Intonation XI - Tonal Memory--A Two-Edged Sword

John Goldsmith's two guest posts (here and here) demonstrate a wonderful way to train your choirs to remember and audiate patterns, shifts of tonality, accurate half and whole steps, scales, etc. He creates ways to train the tonal memory in a positive way, which will help your choir in reading as well as to sing better in tune. It's a learnable skill.

 

Tonal memory can work against us as well, however. Singers have impressive abilities to memorize where pitches are.

 

On the positive side, Robert Fountain used to do an exercise in tonal memory with an Eb Major chord (from the bottom up: root, 5th, root 3rd), asking his choirs to be able to produce it from memory at any time. I've known other conductors who've worked on that kind of memory (not perfect pitch, but to develop a memory for a particular chord or pitch).

 

When I'm working on a piece intensively, I almost always find that if I don't think about it, but simply begin singing it, I'm almost invariably in the correct key (I don't have perfect pitch). My choirs can often do this as well.

 

But it also takes little time to memorize pitches incorrectly. An example:

 

With my PLU choir I did John Gardner's wonderful and dramatic, A Latter-Day Athenian Speaks (published by Oxford, now available only on rental, it's a fabulous--and difficult--a cappella setting ca. 13 minutes long). We'd been working on it, preparing for a January-Term tour to the mid-west and east coast. The end of the piece has a dramatic double-choir fugue and, even though we'd been singing it well in tune through the rehearsal process, when we got to the first performance, the choir (with all of the energy and excitement that goes with a first concert) drove that section of the piece a half step sharp. After that, we always sang it sharp. I'd rehearse it with some reference pitches from the piano and they'd lock it in, but in concert they'd be a half step sharp within very few bars. In essence, they now memorized going sharp there, heard the opening of the fugue that way, and no matter what I did, that's what was going to happen.

 

The power of tonal memory is just that strong.

 

It's one of the reasons that you have to be very careful not to allow your choir to flat or go sharp early in the learning process--it quickly becomes a part of how they hear the music and tonality. It's a reason to listen carefully early in the process. It's also why rehearsing well, not trying to do too much too soon, or using Robert Shaw-style count-singing/rehearsal techniques, etc., can make a huge difference in whether your choir stays in tune or goes flat (more usual than sharp, of course).

 

It's also the reason why, if your choir has been going flat in a particular key, if you suddenly raise the pitch by a half-step, they may be able to keep it in tune: you've moved out of the tonality where they've memorized going flat. They can now approach it with a fresh sense of where those pitches belong.

 

It's not about listening! Sometimes we say, "Listen!" . . . well, how could they go a quarter-step flat, exactly together, unless they were listening to each other?!

 

I'll write next about some ways to rehearse to avoid these kinds of problems. The use of the piano in rehearsal is a part of that.

 

Until Saturday!

Intonation X - Calibrating the Ear II - John Goldsmith

This is the second part of John Goldsmith's Calibrating the Ear warm-ups. To understand this, you must first read Part I! The singing of chromatic and whole-tone scales will be done every day, along with the earlier exercises. The more advanced exercises can be added later if you wish.

 

These are great exercises which will vastly improve the ability of your choir to sing accurately and in tune--but only if you do them regularly!

 

Singing chromatic and whole-tone scales (the ultimate test for accurate chromatic calibration!)

By concentrating on the ear rather than the voice, you accomplish much more than simply warming up!  After the minor melody exercise have your singers ascend the chromatic scale a cappella singing "doo-doo" while you conduct quarter notes in an Andante tempo.  Ask them to sing the octave up and down first (or a 1-3-5-8-1 arpeggio), to establish the aural destination (I suggest the "D-D" or C#-C# octave - relatively comfortable for all voice parts).  

 

The first time they will over-shoot or under-shoot the octave after those twelve notes! Sing the octave again. Repeat the chromatic scale up in quarters. Work until they can sing an accurate chromatic scale up and down, ending on the same pitch with which they began.

 

Remind them to sing softly (mp dynamic).

 

When they can sing the chromatic scale accurately up and down at a steady tempo (all quarter notes) have them sing up with quarter-notes, down the chromatic scale in 8th notes, then back up in triplets, and down again in 16ths.  Don't change the tempo - make the singers do the subdivisions with good ensemble. It's not easy to do the chromatic scale accurately at a rapid tempo, but they will get it.

 

The most important skill for singers is the ability to sing and hear the difference between half-steps and whole-steps . . . which leads to the next step: the whole-tone scale. This scale has only six tones.  Sing the octave again, then repeat as above . . . up the whole tone scale in quarters, down in 8ths, up in triplets, down in 16ths.  The Whole-tone scale takes a bit longer to learn, but you will be surprised how quickly it sinks in!

 

Singing minor and major arpeggios:

Conclude with singing minor arpeggios up and a major arpeggio down (start around B, since it's easy for all voice ranges). Remember, you must be able to demonstrate this! Each shift up a half-step must be done without the piano.

 

If this becomes easy, you can work on arpeggios with all minor thirds (diminished) or major thirds (augmented).

 

Some Advanced Techniques:

 

Once your singers can sing the minor melodies shifting down by half-steps accurately, the chromatic and whole-tone scales, and minor/major arpeggios, challenge their tonal memories as follows:  Sing to them a different five-note minor melody, ask them to sing it back . . . then ask them to "audiate" the melody (i.e. hear it silently in your head), then say "OK, sing the 3rd note when I conduct it."  Might not work at first . . . try again.  Then try shifting the five-note down by a whole step, or up by a half-step.  Then "audiate in that tonality, and sing the 4th (or 2nd) note on my cue."  You can also create five-note melodies based on the whole-tone scale using these tonal memory exercises.  Even more advanced: sing a 5-note melody, have them sing it back, then - in silence - ask them to shift down a whole step plus a half-step and audiate in that tonality . . . then "sing the 3rd note when I conduct you!"  If they can do this their tonal memories are STRONG!

 

Again, my huge thanks to John for sharing with us!

Intonation IX - Calibrating the Ear--John Goldsmith

John Goldsmith is a terrific musician, directs the Heinz Chapel Choir at the University of Pittsburg, and teaches the musicianship courses for the Music Department. He was a member of Chanticleer and sang with Robert Shaw in France. If you wish to reach him directly about his workshops, contact him through his email address at the University of Pittsburg.

 

I first came across John's Calibrating the Ear--Developing Tonal Memory workshop material through Simon Carrington, requested a copy (which John gladly gave), and then met him briefly at a NW ACDA Conference. I've used these exercises with my choirs at PLU and found them valuable. I haven't used them since coming to UNT but, now that I'm reminded about them with this blog series, plan to this fall! I highly recommend them. This is the first of two parts:

 

Definition: Tonal memory is the ability to accurately sing back long phrases of melodic line after one hearing. This ability develops into the skill of singing in tune and maintaining a stable key center in a cappella singing.

 

Premise: Most choral directors do vocal warm-ups with the choirs prior to beginning rehearsals. The most common method is to sing five-note scales or arpeggios up and down, possibly while playing along on the piano. The exercises are usually done in major mode and all tonal shifts are given to the singers with the piano. This type of warm-up actually prevents the development of tonal memory because: 1) no one really "listens" when singing in the major mode, 2) singers go on "automatic" and simply match pitch without thinking if the piano plays along, and 3) singers are not asked to engage their intellects or use their ears.

 

The Ear Calibration Warm-up system is an a cappella warm-up which utilizes patterns in the minor mode (which is so odd that singers actually pay attention), thus turning on that illusive "listening switch" in the brain. By teaching the fundamental skill of being able to hear and sing the difference between half and whole steps, tonal memory is developed and expanded, parts are learned more quickly, unisons are beautiful, and singing in tune becomes automatic. 

 

At first the routine may take 8-10 minutes. Don't be impatient--tonal memory takes time to develop and the initial investment will be well worth it! Furthermore, the calibration rolls over from year to year, and new singers catch on quickly.

 

The Calibration Routine pre-supposes that the conductor can sing the given 5-note scale minor patterns, chromatic and whole-tone scales up and down, a cappella, in tune, and can demonstrate it.

 

Rehearsals are begun with a couple minutes of relaxing exercises (backrubs; shoulder rolls; movement of shoulders, arms, and face; yawns (raise the soft palate); and sprechstimme imitation (raise the soft palate). The Ear Calibration warm-ups must be done in an environment of silence. If there is a band playing next door your singers will not have enough quiet to hear that inner voice.

 

The First Step for Turning On the Brain's Listening Switch:

In a medium-high tessitura, using a neutral vowel (nyah, nyoh, nyoo) with no vibrato (you cannot tune vibrato!) in a soft dynamic, sing a five-note melody using the notes of the minor triad (e.g. mi-Do-re-ti-la) and ask your choir to sing it back to you. Then ask them to shift down one-half step and sing it again.  Even if the singers accurately shift down a half-step (not likely), the exercise will fail the first time because they will sing the melody back to you in major.  

 

Stop them . . . tell them what happened . . . say: "we are in minor, not major . . . make the 2nd note lower (i.e. "Do") - demonstrate.  Start over.  Sing the melody to them again and ask them to sing it back.  Pause.  Forbidding your singers to sing or hum, ask "can you still hear the first note (i.e. "mi") in your head?"  (If anyone sings or hums the pitch the entire exercise is ruined for everyone else . . . tonal memory gets exercised in silence!)  

 

Then ask them to silently shift down one-half step (NOBODY is allowed to sing or hum the new starting pitch!) and sing the melody back in the new tonality.  Chances are they will have shifted at least a whole step.  Repeat all this until they catch on to what a half step sounds like!.  At consecutive rehearsals change the order of the minor melody always beginning on the fifth (e.g. mi-ti-re-Do-la; mi-re-ti-Do-la; mi-la-re-ti-Do . . . etc.)  NOTE: by beginning in medium high tessitura and shifting down by half-steps the voice relaxes, and singers spend their concentration on the pitches rather than trying to sing higher and higher (and getting tighter and tighter).

 

Additonal notes:

• do the entire calibration warm-up routine at every rehearsal
• always entirely a cappella! never play the new shifts on the piano--insist that the singers remember (wihout humming) the first pitch of the previous tonal center, and make the half-step shift down without help (coach them and demonstrate it)
• begin the descending five-note pattern moderately high--by using descending patterns the voice will relax as you go rather than tighten up, as it inevitably will if you begin in ascending patterns
• make sure your singers are aware they must raise the soft palate!
• with whatever vowel you choose:
  • watch their mouths for uniform shape
  • demand perfect unisons (say, "make unison")
  • soft dynamic with no vibrato
• be extremely picky about pitch accuracy, and be specific about which pitches are not accurate (e.g. "the fifth note is low because the fourth note was too low")
• when the five-note pattern becomes easy for the choir, change it

From my experience, this is a demanding exercise, but the singers will improve rapidly (wait until you see part 2!). It will make a huge difference in the ears of your singers and, therefore, in their intonation. Many thanks to John for being willing to share this Ear Calibration routine!