How to Practice Singing, Part 4: Learning Repertoire

The process by which we learn repertoire is crucial in communicating the message of the piece. It is also crucial to learn repertoire in such a way that we don't develop bad habits or "baggage" along the way.

W. Stephen Smith, from The Naked Voice.

The practice of "chunking up" vocal technique is also essential for learning repertoire. Learning repertoire also requires that once you're done chunking it up, you put it back together again in an intelligent way.

The more excited you are about the piece you're about to tackle, the more powerful the urge will be to just sing through it. 

Be strong and resist that temptation! 

If you want to learn your music in a way that will lead to expressive and technically proficient performances, start by breaking the task down into manageable components and addressing them in a systematic way. 

Take It Apart

There is more than one way to go about this, so create a structure that works for you. One fine model is the five-step process Steve recommends in his book:

• Step One: Study the Text
• Step Two: Speak the Text
• Step Three: Speak the Text in Rhythm
• Step Four: Get the Pitches in Your Ear
• Step Five: Sing It

Finding a process that works for you may take some time and exploration. Just like vocal technique, there is really a finite number of elements to learning your repertoire and it's important to ensure that you don't neglect any of them. These elements include:

• Pitches
• Rhythms
• Breath management & choreography
• Dynamics, tempo & other expressive markings
• Performance practice & style considerations
• Character/drama
• Text
• Diction/phonemes

Notice that I distinguish between character/drama, text, and diction/phonemes. They're very closely related but also distinct. 

Character/Drama

I'm in complete agreement with Steve that your first step should be to study the text, in the context of dramatic and character development. If the composer did their job well, you will discover clear dramatic motivation for everything in the score. Internalize the dramatic content and remain in contact with it as you learn the music, and not only will you be able to sing it in an emotionally authentic way but you'll have the right visceral motivation to sustain climactic moments, understand why you're sometimes asked to breathe in the middle of a word, burst into a cascade of coloratura, etc. Phrases that appear technically daunting on the page often become a lot easier if you invest them fully with dramatic intent, so you may as well begin there.

Text

If you want to communicate effectively, it's obviously important that you study the sentence structure and internal poetic rhythms of your text. If you're singing in a foreign language then you need to understand what every single word means as well as the grammar. Prepare your score with a good word-for-word translation. It's also a good idea to create your own idiomatic translation, i.e. how you would actually express the situation with the real vocabulary you use every day. 

Diction/Phonemes

Whether you're singing in a foreign language or in your native tongue, I highly recommend writing in your IPA symbols and then reading them rather than the printed song text. These phonemes are the actual sounds that carry your voice. They represent a sequence of movements comprising the internal choreography of how to get through each phrase. Design the best sequence of movements you can to articulate the right sounds with resonance and ease. As a whole, the phonemes deliver the text and express your character, but it's essential to consider them separately as you apply your technique to your repertoire. 

Put It Back Together

Have you ever learned a piece meticulously, phrase by phrase, until it feels like you've mastered everything in it…then taken it to rehearsal or to your coach and find that you can't even really get through it, or at least not with the virtuosity you feel entitled to? 

If you've had this experience, it is probably because you did not plan and practice your breaths adequately. 

Breathing takes time. Composers know this and expect you to take the time to breathe, so they don't always notate rests where the breaths should take place. Conductors and pianists also expect you to take the time to breathe. Yet singers still often feel like there is never enough time to breathe. 

There is always enough time to breathe. 

How much time is enough time? Whatever it takes. 

Take the time to release each phrase, then inhale and prepare for the next phrase. 

Your preparation needs to include not only whatever breath-management strategies are required for your technique but also, perhaps more significantly, dramatically and intellectually committing to the content of the following phrase before you start singing it. 

In conversation, people don't run out of breath in the middle of a sentence because in speech, the quality of our inhalation is influenced by what we know we're about to say next. It's an unconscious reflex. Don't underestimate this aspect of communication, because it also holds true for singing. If you are committed to what you're about to say, your body knows how to prepare to get it across, including what it's going to take to express yourself on high and low notes, staccato and sustained phrases. Work your technique, but allow your instincts to do their part too. 

If you need another breath, take another breath. The audience will always forgive you for breathing, so long as you can integrate your breath into the drama of the moment. But they will never forgive you for obviously running out of breath. As you mark your breaths into your score, add and practice some optional ones so that you will be able to take them convincingly should the need arise. 

Conservatory training programs promote the idea that you are all supposed to be crackerjack sight-readers, but I am frankly against most sight-singing instruction for singers pursuing solo careers. You certainly need the music theory and keyboard skills to be able to teach yourself your own repertoire and study an open score. But why would a solo singer ever be called upon to sight-read? It just promotes bad singing. Even if you have perfect pitch and excellent rhythmic skills, no one can read through a piece the first time with solid technique, perfect vowel definition, clear diction and language comprehension, and dramatic intent. And if you're familiar with the piece from recordings and performances, it's even worse! Your interpretation may be excessively influenced by other singers, incorporating their musical choices without your own original dramatic motivation and reproducing mistakes from their performances.

Don't try to learn everything at once. Have a strategy for breaking it down and putting it together. 

Comments

[Christinesvoice.blogspot.com]

Very interesting topic, Claudia!

On a side note, I disagree with you about sight-reading. I think honing those skills allows your brain to soak up rhythms, tempi, melodies and harmonies more efficiently - like a 'musician' and not a 'singer' - so that you can quickly move on to the next steps of learning repertoire.

I failed to thoroughly learn the first piece of the opera I'm in now, and during stage rehearsals, we just mowed over it without really picking it apart. The result was a well-rehearsed poorly sung duet, which lines up my voice incorrectly for the rest of the evening. I spend most of my time thinking about breathing and technique, trying to save my voice instead of enjoying my show. It's a rough night. I hope to use the next three days off to re-examine that opening piece so I can get it in my voice, in hopes of making the rest of the show run like a well-oiled machine!

Hmmmm... that might be my next blog article: Rehearsing insecurities.
Cheers, cg

[Claudia Friedlander]

Hi Christine,

I knew that my condemnation of sight-singing would raise some controversy! Your point is spot on.

It's easy for me to complain - I was a clarinetist for many years before I took up singing, and so I developed essential music-reading skills without the need for a sight-singing class. I don't know what it's like to not have an instrumental background.

We all do need the means to soak up and internalize all that musical notation swiftly.

However, I know so many voice students, undergraduate and graduate alike, who are required to attend sight-singing classes that leave their voices completely tied up in knots because they do not have a secure enough technique for it to be otherwise. Best case scenario is that they're just toast for the rest of the day and can start over again in the morning. Worst case scenario is that they have to go from their sight-singing class immediately to perform on a master class, rehearse an opera role, or even sing an audition in that state. They do poorly, suffer the consequences, and then think there's something wrong with them for not being able to get through the class without the negative impact.

I sincerely doubt my own ability to get through a sight-singing class unscathed. It's hard!

So I just wish there were another way for singers to acquire these skills without this kind of suffering.

Choral singers certainly need strong sight-singing skills, and when you first begin your training there is no way to know how important a role choral singing is going to play in your life.

But this raises other issues. Being required to sing in choral ensembles is also very problematic for many solo singers trying to build a strong technical foundation. The requirement to sing in tune, sometimes softly, sometimes with a straight tone, sometimes in a range you would not normally be singing in, can be really detrimental.

Are we requiring undergraduates to sing in chorus for their own good, or so that there will be a chorus?

Some of the very finest Young Artist Programs require participants to serve as opera choristers while providing invaluable training and career development resources. This isn't going to change. We need to be able to sight-read and sing in choruses from time to time.

I can see no solution to either the sight-singing or choral participation requirements of formal music education, but I wish everyone - music departments, voice teachers, and singers - could be more mindful of the potential problems involved.

Have fun polishing up your duet & hope it's smooth sailing on the next run!