FRENCH VERSIONVOCATIONAL TRAINING
These courses are first and foremost aimed at professional singers and instrumentalists, but they are also open to anyone who meets the stated requirements. In these courses, we commit ourselves to: providing the necessary training for becoming proficient in the course topics.
TO COME ( september, 4 to 16)
THE MAGIC MECHANICS OF RHYTHM
A complete study of rhythm through voice, body and vocal improv
designed and facilitated by David Eskenazy
Rhythm is one magic dimension in music , definitely :
the bouncing of subtle delays, the unbounded energy the rhythmic flow, the thrills of polyrhythm and assymetric bars, what they call ' groove '...
We don' t miss words to describe this infinite range of powerful sensations provided by the only rhythm;
Our goal : comprehend the tricks and technics contained in this magic. The mechanics, the tricks, consciousness, worktools to approach it .... all the elements to work on the subject for years beyond the course.
This content associated with circle song and vocal improv make this course a full and rich, playful and structured retreat for passionate singers and musicians
Audience : advanced/professional singers and / or instrumentalists
Prerequisites :
vocal qualities
• good vocal technics, steady voice sustain
• good pitch accuracy ( intonation )
• vocal improv background is better
rhythmic qualities
• natural good sense of rhythm
• ableness to go through analytic aproach
• reading rhythm better
pedagogic objectives
• fundamental work on continuous listening, the connexion with gesture, the continuity /steadiness of rhythmic flow.
• Learning a complete realm of rhythmic patterns in duple and triple through body, voice, vocal percussion
• approach of polyrhythm and asymmetric bars
• approach of independence / coordination between voice and body
• improvising on specific rhythm locations in the bar
Each of these aspects will be worked during and after the course as follows :
• very slow and decomposed (?) learning
• creative exploration of the tools through vocal improv and circle song
• with scores and audio exercises for the individuel long term work of the singers
How to apply ?
Each singer will have to send us a recording of his own voice, a description of his musical and vocal background, and a short motivation note before august, 15 of 2011. The sooner, the better. Later appliments may be received but with no guarantee. send at samba.so@free.fr
DETAILED PROGRAM
The topics below will be worked over the 2 weeks in a gradual and alternated way
Hours : 9:30 AM-1:30 PM / 3:30-7 PM
FUNDAMENTAL WORK
Work on ultra-slow tempos to :
- increase the consciousness of the connection listening-gesture
- balance action with perception. Re-establishing the inner perception of the rhythmic flow as THE starting point of gesture.
- develop the micro-consciousness of rhythmic locations ( ex : work on where the fourth semi quaver of the beat really is ?)
CIRCLE SONG AND VOCAL IMPROV
Please see all information and video on circle song in ' amateur training' menu
The circle song bill be our main playful and creative tool to explore and play with the rhythmic work.
COMPLETE STUDY OF RHYTHMIC PATTERNS
Goal :
- learning with voice,body and vocal percussion a great realm of rhythmic patterns to master the duple and triple playing
- precise and structure physically the execution of these patterns
- acquire a rhythmic plasticity : with a simple melodic pattern made of 4 notes, being able to create many rhythmic variations, which is a great source of playfulness and creativity in improvisation.
Material :
A table of 15 patterns declined both in duple and triple. 4 paths of gradual difficulty to circulate from one pattern to the other.
slow learning:
- Stepping the beats
- playing the subdivisions of the beats with hands
- singing the patterns
creative exploration :
Each pattern is use as a circle song basis. While the soloist take turns improvising, the group is able to develop a deeper consciousness of the pattern, revealing itself in a musical way.
long term personal work :
Le tableau proposé peut être travaillé durant des années par les chanteurs, et faire l' objet de déclinaisons nombreuses :
The table can be a practice tool for years beyond the course, thanks to a lot of variations :
-with vocal percussion combinated with singing
-adding a melodic progression
-independance and coordination : singing a pattern and playing another with hands
COMPLETE STUDY OF POLYRHYTHM
Goal:
- Total master of 3,4,5,7,9, and 11 polyrhythms on the 2 main time signatures in duple( 4/4) and triple ( 6/8)
- Being able to use them in improv
material
detailed scores and mp3 of each polyrhythm
slow learning
- The time signature is expressed with a hand and feet structure
- the polyrhythm is sung over the hand and feet structure
creative exploration
2 exercises :
- the group sings the polyrhythm and the soloist improvises on the time signature
- the group is singing the time signature and the soloist improvises melodies on the polyrhythm pattern
personal work:
All the material to practice each of these exercises at home.
INDEPENDANCE RHYTHM/VOICE - VOCAL PERCUSSION
- work on circle songs with a sung part and a hand rhythm part
IMPROVISING AROUND THE RHTYMIC LOCATION POINTS OF THE BAR
Exercise :
-The group is singing a circle song
- the soloist improvises phrases ending on definite location points in the bar ( ex : finishing all your phrases on the second quaver of the 1st beat)
The intensive VOCATIONAL TRAINING is structured around 2 fundamental subjects:
I RHYTHM AND VOICE: COORDINATION, INDEPENDENCE AND FREEDOM:
How to be comfortable both playing and singing (self-accompaniment)?
II THE LANGUAGE OF MELODIC VOCAL IMPROVISATION
Structuring your melodic imagination
These topics are discussed on both VOCATIONAL TRAINING and AMATEUR TRAINING courses (see the SCHEDULE page).
If you live and work as a professional musician in France, our training courses can be financed by AFDAS, (whether as a Conventionnement Global or an individual formation plan), a French organisation which funds vocational training. (The SCHEDULE page contains more information about funding by AFDAS).
» Rhythm and voice
» The language of melodic improvisation
I.RHYTHM AND VOICE:COORDINATION, INDEPENDANCE AND FREEDOM
How to be comfortable both playing and singing (self-accompaniment)?
PROSPECTIVE PARTICIPANTS - WHO ARE THESE COURSES DESIGNED FOR?
Professional profile of the trainees (2 possibilities)
- singers who are also instrumentalists hoping to gain rhythmic freedom in their singing/instrument relationship.
- singers who are non-instrumentalists, interested in such core work, can follow this course using light percussion in place of an instrument.
Prerequisites, professional experience:
Participants must
- have good intonation (pitch accuracy) and a good sense of natural rhythm
- be comfortable playing rhythms
- be familiar with rhythmic theory, (basic proficiency accepted)
COURSE CONTENT
• The depths of rhythmic perception.
- working on the inner tempo and continuous listening.
This part of the course involves elementary exercises with an ultra-slow tempo. Slower tempos better reveal where the inner tempo lies. It all stems from listening. Then, thanks to this listening ability, all the skills (respecting precision, rhythmic steadiness, fluidity, etc.) will follow. This method paves the way to an unlimited realm of possibilities.
• Coordination (of rhythm and voice):
- singing vocal parts over rhythmic accompaniments of progressive difficulty.
This major analytical section is quickly dealt with although it is practised throughout the course. It is built around 2 common times, 4/4 (duple) and 6/8 (triple), on which most musical styles are based. Then, in both times, the piece is broken down into semi-quavers (16th notes) for 4/4 time, and into quavers (8th notes) for 6/8 time. The first task is learning how to sing a rhythmic loop while tapping the subdivision on the chest. Once this has been successfully mastered, a new rhythmic part can be learned and clapped in the hands. The next step involves the help of a diagram which shows both parts on a table. The vocal parts are sung and the rhythmic parts are clapped, at the same time, section by section. This exercise can be carried out in both metres.
Once this ʻcoordinationʼ has been achieved, the rhythmic part can be played on an instrument.
• Independence - rhythmic freedom:
- learning to free the voiceʼs rhythmic flow from the instrumentʼs steady pulse.
This aspect of the course deals with the following problem: singers playing their accompaniment instrument, often tend to settle into a rhythmic cadence, by splitting a song, for instance, into similar groups of words and, invariably placing them evenly along the instrumentʼs line.
Reaching this point and not going beyond, would be closing the door on a whole other realm of expressive freedom: that of a rhythmic flow verging on the rhythm of speech, more random, wavy and jerky, than just ʻplodding alongʼ, and capable of tracing all the emotional fluctuations of the inner state, throughout a performance.
The technical difficulty involved in this type of interpretation is being able to maintain a steady pulse, to play it instinctively, while concentrating on the voiceʼs freely improvised rhythmical flow.
The course involves using songs suggested by trainees, text readings and vocal improvisations over accompaniment.
This part of the course focusses mainly on the inner state, the ʻfreedomʼ in question, and is the perfect complement to the more analytical approach of the ʻCoordinationʼ section (see above). The combination of these approaches provides trainees with structure and freedom for uniting their singing with their accompaniment.
THE LANGUAGE OF MELODIC VOCAL IMPROVISATION structuring your melodic imagination
Many singers are seduced by vocal improvisation “scat” and would love to use their voice as an instrument, capable of so much spontaneous invention. Singing permits an immediacy of expression. Hearing and inventing a melody inside you and being able to sing it aloud, sounds like the most natural thing in the world, and it is… to a certain degree!
However, I get the impression that a lot of singers doing vocal improvisation feel
like they are just marking time or do not know what to sing when they are improvising. Or even, that they are simply ʻpretendingʼ, by using ʻreadymadeʼ vocal phrases, invariably and without much awareness, which impedes melodic expression, and sterilises the creative possibilities of improvisation.
A key notion in the Language of Vocal Melodic Improvisation workshop, is that of LANGUAGE itself.
Improvisation is a language and like any language it incorporates both a structure and that structureʼs plasticity; a structure being a set of organised elements capable of producing meaning, and the plasticity of this structure, being its creative leeway and ability to create new ideas and give life to the melodic imagination.
I aim to guide participants step by step towards an understanding of this language and to introduce them to theinfinite number of creative and playful possibilities.
PROSPECTIVE PARTICIPANTS - WHO ARE THESE COURSES DESIGNED FOR?
Professional or experienced singers
Prerequisites:
- to have good intonation (accuracy)
- to have a good melodic memory
- to be familiar with the practice and theory of melodic intervals (3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths and 7ths)
- to have notions of harmony, (rudimentary notions accepted)
This course is intended for singers who want an in-depth and pragmatic approach to vocal improvisation, who want to do some core work on melodic aspects in particular, and who have an instrumental approach to using their voice. Similarly, it is aimed at instrumentalist improvisers who want to anchor their theoretical knowledge more deeply and in a more ʻfeltʼ way, thanks to the inner-chanting aspect of the course.
• OBJECTIVES:
- To structure your melodic imagination
- To stimulate a playful sense of melody
- To create listening reflexes, which both reassure and ʻpave the wayʼ during improvisations.
• COURSE CONTENT:
Effective use of the following basic ʻtoolsʼ:
1. The analytical ear:
- Interval recognition (melodic and harmonic dictation)
- Chord recognition and the spontaneous production of corresponding arpeggios
- Arpeggio articulation over common (harmonic) sequences.
2. Vocal phrasing as a technical tool:
- Learning to use a basic vocabulary of arpeggios, common phrases and motives, permitting a simultaneous discussion of the following topics: articulation, onomatopoeia, pitch accuracy and velocity, in (vocal) phrasing.
Progressive study of melodic language:
Note that the parallel made with verbal language is only metaphorical, we are indeed talking about ʻmusicalʼ words, phrases and texts not ʻverbalʼ ones.
1. THE WORD:
Singing, manipulating and declining (common) melodic intervals, fluently, in steps, skips and jumps.
2. THE PHRASE:
- Regarding the phrase as a specific set of intervals.
- Applying phrases to different starting notes.
- Applying phrases to chord progressions, both with and without modulations, jazz charts etc.
- Playing with a phrase, applying different rules of transformation (inversion, partial inversion, retrograde, retrograde-inversion…).
3. THE TEXT:
- Creating developments of ʻembryonicʼ melodies, by applying several methods for expanding an initial idea.
- Ultimately producing coherent, channelled improvisations and stimulating a sense of play, toying with various
constraints.
- Transcription and analysis of well-rendered improvisations, for reference purposes. Why does it sound right?
- Working with singersʼ creative propositions.