Skip to main content

How to Give a Singing Critique

Providing a singing critique involves telling how well the singer performed, while keeping in mind that the voice is an instrument that can't be separated from the body. Because of this, a singing critique should avoid personal comments about the singer. This makes any negative comments you provide potentially more jarring because a vocalist may take the critique as a personal attack. Stay focused on specific issues common to vocal performance to avoid creating a tense situation while providing the singer with the information needed to improve.

Step 1

Talk with the singer about her intonation. You should be able to detect whether her singing is flat or sharp. A sharp intonation will sound slightly higher than the pitch, for instance, if you sing the note C and it is sharp, then it will sound somewhere in the middle between C and D-flat. A flat pitch will be slightly lower than the desired pitch, for example, if you sing a C, a flat pitch will sound between C and C-flat.

Step 2

Discuss the rhythmic accuracy of the performance. Tell the singer whether he was able to sing the rhythms in the piece correctly, or whether he performed with errors in rhythm that need to be corrected. Even without the music, you can tell by listening to whether a solid rhythm is felt when the singer performs. You know when you are singing the rhythm correctly because all of the notes are spaced the appropriate distance from each other in time. For instance, quarter notes are worth one beat each, so four quarter notes would sound equally spaced from each other in time.

Step 3

Provide an analysis of the clarity of the singer's words. This is called diction, and is an important aspect of singing. If the singer does not articulate words clearly, you must discuss this with her so she can improve her voice.

Step 4

Evaluate the singer's ability to emphasize the beginning and ending of phrases. A competent singer should know how to end a phrase by breathing in the correct part of the phrase. Avoid breathing during an increase of volume or right before the highest note of the piece. Tell him to breath at the beginning and end of a phrase. If he breathes a beat before the end of the phrase, he must change his breathing pattern to improve. If he has trouble singing a complete phrase without taking a breath, tell him to practice breathing in for four counts and out for eight to improve his lung capacity. Tell him to breathe in through his stomach, rather than his chest.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sunday Stories: The Power of Audiation in Music Composition

Happy Sunday! Today, let’s explore the transformative power of audiation in music composition and share an inspiring story about a composer who mastered this skill. Audiation, the ability to hear and understand music in your mind, is a crucial tool for composers, enabling them to bring their musical ideas to life with greater detail and precision. What is Audiation? Audiation is the process of hearing and comprehending music in your mind without any external sound. It is similar to thinking in a language, where you can understand and manipulate words and sentences internally.  For composers, audiation is an essential skill that allows them to imagine, develop, and refine their musical ideas before they are played or written down 1 . The Benefits of Audiation for Composers 1. Enhanced Musical Understanding Audiation helps composers develop a deeper understanding of music. By hearing and analyzing music internally, they can grasp the relationships between different musical elements, ...

Similarities of Classical and Baroque Music

Music has evolved through the centuries and undergone drastic changes. One of the most significant transitions was from the Baroque to the Classical period of music. In this paragraph, I will compare and contrast some of the main features of these two styles, such as ensembles, instrumentation, and counterpoint study. The Baroque and Classical periods of music have many similarities. While the style of music changed drastically, certain key elements remained the same between the two styles. Composers in the Classical period sought to simplify music and create clearly audible musical lines. In contrast, composers from the Baroque period were interested in creating complex and highly ornamented musical lines. The Baroque period occurs from approximately 1600 to 1750, and the Classical period extends from 1750 to 1820. Ensembles Ensembles are groups of musicians that perform together. Both the Baroque and the Classical period had similar types of ensembles, such as operas, orchestras, str...

List of Musical Techniques and Their Meanings

Musical techniques are the building blocks of any basic music training. These techniques allow performers to improve their coordination and develop accuracy through repetitive daily exercises. Musical techniques progressively build upon previously learned techniques. Scales Scales form the basis for other musical techniques. Student may study major and minor scales as well as modern scales, such as the whole-tone and octatonic scales. A scale consists of patterns of half steps and whole steps. These whole steps and half-step arrangements will be different for each scale. Scales are musical techniques that can help a performer to play faster and more accurately, and make learning new pieces easier. Chords Chords require knowledge of major and minor scales. Chords come in several different forms that affect the sound. Triads consist of three notes spaced a third apart and classified as major, minor, augmented and diminished chords. Seventh chords build on triads and have an additional no...