Problem: Performing on Broadway is a challenging profession. Physical therapy is provided to help treat and prevent physical injuries. However, voice services are not typically provided, despite the grueling vocal demands placed on musical theatre performers. Methods: This constructivist grounded theory study looks at the phenomenon of vocal coaching in Broadway musicals with the aim of understanding the role more thoroughly. There are three phases of this study. Phase one is a survey with actors who had a vocal coach provided to them during the run of a Broadway show. Phase two is interviews with people who have been production vocal coaches on Broadway shows. Finally, phase three is a survey with producers and general managers of Broadway shows. Each phases’ data was coded using constant comparison to identify themes based on in vivo and thematic coding. Results: Three frameworks were constructed based on the data. The first identifies the skills required to vocal coach on Broadway. This framework could serve as the basis for curriculum development or could assist producers when hiring a vocal coach for a Broadway show. The second framework establishes the habilitation specialist as the leader of the voice team that also includes a laryngologist and a rehabilitation specialist. Performers could move between each specialist as needed. Finally, the last framework identifies the specific steps each voice team member plays as performers move from performance to medical care and back to performance. All three frameworks enhance our understanding of the role of the Broadway production vocal coach and will hopefully create pathways for more production vocal coaching in the future.

An assessment of the standard voice instructor or performer collection of printed music would likely reveal numerous operatic repertoire volumes in anthology format appropriated to the primary four voice categories. However, thorough investigation divulges little in comparable printed material accessible to the countertenor. This scarcity of systemized collections is especially evident in the territory of comprehensive countertenor operatic repertoire. This project fills that present void by creating a compilation of sixteen countertenor arias drawn from various styles and historical periods for suggested application in studio instruction and performance. Perhaps, a more meaningful project intent is the presentation of a beneficial graded literature continuum resource for the studio teacher who instructs a countertenor in various stages of vocal development. For this purpose, each of the 16 arias is categorized into four difficulty levels based on considerations of range, tessitura, coloratura demands, rhythm, sustained phrase length, tonality, melodic considerations/overall musical difficulty, accompaniment support, and ornamentation requirements. The project also addresses common issues of pedagogy and ornamentation for voice teacher consideration when instructing a developing countertenor.

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Syftet med denna studie är att få en större inblick i, och förståelse av, min egen instuderings- och interpretationsprocess, samt att utveckla densamma för att bli friare i mitt musikaliska uttryck. Jag hämtar inspiration från litteratur som beskriver Konstantin Stanislavskijs metoder samt annan litteratur som bland annat behandlar ämnena instudering, interpretation, inlevelse och kroppens kommunikation. Därefter utforskar jag de metoderna och verktygen i mitt eget arbete med repertoar. Processen dokumenteras genom loggbok samt videodokumentation av mina övningstillfällen. Resultatet visar att en detaljerad inre scenografi ökar min förmåga att vara närvarande i musiken och därmed sjunga mer uttrycksfullt. Jag upplever även att sångtekniken kommer mer naturligt och det blir lättare att sjunga. / The purpose of this independent project is to get a greater insight in, and understanding of, my own process of learning and interpret songs, as well as develop it towards greater freedom in my musical expression. I examine literature on subjects such as Konstantin Stanislavskij’s methods as well as literature regarding learning process, interpretation, ability to imagine and physical communication. After reading, I explore the methods and tools when working with my own repertoire. The process is documented through a diary and video recordings from practicing. The results show that a detailed inner scenography increases my ability to stay present in the music and sing with more expression. I also experience that the singing technique comes to me more naturally and it becomes easier to sing.

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The purpose of this collective case study was to explore the significance of choral singing for choristers and conductors participating in a national extra-curricular schools choral singing programme in South Africa. Understanding the experiences of choristers and conductors can contribute to principals, administrators of singing programmes, parents and conductors supporting choral singing activities. The method of inquiry was a qualitative collective case study with probing semi-structured open-ended questions to better understand the value and meaning of choral singing. Sampling comprised six purposefully chosen choirs, consisting of three primary and three secondary schools, portraying the unique socio-economic environment found in an agricultural rural town in central South Africa. Twenty-five participants were carefully selected, including 19 choristers and 6 conductors, 9 males and 16 females aged between 10 and 62 years. Eight themes emerged, namely choir singing as a way of living, music-related experiences, learning, growth, bridging, bonding and belonging, wellbeing, the latter including resilience, self-worth, positive affect, and singers’ spiritual experiences. Suggestions for further research include relationships of choral singing with full personhood and spiritual experiences. Certain physical aspects related to rehearsals, specifically regarding fatigue and back pain after standing through long rehearsals, could be investigated further. / MA (Musicology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The purpose of this collective case study was to explore the significance of choral singing for choristers and conductors participating in a national extra-curricular schools choral singing programme in South Africa. Understanding the experiences of choristers and conductors can contribute to principals, administrators of singing programmes, parents and conductors supporting choral singing activities. The method of inquiry was a qualitative collective case study with probing semi-structured open-ended questions to better understand the value and meaning of choral singing. Sampling comprised six purposefully chosen choirs, consisting of three primary and three secondary schools, portraying the unique socio-economic environment found in an agricultural rural town in central South Africa. Twenty-five participants were carefully selected, including 19 choristers and 6 conductors, 9 males and 16 females aged between 10 and 62 years. Eight themes emerged, namely choir singing as a way of living, music-related experiences, learning, growth, bridging, bonding and belonging, wellbeing, the latter including resilience, self-worth, positive affect, and singers’ spiritual experiences. Suggestions for further research include relationships of choral singing with full personhood and spiritual experiences. Certain physical aspects related to rehearsals, specifically regarding fatigue and back pain after standing through long rehearsals, could be investigated further. / MA (Musicology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Denne studien handler om fenomenet øvingsstrategier i sang. Hensikten med studien er ut fra en empirisk psykologisk fenomenologi, å utforske hva noen lærere i sang retter sin bevissthet mot når det gjelder øvingsstrategier. Studiens forskningsspørsmål er: ”Hvilke strategier erfares som betydningsfulle for sangøving?” og ”Hvilken rolle anser sangpedagoger å ha i forhold til sine elevers øvingsstrategier?”. Tidligere forskning om øvingsstrategier viser at det finnes stor variasjon i hva øving kan innebære, og at det ikke finnes én strategi som fungerer, men en variasjon av flere gir best resultat. Oppgaven har sitt teoretiske utgangspunkt i Empirisk Fenomenologisk Psykologi, der forskeren er ute etter respondentenes subjektive opplevelser og erfaringer i forhold til studiens tema. Undersøkelsen har blitt gjennomført med halvstrukturerte kvalitative intervjuer av etablerte og nyutdannede sanglærere fra både Norge og Sverige. Resultatet er delt inn i meningsmønstre, og de tre store psykologiske temaene selvstendighet, struktur og bevissthet rammer inn respondentenes uttalelser. Respondentene mener ut fra subjektive erfaringer at gode øvingsstrategier bygger på sangerens selvstendighet (jeg velger å øve), struktur (hvordan øvingen ser ut) og bevissthet (jeg gjør det jeg har planlagt å gjøre). I diskusjonen viser det seg at respondentenes uttalelser bekrefter mye av resultatene i den tidligere forskningen som presenteres i bakgrunnskapittelet. / This study is about practice strategies in singing. The purpose of this study is, from a empiric phenomenologic psychology, to investigate what some singing teachers direct their awareness toward when it comes to practice strategies in singing. The studys research questions are: ”Witch strategies are experienced as meaningful in singing practicing?” and ”What role consider singing teachers they have in relation to their students practice strategies?”. Prior research in practice strategies shows a great variation in what practice involves, and there is not only one functioning strategy, but a variation of several strategies provides the best outcome. The study has its theoretical basis in empiric phenomenologic psychology, where the researcher search for the respondents subejctive experiences to the subject of the study. The survey has been conducted with semi structured qualitative interviews of established and newly educated singing teachers from Norway and Sweden. The result is divided into meaning patterns, and the three psychological topics independence, structure and awareness frames the respondents statements. The respondents thinks from subjective experiences that good practice strategies are built on the singers independence (i choose to practice), structure (how the practice situation looks like) and awareness (I do what I planned to do). In the discussion it appears that the respondents statements confirms much of the result from the prior research presented in the background chapter.

Thesis (MScEng (Electrical and Electronic Engineering))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / A singing transcription system transforming acoustic input into MIDI note sequences is presented. The transcription system is incorporated into a pronunciation-independent sight-singing tutor system, which provides note-level feedback on the accuracy with which each note in a sequence has been sung. Notes are individually modeled with hidden Markov models (HMMs) using untuned pitch and delta-pitch as feature vectors. A database consisting of annotated passages sung by 26 soprano subjects was compiled for the development of the system, since no existing data was available. Various techniques that allow efficient use of a limited dataset are proposed and evaluated. Several HMM topologies are also compared, in analogy with approaches often used in the field of automatic speech recognition. Context-independent note models are evaluated first, followed by the use of explicit transition models to better identify boundaries between notes. A non-repetitive grammar is used to reduce the number of insertions. Context-dependent note models are then introduced, followed by context-dependent transition models. The aim in introducing context-dependency is to improve transition region modeling, which in turn should increase note transcription accuracy, but also improve the time-alignment of the notes and the transition regions. The final system is found to be able to transcribe sung passages with around 86% accuracy. Finally, a note-level sight-singing tutor system based on the singing transcription system is presented and a number of note sequence scoring approaches are evaluated.