Frederic Woodman Root was a vocal pedagogue and writer of the late nineteenth century. He wrote over eighteen books on vocal pedagogy, and numerous articles on singing. Since his death, most of his works have fallen into obscurity. The purpose of this document was to codify the vocal pedagogy of Frederic Woodman Root, discussing his particularly thorough methodology, and to bring his methods back into the public eye. His method is broken down into the various components of basic musicianship, the General Principle, the Three Vowel Forms, registers, breathing, and agility. Examples from Root's exercises are included and discussed.

This qualitative dissertation identifies musical strategies that black theatre singers use when presenting and representing music that integrates western classical vocal aesthetics with stylistic genres of traditionally black forms like gospel, jazz, and blues. This study investigates the use of the voice by five black opera and musical theatre performers and the approaches that they take in the representation of music that requires integrated vocality, which integrates elements from western classical traditions with those from black popular and folk idioms. Data were collected through audio/visual analysis, interviews, and video stimulated recall, presented through narrative analysis. Three emergent themes are explored are as follows: Authenticity is rooted in the singer’s experience of cultural traditions and expression; technique is a means of personal and cultural expression and provides the opportunity for personal liberation, and; a singer positions themself at the nexus of their cultural legacy as a learner, exemplar, advocate, and transmitter of culture. The implications for educators at the tertiary level are discussed in the final chapter. Alignment of technique, personal expression, and identity infuses a singer’s sound with meaning; fostering the black singer’s use of their cultural capital helps them transform their life experiences into artistic interpretation. Representation, the use of signs that link a person to their cultural circles, is an act of re-humanization, combating dehumanization caused by systematic and societal exclusion by placing positive images at the center of their cultural legacy. In higher education, pre-professional training becomes humanizing when expression is viewed as a means of critical understanding of a student’s lived experience. Also, inspiring persons with marginalized identities requires re-centralizing power toward those who can imagine themselves transforming the entertainment industry into a more inclusive artistic space.

For applied teachers of the bel canto method of singing, classical musical theatre repertoire provides an abundant resource of material for teaching the undergraduate baritone voice. Select classic musical theatre repertoire, fitting within the parameters of suitable range, tessitura, duration, and thematic material for an undergraduate baritone, will be used to demonstrate the application of bel canto techniques such as: glottal onsets, the connection between the speaking voice and singing voice, suitable vowels in building the upper range, and teaching sostenuto and legato. This dissertation serves as a guide for teaching sound vocalism through classic musical theatre repertoire.

Choral ensembles often operate as hierarchical institutions where the conductor maintains a position of control over the musical, educational, and social aspects of singing with little or no input from singers. This dissertation reconceptualizes the choral experience as a dialogical process where conventional boundaries between conductor and singers blur. This study was conducted online with a vocal ensemble of ten experienced adult avocational singers and asks how a collaborative spirit may transform the ensemble, individual singers, and the conductor. Using a critical participatory action research approach, we engaged in dialogue and group problem solving as we created collective and individual musical projects over the course of ten rehearsals. The research design emphasized collective reflection and democratic decision making. This research journey is presented through a collection of multimodal data fragments such as musical recordings, practitioner reflections and collated singer reflections, rehearsal transcriptions and narratives, photographs, and poetry. Informed by decolonizing and post-qualitative methodologies, this dissertation highlights the ethical dilemmas, rewards, and uncertainties of both collaborative research and learner-centered approaches to education. In investigating how singers might increase their influence within the ensemble setting, we discovered that singers talking back to the conductor set in motion conditions for a choral paradigm that I describe as back talk choral pedagogy. This pedagogical orientation draws on critical and relational perspectives and is characterized by four interconnected commitments: (a) relational accountability; (b) mutual recognition of knowledge; (c) cultivation of a public square; and (d) responsiveness to input. Singer back talk manifested itself in myriad ways, including the reporting of information or observations, sharing opinions and suggestions, directly contesting the conductor, storytelling, and silence. Singer back talk produced noticeable fruits—a culture of shared vulnerability and trust, unique singer contributions, role fluidity between conductor and singers, and choral communion—which positively impacted the learning environment. This inquiry suggests that by centering relational and ethical aspects of musical collaboration, back talk choral pedagogy has the potential to build flourishing, dynamic musical spaces, increase singer ownership, and challenge conductors to expand their teaching practice.

The question, then, is not. "Should such a study impose limits upon itself?" Rather it is "How shall the boundaries be set?" On the part of the investigator, two considerations might well influence his choice of a specific area in the field of vocal research: (1) Is there a point upon which there exist confusion or, at least doubt, in the mind of the investigator? (2) Is the clearing up of this point of doubt or confusion sufficiently important to the investigator to justify his spending a year trying to solve the problem? In this case the writer has somewhat inadvertently ventured into a reading acquaintance with the theories of Douglas Stanley.1 These theories are in conflict wit his past beliefs and practices. It is claimed that the parctical application of these theories can improve and hasten the development of the vocal organ. If the alleged advantages are actual, the writer should adopt them. A unique treatment of vocal registers seems to be the chief conerstone of Dr. Stanley's system and theories.

The problem with which this research is concerned is the documentation of Allan Rogers Lindquest's vocal teaching techniques and contributions to the field of vocal pedagogy in America from 1974 to 1981. The purpose of this study is the identification and compilation of voice building techniques and vocal exercises that were formulated for vocal pedagogy by Lindquest. As a result of reviewing the literature related to vocal pedagogy, which identifies methods of voice teaching and contrasts pedagogical styles, the research questions developed for this study concern the identification and classification of Lindquest's teaching techniques in instructional areas that include breath and breath support, areas of resonance, vowels and vowel modification, vocal registers, other related areas of vocal production, and the directions for and expected results of special vocal exercises. The sources of data for this study are verbatim transcripts of fifty-six audio tapes of voice lessons conducted by Lindquest with seven students.

Researchers of historic voice pedagogy texts have generally focused their objectives towards reviewing the recommendations of historic voice teachers pertaining to the physiological, acoustical, and musical elements of training singers; however, researchers have given less attention to the evidence of humanistic pedagogical elements presented by historic teachers of voice. This study aims to examine historic resources of vocal pedagogy for qualitative data representing exemplification of or advocacy for character strengths for voice teachers. Additionally, this study explores practical applications of character strengths within the context of the modern applied voice studio. In this context, character strengths are defined as the positive attributes of a personality that influence how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. In this document, historic pedagogical resources (N = 80) represent works published between 1811 and 1975. Using the scientifically validated VIA (Values-in-Action) Classification of Strengths, the relevant data extracted from these resources were categorized first into six virtues – wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. These data were further divided into the subcategories of character strengths based on descriptions located in seminal resources in character strengths research.

This study's purpose was to examine and compare pedagogical opinions and suggestions regarding teaching American art-songs recommended as suitable for beginning voice students. Specific problems were to determine 1. The ten American art-songs most recommended by voice teachers for beginning students, 2. Pedagogical opinions and suggestions about these art-songs, 3. Voice teachers' general opinions and suggestions regarding teaching American artsong, 4. Ways in which their opinions and suggestions were similar and 5. Ways in which their opinions and suggestions were dissimiliar.

Orientadores: Angelo José Fernandes, Adriana do Nascimento Araújo Mendes / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Artes / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-26T01:26:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rheinboldt_JulianaMelleiro_M.pdf: 59530188 bytes, checksum: 397231451c0292e604327e4d1e95519d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: No Brasil, poucos materiais têm sido produzidos a respeito do preparo vocal para coros, especialmente, infantis. Visando suprir tal carência, a presente pesquisa aborda de forma ampla a proposta do maestro americano Henry Leck e relata sua aplicabilidade na realidade brasileira do "Coral da Gente" do Instituto Baccarelli, grupo regido pela autora. No primeiro capítulo, detalhamos os pressupostos pedagógicos e de preparo vocal do maestro Henry Leck, segundo o manual "Vocal techniques for the young singer: an approach to teaching vocal technique utilizing visualization, movement, and aural modeling", o livro "Creating artistry through choral excellence" ¿ ambos de autoria do maestro ¿ e bibliografias vigentes sobre voz infantil, preparo vocal e pedagogia coral. No segundo capítulo, analisamos e descrevemos os aspectos musicais e técnico-vocais dos exercícios que compõem o manual e também relatamos como os vocalizes foram aplicados no decorrer da pesquisa com o "Coral da Gente" e na prática docente da pesquisadora. Os processos de aprendizagem, estratégias didáticas e adaptações da proposta feitas na pesquisa de campo, encontram-se em um DVD anexo. Por fim, refletimos sobre a relevância da proposta de Leck e como ela pode ser mais bem aproveitada em nosso país, respeitando as especificidades de nossa realidade e priorizando um preparo vocal para coro infantil que seja efetivo, consistente e artístico. Este trabalho destina-se a regentes, preparadores vocais, educadores musicais e demais interessados nos assuntos abordados / Abstract: In Brazil, few materials specifically geared towards developing vocal techniques for children¿s choirs are being produced. Aiming to fill this need, this research conducts a wide-ranging analysis of the North American director Henry Leck¿s vocal pedagogy and how it was applied within a Brazilian reality with the "Coral da Gente" of the Baccarelli Institute, where the researcher is choral director. In the first chapter, we detail the pedagogical and vocal basis of Leck¿s methodology, based on the materials "Vocal techniques for the young singer: an approach to teaching vocal technique utilizing visualization, movement, and aural modeling", the book "Creating artistry through choral excellence", and other current literature about children¿s voices, vocal techniques and choral pedagogy. In the second chapter, we describe and analyze the vocal exercise techniques from Leck¿s materials musically, vocally and pedagogically and we also describe how this methodology was used with the "Coral da Gente" of the Baccarelli Institute and in the teaching practices of the researcher, highlighting the learning processes, successes and adaptations necessary. The finding results are available in the accompanying DVD. Finally, we reflect on the relevance of this proposal and how it might best be taken advantage of in Brazil, respecting the particular characteristics of local reality and practicing effective, consistent and artistic vocal techniques for children¿s choir. This research is addressed to choral directors, singing teachers and musical educators / Mestrado / Fundamentos Teoricos / Mestra em Música

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (DMus)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Music / unrestricted