Transcript Document

Vocal Music
National 3-5
Understanding Music
Outcomes
All forms of vocal music tell stories through the use of different voice
types, styles and groupings. Spanning hundreds of years, art forms
such as opera, musicals, traditional and popular music have
entertained audiences far and wide and continue to do so today.
In this unit you will listen to:
• Different voices and their registers
• Vocal groupings and techniques associated with them
• Different styles of vocal music
By discussing, comparing and contrasting these musical forms you will be
able to identify and describe voices and their uses in different types
of vocal music.
The Voices
The four main voices are:
SOPRANO
ALTO
TENOR
BASS
The highest female voice
The lowest female voice
The most common and higher pitched male voice
The lowest male voice
These voices are sometimes written in music as SATB.
Other voices you may hear are:
MEZZO SOPRANO
BARITONE
Female voice between
Soprano and Alto
Male voice between Tenor
and Bass
SOPRANO
MEZZO SOPRANO
ALTO
TENOR
BARITONE
BASS
Listen to, and describe in your own words, each of the following voices.
Try and come up with three words you would use to describe the sound of each
voice.
Concepts
CONCEPT
DEFINITION
Soprano
Highest female voice
Mezzo Soprano
Female voice between soprano and alto
Alto
Lower female voice
Tenor
Most common high male voice
Baritone
Male voice between tenor and bass
Bass
Lowest male voice
Opera
Before styles like rock and pop, opera was a popular form of vocal music.
Each of the types of voices we have identified can be heard in opera in
different groups and combinations.
Opera is a form of theatre in which the drama is told
mostly through music and singing. It originated in
Italy in the 1600s and is often sung in either Italian
or German. The singers are accompanied by a musical
ensemble ranging from a small instrumental ensemble
to a full symphonic orchestra.
Opera uses many of the same elements as stage plays,
Including scenery, costumes and acting.
(Maria Callas, Soprano)
We are now going to look at some of the different ways voices can be used in
opera, and other concepts associated with them.
Opera - Vocal Features
An aria is a solo song in an opera. The singer sings the main melody while the
orchestra plays both melody and accompaniment.
Listen to an example of an aria. What type of voice do you hear?
Duets, trios and other ensembles often occur, and a chorus is used to comment
on the action in the story. The chorus is a group of singers with several
people to each part, who perform together either in unison (all parts sing
the same notes) or harmony (two or more different parts together).
Listen to an example of a chorus. Are they singing in unison or
harmony?
Listen to an example from an opera.
Comment on the voices you hear and how they are being used, orchestration
and the mood of the music.
Although singers are usually accompanied by an orchestra in opera, sometimes
voices can be heard without any instrumental accompaniment. This is called
a cappella.
Listen to an example of a cappella. What type of voice(s) do you
hear?
Sometimes in vocal music you can hear a counter melody. This is a second
melody that is played in harmony with the main melody.
If the counter melody is being sung by other voices, such as a choir, this is
called a descant.
What type of voice(s) do you hear?
Concepts
CONCEPT
DEFINITION
Opera
Story set to music – uses ‘classical’ music
Solo
One person singing or playing
A Cappella
Unaccompanied singing – no instrumental accompaniment
Aria
Solo song in an opera
Choir/Chorus
Group of singers with several people singing each part
Unison
Singing or playing the same notes at the same time
Harmony
The sound of two or more notes made at the same time
Descant (voice)
A counter melody which accompanies and is sung above
the main melody
Accompanied
Other instrument(s) or voice(s) supports the main
melody
Counter melody
A melody played against the main melody
Musical Theatre
Background to the Musical
The word musical is short for musical theatre. A musical is a play with music,
songs and often dancing too. Musicals are written for performance on the
stage but many have also been films.
Write down the names of musicals that you know.
Musicals and Opera – the difference
The main difference between opera and musicals is in the style of the music.
Opera uses more traditional or classical music. Musicals often use more
contemporary and popular styles.
Musicals generally have a greater focus on spoken dialogue, dancing and are
usually sung in the language of the audience. Operas may be sung in a variety
of languages, usually Italian or German.
Opera singers are generally singers first and actors second, whereas musical
theatre performers tend to be actors first and singers second. Sometimes
this means that in musicals the singers voices do not sound as ‘polished’ as
those in opera. For this reason, amplification and microphones are frequently
used in musicals to get the voices across.
Background to the Musical
Musicals began as light-hearted plays with simple music in them, popular at the
end of the 1800s. Although musical comedies were a popular form of
entertainment, musicals – which started in America in the 1920s – soon took
over from them. One reason for this was that the musical was a larger, more
ambitious form of entertainment with a good plot and lively music (often
influenced by popular music of the time). It also had a large cast, sumptuous
costumes and glittering sets.
Like operas, many of the most successful musicals were written by musical
partnerships, such as Rodgers and Hammerstein and George and Ira
Gershwin. One would write the music while the other partner wrote the
lyrics. Other successful musical writers include Cole Porter and Jerome
Kern.
These composers and lyricists were responsible for the creation of great
musicals such as Oklahoma, Carousel, The Sound of Music, Guys and Dolls,
Calamity Jane, Kiss Me Kate, Annie Get Your Gun...the list goes on and on!
After the success of Rodgers and Hammerstein in the 1940s and 1950s, the
musical declined in the 1960s, although many popular musicals were revived in
the form of films. Perhaps it was the rapid development of pop music, with
such groups as the Beatles attracting so much attention, which was the
reason for this. Or perhaps it was simply that no-one wrote good musicals in
the 1960s!
However, all this changed in the 1970s with the partnership of Tim Rice and
Andrew Lloyd Webber. Their first attempt at writing a musical was a short
work called Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream coat. It was
originally written as a school show but it became so successful that it was
eventually recorded and developed into a full-length stage production.
They followed this success with what can be considered the first full-length
rock musicals Jesus Christ Superstar and later Evita. Lloyd Webber also had
great success with Cats, Song and Dance and Phantom of the Opera.
Listen to two songs from different musicals and in your jotters comment on:
1. Instrumentation
2. Type of Voice
3. Vocal techniques/concepts
4. Mood/Style of the Song
Complete the listening tasks based on excerpts from Oklahoma and Grease.
Popular Vocal Music
As well as using most of the concepts heard in opera, musicals usually use more
popular styles of music, so many of the features found in rock and pop music can
be heard too .
Most songs take the form of verse and chorus. This is a structure/ form
popular in many songs. The music of the verse will repeat, often with different
words, and between verses the chorus will normally repeat and features
different music to the verse. This structure, where the music in the verses and
chorus are the same and are repeated each time, is called strophic.
Many songs feature a lead singer who sings the main melody. Often they are
accompanied by backing vocals. These are singers who support the lead
singer(s), usually by singing in harmony in the background.
There are two types of word setting in vocal music, syllabic and melismatic.
Syllabic is where each syllable in the lyrics is given one note only. If the words
are melismatic then several notes are sung to one syllable.
Styles of Music
Styles of music that also feature singers include many forms you have learned
about in previous units. They include:
Other vocals
Vocal music is not just limited to popular music or opera and musicals. It can
also be heard in a lot of folk music and educational songs.
Listen to an example of a folk group singing in this excerpt.
• What type of voice(s) do you hear?
• What instruments are playing in this excerpt?
Below are the words for a round. This is where each part sings or plays the
same melody, entering one after the other. When they reach the end they start
again. Try this one as a class:
I like the flowers, I like the daffodils,
I like the mountains, I like the rolling hills,
I like the fireside when the lights are low,
Singing doo-wop, a-doo-wop, a-doo-wop, a-doo.
Concepts
CONCEPT
DEFINITION
Musical
A musical play which has speaking, singing and dancing
and is performed on a stage
Verse & Chorus
A structure/ form popular in many songs. The music of
the verse will repeat, often with different words, and
between verses the chorus will normally repeat and
features different music to the verse
Strophic
A song which has music repeated for verses/choruses,
therefore the same music will be heard repeating
throughout the song
Backing vocals
Singers who support the lead singer(s), usually by singing
in harmony in the background
Syllabic
Vocal music where each syllable is given one note only
Melismatic
Several notes sung to one syllable
Round
Each part sings or plays the same melody, entering one
after the other. When they reach the end they start
again