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 2

In part 1 of of this series I discussed how to help students determine if they are singing in tune or out of tune. Once students know what good intonation sounds like, and are actually listening for it, the approach to fixing intonation problems shifts to vocal technique.

Start with the basics. Is the tone supported by a good breath? One trick here is to have the students buzz their lips. If the air pressure is strong enough for the lips to buzz, then it should be good enough to support an in tune pitch. Once they get the buzz down, have them open to an "ah" ("bbbb-ah"). Additionally, check if the breathing supported by good posture.

Are students singing in their correct voice for a particular musical passage? A common problem is for singers to take their chest voice too high. This is critical for altos who may find it too easy to use their low voice for mid-register notes, resulting in slightly flat pitches. It can also be a problem for tenors who haven't fully learned how to use their high voice. If forced to choose, I always prefer the tenors to use a soft yet in tune falsetto rather then a loud out of tune chest voice.

One way to attack this "correct voice" issue is to transpose the problem passage to a significantly higher pitch, thus forcing the singers to sing in a head voice. Then, sequentially move the passage down by half steps until you arrive at the original pitch, all the while reminding the singers not to slip into a chest voice. Another technique, that is especially helpful when singers must leap from a low note into the problematic pitch, is to sing the whole passage in head voice. It's a bit of a cheat, but as a quick fix it can eliminate issues students have with changing into head voice.

Helping beginning singers discover their head voice requires a bit of luck, magic, and prayer. I've never hit on a sure fire fix, but in another posting I will share a few of the techniques that have given me a little success.

At times the "correct voice" problem results from students trying too hard to use their chest voice. Young basses will sometimes strive to sound manly by doing this on low notes. The result is usually an overly covered, out of tune pitch. Good basses learn to sing low notes with the feeling of a head voice in a way that not only helps the pitch, but also gives a nice resonance to the sound.

Occasionally some consonants will disrupt the vocal mechanism and result in flatness. This is especially true for beginning singers (often sopranos) when singing high pitches. To discover if consonants are causing the problem, have the students sing on an "ah." If this fixes the intonation, you've identified the difficulty. Create an exercise in a comfortable register that uses the problematic consonant/vowel combination ("b–eh_," "th_–ah_”). Sustainable consonants like "m" and "l" can be held longer to help students adjust. Gradually move the exercise into the range where the pitch issue is.

Additional technique problems that can result in poor pitch are tightening the throat muscles, especially when students raise their heads slightly in an attempt to sing higher notes, tension in the jaw, and tongue position.

There are other, not strictly technical factors, which can cause intonation problems as well. When students are nervous or excited about a performance their adrenaline can make them go sharp. Lack of sleep can lead to singing flat. Distractions or a general lack of focus can also lead to out of tune singing.

In part 3 I will address musical issues that can lead to poor intonation. I will also take a look at matters related to listening.

Singing In Tune, Part 1

Poor intonation is the bane of all music teachers, and especially choral music teachers. It is something so basic that we may have a hard time understanding why singers sing out of tune, and we may be at a loss as to how to fix it. Here are a few thoughts on the subject.

The initial problem is to ascertain whether the individual student actually knows the difference between singing in tune and singing out of tune. This can be an issue during the first few weeks of a beginning voice or choir class.

One approach to determine this is pitch matching. While working with a student, have him sing a pitch and then you sing a note a little lower or higher. Next, gradually slide to the note the student is singing. Tell the student to raise their hand when both notes are exactly the same. Draw their attention to the "little bumps" that sound when the notes are nearly the same, and how the sound gets smooth when they perfectly match.

This does three things. It lets you know if the student can tell when he is singing in tune, it teaches the student what to listen for in order to sing in tune, and it gets the student to think about always listening for correct intonation. Once the student gets the idea, reverse the process. Sing a note and get the student to slide into the pitch. Help the student to determine if they need to slide up or down with hand signals. As the student progresses, work toward doing away with the glissando so that they hit the pitch dead on. With a little coaching even tough cases can improve.

One can also demonstrate this to the whole class. Pick a student who is comfortable singing publicly, has a fairly loud voice, and has relatively good tone. Have them sing a note and then you sing and slide into their pitch. Have the rest of the class raise their hands when the two notes are in tune.

Once the class has developed reasonably good intonation, it's important to keep them on their toes. Try taking one of your typical warm up exercises and, instead of progressing chromatically, jump to random pitches for each iteration. For example, "mah, meh, me, moh, moo" sung on C followed by "mah, meh, me, moh, moo" sung on Eb instead of C#. It is too easy for singers to slip into "autopilot" mode when doing warm ups. This use of random pitches forces the singers to listen, helps them to develop their pitch matching ability, and keeps them thinking about singing in tune.

In part 2 I will discuss some of the vocal and musical issues that can lead to poor intonation.