Using Active Shape Modeling Based on MRI to Study Morphologic and Pitch-Related Functional Changes Affecting Vocal Structures and the Airway

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The Olympic Singer: Integrating Pilates Training Into the Voice Studio

The objectives of the document are to define potential synergies and benefits in the application of Pilates method physical training to versatile and high-level voice performance, and to develop an integrated vocal pedagogy-Pilates method to improve voice performance

What You See Is What You Get: Integrating Visual Performance Methodology Into Vocal Pedagogy

In many ways, singing is an aural event. Since much of the instrument cannot be seen in a normal setting, voice teachers and voice admirers must rely on their ears to evaluate what they hear. However, singing is also a visual event. In the context of voice studios, teachers need to train students to not only achieve a healthy singing technique but also to convey a message to the audience. Each performer must ask herself, “what do I need to do as a performer to show the music?” In the article Sight Over Sound in the Judgment of Music Performance, Chia-Jung Tsay, a Professor of Organizational Behavior at University College London, studied the influence of visual versus aural in several experiments. “The results highlight our natural, automatic, and nonconscious dependence on visual cues. The dominance of visual information emerges to the degree that it is overweighted [sic] relative to auditory information, even when sound is consciously valued as the core domain content” (Tsay 2013). The visual aspect of performance dominates the aural aspect of performance. Therefore, visual performance methodology must be habitually taught in the singing studio

Fundamentals of Teaching Vocal Music Performance

This study outlines the significance and sole purpose of developing fundamental techniques of student vocal music performances, using professional constructive evaluation that will improve their overall performance experience. One of the most practical ways to support vocalists is to provide a constructive evaluation of their performances. The implementation of constructive evaluation is to reflect upon what is being done well, discover areas of improvement or refinement, plan and facilitate important lessons, and apply the lessons to future performances. As a music teacher who is actively overseeing the development of students as performing or creating musicians, including constructive evaluation is a standard expectation. Methodical, thorough self-evaluations and peer evaluations are enormously valuable practices for young vocalists. In rehearsals, workshops, and other group situations, constructive evaluation from peers will also be very useful, but only if group members understand how to offer the evaluation. To give a high-quality performance, vocalists must get in the habit of evaluating themselves as often as possible. An evaluation that is offered sloppily or in the wrong spirit can be damaging to the student’s vocal development. This study will also include a plethora of techniques for creating positive, useful evaluations, including: Analyzing the Performance, Self & Peer-Evaluations, Glows and Grows, Use of Fundamental Elements of Music, Solutions Oriented Feedback, and helping students develop coping skills for performance anxiety. The principles and ideas offered for private instruction can also be quite valuable to choir and ensemble directors, praise and worship teams, group lessons, and music theatre singers

The disciplines of vocal pedagogy: towards a holistic approach

This dissertation comprises an exploration of the thesis that a holistic education entailing multi-disciplinary study is essential if classical singers and vocal pedagogues are to be prepared adequately for performance, for their teaching role, and for cooperation in inter-professional relations. The disciplines pertinent to vocal pedagogy are examined, and their varied contributions are discussed with a view to showing the ways in which they are mutually supportive. The case is argued on the basis of an exhaustive analysis of the relevant literature, and is underpinned by my wide professional experience as a soprano, and as a teacher both in primary, secondary and higher education, and in private practice at home and abroad. Starting with a survey of views on vocal pedagogy from biblical and classical times to the present day, important diverse roots are exposed, yielding differing and even conflicting tonal ideals which have a bearing on the consideration of different singing styles, and the interpretation of songs and arias. Ethics and psychology are identified as central to the entire pedagogical process, along with the scientific basis of singing, encompassing acoustics, anatomy and physiology, with special reference to the bearing of the latter two upon vocal health and hygiene. A detailed consideration of singing technique is the centrepiece of the dissertation, building on the scientific basis already presented. The several aspects of technique are discussed, and an understanding of the relations between good technique and scientific awareness is shown to be fundamental to good vocal pedagogical practice. In differing ways all of the disciplines thus far discussed - history, the ethics and psychology, science, vocal technique - contribute to performance, which is the next topic dealt with. In addition, since the evaluation of performance is a question of aesthetics, that branch of philosophy is introduced as a further discipline contributing to the education of the fully equipped singer and vocal pedagogue. While a considerable amount of research has been undertaken by others on the individual disciplines discussed in this dissertation, no study to date has attempted the task of showing the inter-relationships of all of them, and the ways in which together they bear upon classical singing pedagogy. The central theme of the dissertation is that the adoption of a holistic, multidisciplinary approach is of particular benefit to singers and voice teachers, and that such an approach facilitates mutual co-operation between them and other voice professionals

Pan European Voice Conference - PEVOC 11

The Pan European VOice Conference (PEVOC) was born in 1995 and therefore in 2015 it celebrates the 20th anniversary of its establishment: an important milestone that clearly expresses the strength and interest of the scientific community for the topics of this conference. The most significant themes of PEVOC are singing pedagogy and art, but also occupational voice disorders, neurology, rehabilitation, image and video analysis. PEVOC takes place in different European cities every two years (www.pevoc.org). The PEVOC 11 conference includes a symposium of the Collegium Medicorum Theatri (www.comet collegium.com

A Collaborative Approach: How Pedagogues of Singing and Their Students Navigate the Solo and Choral Realms

This qualitative case study approach was designed to examine choral and applied voice pedagogue’s similarities and differences of teaching healthy singing in the choral rehearsal and applied studio lesson while observing how their students respond and interpret the techniques used. The participants included six pedagogues (three choral, three applied voice) at the university level and one student of each pedagogue. Data were collected through pedagogue and student interviews. To support the interviews, demographic surveys, and observations of the choral rehearsal and applied studio lessons were completed. Data were coded and organized based on the four research questions. Analysis and findings were organized based on the four categories found in the study’s conceptual framework: (a) how they develop; (b) conceptualization and strategies of healthy singing; (c) other factors; and (d) student’s perspective. This research revealed that while both choral and applied voice pedagogues’ methods may vary there is consistency among the description of healthy singing and strategies that are appropriate for both settings. The study also shows that the pedagogue's background and training play a major role in the way that they currently teach. Additionally, pedagogues should remain thoughtful of the student’s abilities, repertoire choices, the rapport between them and the student, and the structure of the lesson/rehearsal. Recommendations are offered for choral and applied voice pedagogues, their students, and for future research in the field of healthy singing

Singers and Sound: An Introduction to Tomatis-Based Listening Training for Singers

abstract: ABSTRACT This document introduces singers and voice teachers to Dr. Alfred A. Tomatis's listening training method with a particular emphasis on its relevance to singers. After presenting an overview of Tomatis's work in the field of audio-psycho-phonology (circa 1947 through the 1990s) and specific ways that aspects of his theory are relevant to singers' performance skills, this project investigates the impact of listening training on singers by examining published research. The studies described in this document have investigated the impact of listening training on elements of the singer's skill set, including but not limited to measures of vocal quality such as intonation, vocal control, intensity, and sonority, as well as language pronunciation and general musicianship. Anecdotal evidence, presented by performers and their observers, is also considered. The evidence generated by research studies and anecdotal reports strongly favors Tomatis-based listening training as a valid way to improve singers' performance abilities.Dissertation/ThesisD.M.A. Music 201