NACTMUS - National Council of Tertiary Music Schools - Conference 2001

VOCAL EDUCATION AND PERFORMANCE REALITIES

By Leigh Carriage

The future of vocal education in institutions involves answering questions such as:

1. What will we be teaching;

2. In what ways will vocal students be taught;

3. What kind of technologies will be involved and

4. What are the industry requirements of a professional vocalist and is this able to be taught within the confines of an institution.

The teaching of contemporary vocalists in universities is quite recent. I myself am a graduate from the first contemporary music program in an Australian university, here at Southern Cross. As a teacher and performer I am interested in how vocal education meets the needs of students and requirements of the profession &endash; how well pedagogical approaches match up with performance realities.

I will be considering this question by focussing on exploratory research, that I have conducted on the experience of contemporary Australian female vocalists.

It is interesting to note that it is the still the case that most of my students are female, however, many of my findings are likely to be equally relevant to male students and male performers.

This study consisted of a small sample of fifteen leading contemporary female vocalists, interviewed during 1999 and 2000. Those interviewed included Chrissie Amphlett, Jeannie Lewis, Christine Sullivan, Kerrie Biddell, Grace Knight and Margaret RoadKnight, and a number of up-and-coming vocalists. The study provides some insights into the perceived needs of female vocalists for training and education. Giving a personal and accurate account of how they function within the profession.

The findings of the study can be grouped into five key areas:

1. Career Development and Early Influences

2. Role of Music and Education

3. Vocal Problems and Vocal Preservation

4. Possible Barriers

5. Discrimination: Effects and Strategies

1. Career Development and Early Influences

Three questions in the interview aimed to explore career development and early influences of the respondents. There were a range of different answers to these questions, as would be expected.

Nearly every interviewee nominated listening and live performance experience as key factors in career development. Most respondents mentioned good general health, stamina, confidence and self-motivation were also fundamental.

'Gall! Hutzpah! and Cheek!' said one interviewee.

The role of a musical family was a key element also, and was cited a number of times as a critical factor in providing support.

A solid musical grounding was quite important to most, including a background in an instrument (typically piano or guitar). Half the respondents saw one-to-one tuition as crucial to their musical development.

Musical influences were very diverse across the sample. However, two interesting findings emerged on the question of influences.

Firstly, only two of the respondents cited classical music as a direct influence, and in both cases, they cited instrumental classical music, not classical vocalists.

Secondly, it was quite striking that Australian cabaret, jazz vocalist and educator Kerrie Biddell was mentioned by over half the respondents as a direct influence as both educator and a mentor&emdash;Biddell was mentioned more frequently than any other Australian educator or artist.

2. Role of Music and Education

Respondents also offered some very interesting responses to a series of questions about what they saw as the key elements in vocal education for contemporary vocalists, and what would they have liked to know before they went into the music profession:

'Contemporary singing has more hazards and there is a need for singers to understand themÉ.including knowledge of sound systems.'
'How to read people. How to read music. How to read contracts.'
'one of the things about being an artist is when you first begin, one of the things I had to learn was to become a recording artist. I mean I was a performer and I &emdash; but there are so many different aspects that you know, to be a recording artist, and that to learn to function in the studio.'
'I would have liked to have training in music legals, not to have been star struck. Had I known then what I do now, I would have almost definitely have earned a decent living for the ten years that I was the lead singer in [name of group].'

A few wished that they had been encouraged to do their original music earlier in their career:

'Énot to be self-conscious about performing. Just to really own what I do and follow that. Not to try to be all things to all peopleÉI have skills in a broad range of areas because I was too frightened to just concentrate on my original songs from the start.'
'I would have liked to somehow have been encouraged into original music earlier and known that covers actually aren't a long-term career path.'

At least one respondent felt that the nature of teaching institutions needed to improve:

'I would love to see an atmosphere of encouragement and support introduced into our learning establishments, replacing the hierarchical attitudes of competitiveness and emotionally disconnected over-critical aloofness that seems rampant and does little to produce marvellous music.'

A number suggested that education was not everything, and (ironically in some cases) said that they may have been discouraged by knowing too much about the difficult aspects of the music industry:

'The old saying about the less you know the better really applies here. I honestly don't think there would be entertainers if we knew what a strange and sometimes frightening business this is. So, maybe a little knowledge in this case is not a good thing. But as an educator, I feel it is my duty to warn the inexperienced about the pitfalls and dangers of this industry.'

3. Vocal Problems and Vocal Preservation

All except one of the respondents were aware of and reported personal vocal problems:

' A very tired and raspy voice'
'Laryngitis and had no voice for a while É..scary'
'Repeatedly tired and sore throat'
'Touring for almost ten years non stopÉ.I suffered a raspy throat and pushed myself so hard that I would loose my voice completely'

Most had taught themselves vocal hygiene and other voice preservation skills, or sought professional advice and care from an ear, nose and throat specialist (ENT):

'Knowledge you build up slowly through experience and bits of advice'
'I educated myself, rest when necessaryÉI regularly go to an ear nose and throat specialist.'

All strongly believed that more emphasis was needed in educating contemporary vocalists, and therefore educating contemporary vocal teachers; more specifically for the contemporary vocalist's hygiene, environment, acoustics, and the nature of their professional work:

'If [budding vocalists] are introduced to vocal health at an early stage, they will always be aware and take the correct precautions. It is so important to have a physical handle on the vocal area, in the same way an instrumentalist knows about the construction of their chosen instrument.'
'using the microphone and preserving the voice has to be a starting point.'
'some teachers over the years who never mention anything but scales practiceÉ.consequently I began to self educate in order to save my voice and have longevity.'
'We need much more informed advice on how to protect our voices and what precautions may be followed to avoid damage, or remedial procedures taken when damage has occurred.'

A number of respondents raised issues pertaining to contemporary music vocal technique, style and environment, which they felt were not sufficiently addressed by pedagogy historically based in classical methods:

'Well, [voice preservation] was always discussed in a classical sense when I studied singing so no, I don't think enough is offered. Using the microphone and preserving the voice has to be a starting point.'
'A broad range of learning from stylistically diverse material can be made available to the diligent student of voice.'

4. Possible Barriers

One important part of the interviews was to discover what possible barriers to practising their craft contemporary vocalists faced.

Most respondents felt that one of the main barriers was the common perception of vocalists as not being legitimate musicians. One musically well-educated respondent noted surprise when she played piano:

'I do recall the acts I had backed being amazed that a girl could play piano OK'. Another said: 'Singers were considered the thing that draws the crowds but were thought of with a little contempt seeing it all seemed so easy for us.'

Another major barrier was low wages and the conditions in the industry:

'The main barrier has got to be earning a living while trying to stay true to being a singer'.

5. Discrimination: Effects and Strategies

Nearly all respondents mentioned that they had experienced discrimination on the basis of gender:

'As I am no longer young and gorgeous (was I ever?), I find I am fighting the "you're too old to be hip" attitude.'
'chick singer cul de sac'

One respondent suggested that genre of music is an important factor in interaction with gender:

'I'm unaware of being discriminated against on the basis of gender (genre, yes, but you can't legislate for taste).'

Other sorts of discrimination were also mentioned:

'I doubt there is a musician in the world that has not felt discriminated [against], in the areas of finance, housing and employment. It's the nature of the beast. Any profession that has an artistic bent, the normal people don't trust. We must be flaky etc.'

Respondents spoke of a range of different strategies for coping with discrimination:

'It affects me enough to speak out -if I see it going on.'

FUTURE OF VOCAL TUITION IN INSTITUTIONS

From this research on contemporary female vocalists I would suggest that there are a number of things we can do to ensure that pedagogical approaches keep up with performance realities.

Vocal education in the practice of styles, techniques and knowledge of popular music was seen by most as important &emdash; even for those who themselves had had limited formal musical education. As well as personal skills (confidence and motivation), the majority of respondents felt vocal education needed to do a better job of imparting an understanding of the nature of contemporary vocal practice and its industry settings. Some still felt there were definite limits to education, and that actual experience, performance and listening were always going to be of more importance.

The feelings of respondents in regard to vocal education emerged most clearly when they were asked about vocal problems and preventative education. Most said they had experienced vocal problems, and nearly all were in favour of better education on voice preservation and protection, specifically targeted to popular, contemporary vocalists.

Overall this study has identified important issues about; barriers and discrimination faced by contemporary vocalists and perceived priorities for vocal education.

While I intend to follow up this preliminary study by interviewing a much larger sample of contemporary vocalists, I feel that the study has identified issues of discrimination faced by contemporary female vocalists.

In addition, I believe that the study's findings underline the need for formal and informal vocal education which:

Understands and addresses the specific nature of the diversity of popular contemporary vocal styles;

Gives contemporary vocalists a better grounding in issues they will face in a career in the music profession (such as amplification and acoustics in venues;
Understands all related business aspects of the profession; motivation and career development;
Provides vocalists with a solid foundation in voice preservation.

To ensure that pedagogical approaches keep up with performance realities, it is important to understand and embrace the role of vocal science in vocal education.

Since the early 70s, vocal scientists in this field have seen vocal preservation as a key factor in contemporary vocal practice. Without this research, the contemporary vocalist would still be relying on pedagogical approaches with no physiological or scientific awareness.

A contemporary vocal teacher today can take reference from a number of vocal scientists, attend courses, update their training, and refer students to either an Ear, Nose and throat specialists (ENT) or speech pathologists, to ensure the best care for a student if problems arise.

A contemporary vocalist can see inside their instrument now. They can be given direct instruction as to how their instrument works. They can take with them their consultation video for their own review. All this only leads to a more informed and more conscious, self-reliant contemporary vocalist in the field.

FUTURE TANGENT

To address the 'future nature' of this weekends conference I have devised, a vision of the vocal studio of the future.

This futuristic institution would ideally have three studios:

1. The 'Simulated live performance environment';

2. Vocal recording space;

3. Videoconference national/international tutorial space.

The first is a practice studio for 'simulated live performance environment'. This studio would house a holographic ensemble. The student would select a genre and suitable tempo, key and arrangement and perhaps even the interactive technology would then set the stage with appropriate lighting and assign an audience type (attentive, noisy etc).

The vocal recording studio similarly this studio is highly interactive in nature the student can program in the session requirements of a situation for experimentation. The specificity of this area will be as diverse as the genres.

The videoconference tutorial studio, would house a video camera, a fast computer with Internet and TV screen. The student would get online, select from a range of affiliated teachers chose and book a one to one online tutorial or participate in a workshop with them.

All technologies would have facilities that are user friendly and allow for disability access and use.

Biographical Note

Leigh Carriage is Lecturer in Vocal Studies, Contemporary Music Program, School of Contemporary Arts, Southern Cross University, Lismore. An accomplished and versatile vocalist in her own right, Leigh has recently completed two albums, and continues her career as a performer.

2001 NACTMUS Conference