How do non-vocal practices function within sequences? This thesis addresses silence and gesture in the context of social interaction involving human participants through the framework of conversation analysis (CA) to answer this question. Although it is certainly possible, and indeed common, for gestures and other non-vocal practices to occur during talk, this thesis focuses on those that occur without accompanying talk. In order to understand the role of non-vocal practices in this environment, we must first understand the role of silence (or the absence of talk) in participants’ interactions. How does silence function within the sequential environment? How does context affect how silence and nonvocal practices are treated by participants? If one organisation (or aspect of an organisation) is affected, are all organisations (or aspects of that organisation) affected? I draw on psychological, sociological, and linguistic literature to show why silence and gesture are related in interactional research and how this affects conversation analytic methodology. The work that forms this thesis brings together cross-cultural perspectives and technical advances with respect to silence and non-vocal practices both individually and when they occur together (i.e. non-vocal practices without accompanying talk). I begin with a broad overview of research and theories of gesture and silence before discussing CA as a method and its relationship to silence and non-vocal practices. The empirical studies begin with silence in relation to culture and context and issues in analysing and transcribing silence. I then examine how one sequential environment, in which psychotherapy clients are obligated to respond by orienting to the therapeutic agenda, has a preference structure that is very different from ordinary conversation. In this sequential environment, silence and elaboration are marks of preferred responses rather than dispreferred. The preference structure is made particularly visible through accountability that becomes relevant when a client’s response is produced promptly following the therapist’s overtly therapeutic action. Silence in this environment contributes Inaction and Silent Action in Interaction 3 to clients’ performance of sincerity and participation in the psychotherapeutic process, and non-vocal practices during longer silences can show that the client remains engaged with the sequence. Many authors have accounted for silences that are not treated by participants as problematic by applying constructs such as ‘continuing states of incipient talk’. This construct, however, is variably used and has not been developed through empirical examination. It does not adequately explain interactions that involve silence or gesture, as I show through a content analysis and systematic review. After recommending that researchers engage with participant orientations in environments that differ from canonical conversations, I describe an environment that is commonly thought of as constituting a ‘continuing state of incipient talk’ – television-watching. I show that contrary to some claims about ‘incipient talk’ environments, although response relevance is relaxed, both sequence organisation and turn-taking are strongly oriented to by participants. Compared to ordinary conversation, television-watching also involves more gestures and other nonvocal practices without accompanying talk. I examine how non-vocal practices without accompanying talk are used in interaction. As responsive actions, gestures can be used without accompanying talk as a resource for doing sensitive interactional work, particularly in places where giving offence might be a concern. Non-vocal practices can also be used in other situations to accomplish sequential actions that could otherwise be spoken. These uses of non-vocal practices create methodological questions for conversation analysis, which has traditionally focused on the talk of participants. By clearly distinguishing between actions and turns (two classic CA concepts) and examining the timing of non-vocal practices, I show that non-vocal practices can have a clearly defined role in sequence organisation. CA can thus be a useful method for examining the entire situation of social interaction, including non-vocal practices.

Recording as a self-analyzing tool is something that has been researched and appraised within the musical field. This study will examine how one-take recordings at the end of personal vocal practice sessions can be utilized as an implement for self-analyzation which then will serve as basis for planning personal practices and future goalsetting. Two vocal teachers were interviewed for further insights and ideas, which then also birthed the idea to create a practice sheet where each part of the project was documented. The practice sheet includes three sections: recording analysis, planning and goalsetting and practice journal. A four-week practice period was planned where each practice would end with one-take recordings of the two songs that were chosen to be rehearsed, thoughts and experiences were immediately recorded in a practice journal. Recordings were analyzed and based on the analysis, a plan and new goal settings for the coming practice were formed. This way of structuring practice may help to work and practice independently as a singer and performer.

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.

A pesquisa teve como objetivo analisar e discutir a relevância de práticas vocais lúdicas na formação de estudantes de licenciatura e bacharelado do curso de Graduação em Teatro da Escola de Belas Artes da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Neste estudo, os jogos tradicionais e a reflexão sobre esses procedimentos foram os propiciadores dessa experiência formativa. Tivemos como fundamentos os princípios da formatividade; o conceito e a estrutura do jogo como fenômeno cultural; a vocalidade originada na unidade psicofísica do sujeito e no meio social em que ele vive; os aspectos da musicalidade presentes no jogo e no teatro e a sala de aula universitária como espaço privilegiado para a construção do conhecimento. Diante dos dados, observamos que a situação lúdica tradicional contribuiu para a formação vocal dos estudantes, levando-os à compreensão e à apropriação dos parâmetros sonoros, de atitudes técnicas na emissão de voz e na exploração de suas potencialidades vocais durante o jogo e as cenas em sala de aula. O jogo, ao compor o quadro de atividades na formação em teatro, amplia e diversifica as experiências dos estudantes, contribuindo para a compreensão e a apropriação de procedimentos vocais, tão necessários à atuação profissional desses sujeitos / The research aimed to analyze and discuss the relevance of some playful vocal practices in the education of students in the graduation course of theater at the Fine Arts School in the Federal University of Minas Gerais. It was supported by some reflection on traditional games and their procedures. We have based our analysis on the following principles: formativeness, the concept and structure of the game as a cultural phenomenon, the vocality originated from the psychophysical unity of a person and his/her social environment, the musical aspects of the game and the drama studies, as well as the university classroom as a privileged space for the construction of knowledge. From the data analyzed, we have concluded that the playful aspect has contributed a lot on training the voice of such students. They could understand and appropriate the sound parameters, some technical attitudes in the use of their voice and in the exploration of their vocal potentiality during the activities involving games and scenes in the classroom. The playful vocal games, as part of the training activities in the theater curriculum, expand and diversify the students experiences, contributing to their understanding and appropriation of some vocal procedures, which are much necessaries for the professional performance of those people

A pesquisa teve como objetivo analisar e discutir a relevância de práticas vocais lúdicas na formação de estudantes de licenciatura e bacharelado do curso de Graduação em Teatro da Escola de Belas Artes da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Neste estudo, os jogos tradicionais e a reflexão sobre esses procedimentos foram os propiciadores dessa experiência formativa. Tivemos como fundamentos os princípios da formatividade; o conceito e a estrutura do jogo como fenômeno cultural; a vocalidade originada na unidade psicofísica do sujeito e no meio social em que ele vive; os aspectos da musicalidade presentes no jogo e no teatro e a sala de aula universitária como espaço privilegiado para a construção do conhecimento. Diante dos dados, observamos que a situação lúdica tradicional contribuiu para a formação vocal dos estudantes, levando-os à compreensão e à apropriação dos parâmetros sonoros, de atitudes técnicas na emissão de voz e na exploração de suas potencialidades vocais durante o jogo e as cenas em sala de aula. O jogo, ao compor o quadro de atividades na formação em teatro, amplia e diversifica as experiências dos estudantes, contribuindo para a compreensão e a apropriação de procedimentos vocais, tão necessários à atuação profissional desses sujeitos / The research aimed to analyze and discuss the relevance of some playful vocal practices in the education of students in the graduation course of theater at the Fine Arts School in the Federal University of Minas Gerais. It was supported by some reflection on traditional games and their procedures. We have based our analysis on the following principles: formativeness, the concept and structure of the game as a cultural phenomenon, the vocality originated from the psychophysical unity of a person and his/her social environment, the musical aspects of the game and the drama studies, as well as the university classroom as a privileged space for the construction of knowledge. From the data analyzed, we have concluded that the playful aspect has contributed a lot on training the voice of such students. They could understand and appropriate the sound parameters, some technical attitudes in the use of their voice and in the exploration of their vocal potentiality during the activities involving games and scenes in the classroom. The playful vocal games, as part of the training activities in the theater curriculum, expand and diversify the students experiences, contributing to their understanding and appropriation of some vocal procedures, which are much necessaries for the professional performance of those people

The purpose of this treatise is to investigate the efficacy of vocal warm-ups/vocalises and their role in teaching vocal technique and health for the solo singer. In addition, it will provide a brief history of vocalises and methods of the “Bel Canto” era. Current literature addresses warm-ups for choral ensembles and choral singers. It does not adequately address solo/individual warm-ups and their impact on vocal technique, health and performances. Laryngologists and voice professionals were interviewed to better understand the role of vocalises in the study of voice and professional performance. These interviews were conducted in person, by telephone and via electronic mail correspondence. Voice teachers and singers were surveyed on their current vocal warm-up practices both in the voice studio and in performance. Surveys are to be administered in three ways: 1) hard copy surveys delivered at the National Association of Teachers of Singing National Conference 2008; 2) selected nationally known teachers and singers received via ground mail a copy of the survey; 3) an online survey. This study was directed to obtain answers to the following questions: 1) Is there a standard methodology for vocal warm-ups?; 2) If so, how has this methodology evolved over time?; 3) What is the current use of vocal warm-ups and vocalises by voice instructors and professional voice users?; 4) How does the use of vocal warm-ups and vocalises influence the effectiveness of vocal performance?; 5) Does the use of vocal warm-ups or vocalises contribute to the health of the singer, thus resulting in an excellent vocal performance?; 6) Does practicing vocal warm-ups or vocalises have a positive effect on overall vocal health? This study aims to broaden the current understanding of vocalises and their impact on the teaching and performing of classical voice. / text