NATS Executive Director, Allen Henderson, steered a panel discussion on March 10, 2011 entitled, "Choral Directors are from Mars and Voice Teachers are from Venus: Sing from the Diaphragm and other Vocal Mistructions," along with esteemed NATS members Sharon Hansen and Brenda Smith, NATS President Donald Simonson, and NATS Past President Scott McCoy. They presented an additional Interest Session that afternoon: "Choral Directors are from Mars and Voice Teachers are from Venus: Top 10 List - Complaints from Both Sides of the Aisle." Download the PowerPoint PDF of the first presentation from this page. We welcome your comments on this presentation here! Does your experience support the information presented? Do you have an opposing viewpoint to discuss?

1. Choral Directors are from Mars
and
Voice Teachers are from Venus:
“Sing from the Diaphragm”
and other Vocal MistrucAons
• Sharon Hansen
• Allen Henderson
• Sco: McCoy
• Donald Simonson
• Brenda Smith

2. The Successful Voice Teaching Team
• Voice Teacher
• Choral Director
• Vocal Coach
Who is • Medical Professionals
• Choreographers/Directors
on your • Diet/Nutrition Experts
team?
• Exercise Physiologist/Trainer
• Movement Coaches
• Drama Coach
Don’t have a
complete team
together?
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3. Developing a Successful Team
How can middle and • Local NATS Chapter
high school and • Voice Foundation Activities
college choral
conductors interact • Local voice teacher in your
with independent classroom
and academic voice
teachers in their area • Take a voice lesson yourself
to develop a • Vocal health professionals
successful team?
• World Voice Day – April 16th
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4. What specific
knowledge is
important when
teaching beginning
singers?
What about a voice
pedagogy class
required for all
music education
majors?
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5. Survey of
Voice Pedagogy Requirements*
Voice Pedagogy Vocal Ch.
0 sem
1 sem
2 sem
Requirement
Tech
Ped
# of Universities
37
20
1
2
1
% of Total
61%
33%
1.63%
3.27%
1.63%
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*Conducted at Sixty-­‐One American Universities

6. The Voice Teacher – Choral Conductor
Conflict in Higher Education
• Fantasy or fact?
• Who cares?
• Why worry about this?
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7. Mistructions
What are some common
“mistructions” we hear in
both the choral rehearsal
and voice studio?
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8. Support Issues
• “The trouble with young professional singers
today is that their teachers are no longer
“Sing
teaching them how to use their
diaphragms.” (NY Times music critic)
from the • The diaphragm is exclusively a muscle of
Diaphragm”
inspiration.
• Diaphragmatic pulse produces a hiccup—
probably not the best way to articulate rapid
pitches in melismatic passages.
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9. “More support is better”
MORE support?
BETTER support!
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10. Support Issues
How about:
“Breathe low”
“Breathe easily”
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11. Body Alignment Issues
“Stand up straight.”
“Stand like a soldier.”
“Come to your balance point.”
“Quickly check your alignment.”
“Tuck that chin in.”
“Are your eyes looking out into the
world?”
“Can you sense your neck longer in
the back and shorter in the front?”
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12. Body Alignment Issues
“Suck in your gut.”
“Can you sense your breath when it is
deep and full?”
“Do you sense an expansive, stretching
feeling all around the middle of the
body?”
“Lift your sternum.”
“Do you sense a gentle lifting sensation
under your upper chest? Not forced, but
buoyant . . .”
“Are your shoulders released and free?”
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13. Textual Issues
“Enunciate! I want to hear all
those consonants!”
EVERY consonant?
Final consonants?
Initial consonants?
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14. Clear Choral Diction
Clear choral diction involves a
corporate understanding of the
symbols and their use in a
concise rhythmic context.
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15. International Phonetic Alphabet
(IPA)
• THE internationally recognized standard.
• Valuable for high school students to be
exposed to it prior to college diction
courses.
• Works in both the choral AND studio
settings. It even works with my church
choir.
• Works with various languages and students
are able to see the correlations between the
use of a particular sound in various
languages.
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16. Diction Issues
How about:
“Make sure your final
consonants are clearly
articulated and rhythmically
energized.”
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17. “Everyone sing a pure [i] vowel.”
One size does NOT fit all.
Vowel modification requires
SPECIFIC solutions for each
section.
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18. Formant/Resonance Issues
“I want absolutely no vibrato
throughout this entire piece.”
“Raise your eyebrows so you will
sing in tune.”
“Drop your jaw.”
“Keep your tongue down.”
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19. Formant/Resonance Issues
How about:
“Tune your vowels to optimize
clarity and resonance.”
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20. Stamina of the Voice
“We are going to spend the
entire lesson/rehearsal today
singing everything on [du].”
([di], or [da]/ Pick one!)
Imagine spending an entire
one-­‐hour workout at the gym
performing only squats!
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21. Stamina of the Voice
“We will have a rehearsal Friday
evening from 7-­‐9, Saturday from
10-­‐12 and then a dress rehearsal with
orchestra from 1-­‐3 and our concert
will start at 4.”
• Not uncommon in all-­‐state,
honor choir, workshops, etc.
• Even under ideal circumstances
too much can be harmful.
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22. What is optimal for the voice?
• Opinions vary
• All voices are unique
• Overuse is abuse
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23. Stamina of the Voice
“You’re a trained singer. Can’t
you sing for 1.5 hours and then
sing a concert?”
Can a Major League Pitcher throw
batting practice for two hours and
then pitch a full game?
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24. Warm Ups/Cool Downs
“Warm ups take too much
rehearsal time. The choir
should come ready to sing.”
“Singing the hymns for Sunday
is a good way to warm up.
Once everyone has arrived, we
can cut right to the anthems.”
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25. Warm Ups/Cool Downs
• As necessary to singers as to
athletes
• Best done a cappella
• Warm ups adjust posture of
the voice
• Cool downs assist in returning
to a speech posture
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26. Warm Ups
• 5-­‐7 minutes
• Cover 4 basic steps toward
singing—Relaxation/Posture/
Breathing/Resonance
• Clear goals
• Address technical problems in
literature
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27. Cool Down
• Brief
• Descending glides
• Return choir to speaking
range
• Sustained tone or chord
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28. Questions?
This presentation and a handout
version can be downloaded at
http://acda.nats.org
allen@nats.org
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