You may have been one of 400 singers competing for only 15 apprenticeship spots at your last audition. Perhaps your voice was beautiful and expressive, your appearance was appealing and your stage presence was a cut above the rest, but still, you didn’t get hired. Winning that apprenticeship or role involves countless factors, but several factors in the decision-making process may have little to do with you.
Nevertheless, it’s back to the practice room to prepare for the next audition. Take this opportunity to go back to the score of an aria you may have already performed several times. Look at it with new eyes. How accurate are your dynamics, articulation, rhythms and tempi? How can you tighten up your presentation of this aria?
Look in any beginning music textbook and you’ll find that basic musicianship requires a working knowledge of rhythm, pitch, harmony, form and dynamics. Being a good musician entails analyzing and interpreting what the composer has written in his score. These days most voice students have access to recordings so often they can double-check their interpretations of the printed score with those of stellar singers.
Coaches and voice teachers also can serve as a guide when a singer tackles a new song or aria. But what if there isn’t a coach readily available and a recording is nowhere to be found? Imagine that you’ve been asked to perform a brand new song cycle or aria in a concert and you haven’t got much time to prepare. You’re on your own—and you’re armed solely with your musicianship.
No doubt you have your own personal method when it comes to learning a song. One strategy could include first reading through the text with inflection and meaning. After checking tempo and meter, you can speak the text in rhythm. Joan Dornemann, Classical Singer’s 2005 Coach of the Year, calls rhythm the “spine of the musical skeleton.” Rhythm entails all aspects of musical movement as ordered in time, and conductors expect you, the singer, to be on top of the rhythms and tempi when you sing with an orchestra and the other singers on the stage. In Dornemann’s book, Complete Preparation: A Guide to Auditioning for Opera, she suggests thoroughly marking up your score with numbers, conducting a recording, or finding a student conductor or young professional to conduct you through an aria as an exercise. (Dornemann, Joan, and Maria Ciaccia. Complete Preparation: A Guide to Auditioning for Opera. New York: Excalibur Publishing, 1992.) All of these techniques will make you more aware of the inner rhythmic structure of the music.
It’s interesting to note that in an entry discussing tempo and expression marks in Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the author declares that these two elements may be the most consistently ignored components of a musical score. (David Fallows, “tempo and expression marks” in Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed.) A perfect remedy for this is a thorough analysis of your score and the faithful and consistent use of your metronome. If you’re a singer and you don’t have a metronome, you’re not alone, but it’s important that you obtain one and get used to the sound of it. You can use a metronome to establish an appropriate tempo for your song, and ultimately, to establish consistency of tempo through a work or vocal exercise.
It’s true that the thought of a metronome’s incessant ticking may seem stifling, but you’ll quickly begin to see several benefits of sure and steady use of this compact clock-like device. You’ll be pleasantly surprised when your musicianship and ability to learn new music reaches a higher level. What’s more, exceptional musicianship will shine through in auditions and performances. Here are some ways that your singing and artistry will be enhanced:
Accuracy of tempo and complex rhythms
Contemporary music often incorporates complex rhythms, changing meters, and specific metronome markings. Use of the metronome in the early stages of score analysis and sight-reading will prevent rhythmic errors and promote a crisp rhythmic identity within the song. If you have a strong internal pulse established by consistent practice with your metronome, you can overcome a tendency to “back sing,” or sing slightly behind the beat.
More precise tempo changes as expressive devices
Tempo changes affect the drama of a song and declamation of a text. The metronome will make you more aware of contrasting tempi. Expressive devices, such as rubato and rallentando, will become more effective when you adhere to the tempo markings within the score.
More efficient process in learning and memorizing music
If you approach a new score systematically, by first working on each aspect of the music separately, you’ll find that the first rehearsal with your pianist will be much more productive. Less time will be spent on careless mistakes or the correction of rhythms and pitches you have learned inaccurately. Begin by speaking the text in rhythm with your metronome, then proceed to learn all other elements of the music methodically. You’ll find that memorization of the song will come more easily as well.
Increased versatility of tempo for scales and other vocalises
How do you practice your scales and arpeggios? Can you sing them at a variety of tempi? It’s always wise to investigate what pedagogical pillars in history recommended. Mathilde Marchesi (1821-1913) was a highly regarded mezzo-soprano and voice teacher in Vienna and Paris. As a pupil of Manuel Garcia the younger, she is distinguished as a teacher of many great singers of the 19th and early 20th century such as Emma Calve, Mary Garden, Nellie Melba and Estelle Liebling.
Marchesi devised a vocal method that consists of elementary and progressive exercises and vocalises. You can find writings by Marchesi in the forward of her Complete Vocal Method Op. 31. In her guide for singers, she warns against singing exercises and scales by ear and advocates paying attention to the length and rhythmical division of each measure and the particular value of each note. She also directs the singer to sing all scales “with perfect equality of length.” (Marchesi, Mathilde. Vocal Method Op. 31. New York: G. Schirmer.) Once the singer accomplishes an even scale slowly, he can increase the speed and omit frequent breathing.
At some point you need to turn off your metronome and focus on the contour of the phrase, sostenuto singing and legato. These are the aspects of classical singing that separate it from the popular vocal style in musical theatre and on the radio. However, the information conveyed in the score by the composer—pitch, rhythm, tempo and dynamics—must be recognized from the start. From this basis expressive singing can begin.
All of that attention to detail will be ingrained your mind, body and voice, and makes for a performance with deep-rooted rhythmic integrity.
