Variabilità fonetico-sintattica nella Commercial Contemporary Music come oggetto di studio per le classi avanzate di inglese come L2

The aim of this research is to set up a consistent theorical arrangement concerning the socio-linguistic and socio-phonetic aspects of contemporary commercial music (CCM), which appears to be more and more uneven and manifold, also taking into account the previous research by Trudgill (1983), Simpson (1999) and others. The massive use of phonetic variation and style switching in contemporary Western singing style is here analyzed mainly focussing on its phonetic, cognitive and semantic relevance. Some examples of metric, socio-linguistic and stylistic variation are provided afterwards, so that a global diagram of linguistic habits might be traced. Other collateral aspects are recollected, mostly concerning the effects of CCM experience on L2 users.

What are you doing the rest of your life? A profile of Jazz/Contemporary Voice graduates

Over the past two decades the topic of graduate outcomes has increasingly informed the discourse on the changing nature of universities. For conservatoires and university music departments the global shift in audience demand away from western classical music and jazz styles (traditionally the cornerstone tertiary music programs) to contemporary commercial music (CCM) has added an extra dimension to the graduate outcomes discussion with respect to vocation preparation and musicians’ portfolio careers. Few studies have tracked the career paths of music graduates across time with none focused on jazz/contemporary singers. This report discusses the findings from a snapshot study of Jazz/Contemporary Voice graduates (2001 to 2012) of one Australian conservatoire. The purpose of this research was to better describe this population of graduates in terms of employment outcomes, the dynamics of their employment activities, employment-seeking strategies and the relevance of university coursework to their employability. Their responses have implications for tertiary music training programs.

Pedagogy of Different Sung Genres

Traditional singing voice pedagogy has been heavily influenced by the performance practice and aesthetic of the Western lyric (classical) tradition. Recently, non-classical vocal genres have been termed contemporary commercial music (CCM). These genres include pop, rock, jazz, country, folk, rhythm and blues, and sometimes musical theater. Though in its infancy, the pedagogy of CCM (including belting) is of great interest worldwide. There are numerous differences between Western lyric and CCM genres including: written versus oral tradition; historical/cultural context; use of voice, word articulation, dynamics, vibrato, phrasing; stylistic idioms; vocal registers; pitch range; resonance characteristics; and learning cultures. This chapter advocates that the role of the modern vocal pedagogue is to explore, learn, and ultimately be able to impart the intricacies of each vocal genre to the next generation while honoring traditions and values.