10.6 Ensemble intonation  (Page 2/3)

Pitch occurs during every instant of sound, and every instant of sound must have accurate pitch. Using this as a premise, we can subdivide each note to find its smallest rhythmic component. For example, each half note contains eight sixteenth notes and sixteen sixty-fourth notes. At a tempo of quarter note=120 the half note has a duration of one second, the sixteenth note has a duration of 1/16 of a second and the sixty-fourth note 1/64 of a second. The pitch of the half note must be accurate and constant during each 1/16 and 1/64 of its duration. If this concept can be conveyed to the choir, maintaining pitch will be less of a concern. Choirs often let the pitch sag in notes of longer duration, but rarely fail to sing a sixteenth note in tune. The duration of the note is important in its relation to pitch and to pitch problems. Ask the singers to sing each sixteenth note of a half note on a syllable or even with numbers as in Figure 1.

Practice this also having the choir sing only three sixteenths, then four, then the first of the second group, and so on, with the greatest possible concentration. When this is successful one can place several half notes into a simple melodic structure and do the same thing, as in figure 2, for example. It is also helpful to have the choir sing parts, that is, different notes of a chord for each part and maintain good intonation during a short exercise. This imitates what will occur in much choral singing, that of singing homophonic music, i.e. a chordal structure. This concept should be used consistently throughout rehearsals when the example of consistent pitch must be reinforced. When intonation is not good in a rehearsal, stopping to reintroduce this concept can be helpful. The use can be brief to make the point, but it can and should also be used in the actual music of a choral piece where it will be most effective. Singers can hear the better intonation and appreciate the need for the inner rhythmic sense of intonation. This will be discussed further in this module.

Pitch should remain accurate. Have the choir then change the subdivision and sing eighth notes and then quarter notes carrying the tone of each note to its greatest possible duration. Then have the choir sing each half note, maintaining the sense of the sub division in their minds as they sing each note.

Subdivision is essential to good pitch just as it is the heart of rhythm. The lesson of subdivision will serve not only for pitch but also for choral precision and rhythm since they also depend on the accurate reproduction of each subdivision. This is most important. The integrity of music is pitch and rhythm and they are always intertwined. One affects the other and, when precisely correct together, they are the heart of music. As rhythmic accuracy improves usually so will pitch. As each vowel sound is begun on the beat both pitch and rhythm improve. Transfer the singing of subdivision to a musical score. For example, the long independent lines of many Renaissance works often suffer from sagging pitch. Try singing the work on the syllable "nee" or "loo" for each eighth note or sixteenth note, depending on the rhythmic nature of the piece. Have each singer concentrate on the exact pitch of every note of the subdivision. As before, change to a larger rhythmic component and then to the score as written, still "thinking" the smallest subdivision as exactly the same pitch as the larger note of which it is a part. In addition, the rhythmic accuracy will improve as every note begins and ends exactly as it should. A choir will easily hear the precision and correct intonation, and sense the cohesion in the music. The greatest difficulty, then, is to add the text while maintaining the accurate pitch and rhythm. Emphasize that if one flats or sharps one is not singing "out of tune" but is, in fact, singing a wrong note; to be sure, probably a quarter tone or less but, still a wrong note for that instant. Slurring into pitches is also a matter of singing a wrong note (pitch) for a given instant of time. Slurring either robs the previous note of pitch and thus destroys pitch and musical integrity, or it robs the pitch at which the singer eventually arrives of its correct pitch duration.