Practical Voice Analyses and their Application in the Studio

Modern personal computers are fast enough to analyze singing and provide real-time visual feedback of relevant acoustic elements. This feedback provides a quantitative dimension to the learning process in support of developing appropriate sung outputs. However, no computer-based system can replace the singing teacher, as the qualitative listening of an experienced musician cannot be replicated by a computer algorithm. The application of real-time visual displays can facilitate greater efficiency in learning fundamental skills through direct feedback in lessons and during private practice, leaving the teacher more time to work on qualitative aspects of performance that a computer cannot contribute to, such as stagecraft, interpretation, understanding the words, collaborating with an accompanist, and when to use different voice qualities. This chapter describes typical displays that are used in real-time visual feedback systems for singing training and considers how spectrography in particular can be used in pedagogical practice in the voice studio.

An Examination of Methods Used to Teach Practice Strategies in the College Voice Studio

This study investigated collegiate voice instructors’ approaches for teaching practice strategies to their students. Voice instructors ( N = 46) from accredited institutions in three Midwestern states participated in a researcher-designed survey, which described (a) the types of practice strategies addressed in lessons, (b) the methods used for assessment, and (c) the value instructors placed on specific practice strategies. Respondents typically used logs and journals to keep track of students’ progress. Score study was valued and used as a practice strategy most often by respondents, but other strategies such as repetition to improve accuracy and focusing on the most difficult sections of the music were also rated highly. Findings suggest that although these collegiate voice instructors seemed to be incorporating a variety of assessment and teaching strategies into their studio instruction, no consistent, formulaic method for teaching college singers to practice could be identified.