scholarly journals TEACHING JAZZ IMPROVISATION TO A FUTURE VOCAL ARTIST: ITS ESSENCE AND SPECIFICS

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (192) ◽  
pp. 189-193
Author(s):  
Valerii Myroshnychenko ◽  

The issues of teaching jazz improvisation to future vocal artists, especially theoretical and methodological aspects of their professional development in institutions of higher art education, have not been sufficiently studied. The matters of the essence and specifics of pop and jazz art, expressive means of improvisational mastery in vocal performance, the special nature of the relation between a composer and a performer, and the relationship with the audience become especially relevant. Vocal performance is one of the most important parts of jazz music. Both the first blues performers and many performers of the following decades – the period of New Orleans jazz, the era of swing, bebop and modern jazz – spark our interest. In addition to pronouncing the basic musical text, talented improvising vocalists have been using and continue to use scat singing till this day. The peculiarity of teaching jazz improvisation is also that it is a specific way of spiritual communication by musical means that can «say» more than words. It is a special concert genre that simulates a situation of direct spiritual communication, which occurs when two or more people related by a previously friendly relationship meet or during a meeting of people who have a sense of empathy between them. The specific features of a future vocal artist include combinatorial memory, imagination, fantasy, technical capabilities, and musical thinking, since the musician implements their spiritual and emotional potential in improvisation, operating with blocks of musical and artistic information during the jazz composition performance, combining them in different patterns, and thus finds the most complete, voluminous artistic embodiment of the improvisational idea. Vocal and jazz art is special in its manner, harmony, performance techniques, sound production, and orthoepy. Each style has its own professional performers whose artistic work presents the standard of the way the music sounds. Expressive means of improvisational technique in jazz are various, which is due to the specific features of variable jazz styles, individual performance style of vocal artists and the specifics of musical forms and genres typical of such technique.

Author(s):  
Ihor Chychkanov

Problem statement. Piano art of the XX–XXI centuries is extremely colorful and, perhaps, provocative phenomenon, whose uniqueness is determined primarily by the coexistence of numerous creative principles and individual preferences. This determines the constant relevance of questions of the interpretation of performance and identification of factors influencing the formation of the performance concept of a musical piece. The system of causation, which is the basis for the interpretation of a particular piece of music toughts such factors as school, nationality, era, style, personality of the artist and even the condition of the instrument, the acoustics of the hall, etc. All these parameters affect the formation of individual performance style. Several aspects of the formation of the pianist’s style are analyzed: the development of personality and character, the piano school, the attitude to musical text, the inclination towards some composers and styles. Objectives. The purpose of this article is to determine the parameters that influenced the formation and development of individual performance style of G. Sokolov. Theoretical background. In this article, we rely on scholar sources, the subject of which are the main categories of performing musicology, especially a category of musical style. The concept of style has been substantially developed by many scholars who have proposed authorial definitions. In this paper we will rely on what was proposed by S. Skrebkov: “Style in music, as in all other arts, is the highest kind of artistic unity”. (Skrebkov, 1973: 10) This understanding of style as a certain integrity, in our opinion, correlates with the point of view of domestic scientist V. Moskalenko (1998, 2012), who emphasizes that the specificity of the musician’s musical thinking determines the uniqueness of his musical language, which, among other things, is the key to its cognition. Thus, the methodological basis of this study is the concept of the style in music by S. Skrebkov (1973), V. Moskalenko (1998, 2012), M. Lobanova (1990). Results for discussion. G. Sokolov is a rather closed person, he has not given interviews for years, he is increasingly concentrating exclusively on his solo career, practically giving up performing with the orchestra. Moreover, this is not a sign of late style, or a certain consequence of personality development, the pianist’s classmates claim that he was like that all his life. So, the only way to determine what influenced the formation and development of individual performance style of G. Sokolov is detailed comparative analysis of the stages of his formation as a musician. In our opinion, later, this closeness, some emotional detachment of G. Sokolov, not only influenced the basic parameters of his individual performance style, but also allowed the pianist to avoid the problems associated with overstrain. We also emphasize that the pianist is characterized by attention to details. G. Sokolov since childhood was interested in butterflies, transport and air routes, rational planning of routes and flights, he was a perfectionist in everything. Let us also mention his child’s passion for conducting, which began his acquaintance with music. It is known that sometimes the repertoire chosen to participate in the competition reveals some secrets of the pianist’s stylistic preferences, but in the case of G. Sokolov it did not happen. The pianist can be called universal. His repertoire includes works of different styles, due to the tendency to present a variety of compositional sound concepts of the world, which is the uniqueness and significance of the art of music. In this regard, the pianist himself says the following: “I think in the art of all who interest us, unites their dissimilarity” (from interview, Sokolov, 2016). Over the years, G. Sokolov increasingly gravitated to miniature forms. Trying to move away from pathetic and epic works, pianist, obviously, prefers the aesthetic dimension of the phenomenon of piano playing. Such a subtle understanding of music characterizes him more as a philosopher than a virtuoso. In a sense, he can be called an artisan, because he just does his job well, it is also an art. It is necessary to disassemble the structure of the work, find a balance, take into account the peculiarities of the sound of the instrument at the time of writing, the style of the author and many other small (but very important) aspects. This jewelry work shows the true style. Conclusions. So, can we call G. Sokolov a pianistic phenomenon? Positive answer can be fortified with factors such as isolation, alienation from many modern trends in culture, while retaining the ability to perform repertoire of completely different styles. For him, the art of music is a very intimate, thoughtful process of understanding meaningful content of each sound. Taking as a basis the thesis of S. Skrebkov that style is the highest form of artistic unity, we can say that G. Sokolov’s style is holistic, convincing and has an impact on modern performing arts precisely because of its uniqueness.


Author(s):  
Yi. Zhou

Background. The category of style is one of the most used in modern musicology. This is due to objective reasons: the attention of the “consumer” of a cultural product is mostly not focused on its author recently. The coexistence of individual performance versions of composer’s works is one of the reasons that problems of stylistic attribution of musical art do not lose their relevance. In different areas of musical practice these problems are interpreted in different ways and get various degrees of theoretical understanding. The area of vocal art deserves special attention. An analysis of specialized literature suggests that the ever-increasing number of appropriate studies has not yet influenced the crystallization of the definition of “vocal style” in the scientific sense. This is due to the fact that the meaning of the term “vocal style” has many dimensions that reflect technological, aesthetic, historical, individual and national parameters of creativity. This resulted in the purpose of proposed article – to identify the singular and general in the interpretation of the category “vocal style” in Western European and Chinese art discourse. The research methodology is determined by its objectives; it is integrative and based on a combination of general scientific approaches and musicological methods. The leading research methods are historical, genre-stylistic and interpretative analyzes. Results. The word style first appeared in ancient Greece, where it was called a tool for writing on wooden tablets covered with wax. Later, the word style began to be used to describe not only human activity, but himself. At the same time, there is no case in Confucius’s “Analects” of using this definition. Central to the aesthetic block of Confucius’ teaching is not the question of the style of art, but the degree of influence that it has on the formation of the five moral qualities. As for questions directly about the style of artistic creation, Chinese scholars believe that they were first addressed by a contemporary and follower of Confucius, literary theorist Liu Xie, in whose works for the first time in the history of Chinese culture the word “style” was used. We note that in both Europe and China the studies of ancient thinkers have become the foundation for centuries and millennia that determined the essential parameters of the worldview of peoples and civilizations and stimulated the development of human thought. So nowadays style is similarly understood as a certain set of features that characterize either a particular person or the results of his activities. As for a narrower understanding of style (in our case – vocal style), it historically developed much later, which was preceded by a long evolution of vocal art and the accumulation of relevant scientific works. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the specific of vocal performance, the essence of which involves working with verbal texts, their artistic representation, and, consequently, the determinism of not only musical but also artistic embodiment of the work. Thus, in European treatises of Renaissance and Baroque periods it is not about the performer, but about the style of specific musical works, basic parameters of which are determined by the place of performance and the appropriate type of expression. At the same time, there are studies which examine the national aspect of the phenomenon of vocal performance, that is perceived as a consequence of the interaction of several factors: temperament, climate and landscape. It is interesting that even in the baroque treatises maxims about the advantages of the Italian school bel canto can be found; and nowadays it continues to determine the development of not only European but also world vocal art. We emphasize that we can not find Chinese treatises dating from the XVII–XVIII centuries, which are devoted to the comprehension of vocal art in the European sense of the word. After all, academic vocal culture in this country has begun to develop only in the early twentieth century and therefore imitated and appropriated the aesthetic and technology of the dominant European vocal style bel canto. It is known that the definition of bel canto is most often used in two cases: as a designation of a certain historical style, which is most vividly embodied in works of V. Bellini and G. Donizetti, and as a designation of singing technique. So we see that, as in other performing arts, the definition of style contains two interdependent parameters: technological and artistic and aesthetic. And the latter in the case of exactly vocal schools can be interpreted as a mobile factor. The similarity of interpretation of the definition of vocal style (namely one of its varieties – bel canto) in European and Chinese art literature is the result of the fact that eastern and western cultures are gradually approaching each other in the process of historical development. Conclusions. A comparative analysis of European and Chinese scientific sources suggests that the issues of musical stylistics occupied an important place in the minds of thinkers even before our era. And although both in the East and in the West the category of style was perceived as a mean of realization of the individual worldview of the man-creator, we can still talk about the difference in vectors of study of this problem. For example, if in the East it was perceived as a fundamental part of the ethical, in the West – the aesthetic. The formation of the phenomenon of “vocal style” was a natural consequence of the development of European vocal culture, where concepts of “technique” and “style” gradually crystallized. They became the basis of European vocal art, the assimilation of which has led to the phenomenal success of the modern Chinese school bel canto.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Thomas Botting

<p>This is a study involving research, analysis and performance of music composed by jazz artists in the last twenty years. The focus of this discussion will be on the influence of several outside genres on the music of these jazz composers. In particular it will examine transcriptions of works by composers including Dave Holland, John Scofield, Hiromi Uehara, Nils Wogram, Christian McBride, Bill Frisell, Kenny Garrett and Pat Metheny. The analysis of these transcriptions will examine the devices the composers have used such as counterpoint, harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, melody, time signatures, form et al. and assess how any outside genres may have affected these devices. Furthermore the analysed compositions will be performed in a recital setting, as well as a portfolio of compositions written by myself using the techniques gathered from my analysis.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Thomas Botting

<p>This is a study involving research, analysis and performance of music composed by jazz artists in the last twenty years. The focus of this discussion will be on the influence of several outside genres on the music of these jazz composers. In particular it will examine transcriptions of works by composers including Dave Holland, John Scofield, Hiromi Uehara, Nils Wogram, Christian McBride, Bill Frisell, Kenny Garrett and Pat Metheny. The analysis of these transcriptions will examine the devices the composers have used such as counterpoint, harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, melody, time signatures, form et al. and assess how any outside genres may have affected these devices. Furthermore the analysed compositions will be performed in a recital setting, as well as a portfolio of compositions written by myself using the techniques gathered from my analysis.</p>


2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 449-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk Moelants

notes inégales is a common practice in the performance of French baroque music. It indicates that the first of a pair of equally notated notes is played longer, similar to the use of swing eighths in jazz. The performance of that inequality is an ongoing source of debate, but the actual performance has not been studied yet. In an experiment, eight harpsichordists and eight baroque violinists performed six melodies of French baroque gavottes in three tempo conditions. The mean ratio of inequality was 1.63, with mean ratios of individual performers varying between 1.89 and 1.33. Another significant source of variance was the metric structure, with larger inequality found at metrically important points. Tempo also had an important influence, but individual interpretation varied greatly. For example, while most performers played more evenly while tempo increased, some performers chose the opposite strategy. Pitch interval had only a minor impact on the execution of the notes inégales, but also showed differences between performers. The results show the importance of personal style in music performance: although the music played is highly standardized, we show how the timing of different performers can be influenced by different aspects of the musical structure.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tristan Loria ◽  
Aiyun Huang ◽  
Tara Lynn Henechowicz ◽  
Michael H. Thaut

The present study investigated motor kinematics underlying performance-related movements in marimba performance. Participants played a marimba while motion capture equipment tracked movements of the torso, shoulders, elbows, wrists, and hands. Principal components analysis was applied to assess the movements during the performance related to sound production and sound preparation. Subsequent cluster analyses sought to identify coupling of limb segment movements that may best characterize performance styles present in the performance. The analysis revealed four clusters that were thought to reflect performance styles of expressive performance, postural sway, energy efficiency, and a blend of the former styles. More specifically, the expressive cluster was best characterized by limb movements occurring along the vertical z-axis, whereas the postural sway cluster was characterized by forwards and backwards motions of the torso and upper limbs. The energy efficient cluster was characterized by movements of the body moving left to right along the marimba, whereas the blended style demonstrated limited delineation from the alternate styles. Such findings were interpreted as evidence that performance styles occur within a framework of biomechanical constraints and hierarchical stylistic factors. Overall, the results provided a more holistic understanding of motor execution in percussion performance.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Ryan Brake

<p>Reflections (In Mosaic) is a long-form work written for a modern jazz orchestra. While made up of seven smaller parts, it is intended to be listened to as a single continuous performance. Reflections (In Mosaic) serves as an exploration into formal structures more complex than the standard blues and cyclical AABA forms. This is achieved through the use of inter-related musical themes, transitional material that develops musical themes and propels the story of the piece forward, programmatic themes, and a consideration towards a more integrative approach to improvised sections in a modern jazz composition context.  This exegesis features a comprehensive musical and topical analysis of four case studies: Duke Ellington’s Harlem (1951), Charles Mingus’s Fables of Faubus (1959), Gunther Schuller’s Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee (1959), and Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays’s The Way Up (2005). In my analysis I examine the features of long-form works from a range of different angles through discussions on: (1) the formal features of the symphonic jazz genre and the integration of concert-style gestures into the jazz big band tradition, (2) the role performance and improvisation can have in communicating an idea within a composed structure, (3) the use of programmatic themes, and (4) a model for a structural design which draws on comparisons to narrative structure.  Of particular importance to my compositional project is the use of a programmatic theme. Reflections is directly inspired by the film Magnolia (1999), written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. I do not attempt to mirror the narrative or structure of the film in Reflections but, instead, loosely base the composition on the film’s characters and topical themes. The culmination of this exegesis is a discussion of how the four case studies informed my own compositional processes.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Muckala

Purpose This clinical focus article presents a perspective on an approach in scaffolding vocal recovery and rehabilitation for commercial singers. The expectation in vocal performance is sound production that is repeatable, reliable, and relatable. When an artist cannot meet those standards, failure is experienced in three locations: the Body, the Head, and the Heart. Referencing each of these areas of intelligence provides a metalanguage for structuring vocal recovery and rehabilitation that goes beyond physical voice work alone. This clinical focus article discusses standards of voice production specific to commercial music, expectations of use, and what vocal demands look like on and off tour. Indirect and direct voice therapy within this niche group of professional voice users can be better tailored within this context of use and need. They need intervention that is specific to individual voice demands and uses a methodology that cultivates self-efficacy and resilience in singers as athletes. The path to vocal rehabilitation and stability extends beyond work with body mechanics and extends beyond the specific tools the voice pathologist and artist have to choose from to return to performance level production. Cultivating resilience involves intentional accessing of the Body, Head, and Heart in the moments of disintegration with the goal of meeting and bridging physical, emotional, and mental barriers for the commercial artist. The end goal is resilience when the artist returns to performance level production. Conclusions This clinical focus article explores the interplay between these three centers of intelligence for commercial singers within the framework of indirect and direct voice rehabilitation. This Body work can lead to maturation and resilience to support a long career using a feeling that is mechanically efficient, portable, and repeatable. The transfer of gains outside that treatment room may be more consistently realized through the incorporation of Head and Heart in early stages of intervention.


Author(s):  
Svіtlana Svitylo

The purpose of the article is to consider the methodological aspects of training music teachers in the class of a vocal ensemble. thanks to which they acquire skills and abilities that are logically correlated with vocal and pedagogical, choir tasks. It is emphasized that the main and specific component of his professional competence is primarily the ability to perform music, including vocal, which is the basis of his work on the musical development of members of a vocal ensemble or choir. The task is to reveal the main methodological aspects that are important in the process of ensemble performance, in particular, to achieve coherence, the balance of all components, harmonious sound of parts, individual vocalists, the whole group while singing. The methodology of the article is theoretical methods of analysis and synthesis, which characterize the main components of the role of each type of ensemble (intonation, metrorhythmic, diction), their organic combination, revealed the features of individual types of ensemble, the role and significance of each. It is noted that the pop vocal ensemble has specific features that characterize it as a kind of modern musical performance. He represents a new style in popular music, new forms of collective vocal performance (female, male, mixed; vocal-instrumental ensembles, rock bands, and pop groups, etc.). The scientific novelty of the work is the focus on the methods of working with a vocal group that seeks to develop their own, individual manner of performance. Conclusions. The rapid development of pop vocal performance, solo, and the ensemble has contributed to the fact that in recent decades in Ukraine has expanded the network of higher educational institutions for music and pedagogical training in "specialty singing", which provides the possibility of their professional activities as performers in vocal ensembles and, at the same time, as leaders of such collectives. and this requires proper methodological support of the educational process in institutions of higher professional education.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (17) ◽  
pp. 90-102
Author(s):  
A. Fedenko

Background. The creative mastery process of the musical and rock opera genres has become one of the urgent vocational training problems today considering the growing popularity of these genres both in the world and in Ukrainian musical culture. There is a need to investigate the methodological aspect of professional activity in this direction like a set of requirements for the modern actor working in the music-dramatic genre. The lack of specialized literature and scientific works which investigates the embodiment phenomenon of vocal and stage images by actors in contemporary Ukrainian musicals and rock operas raises an urgent need for its consideration. Phenomenological analysis of the vocal and stage creativity of the actress Nataliya Sumska, namely, her stage works in rock operas “Eneida by Serhii Bedusenko based on the poem-burlesque by I. Kotliarevsky, “Bila Vorona” “(The White Crow”) by Genadii Tatarchenko and Yurii Rybchynskyi and “Nezrivnianna” (“The Incomparable”) Musical, based on the famous play by Peter Quilter (the composer Ivan Nebesnyi) are the material of this study. Objectives. The purpose of the article is to investigate the performing principles and vocal techniques that contribute to the embodiment of contentemotional female images characteristics in contemporary musicals and rock operas on the example of Nataliya Sumska’s acting creativity. The results of the study. The success of the Nataliya Sumska stage activity is closely related to the actress’ high level of vocal skills. Didona’s role in the rock opera “Eneida” has required from the performer a whole range of professional skills, first of all, vocal – that is, acting universalism. The vocal and stage image created by Nataliya Sumska is realized through singing, which organically combines the traditions of folk-song performance with the best achievements of the national academic and variety performing arts. The dominance of “folk” color in the sound of the voice is one of the creative tasks that the author of the rock opera sets before the actress. The bright individual “synthesizing” vocal and performing style is the original combination of ethnic origin with jazz and pop rhythms and harmonies offered by the composer, made the unique image of Didona by N. Sumska’s performance. Thus, a perfect actress’s mastery of different singing styles and the ability to use her own voice to achieve high artistic output is of great value, as composers in rock operas and musicals are constantly performing acts of styling. In the role of Jeanne d’Arc from the Ukrainian rock opera by Genadii Tatarchenko and Yurii Rybchynskyi’s “Bila Vorona” (“The White Crow”) the main features of N. Sumska’s art were clearly revealed, such as: great tragedy, heroic pathos and pathetics combined with lyric scourge and poetic sorrow. The stage techniques, by which N. Sumska created the image of Jeanne, were: enhanced sound supply and high dynamic tone of performance, expedient use of registers, expanded palette of sound dynamics and its filing (“filer un son”); going beyond the range of sound characteristic of academic vocal performance, the use of different singing styles and techniques; skillful presentation of intonation recitation gradations (from whisper to cry); possession of sound amplification equipment; maintaining a vocal line, subject to any nature of sound production; finally, acting is the ability to convey the character of the heroine through the voice, facial expressions, gestures, to make the viewer feel the pain and joy of her soul. Thus, Nataliya Sumska is fully capable of using the necessary means of artistic expression, various methods of performance, revealing the semantic and emotional content of the stage image and the work as a whole. In the “Nezrivnianna” (“The Incomparable”) Musical Nataliya Sumska embodied the comedic image of an American pianist who believed in her talent as an opera singer and one of the earliest representatives of “outsider music”. The actress brilliantly demonstrated that she was able to sing both “strictly past the notes” and only in “disgusting” voice, as her role required. She did not only change her voice for the horrific performance of operatic classics, but she was able to convey faith and belief in her own success to her Florence heroine. The actress was able to achieve great artistic power in the embodiment of the image, first of all, thanks to the mastery of vocal technique, as different modes of the larynx, specific techniques: conscious oscillation of sound, different attack power, accentuation of individual sounds, etc. Conclusions. Considered the creating specifics of vocal and stage image in contemporary rock operas and musicals by actress Nataliya Sumska, we came to the conclusion that vocal performance in modern rock operas and musicals poses special requirements for actresses. Modern musicals and rock opera demonstrate all possible polystylistic and polygenre syntheses, including the incorporation of folk and academic elements, and some genres of light music. The vocal part is complicated by changes in priorities in harmony, which is represented mainly by dissonant sounds. Accordingly, the melody of rock operas and musicals today is filled with unconventional unexpected intonations and lines, characteristic of metrorhythmic constructions. Conversational intonations, variety of singing manners and vocal techniques that form the basis of modern musical performances help to emphasize the emotional lines of the work. The presence of conversational dialogues, dance episodes with specific plasticity, the use of elements of the musical language of other cultures, a wide style range (from folklore to avant-garde, from Baroque stylings to jazz and smash hit), features of singing with a microphone – all this requires knowledge of specific acting and choreographic techniques, a good mastery of vocal technique, that is, all that constitutes professional acting universalism.


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