The Passing of Jimmy Wyble

I was saddened last week to read that the great guitarist Jimmy Wyble passed away (obit in the LA Times). I knew Jimmy from the 1970s when I worked at Larry Larsen's Music Studio in Glendale. Jimmy rented teaching space there and we would often talk and play guitars between lessons.

Jimmy was a wonderfully creative and talented musician. His style was a truly unique blend of country-western, jazz, and classical music. It was always a joy to hear him play. What was even more impressive about Jimmy, however, was the person that he was. I have never known a kinder or more supportive man.

I remember one day Jimmy and I were talking when a boy of about twelve walked into the studio. After a few minutes the boy pulled out a guitar and played a rather poor rendition of "Stairway to Heaven." Back in those days just about anyone who had ever touched a guitar knew the opening to that rock classic. Few could play it well, and even today it is probably the most butchered song in the history of the guitar.

But Jimmy listened attentively. When the boy was done, Jimmy complimented him. "That was beautiful. How exciting that you are learning guitar. I can really hear that you love the music. You keep practicing and you are going to be a wonderful guitarist." – or something along those lines.

Now from anyone else, I would have said that it was just a bunch of polite BS, but from Jimmy it was 100% sincere. He had the ability to see past the obvious and understand the essence of the moment. It was beautiful and exciting for him to see someone at the early stages of learning a musical instrument. Jimmy could hear the love that someone had for music even through the wrong notes, poor phrasing, and stuttered rhythms. He could see ten years down the road when, with practice, that beginning guitarist would be a good musician.

It was no surprise that Jimmy was a great teacher. Even though I never took formal lessons from him, I learned a great deal about music and teaching from Jimmy. He lives on not only in his music but also in all those whom he inspired with his love and kindness.

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Jimmy Wyble's website is still up. It is worth a visit if only to hear Jimmy play the number on the homepage.

Too Good To Be True

Last night I attend the inaugural concert of the Glendale Philharmonic Orchestra. The musicians, about 20 string players, gave a wonderful performance, especially considering that this was there first concert. The program had a bit of a rough beginning with a stylistically odd arrangement of Bach's Prelude from the Violin Partita No. 3. After that it continued well with Karl Jenkins' Concerto Grosso "Palladio," Andrey Rubtsov's Andande Dolente & Scherzo for Two Cellos (world premiere), Arno Babajanian's Aria, and Edward Mirzoyan's Symphony.

The group was highly disciplined and very responsive to their conductor, Mikael Avetisyan. And yet . . .

Leaving the concert I was reminded of something I heard the former conductor of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Paul Salamunovich, say (and he may have been quoting someone else), "The audience should never see the dynamics on the page." I saw them last night.

Now, admittedly this is an unfair criticism. It was their first concert, it could have been my mood, I would be hard pressed to tell them specifically what to fix, and I didn't notice it all the time. But there were times when the dynamic changes seemed stiff and mechanical, almost geometric in their plot. Technically they were done well, yet they didn't have the feeling of growing organically out of the music. Things were a little too tightly controlled.

This contrasted with the times when the music did have a more natural quality. The few short solos by the concert mistress, Limor Toren, were a good example of this. There was subtlety in her phrasing. One got the sense that she felt and enjoyed the music. It seemed to emanate not from the notes on the page, but from within her.

As I implied, this is all very subjective. Still, it brings up the issue of how a conductor can find the balance between control and spontaneity, between precision and flexibility. What does one say, "Be more spontaneous, now!?"

Clearly these are excellent musicians under a very talented conductor. Perhaps it is just a question of time and trust before they relax into the music, have fun with it, and allow it to flow more naturally. I look forward to hearing them at their next concert.

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.

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.

I recently watched an outstanding internet concert by Les Arts Florissants (Arte Live Web). They performed of an assortment of Monteverdi vocal works with exciting dynamic contrast, a great sense of phrasing, and a beautifully expressive interpretation of the text.

A few days later, I decided to show part of the performance to my Vocal Ensemble class. This is the advanced choral group at Taft High School. The students are familiar with music from Monteverdi's time as we have sung several Renaissance and Baroque works. Because of their training and talent, it was not a surprise to me that they loved the concert.

Encouraged by their reaction, I decided to show it to my beginning choir as well. This group is a mixed bag of students, but most have had little musical or vocal training and have not had much exposure to classical music. The one plus was that we have been working on a little three-part Marenzio madrigal in class.

Their strong positive reaction to the performance by Les Arts Florissants was a surprise. They were impressed with the sound of the voices, the music itself, and the visual expressiveness of the singers.

I think the fact that they could see the emotions of the singers as well as hear them was an important factor in their enjoyment of the music. But I also feel that the high quality of the performance contributed greatly to their appreciation.

Strong musicality has a way of transcending age, training, and musical preferences. It speaks directly to us in an almost primal way. Even those with little previous classical music exposure can relate to good music done well.

This experience with my choir reaffirmed my belief that all students can enjoy good music. Once the stereotypes of classical music are dispelled, students are surprisingly open to the music. As arts educators, it is our job to tear down the popular media bias against classical music, give students some basic listening skills, and present them with high quality, engaging performances. In doing so we give our students a lifelong enjoyment of fine music and we create an audience that will continue to support the music we love.