Black History Month, or any event build in young tenors a clear, warm, eff ortless promoting racial healing and reconciliation. head voice. A strong head voice is dif- For SATB, Soprano, Mezzo Soprano, Tenor and Bass Soloists, and Piano ferent than chest voice and diff erent (Optional Congregation or Audience) than falsetto. Falsetto is an operatic term associated with the old wealthy man who is being duped by the young Contact MorningStar Music Publishers (www.morningstarmusic.com) soubrette maid and is vocally charac- to view pages of the score and to hear excerpts. terized by a quality of brittle airiness.
CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 56 Number 7 57 in Chanticleer or King’s Singers. larynx, grips the soft palate, and in all iterations, the goal is to get the The Italian term for a rich head voice places the folds in a state of tension. singer to focus on fl owing through is simply “voce piena in testa,” which Singers with a developed concept of the vocal registers, and to eliminate translates to “full voice in head.” This tone placement (bright and/or dark, the natural tendency to fi x or shape head voice, to complete the Captain referred to as chiaroscuro) will have an the singing with articulators. A lip trill America analogy above, is the strong easier time developing head tone and sounds like a child making a diesel triceps muscle that tenors too often self-correcting. engine sound—the lips go [bbbbb]. A neglect to build. If he develops this After we establish the fundamen- good variation on this is when the tip muscle, he has full range of arm tals, we can focus on the specifi c vocal of the tongue protrudes past the lips. movement. When a tenor has a rich exercises that build the tenor voice. I Another variation is to have singers head voice, he can mix that timbre use the following vocalizations with roll their ‘r’s. These exercises force the down seamlessly into his chest voice, tenors in every rehearsal, whether young tenor to fi nd the connection and mix his chest voice seamlessly up, they are fourteen, twenty-four, or between diaphragmatic airfl ow to a creating the smooth and pliable tone sixty-four years old: downstream-vibrator such as their that we hear in professional choral lips or their tongue, instead of squeez- tenors. • Sighs, glides, sirens: These are dy- ing from neck up. Once they realize As there are no shortcuts to great namic stretches that awaken the voice how this proper airfl ow works, they singing, our work with tenors begins to a signifi cant expansion beyond are shocked to discover how high they the way our work with any other voice their speaking range. Unspecifi ed can vocalize on lip trills. It’s not un- part begins—with basic technique. sighs, bilabial buzzes, and humming common for young tenors to lip trill Effi cient alignment sets the tenor all work well with this general stretch- well into the fi fth octave (Figure 6). up for uninhibited singing, whereas ing (Figure 5). ineffi cient alignment introduces ten- • Rising pentascales with forward sion to the neck and back. Energized • Lip and tongue trills: (often in resonance: To bring chest voice up breathfl ow releases the larynx, lifts octaves, but in any pitch sequence)— without creating bad habits, I use for- the soft palate, and supports vibrant tone production, whereas unener- gized (shallow) breathing holds the
58 CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 56 Number 7 ward resonant consonants like /m/, a better set-up: http://acda.org/ passaggio, so I start their pure head /n/, and especially /v/ in pentascales fi les/choral_journals/Soundfi le_7_ voice exercises well into the upper and arpeggios. These help the student Lower_Register_(free).mp3 ] (Figure range. I use descending pentascales keep a focus and forward direction 8). (for example the D major pentascale to the tone without getting lost in starting on A4 on /u/ or /i/, often “preserving the vowel” up through • Alternating chest and head adding an upper neighbor-tone) so passaggio (Figure 7). voice: Here the purpose is to help the they 1) fi nd a free, supported, clear tenors understand the distinction be- head voice, and 2) learn to carry that • Chest voice descending pen- tween the registers by isolating them. tone as low as they can go. During tascales: Here the focus must be Starting around C3, I ask them to this exercise I watch the tenors very on the clarity and ease with which sing a simple do-re-mi-re-do passage carefully, making sure I do not see young tenors open up the lower in the chest register and then leap up any pre-phonation seizing/grabbing register. I start around A3 and use an octave for the same pattern, and in the neck and larynx—and one sees descending pentascales, watching then back down again. This kind of a lot of this in the fi rst few months carefully to make sure they are not vocalization helps them appreciate of teaching this technique to new pressing the lowest notes. I listen the muscular diff erences between the students. This grabbing suggests that for a buoyant, bright, supported, registers and learn to be proactive the student still thinks head voice is clear tone. [Listen: pressed phona- and deliberate about which one they produced like chest voice and that in tion that many young tenors use are using (Figure 9). order to “hit that high note” he needs in the lowest register: http://acda. to squeeze it, when in fact head voice org/files/choral_journals/Sound- • Head voice descending pentas- fl ows easiest with a low and relaxed file_6_Lower_Register_(pressed). cales: It is often hardest for tenors larynx. Most tenors will be able to mp3; and the larynx maintaining to fi nd their head voice nearest the carry a distinct head voice down be- low middle C with some practice, and even down to G3 or F3 with experi- ence (Figure 10). If there is a general theme to eff ec- tive vocalizations for young tenors, it is that we must help them understand that singing and speaking are not the same vocal technique.
Typical Problems for Young Tenors Until a tenor learns to turn over his high range into head voice produc- tion, he will invariably cheat and use one or more of the most common ways to bring chest voice higher than it comfortably goes. By learning to identify and correct these maladap- tive techniques, we can set our tenors more consistently on the path to
CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 56 Number 7 59 beautiful singing. ing the larynx is a completely natural index fi nger, they are jutting the jaw. accommodation for higher notes If the singer persists in trying to force LLiftingifting tthehe LLarynxarynx and we fi nd it in almost every singing a phrase through a high-laryngeal Jim Henson might be the most rec- culture around the world. The lifted chest voice despite all these technical ognizable high-larynxed singer of our larynx alters the acoustic tube length, corrections, I fi nd it works best to time. By imitating Kermit the Frog, but it does so at the cost of the free set the phrase up a fi fth, so that the we can feel the high and squeezed operation of the vocal mechanism. singer cannot possibly “squeeze out” laryngeal position that allows for a The impinged larynx decreases the the notes and has no other choice but few higher notes at a great cost. In vibrancy of tone, wears on the vocal to engage his head voice. From there earlier generations this singing was muscles, and rarely stays in tune for I focus on fi nding a more expressive called “neck-tie tenor” crooning. Lift- any extended period of time. and beautiful tone in that head voice, To address the high larynx, the and then I begin to gradually bring director should focus fi rst on how the the key down until he maintains a
SINCE 1997 THE FINEST CHILDREN’S singer breathes. A good singer breath head-predominant tone in the origi- CHOIR EVENT CONDUCTED BY releases the larynx down and the soft nal key. HENRY LECK AND DAVID FLOOD! palate up, like the beginning of a “This is one of the finest festivals available to children’s choirs. An incredible musical yawn (a good physical cue is starting SSpreading/Callingpreading/Calling experience! The aesthetic experience is almost beyond belief” - Henry Leck a yo-yo—the yo-yo is the larynx, the Here again, to spread and/or call hand is the soft palate). Fortunately is a totally natural accommodation, the adolescent tenor’s larynx is easy because it maintains the default to follow—track his Adam’s apple, quality of the tenor’s speaking voice, which sits directly in front of the lar- though higher than it was meant to ynx. The larynx should descend on go. By spreading I refer to the act of his inhalation and stay relatively low modulating the vowel to a more open throughout his singing. Sometimes and bright permutation, so that [a], the tenor will lift the back of his for example, becomes [æ]. We can International tongue, which though not medically easily spot spreading in a young tenor connected to the laryngeal muscles, because his mouth opens wider and Children’s often coordinates with them, so that a the vowel obviously brightens. This Choir Festival lifted back of tongue will pull the lar- tends to pair with calling, by which I ynx up. He can address tongue posi- mean the vocal act of shouting. The July 23 - 30, 2016 July 22 - 29, 2017 tion by simply taking it away—ask the E-fl at4–A-fl at4 range in tenors is July 21 - 28, 2018 singer to vocalize the same passage on sometimes referred to as the “calling /v/ or a lip trill, This solves the issue register,” because a tenor calling his more often than not. Sometimes the friend across the street to come over
Henry Leck tenor will jut the jaw out or in, and in will naturally place his tone in that either case the larynx tends to move register—it is the loudest voice he with this. A simple way to keep the possesses if untrained. [Listen: an ex- jaw still is to have the singers make an ample of “My Country, Tis of Thee” “L” with their left thumb and index with obvious spreading and calling: fi nger; then place the thumb on their http://acda.org/files/choral_jour- David Flood Euro Arts Tours Inc. collarbones, so that the index fi nger nals/Soundfile_8_My_Country_ David T. Searles, President [email protected] gently rests on the chin. If the sing- (spreading_and_calling).mp3] www.euroartstours.com ers feel their jaw pushing against the When a singer spreads and calls,
60 CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 56 Number 7 he shows commitment and enthusi- way: as Richard Miller reminds us, voice /u/ pentascales down, forward asm, but is likely to hurt himself over “the sinuses themselves do not con- resonant buzzing up, and humming the long run and will blend poorly tribute in any major way, if at all, to octaves to negotiate the registers are with his section and the ensemble. the actual resonance of the voice.”2 all essential workouts for voices to The fi rst remedy is to help the singer I have found that students can feel develop into complete instruments. fi nd a less pressurized way to produce the diff erence between nasality and Second, remember the caveat that the same pitches. Again, humming warmth by singing a very closed /ŋ/, these young men are almost set up for or buzzing the tone on /v/, /m/, as in the “ng” of “sing,” and then failure in the ways that tenor parts or /n/ will help him feel a diff erent releasing into a spacious “ah.” The sit in their voices, so give their voices and much easier way to achieve those singer will be able to feel (and even some rest. In an eff ort to protect their notes. Often it works well to have see in a mirror) how the soft palate young tenor voices, consider ways to the tenor sing that diffi cult passage lifts up for the “ah.” rehearse that do not always involve on an /u/ vowel, which acoustically singing in that range. That is to say, helps tenors access head tone lower in many of our rehearsal issues are not the range and, by its shape naturally Rehearsal Strategies for related to pitch and can be addressed avoids the spreading/calling instinct. Building Beautiful Tenor Voices without pitch. If we are rehearsing to And, as always, setting the passage up First and most importantly, never review our German pronunciation signifi cantly higher and then bringing underestimate the value of a de- or clear up tricky rhythms, let singers that head tone down to the correct liberate, interactive, thoughtfully speak the text or chant it in a more key is always eff ective. sequenced vocalization period. We comfortable range, for example. This can solve a lot of potential prob- way, we give our choirs the great NNasalizingasalizing tthehe ttoneone lems by getting our voices aligned repertoire with which they should Sometimes young tenors will focus to intentional, full-range use. Daily engage, but we give our young singers their tone into their sinuses as they get practice in yawn-sighs, lip-trills, head- the vocal breaks they need to manage higher in the range. By doing so they can often hear themselves better, and hence they think it produces a better, stronger tone. This is an especially problematic choice for conductors because that piercing timbre is al- most impossible to blend within the section. A fi rst course of action is to help the tenor become aware that his sound is placed too much in the nose. If a singer pinches his nose and the overall volume drops dramatically, this is a good sign that he has let his soft palate fall and is directing far too much sound through the nose. Moreover, it is important to remem- ber that while we can direct/focus our Get Your FREE “Life Should Be All Things Musical” Poster! Email: [email protected] tone forward, we are never actually Search Our Music Directory! Visit: www.allthingsmusical.com improving our resonant singing this
CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 56 Number 7 61 the diffi cult range. tor be intentional about which kind Wunderlich—these are exquisite Third, in choral music with ex- of vocal register and color is desired tenor voices that young singers will treme tessitura demands, proactively from the tenors, and then practice it. want to emulate. In choirs, consider assign measures of rest to individu- Tenors will follow their instincts oth- playing excerpts from The Sixteen, als within the tenor section so that erwise, and their instinct will almost Tenebrae, Chanticleer, Cantus, The their vocal mechanisms have an op- always be to bring chest voice up King’s Singers, Tallis Scholars, and portunity to reset. An offi ce worker as far as they can take it. Teaching so forth. We thrive when we have needs a few minutes away from the them how to choose and navigate inspirational models. keyboard every hour to avoid carpal- their vocal registers is deliberate and tunnel syndrome. Likewise, a young painstaking. Stephen Sieck is co-director of cho- tenor cannot rehearse a work that Fifth, tenors often have signifi - ral studies at the Lawrence University sits in D-G4 for an hour straight cantly better success in head voice Conservatory of Music in Appleton, without developing real vocal ten- with the /u/ vowel, especially with Wisconsin, and serves as WCDA sion and maladaptive techniques. some moments of /i/ mixed in. president-elect.
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