Singing In Tune Part 4

The beginning and end of good intonation is careful listening. Getting student choral singers to always listen for pitch is not easy. They are thinking about the words, the notes, the rhythms, the person next to them, the good looking kid in the first row, what they are for breakfast, what they are going to do over the weekend ... Distractions are everywhere!

One exercise to get singers listening is to have everyone in the choir sing a random note and then, within five seconds, move to a common pitch. The common pitch should not be determined ahead of time and will be arrived at by each singer listening to other singers and adjusting. I am usually surprised at how easily singers can do this. If it were only that easy to reach consensus in society and politics!

Choral singers should work on listening and tuning chords. They should know what a root, third, and fifth are, and how they "feel" when one sings them in a chord. One technique is to play a chord on the piano and then have the choir sing the root, and later, the third or fifth of the chord. You can even assign different chord degrees to different sections (i.e. basses and sopranos sing the root, tenors the fifth, and altos the third). To expand on this, have them sing the seventh even though it is not in the triad you played.

Problematic chords within a work especially need to be tuned. Once the chord is identified, isolate it and try different combination of parts (for example, just altos, tenors and basses). Start with the more consonant intervals, and then add on the more dissonant pitches. Another trick is to temporarily rewrite the chord to make the chord more consonant by moving a part or two a half step up or down. Next slide the changed parts to their original, more dissonant pitches. All through this singers should be reminded to listen to how their part fits within the overall chord.

Choral singers need to develop the ability to sing "one on a part" with good intonation. In this way they learn to listen and tune to other parts - and not just to their own section. They become aurally aware of unisons, octaves, and fifths between parts and use those intervals to check intonation.

Digital recording is now quick and easy, and is a great way to help choirs become aware of their intonation, as well as a host of other issues. I have microphones semipermanently set up in my classroom and hooked up to my computer. Within a few seconds I can record a selection and play it back for the singers to hear. When they are able to listen to themselves in this way they quickly identify their own intonation problems and are much more receptive to suggestions on how to fix them.

We as teachers also have to remind ourselves to listen critically for intonation. Over the course of a semester it is incredibly easy for our brains to adjust to a certain level of out of tune singing. Making recordings of our choirs can help keep our ears honest. For some reason, things that sounded well in tune while being sung live, can sound horribly out of tune when heard the next day on a recording.

Over performed works, new acoustical settings, and different placement of singers can also create listening issues that can lead to bad intonation. Try having the choir practice in different venues such as the cafeteria, outside, or in the hall. Try arranging them differently, mix the parts together (an alto next to a tenor next to a bass...), or have them form two lines facing each other and sing to their partner. If a work is getting a little stale, try moving it up a half step, taking a different tempo, or arbitrarily change tempos (molto motlo rubato). Another trick is to have them imagine the music in their heads while you conduct it. Then, say at the last chord of a phrase, actually sing the chord. Pitch "visualization" (auralization?) is an important skill for good intonation.

Poor intonation can destroy all other musical successes. For the choral director it is important to understand why singers are singing out of tune. Next, isolate the issue (not simply the passage, but the root cause of the intonation problem). Finally, create exercises that address the problem and then reintegrate the passage into the piece.

Singing In Tune, Part 3

If intonation troubles persist despite good vocal technique, the difficulty may rest in the music itself. A close examination of the score can reveal potential sources of pitch problems. A good conductor can identify these ahead of time and address these tricky spots in warm up exercises or when the passages are first encountered. Attacking the problem before singers get used to singing a section out of tune can save a great deal of time in the long run.

Descending half steps are one of the most frequent causes for singing flat, especially with beginning singers. For example, on the downward scale, "do, ti, la, sol," the "ti" is usually a little flat.

The first step to addressing this issue is to explain what half steps are and to demonstrate them on the piano. It helps if students can both see and hear the half steps. Next have the students sing "do, ti" holding "ti." Play the note on the piano so that they can hear that they are not singing it in tune. Then have them sing, "do, ti, do." They will most likely sing the "ti" in tune due to the anticipation of returning to "do." Immediately after this have them sing "do, ti" holding the "ti." The "ti" usually remains in tune.

Of course, this only gets them to realize the nature of the descending half step problem; it does not actually fix it. Try adding the following exercises to your warm ups. Have the choir sing (quarter notes) "do, ti, do" followed by a descending major scale (eighth notes). Priming the pump with the "do, ti, do" can get them to hear the "ti" in tune and help them sing it correctly on the downward scale. Another good exercise is to sing ascending and descending chromatic scales. If you can harmonize these on the piano it helps them to hear the leading tone nature of the pitches which improves their intonation. Once they sound pretty good with the accompaniment, have them sing it a cappella.

Other intervals can be problematic as well. Perhaps because of bluesy roots of pop music, major thirds (both melodic and harmonic) are sometimes sung a little flat. A simple exercise to help with all intervals is to sing "1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 1-5, 1-6, 1-7, 1-8" on the corresponding intervals. After a few days of doing this, have them just sing a single interval out of sequence (i.e. "1-3").

Tritones are the traditional nemesis of singers. Playing the piano along with that interval in a way that can get singers to hear the leading tone nature of the augmented fourth can help them sing that interval in tune (I on "do", II7 on the tritone, and resolve it to V on "sol"). Once they get the hang of it, take away the piano.

Basses so often sing a descending fourth (do to sol) that when novice basses get a descending fifth, they often flub it. A little "La Bamba" harmony (I - IV - V - IV) helps them get the feel for that interval.

Pitch problems can also occur when there is a sudden large skip to a note (often lower) followed by a return to original pitch area. The note that is skipped to can often be out of tune. I call these notes "throw away notes" and even good singers can miss them. Singers need to be made aware that they are not nailing the note perfectly. Practicing the skip in isolation and then integrating it back into the music usually solves the problem.

When beginning singers first encounter dissonant harmonies they can be thrown for a loop. I usually make a game of dissonance during warm ups. I'll start by assigning pitches to each section to create some "nice" dissonances - minor 7th chords, chords built on fourths, and triads with an added ninth are usually easy for them to handle. I'll gradually up the anti by moving to chords built on whole tone scales, major 7th chords in closed voicing, and dominant flatted ninth chords. After they've gotten used to those harmonies, I'll move to half step clusters. For a real challenge, I'll assign each individual singer a different note a half step away from the pitch their neighbor is singing.

Once singers have developed an ear for dissonance they can deal with it in a piece. When you come across a challenging chord in a work, pull it out of the piece and work with it. Try changing a few notes to make it consonant, then alternate between the consonant version and the dissonant one. Again, make a game of it. Are there a group of singers that can nail it one on a part? Split the choir in half or in quarters and have a contest to see which group can sing it best.

Another musical issue that can cause intonation problems are passages that are repeated but with a note or two changed by a half step. This might occur where there is a shift from minor to major, in a variation, or where a note suddenly becomes the leading tone in a modulation. I find that alternately singing the contrasting sections back and forth will help students become aware of the differences.

In the end, good intonation requires good listening. In the next section I'll explore some techniques to help singers hone their listening skills.