Bell Ringer 12/3/12 How would you describe your voice?

Chapter 6 Section 1

Quote “The voice is an instrument which the artist must learn to use with suppleness and sureness, as if it were a limb.” - Sarah Bernhardt French Actor ( )

The Uniqueness of Voice Musical instruments have timbre or tone color. These help us identify the source of the musical sound. Your voice is part of your personality. This helps you to identify a speaker without even seeing the person This type of identification includes timbre, register, and range.

Voice Timbre describes the tone quality of a voice or instrument. (Chapter 2) Registers- vocal ranges These are usually high, low, or medium in pitch. Range- the distance between the lowest and highest pitches of the voice.

Listening CD 4 # 13 “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” Try to identify the variety of sounds and tone colors that he makes. CD 4 # 14 Interview with Bobby McFerrin Listen as Bobby McFerrin tells you about his unique style of vocal performance

Characterize the Voice Listen to these recordings and identify their voices in terms of timbre and register. CD 4 # Bright, dark, harsh, heavy, hoarse, husky, light, mellow, melodious, nasal, rich, rough, shrill, smooth, strained, sweet, tense, warm High, Medium, low

Bell Ringer 12/5/12 What is the register? What levels are there?

Operatic Voices The system of classifying the voice uses soprano, alto, tenor and bass which was developed in the 17 th century. Operatic voices are categorized according to range: RangeMaleFemale Highest Countertenor Coloratura soprano HighTenorSoprano MidBaritoneMezzo-Soprano LowBassContralto

Female Voices Coloratura- the soprano voice that is light and flexible enough to perform rapid scales and trills Soprano- the high female register Mezzo-Soprano- the intermediate female voice that sings in the lower part of the soprano range Contralto- the low female register with a full, rich, dark, and powerful quality

Listen Identify these voices using the 4 female voice types. CD 4 #21 “Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben” from Zaide, Beverly Sills CD 4 #22 “Quand je vous aimerai?” from Carmen, Denyce Graves CD4 #23 “Oh, What a Beautiful City,” Marian Anderson

Marian Anderson American Operatic Singer Contralto Found many doors “closed” to her because she was African American

Male Voices Countertenor- the highest male voice with a falsetto range and quality and a register in the female alto range Tenor- the high male range with a powerful, ringing quality Baritone- the intermediate male voice Bass- a lower male register with a rich, robust, resonant, and full quality

Listening CD 4 # 24 “Venti, turbine” from Rinaldo, David Daniels CD 4 # 25 “ Che Gelida Manina” from La Boheme from Luciano Pavarotti CD 4 # 26 “Shall We Gather At the River” Sherrill Milnes CD 4 # 27 “Oh, chi piange?” from Nabucco, Samuel Ramey

Bell Ringer 12/6/12 Why wasn’t Marian Anderson famous at the beginning of her career?

Andrea Bocelli Born 1958 Italian Operatic Singer Tenor Became completely blind at 12 years old Career got a boost when tenors Corelli and Pavarotti gave their approval

Crossovers Singers like Bocelli and Charlotte Church crossed over from Classical to Pop Church’s record sales topped 10 million albums By age 14, she had already performed for former president Clinton and Queen Elisabeth of England. Listen to her sing “The Last Rose of Summer” CD 4 # 28

Quiz 12/6/12 1. What is the highest female voice? 2. What is a register? 3. What is the medium male voice? 4. Who was a famous female opera star? 5. What is the distance between the highest and lowest pitches of the voice?