Manuel Garcia 11 (1805-1906) is perhaps the greatest teacher of voice in history, and his approach, stated in A Complete Treatise on the Art of Singing, Parts One (1841) and Two (1847), became one of the principal methods of vocal instruction during his time. By tracing Garcia 11's methodology, based on the Italian Schools of Singing and be1 canto opera, it will become clear that his type of voice building holds many of the keys needed to unlock the voices of singers today. Analysis of Garcia II's vocal treatises, combined with first hand research conducted with faculty throughout three prominent Canadian university voice programs, will further substantiate the claim that Garcia 11 is a pivotal figure within the landscape of vocal pedagogy, also putting to rest several misconceptions (i.e. vocal onset and the coup de la glotte, and vocal registers) concerning his teachings. Respected internationally for his contributions to the worlds of classical voice and opera, performance practice, voice science, and pedagogy during his lifetime, Garcia II's theories on vocal production remain intact in current vocal pedagogy, despite shifts in the paradigms of musical, cultural, social and vocal aesthetics.

The object of this study was to compile a list of solo literature for beginning college voice students and analyze these solos for pedagogical and performance purposes. There is no lack of printed material on the subjects of singing and voice culture. But it is not readily accessible to teachers since it is extremely diversified and rather diffusely distributed throughout a variety of sources, such as books, periodicals, and scientific papers. Several lists and books containing songs for beginners have been compiled.

The diversity present within K-12 classrooms in the United States presents teachers with students from many backgrounds and musical traditions. Traditional undergraduate music education programs which prioritize the Western canon provide little opportunity for students to address diversity, both in pedagogy and in content. Prospective music teachers in the choral or general music areas experience vocal education that focuses primarily on the classical bel canto vocal technique. This education fails to prepare teachers to teach students from diverse backgrounds and musical traditions. Because music plays an important role in adolescents’ identity formation, teachers who are unprepared to recognize and teach diverse vocal styles may unknowingly alienate or silence their students. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of how two groups of music students, in early adolescence, and from a diverse urban public school, perceive the singing and the music teaching in their general music classrooms. By discovering their perspectives, I hoped to shed light on the ways in which music teaching influenced their musical, vocal, and cultural identities, particularly during the malleable time of adolescence. Over the course of three months, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 14 students and two teachers as well as twice-weekly classroom observations. Three research questions informed the data collection process: (1) How do students in a diverse urban public school describe their own singing and musical background? (2) How do they describe the vocal (and music) teaching in their general music class? (3) How do they describe an effective or ideal music teacher? The interview data and field notes from the observations were coded, organized, and analyzed into the following categories: (1) Music and Self Expression; (2) Music and Family; (3) Culturally Congruent and Incongruent Teaching; (4) Student Vocal Profiles; (5) If They Could Teach the Music Class, How Would They Teach? The overarching conclusion from this study is that the congruence or incongruence of a teacher’s musical epistemology — “the norms, logic, values, and way of knowing” music (Domínguez, 2017, p. 233) — along with the musical epistemologies of her students was the primary factor for student exclusion or empowerment in the classroom.

The integrated method proposed and worked out consisted of integration of vocal and voice-speech teaching techniques as well as integration of the empirical and mechanical methods of teaching. Balance and co-ordination between external and intra-pharyngeal articulation were considered as a framework for integration of various methods of teaching. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), along with spectral analysis, was used to demonstrate the work of intrapharyngeal muscles while singing and to assess the quality of vocalization. 54 MRI expositions were generated for the set of vowels, pitches and modes, of which over 400 MRI images were synthesized and measured. When switching from amateur to professional way of singing, radical transformations of size, shape and to some extent, changes in the surface properties (density, porosity) of muscular tissue of intra-pharyngeal cavities were observed. New acquired MR images clearly showed that the axial section of the back cavity appears indeed much larger in the professional mode than in the amateur mode. Statistical analysis showed that this difference is statistically significant. It is shown that the work on muscles development and use of mental images/imagination must progress in close collaboration. The strategy for the gradual mastering technique of the opening of the vocal tract was suggested, and developed. A new approach was developed to be applied for students to get stable repeatability when they work with mental images. Obtained MR images were used as a part of visualization method during experimental work with students. MR images helped students to create proper mental images. The theory of tangible images was suggested and then successfully applied in the form of experimental work with students. Experimental work with students of the ethnic group Maori was conducted. This experimental work with Maori students demonstrated that the integrated method of teaching helped to overcome some physiological and psychological specific problems which require special techniques of training. Case studies were carried out to assess individual and students' group perceptions, along with interview techniques and a survey questionnaire. The results of the survey are presented graphically, and statistical processing of the data was performed. The results of the survey are interpreted and discussed.

The typical high school choral director of today is expected to know a great deal about the various types of music that exist as well as the appropriate techniques to create those genres in such a way that their student’s performances are realistic and stylistically accurate. What most undergraduate students are taught in pursuit of a choral music education degree misses the mark in that the show choir genre is nearly ignored throughout the curriculum. Yet, the nation’s new teachers are expected to strike out into the world of teaching and often find themselves in very large, competitive programs with the show choir at the very center. This study begins by identifying a number of questions that a first year teacher with no show choir directing experiences might ask, identifying the “how and why” of the daunting task of creating an artistic product in this new American modern choral genre. These questions also served as a guide to formulate a profile of the ideal show choir director. Then utilizing the established profile of the ideal show choir director, several experts – those who have an established reputation for a high level of success – were interviewed and their responses were documented, studied, and organized into categories that correspond with those found in the profile of the ideal show choir director. The correlation of these elements provided an in-­‐depth look into the processes of these successful directors that have proven to be effective over the course of many years, giving the reader a revealing look into how to build a program from the beginning, and to see it through to the end with ultimate success. As young teachers attempt to create musical experiences that are appealing to their students, they often find themselves competing with an idea that singing in choir should be like what can be seen on television in shows such as GLEE or American Idol, and other similar programs. While this is not an entirely real reflection of what choral music education is about, there is some truth to what is shown, and to a degree, what can be done. The focus of this project is to provide our new teachers a knowledge base to draw from that can assist them in their own development toward becoming a truly well balanced musician and educator. This project can assist these young teachers in developing into those who have knowledge of the show choir art form, and know how to teach the various techniques necessary to engage students and keep them interested in singing choral music. / Access to dissertation permanently restricted to Ball State community only / School of Music

American musical theater songs are popular with the general public, and many college and university voice students are familiar with them. Some voice teachers also use musical theater repertoire to varying degrees in voice instruction. Such familiarity and interest lend significance to this study of the songs in a teaching context. There is therefore a need for the establishment of repertoire-selection guidelines and pedagogical analysis of selected musical theater songs so that additional teachers will become well informed.Following the introduction in Chapter One, the results of a survey sent to one hundred members of the National Association of Teachers of Singing are presented. The survey posed questions concerning the current use of musical theater songs. Among other things, the results revealed strong interest in the analysis and application of this literature in the voice studio. Guidelines for repertoire selection (also used by the author in selecting songs that address specific aspects of singing) are introduced in Chapter Three, along with a description of analytical procedures. Chapters Four through Eight include summaries of the analyses and suggested applications in the voice studio:Developing the ability to sing longer phrases"You'll Never Walk Alone" (Rodgers)"Where Is Love?" (Bart)"After the Ball" (Harris)• Developing the ability to sing wide intervals in a legato fashion "Lost in the Stars" (Weill)"Warm All Over" (Loesser)"Green Finch and Linnet Bird" (Sondheim)•Developing the ability to articulate words rapidly "My Darling, My Darling" (Loesser) "Seventy-Six Trombones" (Willson) "Soliloquy" (Rodgers)•Developing the ability to move smoothly between registers "Someone to Watch Over Me" (Gershwin) "Where or When" (Rodgers) "O1' Man River" (Kern)•Managing a large range and mature quality "Maria" (Bernstein)"Memory" (Lloyd Webber) "One More Kiss" (Sondheim)Conclusions in Chapter Nine include: (1) teachers should judge musical theater songs by the same criteria as other songs; (2) musical theater literature offers useful material for students who are striving to develop certain aspects of singing; (3) analyses of selected songs demonstrate their suitability for pedagogical use; and (4) there is a need for additional critical analysis of musical theater literature. / School of Music

The primary purpose of this study was to clarify the underlying principles of singers' resonance and to examine some of the pedagogical practices associated with the traditional schools of singing and contemporary voice science. The secondary purpose was to determine which principles should be retained, discarded, or altered.An examination of the voice pedagogy literature revealed recurrent references to resonance. This implied that the concept is of some importance to voice pedagogy. Singers' resonance has, however, been presented in diverse contexts indicating that (1) it has a number of denotations and connotations, (2) it is sometimes used ambiguously, or inaccurately, and (3) a further investigation of the topic might yield clarity to the field of voice pedagogy.It was determined that though there are many important voice pedagogy methodologies, classically trained professional concert and opera singers of international reputation are taught to optimize singers' resonance both in order to be heard and to produce the accepted tone. It was found that those precepts which are based upon acoustic laws should be conserved and those which are not should be abandoned, altered, or when appropriate, acknowledged as metaphorical. / School of Music

No description available.

The integrated method proposed and worked out consisted of integration of vocal and voice-speech teaching techniques as well as integration of the empirical and mechanical methods of teaching. Balance and co-ordination between external and intra-pharyngeal articulation were considered as a framework for integration of various methods of teaching. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), along with spectral analysis, was used to demonstrate the work of intrapharyngeal muscles while singing and to assess the quality of vocalization. 54 MRI expositions were generated for the set of vowels, pitches and modes, of which over 400 MRI images were synthesized and measured. When switching from amateur to professional way of singing, radical transformations of size, shape and to some extent, changes in the surface properties (density, porosity) of muscular tissue of intra-pharyngeal cavities were observed. New acquired MR images clearly showed that the axial section of the back cavity appears indeed much larger in the professional mode than in the amateur mode. Statistical analysis showed that this difference is statistically significant. It is shown that the work on muscles development and use of mental images/imagination must progress in close collaboration. The strategy for the gradual mastering technique of the opening of the vocal tract was suggested, and developed. A new approach was developed to be applied for students to get stable repeatability when they work with mental images. Obtained MR images were used as a part of visualization method during experimental work with students. MR images helped students to create proper mental images. The theory of tangible images was suggested and then successfully applied in the form of experimental work with students. Experimental work with students of the ethnic group Maori was conducted. This experimental work with Maori students demonstrated that the integrated method of teaching helped to overcome some physiological and psychological specific problems which require special techniques of training. Case studies were carried out to assess individual and students' group perceptions, along with interview techniques and a survey questionnaire. The results of the survey are presented graphically, and statistical processing of the data was performed. The results of the survey are interpreted and discussed.

This is a research project based on the author’s experience of more than 20 years as conductor of the Eastern Cape Childrens Choir. It investigates the effectiveness of technical exercises - with special reference to selected “warm-up” exercises - in creating a superior choral tone in the children’s choir. The investigation is motivated by the fact that it is an ongoing challenge to effectively overcome problems with intonation and poor choral tone, problems which are mostly caused by lack of attention to pure vowel formation. Toward this end, a practical “tool box” of vocal exercises for the children’s choir is ultimately proposed. The toolbox is based on one single exercise with different variations. Each variation is designed to address multiple vocal needs and to correct vocal production during singing. In this manner a great many technical aspects are covered with the simplest of means and in the shortest possible time, bearing in mind that the rehearsal session allows limited time to focus on such matters to the exclusion of all else.