Expressive Singing - Dalcroze e - Caldwell, J. Timothy, 1945

783.
04
C13
1995
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^Dxdacoze fm Voice
I. TIMOTHY CALDWELL
CL-1 3
£ nf 5
EXPRESSIVE SINGING
Dalcroze Eurhythmies
for
Voice
J. Timothy Caldwell
Central Michigan University
PRENTICE HALL, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey 07632

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Caldwell, J. Timothy (date)
Expressive singing : Dalcroze eurhythmies for voice / J. Timothy
Caldwell
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-13-045295-5
1. Jaques-Dalcroze, Emile, 1865-1950. 2. Musical meter and
rhythm. 3. Musico-callisthenics. 4. Singing—instruction and
study. I. Title.
MT22.C35 1995
783’.04-—dc20 94-2030
CIP
MN
Acquisitions editor: Bud Therien

Editorial production supervision
and interior design: F. Hubert
Manufacturing buyer: Bob Anderson
Cover design: Miguel Ortiz
© 1995 by Prentice-Hall, Inc.

A Paramount Communications Company
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey 07632
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be

reproduced, in any form or by any means,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
10 987654321
ISBN 0-13-0 4 52=15-5
Prentice-Hall International (UK) Limited, London

Prentice-Hall of Australia Pty. Limited, Sydney
Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., Toronto
Prentice-Hall Hispanoamericana, S.A., Mexico
Prentice-Hall of India Private Limited, New Delhi
Prentice-Hall of Japan, Inc., Tokyo
Simon & Schuster Pte. Ltd., Singapore
Editora Prentice Hall do Brasil, Ltda., Rio de Janeiro
JY 2 0 '99
To Barb, with all my love,
and
To Robert Abramson, teacher, friend, mentor:
Thanks for the kick in the pants.

♦ Contents ♦
foreword ix
preface xi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii
♦ PARTI ♦
Background 1
♦ Chapter 1 ♦
one voice teacher's education 3
THE ECLECTIC VOICE TEACHER 5

WHY THE DALCROZE METHOD? 6
♦ Chapter 2 ♦
vocal mythology 8
♦ Chapter 3 ♦
Emile Jacques-Dalcroze 12
BIOGRAPHY 12
INFLUENCES 14
FIRST PRINCIPLES 15
V
vi contents
♦ PART II ♦
The Dalcroze Methodology 19
♦ Chapter 4 ♦
the Dalcroze equation 21
SPACE, ENERGY, AND PLASTICITY 22

TIME 23
WEIGHT 24
BALANCE 24
PLASTICITY 29
♦ Chapter 5 ♦
the normative measure and its effect 30
ARRHYTHM 31
ERRHYTHM 31
EURHYTHM 32
EFFECT OF THE NORMATIVE MEASURE 32
♦ Chapter 6 ♦
understanding music through kinesthetics 39
AFFECT AND MOVEMENT 40

THE DANCE OF AFFECT 41
PLAYING DETECTIVE 42
SKILLS FOR EXPRESSIVE READING 43
♦ Chapter 7 ♦
improvisation 45
PRO ACTION AND REACTION 46

IMPROVISATION 46
THREE EXERCISES IN PLASTICITY 48
MIRROR EXERCISES 51
EXERCISES THAT DEVELOP ABILITY TO IMPROVISE TEXT OR MUSIC 52
EXERCISES IN GIBBERISH 53
MUSICAL GIBBERISH 54
♦ Chapter 8 ♦
rhythmic solfege 56
FIXED DO SYSTEM 56
COMPARISON OF GERMAN AND FRENCH THEORIES 57
SUMMARY 62
contents vii
♦ Chapter 9 ♦
the behaviors for learning 63
PAYING ATTENTION 64
TURNING ATTENTION TO CONCENTRATION 64
REMEMBERING 65
REPRODUCING THE PERFORMANCE 65
CHANGING 66
AUTOMATING 66
♦ PART III ♦
Putting the Dalcroze Methodology to Work 67
♦ Chapter 10 ♦
musical rules 69
INTRODUCTION 69
AESTHETIC CHOICES 70
TWO ASSUMPTIONS 71
WHAT MAKES A PERFORMANCE EXPRESSIVE? 72
GENERAL RULES OF PHRASING 75
RULES OF ACCENTUATION 83
RULES OF NUANCE 87
♦ Chapter 11 ♦
applying eurhythmies to technique 96
PERFORMER CONTROLS 98
VOICE CLASSIFICATION 99
BREATHING 100
ARTICULATION 104
COORDINATING EAR AND VOICE 105
COORDINATING EAR AND BODY 106
AFFECT AND ITS EFFECT ON TECHNIQUE 108
THREE METHODS OF PROCESSING INFORMATION 111
THREE FORMS OF KINESTHESIA 116
♦ Chapter 12 ♦
putting it all together: creative practicing 119
IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES 120

THE EXERCISES 123
SINGING MUSICALLY IN THE EARLY LEARNING STAGES 129
viii contents
♦ Chapter 13 ♦
three sample lessons 135
FIRST LESSON WITH A NEW STUDENT 137

LESSON WITH A SECOND-YEAR STUDENT 142
LESSON WITH A FOURTH-YEAR STUDENT 147
SUMMARY 154
♦ Chapter 14 ♦
conclusion 159
questions and answers 163
♦ Appendix A ♦
suggestions for learning a score musically 166
EXERCISES DISTILLED FROM CHAPTER 11 166

BONUS EXERCISE FOR NON-PIANO PLAYERS 167
LIST OF ATTITUDES 167
♦ Appendix B ♦
Greenwell registration chart 169
INTRODUCTION 169
ELEMENTS OF REGISTRATION 169
bibliography 173
index 175
♦ Foreword ♦
Hats off. Everyone! Timothy Caldwell gives us a new book with a new
vision, new purpose, and new goals. This is not just another book on the
art or science of voice production, but it is a practical guide that unites
the techniques of voice training to its original and now mostly forgotten
purpose: the ability of a singer to project musical feelings and poetic pic¬
tures and stories to move a listening audience.
It is interesting that more songs and singers are being taught at
more schools in the United States than ever before. Sad to say, this is not
leading to either a revival in great performance or even an audience's
deeper appreciation of the seventeenth-, eighteenth-, nineteenth-, or
twentieth-century song literature. The fact is that fewer people than ever
before can sing "Happy Birthday" in tune and in time. Even ordinary
speech, just one part of singing, has deteriorated into the expressive
realm of the harsh, colorless, and/or emotionless computerlike qualities.
One wonders if America is losing its voice and its ear for the folk and art
music of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries and if
anything except the country-western, pop, rock, and disco styles of
singing could be authentic means of expression.
Perhaps the solution to the revitalization of the old vocal culture
lies in changing the training of singers. At the present time, most of the
training is technical and is concerned with building the vocal instru¬
ment. This is a worthwhile goal if the student is also gifted with the
desire and skill to project musical-poetic expression. However, many
students are severely deficient in this talent or skill, and building a
vocal instrument" without building an understanding of expressive
technique indicates a certain lack of responsibility on the part of the
IX
x foreword
teacher. This kind of voice education, without a musical education, is

something like an architect who draws a plan to put up the foundation
and outer walls of a building but does not think out the problems of
lighting, heating, and other necessities that will help to make the build¬
ing warm, livable, friendly, and aesthetically appealing.This same archi¬
tect leaves it to others to do the basic work. The result of this imbalance
in training and limited viewpoint is often a "one sound fits everything"
quality so that songs about love, hate, war, sleep, or revenge all sound
and feel the same. This training can lead to the "pretty" sound, though
the effect is often constipated or pretentious. All of these problems come
about from the erroneous belief that vocal technique has nothing to do
with musical expression or musical gesture. Though voice production is
taught everywhere, musical expression and poetry are not. Musical
expression can only be produced by training the student in the nuances,
accents, and phrasing of rhythmic movement. Poetic expression can only
be produced by training in the appreciation of the colors and rhythmic
movements of language.
The coordination of vocal technique and embodied knowledge
about musical expression revealed in this book can help teachers and
students bridge the gap that all artists and magicians must bridge. I say
"artists and magicians" because both must seduce the audience to
believe in an illusion of reality and life. Just as the magician creates illu¬
sions of a world that does not exist, a singer leads audiences to believe
and understand the feelings and ideas that are encoded in the musical
score. As long as the techniques of voice production, musicality, and
poetry are separated, this cannot be accomplished.
Now that the separation between the concepts of mind, body, and
soul is being discarded in the sciences, the time has come to unite and
heal the separation between the culture of voice, poetry, and musicality.
Timothy Caldwell has undertaken this gigantic task by combining the
powers of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze's general exercises in the physical
expression of musical rhythm with the specific exercises and examples
of the laws of musical expression. By teaching us how to unleash the
power of rhythm, which Plato described as the "dance of the soul,"
Professor Caldwell helps lead the battle for the return of good singing to
its rightful place as expressive singing responsive to any style, any lan¬
guage, using any text.
Robert M. Abramson
The Juilliard School/The Manhattan School
New York City
♦ Preface ♦
Music is one of the most powerful forces known to humans; it touches

us, moves us, opens the doors of our soul's isolation, and for an ineffable
moment, allows us to touch the soul of another. The power of music is
emotion, a word from the Latin term exmovere, which means "to move
out of."1 The expression of emotion in music comes through motion that
is felt by the performer and perceived by the listener. Singing is the most
personal medium through which music passes, using our bodies to
express the mingled feelings of the composer and performer as its power
extends to the listener.
I am a performer and voice teacher, and my love of performing is
equaled by my love of teaching. I know many other teachers/perform¬
ers who feel similarly. However, over the years I have grown uneasy
that, as teachers, we seem to have become enamored of the creation of
wonderful techniques and lost sight of the reason for singing: the
expression of thought and feeling. One reason for our focus on tech¬
nique is that it seems somehow more objective, more obvious, and more
accessible to instruction than expression of emotion. Expressing emo¬
tion, particularly within a particular musical style (e.g.. Baroque,
Classical), often seems to be a murky issue, difficult to pin down.
Nevertheless, just as a vocal technique can be taught, I believe musical
expression can also be taught. Much of the murkiness of expression can
be removed if there were guidelines for us to follow. Fortunately, such
guidelines exist. They are guidelines governing expression, guidelines
that the best performers follow intuitively, and they can be taught.
The question is. What is the best way to teach expression? If, in
' Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary (Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam, 1974), p. 372.
XI
xii preface
fact, the goal of singing is to express emotion,2 and emotion results from
movement, does this mean singers should dance around as they sing in
order to convey their feelings? No. Ideally the performer has internal¬
ized the "dance" of the music so he or she can stand quietly and sing in
such a powerful, "moving" manner that the audience feels compelled to
dance and sway. This is real "singer power."3
Singers, and teachers of singers, are intuitively attracted to using
movement to improve performance, but very few of us are systematical¬
ly trained in movement or its application. One goal of this book is to
introduce you to a century-old methodology that uses movement to
teach all elements of music as well as to improve technical performance.
The method is called Dalcroze Eurhythmies and bears the name of its
creator, Emile Jaques-Dalcroze (1865-1950).
Using concepts from eurhythmies can provide valuable clues into
the nature of musical expression. My intention is that the book may
serve as a guide in developing expressive techniques whether you are a
student, teacher, or performer.
I examine three major issues in the book:
1. The teaching/learning process of studying voice

2. The techniques of expression
3. The methodology of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze and its use in teaching
areas 1 and 2
The book has three divisions:
♦ Part I provides a background for what follows in the rest of the

book, includes a brief biography of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, and
presents a view of his philosophy and some of the questions he
raised that impact on how music could be taught.
♦ Part II explores the three elements of the Dalcrozian methodology,
the Dalcroze equation for eurhythmic performance, and explains
the types of behavior needed to learn music successfully.
♦ Part III, "Putting the Dalcroze Methodology to Work," describes
the teaching/learning process and techniques of expression and
presents sample lessons that demonstrate their application. The
appendix following Part III serves as a quick reference to exercises
and guidelines elaborated on in the text.
2 It may be argued that singing expresses ideas, or tells a story, in addition to

expressing a feeling. While I agree, I am compelled to add that the composer uses the con¬
tent (the information conveyed by the words) to elicit emotion from the listener.
3Thanks to Wesley Balk for creating this wonderful term.
preface xiii
Above all, I hope Expressive Singing: Dalcroze Eurhythmies for Voice

will provide a source of new insights for your teaching and performing
and give you new perspectives on our art.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I have been privileged to have many fine teachers, students, and colleagues
over the years, and have learned a great deal from them. However, several
must be mentioned and thanked here because of the lasting influence they
have had on me and my career as a performer and teacher:
♦ First and foremost, I thank Dr. Barbara Dixon, professor of piano

and associate dean, College of Arts and Sciences at Central
Michigan University, my significant other, friend, and colleague,
for her “little suggestions" that changed the direction of my career.
She has been, and continues to be, my musical role model.
♦ My fellow voice teachers at Central Michigan University, Mary
Stewart Kiesgen, Cora Enman, Jeffrey Foote, and Nina Nash-
Robertson, director of choirs, deserve my thanks for their long-suf¬
fering support and friendship, even when it appeared I might have
gone off the deep end.
♦ The Department of Music at Central Michigan University must be
included for allowing me the freedom to move outside the mold of
"voice teacher," and into the areas related to teaching and perform¬
ing. My colleagues, particularly in the areas of music education
and piano, have cheerfully aided and abetted me in my Dalcroze
studies.
♦ Dr. Julie Meyer deserves special thanks for her careful reading of
the manuscript and thoughtful suggestions.
♦ Boris Goldovsky, Director of the Goldovsky Opera, who taught me
that the opera score has the stage directions built into the music.
He also insisted that opera should be believable: a radical concept.
♦ H. Wesley Balk, former Artistic Director of the Minnesota Opera,
whose genius is putting together all the performance elements and
providing ways to train the singer/actor.
♦ Dr. Guy Duckworth, emeritus professor of piano pedagogy. College
of Music, University of Colorado, Boulder. His cogent insight into
the teaching/learning process as well as his profound understand¬
ing of music continue to influence my teaching and performing.
The teachers with whom I studied voice through the years have
greatly influenced this book:
xiv preface
♦ John McCollum, professor of voice. University of Michigan, shep¬

herded me through my undergraduate and master's degrees and
instilled in me the love of singing recitals and bringing them to
dramatic life.
♦ The late Gene Greenwell, professor of voice, Michigan State
University, provided me with conscious technical choices and
helped me learn to listen to my students with my "technical ears"
on.
♦ Dr. Barbara Doscher, professor of voice. College of Music,
University of Boulder, Colorado, refined and enhanced my tech¬
nique during our short year together.
♦ Walter Blazer, emeritus professor of voice, the Manhattan School of
Music, and Maria Blazer, with whom I had very few lessons, but
their encouragement of my performing and their dedication to
teaching continue to be felt and appreciated.
♦ Finally, Robert Abramson, professor of rhythmics. The Juilliard
School, who has been called the premier Dalcroze teacher of the
latter part of the twentieth century. It is a title he rightfully holds.
He has also been called the "transformer" because that is what he
does. He has changed the way I look at and listen to music, as well
as the way I teach and perform, and I am just one of hundreds of
musicians he has transformed through the years. He is a man of
great love and passion, and I am proud to count him as a friend.
J. Timothy Caldwell
♦ PARTI ♦
Background
The experience of art is personal; the experience of teaching is just as per¬

sonal. Chapter 1 begins with an abbreviated summary of the "journey" I
have made over my twenty years of teaching. It is included not because it
is unique (although for me it was), but rather because it is so typical.
Many of the questions that arose out of my experiences are typical as
well because I have heard my colleagues ask them over the years.
Chapter 2 continues with an examination of several ideas which are
commonly held among voice teachers and performers. The section con¬
cludes with Chapter 3, a historical overview of the life and thought of
Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, the developer of the method known in the United
States as Eurhythmies.
♦ Chapter 1 ♦
one
voice teacher's
education
In my travels as a singer and clinician, I have found many other

teacher/performers who share my background: we received perfor¬
mance degrees and found employment in educational institutions be¬
cause of our performance abilities, not our teaching skills. In our new po¬
sitions, we took on the role of voice teacher in a state of mind that might
be described as "controlled terror" because we realized we had not been
taught to teach. We had taken the pedagogy classes but usually, even in
the most prestigious schools, the classes taught under the rubric of vocal
pedagogy dealt with anatomy and acoustics, but little was said about the
subject of learning theories, teaching and learning styles, or technique as
a means to expressive performing.
The pedagogy teachers apparently assumed we all knew how to
teach music, since we were all musicians. Acoustics and anatomy are rela¬
tively concrete and the information is easier to communicate than issues
such as what constitutes musical styles or expressive performance. Hence
most of us began teaching as we were taught (or how we thought we were
taught) and continued the teaching traditions that were passed to us.
Once we were on our own with our own students, or preparing our
own performances, we discovered our education was just beginning. We
attended master classes to learn new "teaching tips." There we listened
as Madame Z told us how she preferred the last four measures of Lucia's
Mad Scene be sung, and insisted they should always be performed that
way, since that was what her coach taught her. Or how Professor Y dis¬
covered through oscilloscope experiments that by dropping the jaw,
touching the right cheek with the tongue, and forming the vowel i\
'I will use the International Phonetic Alphabet for all examples of pronunciation.
3
4 background
tenors can sing an a at mezzo forte on high B-flat. We learned from work¬
shops in "creative teaching" that by standing on her head while waving
her arms and feet, a young mezzo-soprano could free her voice to sing
thirty-six measures of "Voi che sapete" in one breath without fainting.
We would rush back to our studios armed with these fresh "tips,"
eager to try them on our students without understanding the principles
that had been used in the master classes. Predictably, the new tips en¬
abled our students to make only short-lived technical changes or, more
often, failed outright. Looking back on my experiences and the accounts
of others, I have realized the failure was due not so much to the fault of
the new teaching technique (although Professor Y's approach is ques¬
tionable), but to a lack of understanding about the technique's effect on
the music. I began to understand that we teachers supposedly attended
master classes to improve our teaching, but most of us were really only
interested in new gimmicks to add to our teaching, and were not moti¬
vated to examine what and how we taught.
We read books on vocal pedagogy, but found that most of them
dealt with diction, vowel usage, muscular use, acoustics, and related is¬
sues while mentioning in passing "expressive singing." Seldom, if ever,
did any of the books examine that mysterious, murky realm.
If your experience was similar to mine, then obviously something
was missing. As I attended concerts, I began to pay attention to my reac¬
tions and the behavior of other members of the audience. Even at recitals
presented by well-known singers, I often found myself counting the
lights in the ceiling after several pieces. My mind would drift off. When I
looked around the audience, I saw inert bodies and glazed eyes—not ex¬
actly signs of deep emotional involvement.
Why such unresponsiveness during the performances? The singers'
techniques were usually superb, their voices often had a seamless quality
from the lowest to the highest notes, they could sing very high (or very
low), and very loud and very fast; some sang softly occasionally. From
time to time, I could even understand some of the words.
On even rarer occasions, I heard a singer who had all the qualities
just mentioned and something extra that made me pay constant atten¬
tion, something which touched me and changed me. In groping to de¬
scribe this extra quality, I realized I kept referring not only to the beauty
of the singer's voice but the way the voice expressed his or her feelings
about the music. Technique was present, but it served to illuminate the
expressive elements of the music instead of calling attention to itself.
I experienced similar reactions as I listened to recordings of my own
performances. I seemed connected to some pieces and not to others;
sometimes the singing moved me, and at other times I seemed to struggle
with a piece, not necessarily because of technical problems, but as if I
were engaged not in a dance, but rather a vocal/musical wrestling match.
What was happening during those moments when the audience
and I were moved by the performance? What was missing when we were
not moved? Part of the answer occurred to me one day as I watched an

Olympic gymnastics event. I realized that I was excited and impressed
by the coordination, spirit, concentration, discipline, and beauty of form I
witnessed, but I did not mistake it for art. Why? For example, ballet and
other forms of dance possess all the qualities of gymnastics, but we place
them in the category of art because their goal (at least theoretically) is ex¬
pression of the affect (emotion) of the music they depict. The greatest
performers in any musical medium are remembered not only for their
phenomenal technique, but for what they expressed with that technique.
How they shaped their sounds gave the impression of movement
through space, of music that moved. Their ability to move sounds
through space is to be found in their expressive techniques.
The function of Western music is to distract us, overwhelm us, calm
us, arouse us, give us a sense of grandeur, awe, fear, hate, beauty, ugli¬
ness, hope, joy, despair; you name the emotion, and a piece has probably
been composed which expresses that emotion. Yet if technique remains
the primary focus of teaching, with only a nod at the expressive elements
of the music, then the outcome is inexpressive singing: the medium
(technique) becomes the message, and art becomes mere gymnastics.
What if musical expressiveness were taught along with technique?
What if expressiveness was, in fact, the key to developing technique? I
wish the idea of developing technique through musical understanding
had originated with me, but alas, Jaques-Dalcroze and other teachers pro¬
posed such teaching in the nineteenth century. This is not an issue of
teaching expressiveness instead of technique (expressiveness versus tech¬
nique), but rather which one receives the primary focus in most lessons.
Much of today's vocal training is similar to horse-drawn wagons in
that we teachers and performers have the cart before the horse: the cart
is the vocal mechanism, diction, and so on; the horse represents the sen¬
sibilities and emotional expressiveness of the composer and performer
that inform and lead the technique. We need both the cart and the horse
to get anywhere, but having the cart behind the horse makes for an easier
journey.
THE ECLECTIC VOICE TEACHER
Psychologists, like voice teachers, are people who often describe them¬
selves as professionally eclectic. However, the best psychologists usually
can point to one school of therapy they are trained in, which they use as a
reference system. This school provides the therapist with a structured
way of seeing and hearing the information the client provides, and sug¬
gests a structured process for helping the client.
We voice teachers, however, seldom leave the eclectic category be¬
cause we do not have a structured process for teaching our students to per¬
form expressively. We do have schools of thought about issues like these:
6 background
The "white" sound, the "black" sound, the "German" sound,

"French" sound, "Italian" sound, the "pop" sound.
Diction: "to roll or not to roll" the R's in German. Should we use
consonants or not? Do vowels really migrate or should we leave
that to ducks and geese?
And, the granddaddy of them all, vocal technique. Technical
schools of thought argue questions like: What does "support"
mean? Can you really "place" the voice? Do registers exist, and if
so, how many?
There are even voice teachers who maintain they don't teach
singing but, rather, "build voices," leaving the musical side to coaches.
Why aren't teachers taught how to teach expression? There are sev¬
eral reasons. The first is that traditional teaching accepts the myth that
expressive singers are born, not made, while almost anyone can be
taught to use their larynges better.
I agree that each generation produces a few singers who seem born
with innate understanding in one area of performance, for example,
opera. However, listening to any one singer in various roles in operas
from different periods and languages usually leaves the impression that
all the music sounds alike and merely serves as a vehicle for a glorious
voice because of the unchanging sound of the singing. Listening to that
same glorious voice in another genre, for example, lied or oratorio, often
proves disappointing because having a glorious voice does not guarantee
an expressive performance in other styles.
Another justification for not teaching expressive singing is put forth
by teachers who describe themselves as "voice builders." They contend
that singing with "feeling" gets in the way of solid technique. However,
even these teachers have the students sing literature during lessons, per¬
haps giving the students the unfortunate impression that singing is about
producing correct vowels on given pitches at the right time.
I liken this philosophy (first technique, expression later) to what my
father was told as a child: "Don't go in the water until you know how to
swim." Naturally, he never learned to swim. Rather than omitting the ex¬
pressive elements until technique is solid and the musical score is
learned, it is preferable to deal with all three challenges at the same time.
After all, this is what the performer has to do in actual performance. It is
sometimes necessary to focus on technique, but if we dwell on technique
too long, we might drown if we jump into the sea of affect.
WHY THE DALCROZE METHOD?
If you are a teacher, imagine creating situations where students show

you what they hear. If you are a student, imagine having your body
demonstrate, for example, that it does not understand the phrasing of a

composition, so, through movement, you learn the structure of the piece
without constantly singing. Using the concepts of Dalcroze Eurhythmies
offers possibilities for creating awareness of what our bodies "hear" and
understand, as well as providing means for melding vocal technique
with deliberate techniques of expression.
The Dalcroze method is the oldest, and least understood, of the
modern systems of music education. It is also the only one that is directly
applied to improving performance. No one system is a panacea for all our
musical and technical problems, but the Dalcroze method is, I believe, as
near as we have come. It is a system that incorporates (literally, since in¬
corporate means to "put into a body") all the elements of music, kinesthet¬
ics, the teaching/learning process, affect, and improvisation. The uses for
these ideas are limited only by our imagination and musicianship.
♦ Chapter 2 ♦
vocal
mythology
Before looking at the method of Eurhythmies and its applications, these

three vocal myths need to be examined:
1. Musically expressive singers are born, not made.

2. Developing vocal technique and learning music have to be separate
functions.
3. Music making is about accurate pitches, rhythms, clear diction, and
good technique.
I use the term myths as Joseph Campbell and other mythologists

define the term, that is, ideas that might or might not be based on fact or
actual historical events, but are held in common by members of a society
and are used to define their world and give meaning to their lives
(Campbell, pp. 4-5). Voice teachers, like any other subculture, have cer¬
tain ideas that have been passed from one generation to the next, ideas
we accept as true because "everyone" believes them.
Like many other myths, each myth listed here is a mixture of one
part fact and two parts unexamined premises.
♦ Myth 1
Musically expressive singers are horn, not made.
This belief might be summarized as "you either got it or you ain't."

As I listen to singers, I am constantly amazed by the miracle of being able
to produce sounds that other people are interested in hearing. Compared
8
vocal mythology 9
to the entire population of the world, only a very small, very elite group,
in any society, can rightfully be called "singers." However, even in that
small group, most possess average voices and musical abilities. As teach¬
ers who are not clairvoyant, we cannot accurately predict which of those
average singers who walk through our studio doors will evolve into out¬
standing performers once their technical and musical problems have
been resolved. Unfortunately, as voice teachers, most of us are better
equipped to deal with technique; we prefer to rely on vocal coaches (if
such a rare creature dwells nearby) to deal with musical expression. If we
were discussing dancing, this would be tantamount to being a dance
instructor who only dealt with left legs. Just as dance study is more pro¬
ductive if dancers are allowed to use both legs, so singers need to use
both "legs" of singing: vocal technique and musical expression.
It is difficult to teach or perform expressively if "expression" is not
well understood. While no one person can claim to know everything
about what constitutes expressive performance, we can begin to study
what qualities expressive performances, and expressive performers, have
in common. These expressive elements (techniques) can then be ana¬
lyzed, codified, and taught. Providing ways for the teacher and per¬
former to identify, analyze, and correct musical problems is part of the
rationale for writing this book.
♦ Myth 2
Developing vocal technique and learning music have to be separate
functions.
This myth sounds true only because it has become common prac¬
tice. There are teachers who believe teaching music is about teaching
technique, and the blossoming music industry called "voice science" has
come into being over the last fifteen years based on this myth. Advocates
of this thinking, calling themselves vocal scientists and voice builders, are
conducting fascinating research in the acoustical and muscular aspects of
voice production. Voice teachers need to know about such things, but
music is more than mere technique.
I performed a recital several years ago for an audience that
included a well-known vocal scientist. Dr. X. After the program, Dr. X
passed through the receiving line and commented, "Your i's and u’s
were quite good, however keep working on the [A] in your upper voice."
An acquaintance of mine, standing in line behind Dr. X, immediately
remarked to me, "Did Dr. X hear any of the music?" No, Dr. X heard only
a succession of vowel sounds.
The premise that teaching voice is primarily about teaching tech¬
nique does not take into account the possibility that the music and musi¬
cal expression inform the technique. Singers who develop only one tech-
10 background
nical approach tend to perform all styles in the same manner. Recently,
internationally acclaimed operatic singers have begun recording songs
from popular musicals. Their voices are wonderful, but they insist on
using the same technical approach that made them famous on the oper¬
atic stage. However, the popular music they are recording requires a dif¬
ferent vocal and musical approach. The resulting recordings sound
uncomfortable. They are the aural equivalent of the overweight middle-
aged man struggling to fit into the clothes he wore as a teenager; he
might be able to squeeze into them, but no one wants to be around when
he tries to sit down.
I write this not so much to criticize the dubious choices made by
these singers, but to point out the results of singing all styles with one
technical approach. A thorough background in technique should enable
the singer to give authentic performances in several styles. Singers need
strong techniques, so there will always be the need for technical studies.
However, consider what could happen if voice lessons became studies in
technique and musical expression.
I define vocal technique as the preparation of the vocal instrument, and
the mind that controls it, for expressing musical thought. While there are
appropriate times to separate technical and musical requirements, to
continuously keep them separate can lead to treating literature as if it
were a kind of extended vocalise. If music is meant to tell stories and
ideas, and express related feelings, then singing, which is perhaps the
original way of making music, is the most direct and powerful of the per¬
formance mediums because the sound comes directly from a human
body. I believe the goal of technique is to prepare the mind and body to
serve the music. Excellent teaching results in secure vocal technique
linked with an understanding of methods of musical expression; excel¬
lent performance is the public presentation of the melding of vocal and
expressive techniques.
♦ Myth 3
Music making is about accurate pitches, rhythms, clear diction,
and good technique.
Of course pitch, rhythm, diction, and technique are all necessary

elements in performance. However, they do not constitute the final ex¬
pressive performance if they are not held together by an emotive "glue."
There is a theory in gestalt research stating that the whole is greater than
the sum of the parts. An expressive performer uses the elements of pitch,
rhythm, diction, and technique to create the rhythmic "dance" that gen¬
erates the emotional milieu for the music, whereas the inexpressive per¬
former makes one or more of the elements the goal of the performance.
How often have you heard a performer struggle for "correctness" while
you and others in the audience were bored to tears?
vocal mythology 11
Expressive singing is more than a collection of vowel sounds, tech¬

nical accomplishments, accurate score reading, or even clear diction. The
historical raison d'etre of singing has been, and continues to be, a means
of expressing musical thought and feeling. But what constitutes expres¬
sion, and how do you learn to sing expressively? What are these guide¬
lines and techniques that can lead to expressive singing? Emile Jaques-
Dalcroze provided many of the answers to these questions at the begin¬
ning of the twentieth century.
♦ Chapter 3 ♦
Emile Jaques-Dalcroze
BIOGRAPHY
Emile Jaques was born in Vienna in 1865 of Swiss parents living in Aus¬
tria. Emile showed unusual abilities as a pianist at an early age and was
taught by his mother, a music teacher who had studied the philosophy
and techniques of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827), a Swiss
educational innovator. Under her guidance, Emile and his sister Helene
sang duets and played four-hand piano compositions from a very early
age. He wrote his first march for the piano at age seven, and the first of
more than 600 songs he would write during his lifetime.
His parents returned to Geneva when he was seven, and he was
enrolled in the Conservatory of Music and the College of Geneva. After
graduating, he moved to Paris to study composition with Leo Delibes
and Gabriel Faure, and to study acting with members of the Comedie
Franâise. In 1885 Emile returned to Geneva where he studied with
Mathis Lussy, a Swiss theorist. Lussy's theories for teaching rhythm and
musical expression were to profoundly influence Dalcroze's later work
in those areas.
Emile was achieving some success as a composer, and it was during
this time that one of his publishers suggested he change his name to
something less common so his compositions would be more easily
remembered. So he created the name "Dalcroze" (an acquaintance of
Emile's had the name "Valcroze" and allowed Emile to use his name
with this little variation) and became Emile Jaques-Dalcroze (his books
may be found in libraries under Jaques-Dalcroze).
He spent 1886 in Algiers as an assistant conductor at the Algiers
opera and discovered Arabic music with its irregular and intricate
12
Emile Jaques-Dalcroze 13
rhythms. He later wrote that it was during his short conducting career
that he discovered gesture and music must be integrated. He returned to
Vienna in 1887 and enrolled in the Vienna Conservatory to study compo¬
sition with Anton Bruckner. After graduation, he returned to Geneva
with a broad background as a pianist, actor, conductor, singer, composer,
and poet, and was appointed professor of harmony and solfege at the
Conservatory of Music in Geneva in 1893, when he was twenty-eight.
Jaques-Dalcroze quickly discovered his students at the conservatory
could not hear the harmonies they were writing in theory classes, were
unable to write a simple melody or chord sequence, and that they had seri¬
ous problems in their performance because of a poorly developed rhyth¬
mic sense. So he discarded the ear training texts and introduced a new
subject: improvisation. He realized the students did not feel at home with
much of their music, so he encouraged them to express themselves vocally
or on the piano at the spur of the moment and experience music as a lan¬
guage of the emotions. He pondered the close connection between acous¬
tics, nerve centers, and muscular movement, and decided that musicality,
if purely aural, was not complete unless muscles could coordinate with
the music. He began to study ways in which music, movement, cognition,
and physical skills were related and realized the missing link, the force
that bound thought, imagination, and physical skills, was kinesthetics.1
The conservatory authorities were not interested in his newfangled
theories, so in 1893 he rented a studio and, with the help of student vol¬
unteers, began experimenting with studying music through movement.
The principles he developed with his students were so original that they
were given special names: in Europe, Le Rythme', in Asia, Dalcroze-Rhyth-
mics; and Eurhythmies in England and North America.
He began his experiments simply, much the way Eurhythmies
teachers begin today, by having the students step to the music he impro¬
vised. These exercises eventually included all the elements of music: note
values, measures, rhythmic patterns, phrases, polyrhythms, group work,
and conducting. Improvisation was a part of every lesson. Learning and
creating were in constant interplay: students would invent rhythms, per¬
form them physically, melodically, harmonically, and develop them m
many ways, then write and read them. There were basic physical exer¬
cises with specific studies in muscular sensitivity controlled by sound,
and studies in breathing and relaxation were developed to prepare the
body for fluid, harmonious movement.
By 1905 he and his students were ready to present the complete
methodology of Eurhythmies: rhythmic solfege, improvisation, and
rhythmics. Jaques-Dalcroze understood that people tend to learn and
remember more when they enjoy the process of learning. Therefore he
'Thesia is a Greek term for "awareness of." Therefore kinesthesia (kines-thesia) liter¬
ally means "awareness of motion."
14 background
taught musical concepts by using activities he described as "games" or

"exercises." Present-day Dalcroze teachers continue to use the term games.
As he and his troupe traveled throughout Europe, his ideas were
received warmly by many performers and teachers although others, in
more rigid academic settings, opposed them, because Eurhythmies was
an entirely new approach to learning music. Jaques-Dalcroze did have
very important admirers in two brothers named Dhorn. The Dhorns
were German industrialists and advocates of social reform. Because of
their interest in Jaques-Dalcroze's work, they built an institute for him at
Hellerau near Dresden, Germany, in 1910. Eventually several hundred
students from fourteen nations lived and studied there.
Jaques-Dalcroze's early work reached its climax at Hellerau in 1913
with performances of Gluck's opera Orfeo. All the participants—singers,
orchestra, set designer, and choreographer—had been trained in Jaques-
Dalcroze's new methodology, so movement, music, light, and space were
in complete harmony.
More than five thousand people from around the world attended
the festival. Major names in theater, dance, and literature attended, such
as Stanislawski, Nijinski, Diaghilev, G. B. Shaw, and Upton Sinclair.
Almost overnight, Hellerau became a world center for education through
the arts. Eurhythmies was introduced into theaters, dance schools, and
educational institutions around the world, and Dalcroze training schools
opened in many countries.
This era ended abruptly in 1914 with the onset of the First World
War. Hellerau closed and Jaques-Dalcroze returned to Geneva where he
opened a new school in 1915. The two world wars isolated Switzerland
and severely limited Jaques-Dalcroze's influence outside that country.
However, he continued his work and on his seventieth birthday he
received a book containing 10,500 signatures of former students
representing forty-six nationalities. He lived to see his methodology used
in public schools, conservatories of music, colleges, schools of opera and
theater, and in therapeutic work with the blind, deaf, and mentally and
physically handicapped children and adults.
Emile Jaques-Dalcroze died in 1950. The institute in Geneva that
bears his name continues to train Dalcroze teachers from around the world.
INFLUENCES
Jaques-Dalcroze and his methodology can hardly be discussed without

at least a nod in the direction of the teachers who influenced him: Johann
Heinrich Pestalozzi, Edouard Claparede, and Mathis Lussy.
Pestalozzi, as mentioned earlier, was a Swiss educator whose theo¬
ries would eventually influence Lowell Mason (1792-1872), who is cred¬
ited with establishing music education in public schools in the United
States, and John Dewey (1859-1952), who some call the father of public
Emile Jaques-Dalcroze 15
education in the United States. Pestalozzi was the first influential educa¬
tor to reject the school practices of rote memorization and recitation, call¬
ing instead for teachers to create conditions in which the students learn
through observation, experimentation, and reasoning. His credo was
"Read nothing: Discover everything: Prove all things." He insisted on
teaching the "whole child: mentally, physically, and morally," "training
the head, hand, and heart" (Choksy, p. 5).
Mathis Lussy (1828-1910), with whom Jaques-Dalcroze worked as a
student in Geneva, had the novel opinion that good composers obey cer¬
tain expressive "rules" and write them into their compositions. He main¬
tained that composers assume the performer understands these rules;
but unfortunately, this is not so. In the 1800s, Lussy protested against
dull performances that did little more than serve as showcases for bril¬
liant technique. He believed students could be taught those rules the
composers followed, so he codified them, taught them to his students,
and insisted they follow them when performing. By following Lussy's
rules, the performer could analyze a musical composition for expressive
elements while simultaneously learning the words, form, and melodic
lines. Thus expressiveness was built into the technique. Jaques-Dal-
croze's musical rules are his variations on the numerous rules that Lussy
formulated.
Edouard Claparede (1873-1940), who incidentally was the founder
of Institut Jean-Jacques Rousseau for the study of child development and
a teacher of Jean Piaget, worked closely with Jaques-Dalcroze to develop
a systematic approach to the entire teaching process Jaques-Dalcroze
used. Jaques-Dalcroze drew from these three sources, Pestalozzi, Lussy,
Claparede, and added his own experiences to evolve the principles on
which to base his system.
FIRST PRINCIPLES
As mentioned earlier, Jaques-Dalcroze was already an established per¬

former when he was appointed professor of harmony and solfege at the
Conservatory of Music in Geneva. In the nineteenth century, the subjects
of harmony and solfege included theory, harmony, ear training, sight¬
singing, and dictation.
He soon realized that there were serious problems with the
accepted modes of teaching music. Music theory and notation were
taught as abstractions, divorced from the sounds, feelings, and motions
they represented. Most music studies were fragmented and specialized; a
student attended classes in specialized areas (music theory, music his¬
tory, music literature, sight-singing/ear training, lessons in a perfor¬
mance medium, etc.) without ever understanding how the music of a
particular period was affected by the society, which in turn influenced
the aesthetic and theoretical ideals of the composers. Jaques-Dalcroze
16 background
wondered why so many textbooks on harmony, transposition, and coun¬

terpoint were written in an abstract, technical style and were not con¬
cerned with developing the skill to hear the effects they described. In the
music classes, he saw few teachers who displayed the characteristics of
real musicians. He was particularly concerned that in music lessons, stu¬
dents were permitted or required to perform without understanding,
read without comprehension, and write what they could not hear or feel
(Choksy, pp. 29-30). Remember, this was in the nineteenth century; we
are ending the twentieth and the same problems are with us.
In his ruminations, he kept searching for what philosophers call
"first principles," those concepts that form the foundation on which
philosophical and conceptual frameworks may be built. He asked these
questions (Choksy, p. 31):
1. What is the source of music; where does it begin? The beginning of

music happens when human emotions are translated into musical
motion.
2. Where do we sense emotions? We experience emotions physically.
3. How do we sense emotions? Through sensations of various muscular
contractions and releases in our bodies.
4. How does the body express these internal emotions to the outer world? By
externalizing affect through movements, postures, gestures, and
sounds. Some of these are automatic (such as sweaty palms, butter¬
flies in the stomach), some are spontaneous, and others are the
results of thought and will.
5. How are these internal emotions translated into music? Through
motions such as taking a breath, vibrating the vocal folds or having
our fingers push pistons or keys on a keyboard.
6. What, then, is the first instrument that must be trained in music? The
human body! It is not enough to train the fingers, or voice, or ear, or
mind; the entire body must be trained, since it has all the essentials
for the development of sensibility, sensitivity, and analysis of
sound and feeling. Jaques-Dalcroze postulated that any musical
idea could be performed by the body (sound becoming gesture),
and any movement of the body could be transformed into a musical
idea (gesture into sound). He concluded there must be an immedi¬
ate reaction between the mind that conceives and the body that
reacts (Chosky, p. 31).
Consider the questions this raises for us as voice teachers and per¬
formers:
♦ What would be the effect of training the entire body (instead of just
the vocal folds) to respond to musical thought?
Emile Jaques-Dalcroze Y7
♦ What if we developed our artistic sensibilities as we developed our

techniques?
♦ What would happen if we became more interested in the effect of
sound instead of the production of sound?
♦ What if we could learn to hear and feel our music internally before
making it audible?
♦ What if we could hear not only our solo lines, but the harmonies
and rhythms that surround and support the lines?
The principles Dalcroze formulated have the potential to funda¬

mentally change the teaching of voice. The key to the Dalcroze approach
is movement (kinesthetics). Though we acknowledge we do not sing
from just the neck up, few of us have been taught to use movement to
learn the "dance" of the music. Instead, we simply stand in place (I am
speaking about rehearsals and lessons, not operatic performances) trying
to make our vocal muscles work in a kind of physical limbo, as if those
microscopic vocal muscles were not connected to the rest of our bodies.
What if we could learn to interpret scores as directions for movement,
thereby creating moving sounds?
From these and other questions, Jaques-Dalcroze developed a new
method of music instruction.
♦ PART II ♦
The
Dalcroze
Methodology
In 1906, Jaques-Dalcroze had his first volumes of work published by San-

doz, Jobin in Paris, and Neuchatel in Leipzig, under the title Methode
Jaques-Dalcroze. Pour le developpement de I'instinct rhythmique, du sens
aduitif et du sentiment tonal, en 5 parties (Spector, p. 115). Although the
word method appeared in the title (much to his chagrin), Jaques-Dalcroze
insisted his work was not to be seen as a rigid method, but rather as a
guide for teachers and students to use as they wish. He advocated that
each teacher and student develop original exercises and ideas, and use
his examples simply to prime the pump of imagination.
Eurhythmies may be defined as follows: "Eurhythmies . . . is . . .
based on the premise that rhythm is the primary element of music, and
that the source for all musical rhythm may be found in the natural
rhythms of the body" (Choksy, p. 27). All music begins with a gesture on
the part of the performer. The gesture originates from the music the per¬
former hears internally and from the degree of control the performer has
over the gesture. A eurhythmies teacher endeavors to train the mind that
perceives the music, the ear that hears it, and the body that performs it.
Eurhythmies uses three approaches:
♦ Solfege (to study scales, harmony, and theory)

♦ Improvisation (to activate and meld the internal ear and the body)
♦ Rhythmics (to explore the external and internal effects of rhythmic
gesture in teaching the other two elements)
Since I have not intended this book as a textbook on the Dalcroze

system per se, but rather of practical use to you, I give a general over-
19
20 the Dalcroze methodology
view of the system instead of describing it in great detail. The emphasis

is on its application in singing. You will find some exercises and guide¬
lines for expression (occasionally referred to as musical rules), but please
bear in mind that they are descriptive rather than prescriptive, and pre¬
sented as guides for your thinking.
♦ Chapter 4 ♦
the
Dalcroze
equation
What is rhythm? After years of experiments, Jaques-Dalcroze came to

define rhythm as "the varieties of flow through space" (Martin, p. 21).
Accordingly, he devised an equation that describes the major compo¬
nents of rhythm:
Space + Time + Energy + Weight + Balance + Plasticity

-= Eurhythmia
Gravity
Of the three elements of music (pitch, rhythm, dynamics), rhythm

and dynamics are dependent on motion. The Dalcroze equation
describes the elements which, taken together, give the motions involved
in rhythmic performance their "quality." Eurhythmia (good [eu] rhythm
[flow] ) in music occurs when the components of the equation are bal¬
anced. The way a composer balances these elements, along with har¬
monic and melodic progressions, results in what we refer to as the com¬
poser's style. Every generation of composers used each of these elements
in a way that reflected the prevailing sentiments, architecture (the orga¬
nized use of space), art, and even fashions of the era in which they lived.
The heavy attire of the early baroque (some dresses of the period
weighed 70 pounds or more), as well as the high heels worn by the men,
created a different use of the space, weight, and time inherent in the
music. However, the composers of a given period each experience the
balance of space, time, energy, plasticity, weight, and balance slightly
differently, even though they may follow the musical conventions of
their period. This knowledge allows us, when listening to a composition
we do not know, to identify not only the era in which a piece was writ¬
ten, but also the probable composer.
21
The Dalcroze equation raises an interesting question: What flows

through space? The answer is matter, which has density and mass. Sci¬
ence tells us that matter is energy made visible because all matter is made
of atomic and subatomic particles of energy. Look around you. All the
objects you see, the eyes with which you see, the hands with which you
touch, are all made of uncountable particles of energy.
SPACE, ENERGY, AND PLASTICITY
i-!
Hold your hands in front of you about two feet apart, palms fac-
i ing each other. Clap them together at different speeds, being sure
to return to the original starting points.
I_i
Notice the different levels of energy you used and the changes in time as
your hands came together very quickly, then very slowly, then at a speed
between the two extremes. Now vary the space between your hands as
you change tempos. This is a quick study of the effects of varying time
and energy as they move through space.
When matter (energy) is propelled through space, we call this
motion. There are packets of motion in music called beats. Beats release
their energy in many ways, for example, quickly, with a sudden surge, or
slowly, similar to the ways you clapped your hands. The way a beat
releases its motion/energy is called its quality.
Once again, clap your hands together several times at one speed.
Now, at the same tempo, slide your hands together several times;
bring the backs of your hands together several times; slide your
palms together several times; bring the tips of your index fingers
together several times. Now do one of each: clap, index fingers,
backs-of-hands, slide palms together.
What you have just experienced, in a crude manner, is the effect of vary¬
ing the quality of beats. Notice how you varied the level of energy to
change the quality. You used your muscles in different ways to produce
the different gestures, so two of the gestures, the touching of the fingers
and backs of hands, were probably quieter, while the clap and slide were
probably louder. The term energy is synonymous with dynamics, but also
includes the physical sensation of the change of weight.
Perform the exercise again, but reverse the dynamics. What did you
discover about the way you used your muscles?
Take any one of the qualities you just used (clap, index fingers,
backs-of-hands, slide palms together) and repeat it sixteen times. Boring,
isn't it?
Now use all four of the qualities in various combinations, for six¬
teen beats. More interesting? This is because you changed the quality of
the beats by varying the plasticity. It isn't art, but it isn't boring and
mechanical. Unfortunately, the first way you performed the exercise
(using only one level of energy and plasticity) is the way we often hear
entire pieces performed!
The quality of the beat (the way it gives off its energy) affects the
voyage of the energy as it moves to the next beat. The voyage between
beats moves through space with energy and plasticity. This brings us
back to the "varieties of flow" mentioned in the definition of rhythm.
Many composers have grumbled over the centuries that not only are the
pitches important in their music, but another, intangible quality is vital
as well: the movement between the pitches.
TIME
The beats are perceived as having duration (length). Plasticity (how the
beat is approached, sustained, and released) is an integral part and func¬
tion of the quality time.
i-j
Repeat the second exercise under Space, Energy, and Plasticity
(clap, index fingers, and so on). Change the order (e.g., slide
palms together, index fingers, clap, back of hands). Change the
dynamics.
L_J
Did you discover that you tended to vary the tempo (time) as you
changed the order (plasticity) and/or the dynamics (energy)?
• • • • I
Perform the same exercise forte. Perform the exercise pianissimo.
i
Turn on your metronome and perform the exercise above.

i J
I_
What did you discover about the tempo (time)? Most people have difficulty
keeping the same tempo while varying the dynamics because they have
linked time and energy so closely that if one changes, the other changes. The
tendency is to slow down if the music grows soft, and accelerate if the
music becomes louder. This is an indication that the element of energy is
overcoming the element of time; the balance between the two has been lost.
If you had trouble with the exercise, practice with your metronome until
you can vary the dynamics while keeping the tempo steady.
WEIGHT
Mass has weight in a field of gravity. We may also perceive sounds as

having a quality of weight.
Say the word thud strongly, in the lower part of your speaking
range. Now say feather in a breathy voice, in a higher part of your
speaking range. Repeat the words in this manner several times.
Pay attention to your responses.
Reverse the words, saying feather strongly, in the lower part of

your speaking range, and thud in a breathy voice, in a higher part
of your speaking range.
Saying the words in this manner usually sounds and feels quite strange
because the native English speaker intuitively associates the quality of
lightness with "feather" and heaviness with "thud." This is what is
meant by the statement that sounds may be perceived as having weight.
A collection of pitches, such as a chord, is perceived as heavier than a sin¬
gle-voice line. Pitch duration also influences the illusion of weight.
BALANCE
Balance, that is, keeping a mass under control in a field of gravity, is

another vital element of rhythm.
i-1
Perform this exercise cautiously. Clear a space around you so you
can take several steps in any direction. Close your eyes and take J
| three steps forward, turn quickly, and take three steps back to j
your starting point.
i_i
Pay attention to any problems you had keeping your balance, particu¬
larly as you turned. In a musical sense, balance enables the performer to
change direction, start, stop, speed up, slow down, and juggle the musi¬
cal elements necessary to produce a successful performance.
Many Dalcroze games are based on the Dalcroze equation. The ele¬
ments of rhythm are inseparable, but the games allow us to highlight
each one in order to increase our understanding of how it functions in a
particular piece.
Try this experiment:
i-i
Slowly clap your hands several times in your normal manner.

!_i
Notice the place where your hands come together is probably the same
location in space.
i--
Clasp your hands in front of you and draw an imaginary line,

moving from left to right. Place four equidistant points on the
line with the first point being on your far left. The line might
resemble the picture below:
1_-*
♦ Illustration 4-1 ♦
Clap four times again, moving from the first point to the last,
arching your hands from 4 back to 1 as you repeat the pattern sev¬
eral times.
What does it feel like to move through space?

Go back to your normal clapping again. Now back to the new pat¬
tern. Alternate these patterns several times.
What do you experience as the difference between these two ways of

clapping? Whatever your answer(s), as you varied your movement, you
changed your kinesthetics.
Maybe you experienced the difference between the movements,
with your normal way of clapping feeling mechanical, while the new
way had more of a liquid, flowing quality. The mechanical quality is
described as arrhythmic and the flowing quality as ewrhythmic.
j Now, keeping your tempo the same as in the first two experi¬
ments, move your hands between your imaginary points in dif¬
ferent ways.
!__'
What you are discovering is the feeling of rhythm, that is, "the varieties of
flow through space."
Time is an aspect of the speed in which an object moves through
space between two points. An object moving a short distance requires
less energy to reach its goal, just as an object moving a longer distance
requires greater energy to reach its goal.
Repeat Illustration 4-2. Without changing the space, be attentive

to how long it takes your hand to move from one point to another.
Now perform the exercise twice as fast. Double your speed again.
i-1
Do you find you tend to tighten the muscles in your hand, or arm, or
shoulder (maybe all three) as you move faster? This is performance ten¬
sion. Repeat the exercise but without the tension.
i-1
Perform the exercise rapidly again, but this time reduce the space
j by half.
i_i
What you experience?
Return to the original amount of space for the exercise. Continue

to work at your fastest speed, but reduce the amount of mass that
has to move. If you originally moved your entire arm, now allow
most of your arm to be quiet as you move only your forearm,
wrist, and fingers between the points in space.
This exercise points out the importance of using less mass when moving
faster, and the effect of space on time, energy, weight, and balance.
Performers who are effective in balancing the elements of the equa¬
tion will not hurt themselves performing. An entire field of arts
medicine, rather like sports medicine, has emerged within the last few
years because more and more performers are unable to balance the ele¬
ments in the Dalcroze equation. They also spend too much of their time
practicing, singing when they should be listening and thinking, thus
becoming future patients for arts doctors.
The Dalcroze equation is a tool that not only helps us perform and
teach music better, but can actually help the physical act of performing.
How often have you heard a singer who was tying his larynx in knots
trying to sing a melismatic passage due to singing too loudly (with too
much energy), or too heavily (with too much weight)? Teachers often
resort to images of feathers, breezes, flutes, hummingbirds, and butter¬
flies when confronted by such a singer.
Instead, having experiences in using less mass at greater speeds
will help the singer understand the problem quickly. An old adage
applies here: "What the student experiences, the student remembers."
The singer has not had the experience of being a feather or butterfly, but
can experience the tension, or reduction of tension, when using the body
efficiently.
You will need another person to help you with the following exper¬
iment in balance.
Take a walk around the room, using a normal pace and stride. Be
sure to use your normal energy in your stride, or you will sabo¬
tage the exercise.1 Your partner, at random, says "stop."
How did you stop? Did you need an additional step to stop? Did you
stop with both feet on the floor? See if you can stand balanced on one leg.
Balance on the other leg. Problems?
Have your partner walk and stop when you say "stop." Have your
partner try to balance first on one leg, then the other.
Problems?
! Return to the exercise. This time the walking person will try to
| stop on one foot. Be sure to use your normal energy in your stride,
! or you will sabotage the exercise.
1_'
What did you and your partner experience? If you have problems maintain¬
ing your balance (most people initially have trouble stopping on one foot), it
is probably because your head is not aligned with the rest of your body.
This lack of balance becomes even more pronounced when moving
from quicker energized steps to slower ones. Lack of balance is one rea¬
son singers tend to rush longer notes when they follow shorter notes, as
in this example:
<> Illustration 4-4 ♦
.4 |
Perform the rhythm in Illustration 4-4 by running (or using very

quick walking steps) for the eighth notes and walking for the others: be
careful to balance on one foot, particularly during the half note.
'Many people shorten their stride (taking baby steps) to avoid losing their balance.
You will learn more about your balance by maintaining the normal length and energy of
your stride.
Notice what you do to stop your motion after the quicker notes.
Notice also that you used more effort to stop for the half note on the end.
Maybe you succeeded in stopping by bringing your foot down more
forcefully; this was a use of weight. A basic rule in Western music has
evolved out of the physical phenomenon you just experienced: following
a series of shorter notes, a long note receives extra weight.
PLASTICITY
The way you used your body as you moved between the steps of the exer¬
cises is called plasticity. It is the final element of the Dalcroze equation.
Plasticity, the quality of the movement between the steps (or pitches), is
what gives the performer and audience the affective2 "feel" of the music.
Motion causes emotion, just as emotion causes motion. Smile, and certain
chemicals are released in the brain, eventually leading to the affect of
"pleasure"; grimace, and the affect of displeasure or pain will follow.
Imagine you are patting a sick puppy. Notice what happens

before the first pat, during the pat, and between the pats. Now
stroke the puppy as if you were playing with him and say,
"Good dog!" Notice what happens before, between, and during
the strokes. Repeat the exercise several times until you under¬
stand how your attitude affects your gestures and your gestures
affect your attitude.
Also, notice the difference in the space between the gentle ("poor sick
puppy") and more exuberant ("good dog") movements. The differences
reflect the changes in plasticity (also energy, weight, and direction). Plas¬
ticity is the subtle movement that informs the other elements (energy,
weight, etc.). How does this apply to a singer? It means not only that tak¬
ing a breath before a phrase is important, but how the breath is taken (the
affective reason) is equally important. For example, the breath taken for a
scream is different from one taken for a loud sigh.
This has been your brief introduction to the elements of the Dal¬
croze equation. You will see them again in various forms throughout the
remainder of this book, beginning with the way in that space, time,
weight, plasticity, energy, and balance are used in what Jaques-Dalcroze
called the normative measure.
2Affect here means the "conscious, subjective aspect of an emotion" (Webster's, p. 19).
I use the term to apply to all the physical sensations we label "emotion" or "feeling."
♦ Chapter 5 ♦
the normative measure

and
its effect
This chapter is about the normative measure and its constituent parts:
arrhythm, errhythm, and eurhythm. The term normative measure may be
considered a synonym for "metrically normal measure." Beats come in
various qualities of motion, such as "push, glide, stretch, lift, roll, slide,
skip, hop." If the patterns of the qualities are repeated—as in
push gliiide hft push gliiide hft push gliiide hft
then we experience the sensation of "meter," in this example, a meter in

three. The audience comes to expect push, gliiide, ^ , but a good com¬
poser will find a way to vary the pattern to ensure the audience keeps
paying attention. The composer could write "pUSh ^ gliide" or "gliide
pUsh " However, the audience will not understand the changes
unless it has the original pattern in mind, or the performer fails to make
the changes clear.
The effect of performing the normative measures and variations
well are similar to telling funny stories in which language is twisted
unexpectedly. Unfortunately, all too often in concerts neither the per¬
formers nor the audience understand the punch line. While there are var¬
ious reasons for the artists' and audiences' lack of understanding, two of
the most critical reasons are that (1) neither the performers nor the audi¬
ences have been taught what they should expect as they listen to "art"
music; (2) the performers of "art" music have not been doing their job.
Understanding the use of the normative measure will provide one
solution to the problem of boring performances. To help you understand
the normative measure, you need to understand these terms:
30
Arrhythm
Errhythm
Eurhythm
Jaques-Dalcroze understood and used many of the ancient Greek

philosophers' theories of rhythm. Physicians adopted two of the terms
for medical purposes: if your doctor listens to your heart, and it is nor¬
mal, the doctor will write "eurhythmia" on your medical chart. If the
doctor writes "arrhythmia," you will probably be taken to the hospital!
ARRHYTHM
We can see arrhythm around us in everyday life. Watch a baby learning

to walk or a young child learning to ride a bicycle, and you will see awk¬
ward gestures, lack of balance, and a tendency to run into immovable
objects. This is arrhythm in action.
Arrhythm shows up in musical studies when performers cannot
keep a steady beat, when they inappropriately pounce on high notes
while singing lower notes timidly, or when they are physically graceless
in their presentation. Arrhythm seems to be a part of the initial learning
process whether we are speaking of musical or athletic skills (since both
must be learned physically).
ERRHYTHM
What is errhythm (pronounced as if the "r" was elongated)? An errhyth-

mic performance is correct, mechanical, and, ultimately, lifeless. Another
word for errhythm is "timing." Errhythm is with us everywhere in our
artistic lives. We hear errhythmic performances in live concerts, record¬
ings, and, most of all, with our students. In fact, many music teachers
(not just voice teachers) hope fervently that their students attain, at least,
an errhythmic performance.
How many performances have you heard where all the correct
notes, rhythms, words, and, perhaps, even the dynamic markings were
followed, yet it somehow seemed dull? Several years ago, a Handel opera
festival was presented in New York City. The singers had been coached
(and coached and coached) in the proper ornaments and embellishments,
cadenzas, trills, and fioraturas, and the costumes and sets were quite elab¬
orate. The singers' voices were, in terms of technique, quite lovely.
But after the first performance, the audience stayed away in droves.
Why? Word quickly spread that the productions were boring: they were
correct, lifeless, mechanical, and dull. In short, errhythm (timing) had
struck again.
EURHYTHM
Eurhythm, introduced earlier, may be defined as the varieties of rhythmic

flow through space. Eurhythm is a major component in expressive perfor¬
mance and is the result of the balancing and shifting of the elements in the
Dalcroze equation. It is the movement felt by the performer and subcon¬
sciously perceived by the audience but is not visible to the audience.
EFFECT OF THE NORMATIVE MEASURE
Jaques-Dalcroze's teachers (Franck, Faure, Lussy) came from the French

tradition of musical performance. The French have always been con¬
cerned with the nuances of life, and this concern has influenced the way
they perceive music. One result of this concern for nuance (literally,
shade or hue) is the feeling that every beat within a measure should have
its own quality, and that the composer changes this quality at will. This
approach to music making varies quite a bit from the German theorists
who base their musical beats on poetic "feet." A result of this Germanic
approach is the theory that music has "strong" and "weak" beats. Thus
the beats in a 4/4 measure would appear like this:
I J J J J
strong weak strong weak
Look familiar? The music theory taught in American schools is based

on the German system. But the French, with their Gaelic love of nuance, sug¬
gest that metrics should be based not only on literary theories, but also on
other inherently expressive qualities. Jaques-Dalcroze used three Greek terms
to describe these typical beat qualities: crusic, metacrusic, and anacrusic.
Crusis
"Crusic" comes from the Greek crusoic and means "strike."
Imagine you have a baseball bat in your hands. Take a batter's

stance and prepare to hit the ball. Swing the bat and imagine
making contact with the ball.
i-1
The instant of contact is called crusis.
Metacrusis
i--
! Swing again, make contact with the ball, and notice what you do
with the bat immediately after contact.
1_i
You probably followed through with the swing and ended with your
muscles relaxing as you lowered the bat. The moment of release follow¬
ing the crusis is called metacrusis.
Anacrusis
Prepare to swing again, this time in slow motion. Be attentive to

the way you prepare to hit the ball.
You probably shifted your weight to your back foot as you pulled the bat
back, then shifted it forward as you swung the bat forward. All this
preparation is called the anacrusis.
Swing again, at the normal speed, with the intention of hitting

the ball lightly. Swing again, with the intention of hitting a
home run.
Be attentive to the anacrusis, and you might discover that the anacrusis is dif¬
ferent for each swing. In fact, the anacrusis informs, or determines, the kind of
crusis. In other words, the type of preparation determines the type of results.
Consider how this principle applies to our teaching and performing.
How can we expect musical results (crusis) if we have unmusical prepara¬
tion (anacrusis)? How can we expect an expressive performance if we use
inexpressive preparation? I have heard of one occasion where a teacher
approached her student after the student's public performance and said,
"You were stiff and inexpressive. I thought you could do better."
The student was instantly reduced to tears, saying, "But everything
was right. I didn't have any memory slips, and I thought I sounded good."
"Yes, that was all right," the teacher continued, "but you didn't do
anything with the music. I thought you were more expressive than
that!"
The student had been led to believe that singing the correct notes,
words, and rhythms with a good technique was enough. Whereas her
teacher assumed the singer would "throw in" whatever it took to be
expressive. The problem was that the teacher did not teach expressiveness as
part of the learning process but still expected the student to perform expres¬
sively. All of us, whether teacher or performer, occasionally spend more
time developing the technical ability to perform certain literature. There
is certainly nothing wrong in using this approach occasionally, but to do
so all the time, with every composition, dulls our emotive abilities.
Therein lies the danger: our technical skills flourish while our expressive
skills languish.
Stretching Metacrusis
By performing the preceding exercises, you have experienced the sen¬

sation of crusis, metacrusis, and anacrusis. Another type of quality
occurs in 4/4 on beat 3, which is the feeling of a stretching metacrusis.
]-1
Go back to your imaginary bat and pretend you are at batting j

practice. Hit the ball and immediately prepare to swing at another
pitch. Ready? Go.
i- 1
The movement that begins after the follow-through (metacrusis) and

stretches to the beginning of the anacrusis is the stretching metacrusis.
Where does the anacrusis begin? There are several possibilities, but let's
assume it begins the moment you shift your weight, and the bat, away
from the incoming ball.
Practice the entire set, crusis, metacrusis, stretching metacrusis,

anacrusis, again as you swing your imaginary bat.
Now place the crusi into the musical setting of the normative measure by
performing the following exercise.
1. While standing, extend your left arm in front of you. Then push
it toward the floor as you say "push." Be sure the energy in your
voice matches the gesture as you do it. Try it again. Try it with
your right arm. Try it with both arms.
I
2. Move your left arm, palm down, across the front of your body
and say "glide." Enjoy the sound and feeling of the gl of
"glide." Try it again. Try it with your right arm. Try it with both
arms (your arms should cross in front of you).
3. Beginning in the center of your body, with your left arm still
extended, move it to your left as you say "stretch." Try it again.
Try it with your right arm. Try it with both arms.
4. Finally, starting from the end of "stretch," lift your arm as you
say "lift."
As you repeat the entire pattern, you should have something similar to
this:
Right arm pattern
After you are comfortable with the pattern (you probably recog¬
nize it as the traditional 4/4 conducting pattern), change the words:
"push" becomes "crusis," "glide" becomes "metacrusis," "stretch"
remains "stretch" ("stretching metacrusis" becomes difficult to say at

quicker tempos), and "lift" becomes "anacrusis."
There you have the pattern for the normative measure in 4/4. In
3/4, it appears as follows:
Right arm pattern
(The left arm pattern is the reverse.)
In 2/4, it appears as follows:
Right arm pattern
(The left arm pattern is the reverse.)
If the qualities of beats in a normative measure were drawn, they

might look like this:
|-J—J—J-J-
CrusisMetacrusis STRETCHING METACRUSIS
Compare this to the "German" measure and you can see they
would sound quite different:
J J J J
strong weak strong weak
You can also see the many possibilities for variety that the normative
measure provides, since the various crusi may be switched around to cre¬
ate different types of movement within measures. For example, if all beats
have equal duration, we would find what we used in Illustration 5-5:
I Crusis Metacrusis STRETCHING METACRUSIS aâCÛ5IS
But if the composer divided any of the beats (subdivision), we

would perform them as in Illustration 5-6:
i rusis Meta A>!AC*USlS CRUSIS
If you are puzzled by the differences, move around the room in

this manner:
step ran mn mil 1*1111

Why was the fourth beat of the measure so heavy? If you really moved
quickly on the "run, run, run, run," then you had to put on the brakes
hard in order to stop. A rule of subdivision might be stated as follows:
the more a beat is subdivided, the more anacrusic it becomes; the beat
following an anacrusic pattern receives more weight. If you performed
the preceding exercise, you discovered the rule is based on physical prin¬
ciples. By using diacritical markings (e.g., s/z, subito piano ) the composer
may indicate unusual effects within a measure (Beethoven did this con¬
tinually—but again, he assumed the performer and audience knew what
rule he was breaking).
But how does the performer and the audience experience and study
these agogic twists and turnings? Through movement which has been
internalized. When I am asked, as a Dalcroze teacher, why I insist on
using movement to teach music, my response is, "Because you have to. Of
the three elements of music (pitch, dynamics, rhythm), two of them,
dynamics and rhythm, come through motion. Performers cannot perform
well unless they have a strong internal kinesthetic sense of the music."
♦ Chapter 6 ♦
understanding music
through
kinesthetics
Jaques-Dalcroze arrived at the core of his methodology when he devel¬

oped the use of rhythmic movement (rhythmics) for the teaching of
music. It was also the source of some of his harshest criticism from aca¬
demic music teachers.1
He realized that people experience emotions with their bodies
through muscular contractions and releases. Emotions are felt by everyone
and understood by no one, particularly the person experiencing them.
Philosophers through the ages have tried to understand emotions by find¬
ing their “seat" or root. The ancient Jews believed they resided in the liver
or kidneys. By the time of the Western Renaissance, emotions were
thought to be located in the heart: our literature and common speech (as in
"I love you with all my heart") still alludes to this seat of feeling.
The theories of twentieth-century psychologists range from specu¬
lating that feelings are complex chemical reactions to viewing them as
entirely nonexistent. A majority, however, seem to agree that something
does happen in our bodies when we experience emotions. The argu¬
ments now are about which comes first: the affect that triggers the physi¬
cal reaction or the physical reaction being perceived as affect.
Evidence is accumulating that "there are ... extensive neural con¬
nections in the brain from those parts that oversee movement, equilib¬
rium, and balance of the body to those parts that direct thought and emo-
'The criticism was not based strictly on academic concerns. Jaques-Dalcroze had his
students perform movement training in clothing that was considered skimpy at the time.
He nearly lost his lease once because the conservatory board, his "landlord," objected to the
bare arms and legs of the young ladies. Mrs. Jaques-Dalcroze asked the all-male board if
they did not like young ladies' arms and legs, which, of course, they did. After some delib¬
eration and harumphing, the lease was renewed.
39
tion ... the two [brain and body] are in an indissoluble union. The impli¬
cation is that we literally think with our bodies, that is, we think kinesi-
cally" (Seitz, p. 52). So movement and physical positioning can create
affect, and vice versa. Raise your shoulders, make your breathing quick
and shallow, widen your eyes, drop your jaw, and you will probably dis¬
cover a feeling of panic or terror: this is affect reacting to physical signals.
AFFECT AND MOVEMENT
Reproduce the vocal sounds you make when crying, allowing your face
and body to move as if you were crying. Soon you will probably be
thinking sad thoughts and possibly shedding tears. Again, this is affect
responding to your body that responded to your thoughts (when you
read the directions and consciously recreated your physical reaction).
Use the following exercises, or games, to explore the affect of move¬
ment on emotion:
i-1
Draw curving lines in the air with one hand. Increase and
decrease the energy you use as you draw the curves. Add a vocal
sound that follows what you draw and match the energy of your
] drawn lines with your vocal energy. Alternate your arms to avoid \
tiredness.
i_i
Did your thoughts and feelings change as you performed this exercise? If
you do not know, try the exercise again and pay attention to what you
are thinking and the emotional shading of your thoughts.
[ Change the type of lines you are drawing, perhaps making them j
straight or angular, and notice the effect, if any, of the drawing on |
the quality of your vocal sound.
i-1
Change the procedure, and make a vocal sound first, then draw it
in the air. Try making the sound continuous, changing the quality
of the sound as you go. Allow your drawing to change as the
sound changes.
Perhaps you discovered you had difficulty in matching your movements

with your voice, or vice versa. Join the crowd. This usually happens
understanding music through kinethetics 41
when we begin adding our voices to movement because our voices are
disconnected from our bodies!
The exercises you have just used are even more interesting when
somebody else draws your vocal sounds and your draw theirs. Remember,
you are not singing a "song" but rather simply wordless vocal sounds.
I mentioned in the first paragraph of this chapter that the academic
powers that be in Jaques-Dalcroze's time were critical of this newfangled
eurhythmic stuff. To them, eurhythmies simply looked like dancing
around a room, whereas to study music you had to be at your instrument
or standing still. Jaques-Dalcroze disagreed.
Any instrument is soundless until a person pushes the keys, presses
a button, or takes a breath. So, Jaques-Dalcroze reasoned, the first instru¬
ment to be trained is the body. The body is capable of making a gesture
for any musical sound, and the body is capable of transforming gestures
into sound. All the elements of music—melodic shape, rhythm, phrasing,
harmony, you name it—can be translated into physical movement.
Before pushing the keys or taking a breath to begin singing, it is possible
to learn the choreography of a composition.
THE DANCE OF AFFECT
"So?" you might ask. "Let's say you learn the 'dance' of a composition.
Where does that lead?" "Well," I reply enigmatically, "let's try some¬
thing."
Think of a phrase from a favorite song, something musically

and technically simple. Sing it aloud. Turn on a tape recorder
and record it as you sing. This recording of your initial per¬
formance might prove interesting later. Stop the recorder after
your performance.
1. Sing the phrase in your head, drawing the melodic outline in
the air with either hand.
2. With the other hand, draw the "feeling" of the phrase as you
sing it in your head. How do you "draw a feeling"? Make a fist
and shake it in the air. Allow your face to show how your fist
feels. What emotion did you feel?
3. Repeat step 1 while shaking your fist and scrunching your
face. Notice any difference in the quality of the gesture in
your "phrase" hand?
4. Sing the phrase aloud while drawing it.
5. Allow your "feeling" hand to show the "feeling" of the phrase

as you sing it.
6. Sing the phrase with both hands performing their tasks.
7. Finally, sing the phrase with one hand performing both tasks,
drawing the melodic outline with "feeling." Record your final
performance and compare it with your initial performance.
What did you discover as you went through these steps? Ideally, you
began to experience the effect of affect and motion on your performance.
If you recorded your performances, listen for differences, that's all, just
differences. Try not to evaluate one as better or worse than the other, at
least not yet. Many people immediately want to make a judgment about
whether something is good or bad. Later, I discuss the effects of judg¬
mental thinking in the chapter on improvisation.
The outcome of the preceding experiment is one answer to the
question of why learning the dance of a piece is important. Ideally, you
experienced a change in your emotions as you changed the movements,
and your voice followed suit.
The same exercise works with new pieces: you can understand
them without having to sing through them. Most of us, though, myself
included, can hardly wait to sing through a new piece. Why? To get a feel
for the piece! The problem with singing through it is that we become dis¬
tracted by sound, or technical demands, and forget to listen to the music!
A goal of Dalcroze teaching is sight-reading that is as musically expres¬
sive as possible, so expression is part of the learning process from the
beginning. The all-too-typical learning process deals with everything but
expression until the dress rehearsal.
PLAYING DETECTIVE
Imagine picking up a new piece that looks interesting, and playing detec¬
tive. "O.K., it's by Arnold Jones, in English. Twentieth century? Look's
tonal. It's in 3/4, maybe some kind of waltz. G major. Is it from an opera?
No. The text is about dancing ... in the moonlight. The melody goes up
and down; up, up, fermata on "boa." Who's singing this? Hold on, what
are these accidentals doing here? A D-sharp in G major? Rhythm has
changed. Words about "jumping over fences, chasing the dog," B minor,
slower tempo. Back to G major, quicker tempo ... "the party goes on" ...
ka-boom. End of piece." Meanwhile, you have been using your arms and
body to illustrate what you see, all the tempo changes, phrasing, dynam¬
ics, and so on.
The internal dialogue just described is the type of detective work
that, over time, can be done almost instantly when looking at a new
understanding music through kinethetics 43
piece (the gestures will all eventually be internalized: felt, but not nec¬
essarily seen). Notice it was unnecessary to sing through it, yet you can
gain a sense of the musical and dramatic intent of the composer that
you might not have if you were concerned about correct rhythms,
melody, and technique.
The score becomes a picture of the movements of sound through
space. It tells us where to glide, float, move quickly, slowly, accelerate, or
slow down. We constantly question, "Why jump here and glide there?
What affect am I depicting by turning these gestures into sound?"
Excellent sight-readers who read musically—not sight-readers
who simply get the notes—go through this type of internal dialogue
and internalized movement instantly as they read. There are very few
sight-readers of this caliber, but most of us can learn to read more
expressively.
SKILLS FOR EXPRESSIVE READING
Although there are several skills that come into play during expressive
reading, three are paramount among the skills:
1. organizing melodic patterns,

2. organizing metric patterns,
3. organizing the text into coherent meanings.
An attitude of improvisatory risk taking, instead of having to "get

everything right," accompanies these skills. What about technical
demands? Will sight-readers hurt themselves if they read with a sense of
abandon? No. The assumption behind this question is that our bodies do
not function well without conscious control and will lurch into walls
unless controlled by our cognition. I have never found this to be true
because our bodies have built-in defense mechanisms that we override at
our risk. What is the feared vocal "crack," that phenomenon which besets
so many young—and not so young—male singers? It is simply the vocal
muscles protecting themselves from too much tension.
On the contrary, physical injuries happen when we try too hard,
when our cognition overrides our physical defense responses. Barry Green
in The Inner Game of Music and Timothy Gallwey in The Inner Game of Ten¬
nis address this issue nicely. The field of arts medicine exists primarily
because of the neurotic tendency to override the body's good sense.
Besides trying to make the body work, most of us have a physical
equation we carry around with us: "concentration = tension." Ask most
singers to perform a section of an aria (this induces concentration ) and
they usually place tension in various parts of their bodies. You might see
shoulders raise, arms and hands stiffen, eyebrows raise, jaws tighten,
knees straighten. You will hopefully not see all these symptoms in one
singer; if you do, that singer is in serious trouble.
Certain types of tension are so associated with certain voice types
that Boris Goldovsky has named them. For example, a bent arm that is
pulled back and slightly away from the body, usually with a flexed wrist
so the palm is almost perpendicular with the floor is called "soprano
elbow" or "soprano wrist." Raising the body up slightly, as if balancing
on the balls of the feet, is called "tenor toes."
Teachers of the Alexander technique speak of "debauched sensibili¬
ties," that is, tension which we have grown so accustomed to that it
seems natural. A female student who once studied with me kept so much
tension in her shoulders that they were parallel to the floor. The trapez¬
ius muscles which held them up were so tight that they felt more like
bones than muscle. In fact, she maintained they were bones! You can
imagine the tension that was present in her movement and her singing.
The concentration = tension equation and debauched sensibilities
in which tension is perceived as natural are two powerful forces that mil¬
itate against expressive performance. How can one move gracefully with
elegant curves (as Debussy's music often moves) when living in an
Anton Webern body?
♦ Chapter 7 ♦
improvisation
In a delightfully sardonic essay titled "The Young Lady of the Conserva¬

tory/' (Jaques-Dalcroze, Rhythm, Music & Education, p. 61) Jaques-Dal-
croze had an imaginary conversation with the father of a conservatory
student. When Jaques-Dalcroze asked the father what pieces his daugh¬
ter played at home for family entertainment, the reply was that she did¬
n't because she was always "between pieces," meaning she could not re¬
member pieces she had recently performed nor would she perform the
pieces she was presently learning.
Jaques-Dalcroze asked what kind of music the daughter "made up"
when she simply sat at the piano and expressed her feelings of the
moment. The father replied that she did not do such a thing because she
could only play what someone else had written.
Sound familiar? Do you ever begin singing to express your feelings,
making up the music and text as you go? Have you ever wanted to sing
for your friends or family to express your feelings, but could not think of
a piece you would be able to remember completely, so you didn't? What
prevents us from simply making musical sounds and improvising texts
that express our feelings? The answers we give are typically these:
♦ I feel silly.
♦ I can't make up words that are logical, or rhyme, or don't simply
sound dumb!
♦ I can't make up a melody.
♦ I can't make up rhythms.
♦ I can't, I can't, I can't!
45
Most performers have become spectators to making music. We

have been conditioned to be reactive to the feelings, organizing systems,
and perceptions of the composers, all of which are represented in the
score, and we seldom share in the creation of the music. Jaques-Dalcroze
maintained that improvising was the most cogent method a performer
could use to discover what is understood about the music being studied.
Improvising helps us "own" the music.
PROACTION AND REACTION
Humanist psychologists during the 1960s used the terms proactive and
reactive to describe the way people respond to the environments and
challenges that confront them in everyday living. People who habitually
react feel helpless and out of control, whereas people who proact gener¬
ally usually feel empowered and exhilarated. I asserted that we, as per¬
formers, have been conditioned to be reactive to the musical score.
Reactive performing says I can only recreate music, I cannot gener¬
ate it from within myself; I am not capable of making music without a
score. Proactive performing says I can create music from within myself.
Reactive performing says, "I have to get louder or softer, faster or
slower, because the score (composer) says so." Proactive performing
says, "The composer wishes me to get louder or softer, faster or slower,
but I will choose how loud/soft, fast/slow to perform."
A reactive attitude says, "The score (composer) controls me." A
proactive attitude says, "I control the score and am responsible for mak¬
ing performance decisions."
A reactive student says, "I have to do this because my teacher says
so." The proactive student says, "I am following my teacher's suggestion
to learn something I don't know."
If a student has difficulties in learning or performance, the reactive
teacher experiences this as a negative reflection on the teacher and often
responds with frustration; the proactive teacher experiences the same sit¬
uation as a valuable test for discovering what the teacher now needs to
teach and what the student still needs to learn.
IMPROVISATION
Improvisation is a skill that encourages proactivity. The Dalcroze

methodology combines kinesthetic training with improvisation to teach
us to do the following:
♦ Use all our faculties when learning

♦ Explore movements with our bodies
improvisation 47
♦ Use our imagination and creativity

♦ Become aware of the space around us
♦ Become flexible and agile and develop coordination and motor
abilities
♦ Develop a complete sense of body awareness
♦ Express feelings through body movement and sound
♦ Develop listening capacity
♦ Use our minds to control our bodies
♦ Develop our abilities to concentrate and pay attention
♦ Feel relaxed while simultaneously having a positive and construc¬
tive outlet for physical energy
Improvisatory skill has other positive side effects as well.
Improvisatory Skills Can Reduce

Performance Anxiety
As my students develop their improvisatory skills, many of them have

reported experiencing an increased sense of confidence. They have dis¬
covered specifically that the fear of forgetting, which seems to be a major
source of performance anxiety, is reduced. Several have said, "I figure if I
forget the words, or melody, or whatever, I can make them up until I
remember where I am."
Improvisation Can Aid in Score Study

and Understanding Styles
Improvisation can help the performer understand a composer s deci¬

sions, which are reflected in the score, by making other decisions through
change and contrast. In addition, the best reason for developing improvi-
sational skills is the ability to make one's own music: understanding the
style of a composer through improvising makes it the performer's style
as well. Jaques-Dalcroze maintained that improvisation is a very sophis¬
ticated level of musical accomplishment because it shows all the musical
information that has been internalized.
Putting on the style of a composer, like putting on new clothes, does
not mean I give up my uniqueness, but rather expands the way I move
through the music. "This composer's style is a little snug at my waist; the
pant length is good, but it's a little tight in the seat, so I'll have to be careful
when I stoop or sit down." The result is that I will understand Mozart's
andante is different from Beethoven's, which is different from Mahler's.
Mozart moves through E major very differently than Bach, who was differ¬
ent from Mendelssohn, and so on. Improvisation can be a powerful tool in
developing this kind of kinesthetic/affective understanding.
It is very difficult, if not impossible, to use kinesthetic training with¬
out improvisation, and H. Wesley Balk, former Artistic Director of the
Minnesota Opera, is one of the best innovators in improvisatory kines¬
thetic training working today. He outlines much of his thinking in his
books. Training the Complete Singer/Actor and Performance Power. His
videotape, entitled Opera Without Elephants, is a wonderful and entertain¬
ing summary of his methodology. Many of the following exercises that
follow are a result of my contact with him.
Often, in one-to-one teaching situations, the following exercises
seem threatening, so, if possible, try them in small groups. However, the
exercises can be easily adapted for personal use or one-to-one settings.
THREE EXERCISES IN PLASTICITY
Start by standing in a circle. Begin by modeling the activity.
♦ 14
i-1
Imagine you have a small ball of energy in the palm of your hand.
Using your other hand, begin manipulating the ball of energy:
stretching, bending, twisting, flattening, throwing—anything that
comes into your imagination. Pass the ball of energy to someone
j else, indicating that the other person should find ways to manipu¬
late it. Continue until everyone has had an opportunity to play
j with the ball.
On your next turn, play with the ball again, this time adding
sound that stretches, bounces, t^rows, twists.
Flattens, and so on. Be sure to vary the quality of your sound
and keep it full of energy. Pass the ball around the circle.
On your next turn, rub the energy over an arm, or face, or shoul-
J der, or leg, and have that body part energized while the rest of
! your body is quiet. Be sure to use different vocal sounds as you
perform this exercise. Pass the ball around the circle.
On your next turn, begin moving through space (perhaps from
your side of the circle to the other side) using your body to imi¬
tate the unusual sounds you are making; be sure your movements
match the sounds. Wesley Balk calls this form of exercise "sound
| in motion." You might walk, crawl, slither, back up, run, use any
j movement that explores movements you and the group are not
improvisation 49
accustomed to using. When you reach the person who stands

opposite you, it is that person's turn. You might have to remind
the person to use sounds as well as gestures.
i_i
What to Watch and Listen For

During the Exercise
Most people use smaller and smaller amounts of physical and vocal
energy as they try new activities. You will probably have to remind them
to keep using their voices and to keep the sound alive.
You will also discover people tend to keep using the same sounds
and gestures, so encourage them to vary them. Of course, that means
you, the teacher, will have to be willing to constantly vary sounds and
gestures.
People will often try to pass the energy quickly because they are
self-conscious; encourage them to spend more time playing.
Occasionally a person will stop both sound and action while he or
she tries to figure out what to do. Do not allow that, but rather insist that
he or she proceed.
Implications of the Exercise
♦ Gestures can become sounds, and sounds can become gestures.

♦ A performer does not stop during a performance when trouble
occurs, but finds a way to keep going.
The exercise teaches how to keep voices and bodies energized when
trying out new tasks. When sight-reading, peoples' voices are usually
weak and their bodies are stiff because they lose their energy when
struggling with a new task. The exercise also teaches people that they can
keep themselves energized when approaching new tasks.
♦ 24
Once the group has turned on their collective imagination, they

are ready to move to the sound of your singing and playing. (This
means you must be able to use your voice energetically while not
necessarily singing a particular piece.) After you have made
sounds for them to move to, call on someone else to be the sound
maker. Continue until everyone has had a turn.

During the Exercise
Like Exercise 1, the energy in sounds and movements will often dimin¬
ish unless you remind them to keep them alive. Also, people often resort
to repeating the same sounds and gestures. Encourage them to vary
them.
Are the people really listening to the sounds? Do their gestures
have the same energy as the sounds they are modeling? Usually they do
not, and you will have to call this to their attention.
♦ Everyone can assume leadership responsibilities.

♦ Matching sounds and gestures is possible and important.
♦ Exploring many kinds of sounds and gestures creates possibilities
for use in song literature, since music can be beautiful, ugly, or
harsh. The premise that "all singing must be beautiful" is insup¬
portable and limits artistic expression.
♦ 34
--1
The next step in this process is having the group move to a com- |
position. Ideally you will provide the music by singing as they
move, being sure to vary the plasticity, dynamics, and articulation
of your performance. You may use a recorded performance if you
prefer, but finding one that uses varying qualities of plasticity,
[ dynamics, and articulations can prove difficult. By all means, do
not allow the group to hallucinate changes when they do not
occur in the recording; encourage them to show you what they !
! actually hear, not what they think or want to hear.
Have the group draw the kinds of beats they hear with their arms |
as they use their bodies to show the qualities of phrasing and
dynamics.
Exercise 3 is also useful in studying a piece of music by showing the

quality of beats and meters (is the performer clear about the meter so the
listener can sort it out?). Phrasing may be studied by walking in one
direction, then changing direction to show a new phrase.
improvisation 51

During the Exercise
Encourage the group to keep their bodies alive while listening and
responding; they have been conditioned to allow their bodies (and
brains?) to "die" while listening.
How closely do the gestures and energy match the music? For
example, if the music becomes angular, do the gestures become angular?
We are so conditioned to hallucinating that we often do not hear what is

actually occurring. These exercises in plasticity are designed to awaken
ears, bodies, and imaginations and then use them to become aware of
what actually is happening in the world around us. They also may be
used to study music and analyze performances. Having a person sing a
composition while the listeners show the meter and quality of beats,
dynamics, and phrasing will prove very enlightening to you, the listen¬
ers, and the performer, since the listeners will show you what they hear.
MIRROR EXERCISES
The preceding exercises may be adapted to mirror exercises. Mirrors

begin with two people facing each other. Person A initiates a slow ges¬
ture and Person B imitates as a mirror would (for example, if A moves
her right hand, B imitates by moving his left hand). Among other things,
the exercise quickly points out any dyslexia!
There are two rules governing mirror exercises: (1) eye contact must
be maintained at all times (which may prove very difficult for some peo¬
ple), and (2) gestures must be slow enough to be followed (Person A will
tend to move too quickly at first and must be told to slow down).
The rule about eye contact is very important because it forces Per¬
son A to both think about what she is doing and observe how another
person responds. I have seen many performances where the performer
has not achieved that balance and either forgets anyone is listening—the
audience quickly senses this and loses interest—or is too concerned
about the audience response, leading to anxiety and forgetfulness.
Mirror exercises may also be used to develop concentration and
group awareness (if you happen to direct an ensemble). Group aware¬
ness is fostered by beginning with two-person mirrors, as just described,
then moving to three-person mirrors (one person leading and two fol¬
lowing), then four, five, six people as needed (I once had sixty people
performing a mirror exercise). Here are some additional uses of mirrors
to foster concentration: the leader sings a song while improvising move¬

ments; the follower sings while following (makes the follower concen¬
trate like mad!); the two-person mirror sings a canon.
These are the steps for directing the mirror exercise:
1. Form the couples for the mirrors and have each couple decide
who will lead and who will follow.
2. After the mirrors have begun working, say "Change roles.
After several attempts, they should be able to change roles
without stopping.
3. Next, tell them to change leadership without a command from
you and without talking. This is a useful exercise for a singer
and accompanist to develop the give and take needed in per¬
formance.
You may now introduce the musical portions described earlier.
EXERCISES THAT DEVELOP ABILITY

TO IMPROVISE TEXT OR MUSIC
Improvising text or music is extremely difficult for many people because

of self-imposed rules like these:
♦ Don't speak or sing until you know what to speak or sing.

♦ It has to make sense, be logical. These rules make perfect sense in a
societal context, but hamstring the artist.
Just as in the plasticity exercises, the gibberish begins without music

and then is quickly placed into a musical context. They also work better in
a group setting, since they seem threatening in a one-to-one setting.
i-1
| Teacher says, "When I point to you, start talking and keep talking
1 until I point to someone else."
1 _|

During the Exercise
I have had people literally choke when starting this exercise because they
are so concerned about sounding silly or illogical. When that happens, I
improvisation 53
appoint another person to be teacher and have him point at me and I

begin babbling. Some people will respond to the exercise with a gush of
words, hardly stopping to take a breath; others will be able to say very
little. In both cases, the person will eventually run out of things to say
and come to a screeching halt; this is the moment when he or she taps the
creative potential. The leader must be patient and allow the person to
struggle. Do not allow other people to help (they will feel very uncom¬
fortable during the silence because they are identifying with the person
on the hot seat). Such help takes away the opportunity for the person to
tap into a new level of personal creativity.
This exercise begins the exploration of the problem of what happens

when a performer forgets the words or music. We are faced with the
choice of stopping or continuing on until we know where we are.
EXERCISES IN GIBBERISH
For our purposes, gibberish is the melody and rhythm of another lan¬
guage but not actual words unless it is English gibberish. One goal is to
begin to understand language as rhythm, accentuation, articulation, and
melody which, together, are perceived as having meaning.
EXERCISES IN GIBBERISH
♦ 14
i-1
Begin with a sound in motion exercise as described in Plasticity [

j Exercise 1. Divide into pairs and use these improvised sounds |
[ and motions to converse between partners.
I_I

During the Exercise
A rule for this exercise is that the person listening cannot interrupt the
speaker. This places the burden on the speaker to let the listener know he
or she has finished. This is also a way of studying musical phrasing
because it raises questions like: How do we know when a phrase is end¬
ing? What clues are there in the music?
♦ 24
Have the group perform scenes using gibberish. You will proba¬
bly have to provide structure by setting the location and giving
characters.

During the Exercise
Pay close attention to how the group uses rhythm, articulation, accentua¬
tion, gestures, and the rise and fall of their voices as they work. These are
elements of language and are useful in the spoken portion of the musical
exercises (Chapter 10).
♦ 34
We come to a difficult exercise: English gibberish. You will prob¬

ably have to demonstrate by saying something like " The dog in
the wall green trash car window, tree scoop feather dust," as if
you were having a conversation with a friend.

During the Exercise
Some people will have problems with this exercise because they want
what they say to be logical. For them, you might assign a nursery poem
that they recite as they converse. See this category in gibberish exercise 2
for further remarks.
MUSICAL GIBBERISH
♦ 1#
i-1
Use a sound in motion exercise to introduce this element. Once

imaginations are warmed up, have the group converse with musi¬
cal sounds using a non-English gibberish. After they have had
j several experiences with this, introduce English gibberish.
j
improvisation 55

During the Exercise
Occasionally people will want to use songs or snippets of songs; encourage

them to improvise melodies instead. This exercise can quickly lead to the
study of question/answer phrasing that is common in Western music.
♦2♦
j-1
Using a song the group knows well, sing the melody using gib- j
berish for the text.
Change the exercise: use the words but improvise the melody.
Change the exercise: sing the first phrase as written, improvise
the music for the second phrase, and continue to alternate phrases
in this manner.
Change the exercise: sing the first phrase as written, improvise
the words for the second phrase, and continue to alternate.
Change the exercise: sing as written until you say "words!" at
which time they improvise the words. When you say "change!"
they return to the written words. "Music" means they improvise
the music, "change!" they return to the written music.

During the Exercise
Same as in Exercise 1.
Implications of the Exercises
These exercises are very useful in understanding style when used in the
solo literature with the performer improvising every other phrase in the
style of the composer. Ideally, they would eventually lead to an accom¬
panist improvising in different styles at the keyboard and the singer
improvising, with text, in the same style. Having the ability to improvise
reduces the anxiety caused by the fear of "what will happen if I forget the
words?"
♦ Chapter 8 ♦
rhythmic
solfege
We have come to the final element of the Dalcroze methodology: rhyth¬

mic solfege. The term refers to the concept that all solfege exercises (such
as those found in sight-singing and ear training classes) are performed
rhythmically and are always related to scales. Students in rhythmic
solfege classes are taught to experience rhythms, intervals, harmonies,
and melodies kinesthetically.
This third pillar of the Dalcroze methodology (the other two are
rhythmics and improvisation) was adapted from the French system of
teaching ear training. I mention the French because of a crucial difference
between the French and German-based schools of music theory. First we
look at the Fixed Do system and then analyze the differences between the
German and French systems of music theory when applied to performance.
FIXED DO SYSTEM
Rhythmic solfege is oriented to the fixed do system. This is the system

taught to all European musicians and helps them achieve a very strong
sense of relative pitch.
Illustration 8-1 shows the system in its pure form. In this system,
the pitch names remain fixed regardless of key, for example, an "A" is
always "la." Jaques-Dalcroze combined the fixed do system with num¬
bers to show specific keys: the scale in D major in solfege, for example,
would read re, mi, fi, so, la, ti, di, re, and in numbers would read like this:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1
(D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D)
56
rhythmic solfege 57
♦ Illustration 8-14
Fixed Do System
I am often asked if it is necessary to learn solfege if one is already a fluent

reader. The answer is no. Most American musicians are trained in the use
of letters. Using the English letter names for the pitches is the same as
fixed do. However, Americans who wish to communicate with a musi¬
cian from any other part of the world will discover all other western
musicians are trained to use syllables, so learning the syllabic system will
facilitate communication.
COMPARISON OF GERMAN
AND FRENCH THEORIES
A majority of American musicians have been trained in theory that is

based on the German system, and the German system is, in turn, partly
based on German literary theory, specifically that which relates to poetic
rhythms as I mentioned in Chapter 4.
German theorists have historically shown a fondness for clear-cut
definitions, so we have been taught that this interval.
is a perfect fourth, always and forevermore. Amen.

But what if it is placed in the progression of
rhA9 —
-0
^ —1 -J
or
-p- J -- 1
rr\ ' V
vA7- v m -
/• i -j
— A-1-
Do you feel, and hear, the difference as you move from the F to the Bb
with the changing harmony? Sing the F to the Bbin all the examples as
you play the harmony. Did the sound or feel of your voice change very
subtly as you sang them?
Sing them again and this time do not allow your voice to respond
to the changing harmonies. What happened? Many singers experience
a certain tenseness in the vocal muscles when they do not adjust to
changing harmonies. This feeling of tenseness is often mistakenly
perceived as a technical problem, but it is an aural problem that can be
corrected by understanding where the singer is in the scale and
harmony.
German-based theory maintains "A fourth is a fourth!" The
French reply, "Perhaps, but fourths come in many flavors." German-
based theory also maintains "A pitch is a pitch. You should be able to
sing or play it so a machine, such as an oscilloscope, can register it
exactly." Again, the French say, "Perhaps. But what color A would you
like?"
As you try the following exercise, discover what happens if you
allow your voice to adjust to the fluctuating harmonies.
Use a neutral syllable such as "la" to sing the repeated notes at a
dynamic of mezzo forte.
rhythmic solfege 59
What did you experience? Many singers report a "shifting" or

"changing of the vowel" or some other reaction that seems intuitive.
(Singers who experience no change whatsoever are, in my experience,
"holding" the pitches rigidly, thus experiencing the "debauched sensi¬
bilities" mentioned in Chapter 7. Such debauched sensibilities feel
"normal"; however, they prevent the person from being able to
respond.) The French suggest that two pitches might be written identi¬
cally, but sound and feel different because the pitches exist within the
framework of scales and rhythms. Jaques-Dalcroze believed this frame¬
work was vital to understanding the pieces of scales that we know as
"intervals."
Have you ever seen a piece of handiwork produced by creweling?
On one side of the crewelwork is the picture or pattern. Turn the material
to the back side and you will see how the threads intermingle and criss¬
cross. Jaques-Dalcroze viewed intervals in a similar fashion: intervals are
but portions of scales, rather like the picture side of the crewelwork. To
perform any interval well, the performer must be aware of the connec¬
tion between the pitches that form the interval and the scale in which the
interval resides.
Sing the following exercise to experience the effect of the internal
pitches that determine how the "outside" pitches should be per¬
formed.
i-1
1. Sing only the quarter notes while playing or having someone

else perform the unstemmed notes. Pay close attention to any
variation in the F's.
2. Sing only the unstemmed notes while playing or having some- |
one else perform the quarter notes.
I_i
—W-I
/ 9-
T&z 9 •;
—Jr—
“wrr 9-
1 m m
By the way, the irregular spaces between the pitches in this exercise
are not due to printer error; rather, I have tried to show the difference in
spatial feeling that is felt by expressive performers. This internalized
leaning and shifting is what gives the two pitches that form the interval
their shading (nuance). Nuance is what creates the music of the intervals.
Music is what happens between the pitches.
So far I have explained some of the properties of harmony and
movement within intervals. Rhythm has yet another affect. Sing the fol¬
lowing exercises to experience the affect of the rhythmic patterns on the
scales.
do re mi fa so la ti do ti la so fa mi re do
Did you feel /hear the shift in harmony from tonic, to dominant, to
tonic? How did the melodic movement feel to you? Smooth? Awkward?
rhythmic solfege 61
♦ Exercise 8-2 ♦
A- ti_L- > i
HNh 1 V
n—— î
-tm A-V 4 —w- w—--r~ W—V I
.JLm 1
do re mi fa so la ti do ti la so fa mi re do
What did the rhythmic pattern in 8-2 do to the feeling of the melody?
—#
0 ±Ji
V- —# jr#
—\
#k- -
mi re do re mi fa so la ti do
How did you feel as you sang this example? Was it more, less, or
equally comfortable as Exercise 8-2? If it felt different, can you define
what the difference was? Notice it is the longest of the three examples.
This is because the interplay of the rhythm and scale dictated its length.
Sing Exercises 8-4 and 8-5 together. Provide your own rhythmic
accompaniment by clapping or tapping your fingers on a hard surface.
Notice the reversal of the rhythmic pattern affects your perception of the
movement.
do re mi fa so la ti do ti la so fa mi re
fa mi re do re mi fa so la ti do
These exercises are in the "simple" key of C major and move step¬
wise. They can give you some insight into the complex interplay of scales
and rhythms. I invite you to compose your own rhythmic formulas to
test their effect in other meters.
SUMMARY
This has been a cursory overview of rhythmic solfege. However, this

subject is of great importance in the Dalcroze methodology and one that
can have an immediate effect on technique. Rhythmic solfege can
develop into an extensive study of the interplay of rhythms, scales, and
harmonies. The concepts can aid in understanding these principles:
♦ All scales are not alike. G major feels, and sounds, quite different
from D major. To the perceptive singer, a leap from the 2nd degree
to the 5th degree in F major feels very different than a leap from the
5th up to the 1st degree in C major, even though the pitches (G to C)
share the same name.
♦ Position within a scale is important because of shading and weight.
This has a direct effect on the technique of the singer as the singer
intuitively "shades" his or her voice.
♦ Expressive performance of intervals must include the movement
between the pitches of the interval. Feeling the varying space
between pitches influences how they are sung.
Take time to review the exercises used in this chapter and invent
your own as you explore the affect of rhythm and scales on your technique.
♦ Chapter 9 ♦
the behaviors
for
learning
This chapter looks at the six basic musical behaviors that musicians must
possess in order to study and learn efficiently:
1. Paying attention
2. Turning attention to concentration
3. Remembering
4. Reproducing the performance
5. Changing
6. Automating
Jaques-Dalcroze became convinced that successful teaching incul¬

cates musical behaviors in addition to technical skills and literature. He
also became aware early in his teaching that his students lacked aware¬
ness of their musical and physical environment, and that lack affected
their musical behaviors.
"The body, as finely trained as possible, can do only what the brain
demands of it. This is true whether the act to be performed is simple or
complicated. The aim of [eurhythmies] is stimulation of the imagination,
waking up the nervous function, forcing the mind to train the stubborn
as well as the cooperative parts of the body" (Spector, p. 145). Arousing
the aesthetic awareness of our students is a prime goal for a Dalcrozian.1
If this sounds too erudite, consider that the opposite of "aesthetic"
(awareness of beauty) is "anesthetic!"
'Dalcrozian is a term I use to avoid awkwardness. In this text, Dalcrozian refers to a

teacher who uses ideas developed by Dalcroze.
63
PAYING ATTENTION
The first two problems facing a student have to do with awareness. How
often have you had to repeat a direction during a lesson because the stu¬
dent was not paying attention (was unaware)? One way to help a student
pay attention is to focus on activities that use the least amount of talking
and the most amount of movement and music making. Barry Green in his
book The Inner Game of Music gives excellent suggestions on "awareness
directions" that help the student focus awareness without feeling criticized.
TURNING ATTENTION TO CONCENTRATION
On the heels of attention comes concentration. If a student can pay atten¬

tion, then concentration is easier. However, the student often needs help
to decide what piece of the incoming mass of information to highlight.
My students sometimes say that they "just need to concentrate" when
they are feeling scattered. When I ask them what they are concentrating
on right now, they usually reply that they are "concentrating on concen¬
trating!" Sometimes the student replies, "I'm concentrating on the
music." When I ask what part of the music, for example, melody, words,
rhythm, or harmony, the student says, "All of it. Everything!" Many stu¬
dents have not learned to extract one part of the musical problem and
bring it into their fields of awareness.
Awareness and concentration are issues related to a growing indus¬
try: workshops in performance anxieties. Many of the workshops are
helpful in providing tips and activities for reduction of tension related to
performance nerves, and many focus on providing ways of handling per¬
formance stress. But the workshops often have minimal lasting value
because they do not address the causes of performance anxiety. I have
found that anxiety is generally reduced (1) when we know what we are
doing and are able to concentrate on it, and (2) when we concentrate on
what we are doing rather than how we are doing. Some people report
feeling more relaxed in performances after attending workshops, but
only by thinking about something other than what they are performing.
In other words, they feel they perform best when becoming unconscious!
Performance anxiety is increased when the singer concentrates on
not being nervous or some other negative outcome, such as forgetting the
words. Wesley Balk uses a wonderful exercise in his workshops to
demonstrate what happens when we concentrate on what we don't want
to happen. He instructs the students not to think about a blue horse.
"Don't think of a shining, pale blue horse.. .. with wings." Of course the
image grows stronger as the students try to avoid thinking about the
image. This exercise points out the importance of paying attention to,
and concentrating on, what we want to have happen.
the behaviors for learning 65
REMEMBERING
Many teachers have told me of experiences when a student has struggled

with a passage and, finally, sings it well. The teacher, overcome with joy,
exclaims, 'There! Do that again!" And the student replies, "What?" The
student was not paying attention to what she was doing. Remembering
what was just done is the first step toward remembering what was done
several minutes ago, which, in turn, leads to remembering what was
done in last week's lesson, and so on.
Another important aspect of the ability to remember in the context
of a lesson is remembering the first performance—the way it was sung at
the beginning of lesson—and the final performance (with all the
changes). When I ask a new student to reproduce the first performance,
which might have included a technical or musical problem, the response
is often one of befuddlement: "You want me to sing the mistakes?" The
answer is "yes." If the student cannot remember the first performance,
then how does the student know what was changed? If you, the teacher,
have "fixed" something and the student cannot duplicate the perfor¬
mance, with and without the corrections, you will almost surely have to
fix the problem at the next lesson.
REPRODUCING THE PERFORMANCE
The technique of teacher performing and student imitating (called

modeling) is a very powerful teaching tool. Whether it is playing,
using a gesture to describe the passage, or singing, the teacher's per¬
formance should embody all the musical skills available to the teacher,
since the teacher's model sets the musical standards for the student's
performance.
Reproducing a performance of even several measures is a difficult
task for many students. It calls for awareness as well as remembering
what was just done and how it was done. A student's first attempts to
imitate the teacher's performance are usually crude and self-conscious.
You, the teacher, must also be able to exactly replicate your perfor¬
mance several times in order for the student to be able to comprehend
what you are doing (yes, the teacher has to remember as well as the stu¬
dent). Often, the student will not be able to understand what musical or
technical element you are demonstrating, so you might have to exag¬
gerate that element (for example, a diminuendo that becomes ex¬
tremely quiet).
Teacher modeling can easily be overdone, so it should be used
cautiously. Students whose teachers model excessively pick up the
teacher's mannerisms and, occasionally, even the teacher's rate of
vibrato!
CHANGING
After the student can exactly copy your model performance (ideally you
will model several performances so the student can chose the one he or
she likes the most), or after the student has worked on a piece for some
time, he or she must find ways to change the piece, to begin making it
personal. We are witnessing many performances where the singers have
wonderful techniques and perform the musically expressive elements
such as crescendos or rallentandos correctly (i.e., exactly the way they
appear on the page), yet something is missing. As one colleague aptly
remarked after hearing such a singer, "The music was coached into him.
A cogent method of making a text personal is to insist that students
say it in their own words, particularly if the text is in English. I call this
approach "translating." This is a difficult task for many students but very
worthwhile, since students discover what they do or do not understand
about the text, and you gain insight into their analytical processes.
AUTOMATING
This is the final step that usually happens as the student approaches a
performance, and includes all the skills just mentioned. Automation
includes the memorization process both of the music and of the exact
repetition of the sequence of muscular responses (technique). Once the
technical and musical elements of a performance are automated, the stu¬
dent can be attentive to other aspects of performance, like dealing with
distractions such as the judges at the competition who talk with each
other during the student's performance. However, even when a piece is
automated, it is necessary to review the process constantly; we need to
automate the behavior, but without becoming automatons.
♦ PART III ♦
Putting
the Dalcroze Methodology
to Work
You have had a brief overview of the system developed by Emile Jaques-
Dalcroze. Consider the implications of rhythmics (use of movement),
improvisation, and solfege on how music is taught and performed: phys¬
ically understanding where we are within the nexus of scale and meter
can automatically change our technique. Technique need not be taught
separately from the music, but rather as an integrated aspect of meter,
scale, and affect.
As mentioned earlier, it seems that we voice teachers often consider
technical studies as separate from musicality. Our rationales are actually
many variations on a basic theme: we want to "neutralize" the emotional
state of the student so the emotions will not "get in the way" of the physi¬
cal skills we are trying to teach. Jaques-Dalcroze taught that we can be
excited and in control of our emotions. Yet we often perform as if our emo¬
tions will interfere with our production, so the best way to handle them is
to avoid them. Don't go near the water until you know how to swim!
As teachers, we are surprised and frustrated with our students
when they perform in an emotionless, mechanical way, as if making
music were some type of technical study. We call such performances
"unmusical." What do we mean? How do we define musical or expressive?
There are many ways to approach learning music in an expressive man¬
ner, even in the beginning stages. Gifted teachers and performers have
developed and passed along many of the "rules" of expressive perfor¬
mance which are the subject of Chapter 10. However Mathis Lussy and
Jaques-Dalcroze were perhaps the first to codify them. In this section, we
will look at the "musical rules" and their application.
67
♦ Chapter 10 ♦
musical rules
INTRODUCTION
We can speculate endlessly about the origins of music, but it probably

evolved as an enhancement of language. All languages have inherent
rhythms and melodies created by rise and fall of pitch and dynamic
emphasis. Native speakers of any language come to understand these
rhythms and melodies as having meaning. They can also recognize the
meaning of the language even when the rhythm and melody are consid¬
erably distorted by a foreign-born speaker. Meaning in a language is cre¬
ated by following the inherent rules of logic for that language. Poets twist
and distort these inherent rules to create new meanings and images;
humorists often do the same.
The music of a culture follows similar inherent rules that create
expectations within the minds of the listeners. Composers assume the
audience knows and expects certain outcomes, but compositions that
simply fulfill these expectations are usually classified as dull or trite,
while compositions which twist and distort these expectations to create
new meanings are usually perceived as interesting or exciting.
Mathis Lussy maintained that these rules of Western music could
be codified and taught to performers (Lussy, p. iv). However, he did not
come to grips with the problem that Dalcroze later attempted to address
which is: What do you do if the audience is aesthetically asleep and has
no expectations? Or, worse yet, what if the performers are aesthetically
asleep and unaware that it is their responsibility to create expectations?
People who are asleep are mindlessly unaware of their surround¬
ings and the universe. We are either aware and "mindful," or asleep and
mindless. An aesthetic experience is a mindful experience: our senses.
69
70 putting the Dalcroze methodology to work
minds, and emotions are all engaged. We celebrate our senses and are
entertained; our minds are engaged in seeing ourselves, other people and
our universe in a different wav; we sense and understand our shared
humanity. An aesthetic experience encompasses both mind and emotion.
AESTHETIC CHOICES
It is not my aim to explore aesthetic theories in this hook but we cannot

comprehend the full affect of the Dalcroze methodology without some
discussion of the outcomes of certain aesthetic choices that were made
during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
In the nineteenth century both Lussy and Dalcroze—and other per¬
ceptive writers—realized that academicians, performers, and critics were
becoming more interested in technique (both instrumental and vocal! tor
the sake of technique. Bv the end of the nineteenth centurv higher
faster and louder" seemed to have become the goals of performance.
Singers and teachers of singers jumped on this bandwagon, and bv
the 1960s we were witnessing bigger (louder) voices singing operatic
roles that were conceived for smaller (softer) more agile voices. The sto¬
ries of young, promising singers being pushed into big-voice' roles are
too numerous to list here but they result from the trend which alreadv
existed in the last centurv.
Composers reacted to the emphasis on technique in several wavs.
Some used more and more diacritical markings in the scores so the per¬
formers had to make fewer and fewer decisions; others declared the
entire world of Western musical composition bankrupt and created an
entirely different system which was nothing but technique. Still others
sharing a similar "music is bankrupt’ view declared music should be
about nothing except expressing the composer's feelings, regardless of
whether the audience shared, cared for or even wanted to hear such feel¬
ings. True, some composers continued on their creative wav writing
music that was appealing for both technical and expressive reasons, but
they were the minority.
Meanwhile, where was the audience? Cone ... to the nearest folk or
rock concert. At least there they heard music thev simplv liked. It made
no demands on their intellect and did not have subtle meanings or pre¬
tense of artistry, but at least they had composers writing to entertain them
and express the emotions, however simplistically which thev (the audi¬
ence) were feeling. Entertainment and expressing feelings (other than
their own) were two elements the so-called serious composers disdained.
Another trend that fosters mindless listening has been dubbed
“New Age. " On the surface this trend would seem to be the antithesis of
rock music, but, as in rock, listeners are invited to sit back and allow the
sounds to wash over them. Unlike rock, New Age music has no tension,.
musical rules 71
either harmonically or rhythmically, and is designed to reduce conflict. It

is the acoustical version of the worse aspects of the term, a nice person:
bland, colorless, pleasant, and easily forgettable.
Composers of art music assume the audience is aware of musical
conventions, but fewer and fewer listeners know how to listen to music
in which, for example, beats are not explicit (as in rock), that does not
repeat itself endlessly, and that lasts longer than three minutes (the aver¬
age length of a "popular" piece). The lack of awareness on the part of the
audience presents significant problems for both composer and singer.
TWO ASSUMPTIONS
As I mentioned in Chapter 6, if the performer and audience do not

understand the conventions that are being changed by the composer,
they will not "get the punch line." Dalcroze methodology stresses the
aesthetic experience of music for both the performer and listener. "Listen
again! Look again! Change!" are directions intended to alert the per¬
former, and ultimately the listener, that something is happening either
within the established convention or counter to it. This "alerting" is a
rationale for the musical rules that follow. Lussy wrote that the per¬
former needs to search out any "irregularity" within the music and dis¬
cover ways to highlight the irregularity.
Lussy seems to have based his rules on the following assumptions:
♦ Expressiveness can be at least partially defined. Philosophers

and scholars have debated the issue of expressiveness and creativity for
centuries. While there might not be simple intellectual answers to the
question of what constitutes an expressive performance, there are rela¬
tively simple answers based on the collective experiences of performers
and audiences over several hundred years. Mathis Lussy codified many
of these experiences in the nineteenth century and put them into writing.
♦ Understanding the elements of expression can assist teachers

and performers in developing expressive techniques as well as vocal
techniques. Lussy maintained that rules of expression could be codified
and taught to performers (Lussy, p. iii). He also wrote that slavishly fol¬
lowing the rules would not necessarily create an expressive performer,
but that following all the rules will allow a "moderately gifted" per¬
former to "acquire a semblance of artistic feeling" (Lussy, p. iii). Follow¬
ing the rules, or directions of gifted teachers of coaches, will tell the per¬
former what to do and when to do it, but not why to do it. Lussy main¬
tained that a truly artistic interpretation was not a series of arbitrary deci¬
sions based on whim, but "all is cause and effect, connection and law"
(Lussy, p. iv). He also wrote that the rules did not originate with him "for
the greatest masters have observed them unconsciously from time

immemorial, and artists and people of taste have always submitted to
them instinctively" (Lussy, p. iv). He saw his task as one of classifying
and formulating them.
A composer of art songs responds to a text, translating feelings into

sound, then uses compositional techniques to place these sounds on the
page in a code. The musical rules help us to understand that code.
The composer then entrusts the score to the performer and prays
the performer knows how to decipher the code. Throughout this code,
the composer has sprinkled clues which express the composer's feelings.
It is the task of the performer not only to crudely translate the code for
the audience, but also to find and translate the expressive clues which
inform how the composer felt.
Are performers, then, to slavishly try to express the composer's
feelings while setting aside their own? Of course not. By experiencing the
composer's perspective, performers have the opportunity to expand and
enhance their own affective life. But often performers are unaware of the
composer's feelings except in general terms (" 'allegro' is fast, so the
composer must be happy"—as a student once said to me). The inability
to translate the composer's intentions usually results in performances of
the same set of feelings and characterizations over and over, rather like
the actor who had roles in thirty different plays in one season but unwit¬
tingly used the same characterization thirty times.
There are also performers who "feel" the music and experience great
emotional surges during a performance, but are unable to transmit any of
this to the audience. It is as if invisible walls separate them from the audi¬
ence. Their emotional energies are used pushing against the walls, with
very little overflowing to the audience. A probable cause for this inability
to communicate feelings is the lack of an expressive technique.
Historically, singers have resorted to musical coaches and come
away from coaching sessions able to sing the coached literature more
expressively. Unfortunately, the coach is usually able to teach the singer
the "hows" (what to do), but not the "whys." Lussy and Dalcroze wrote
that the rules they formulated were the "whys," the causes and effects of
expressive performance. In this book we explore ways in which specific
musical tools, taken together, form a technique of expression.
WHAT MAKES A PERFORMANCE EXPRESSIVE?1
Before we proceed further into a discussion of expressivity, there is a

related area which must be addressed, the area of perception. Perception
'Many of the concepts in this section are based on the work of Dr. Guy Duckworth,
Professor of Music, University of Colorado, Boulder.
musical rules 73
is the activity of becoming aware. There are two broad fields of percep¬
tions at work when we talk about performance:
♦ the performer's perceptive field, and

♦ the listener's or audience's perceptive field.
Reactions to a performance are always made from the listener's

experience (perceptive field). Composers and performers are always
searching for ways to enter the listener's perceptive field. But making the
listener pay attention is only half the battle; manipulating the listener's
perceptive field is the other half. This is where an expressive technique
enters the picture.
What are the attributes of an expressive performance? An expres¬
sive performance is:
♦ Compelling. The listener is seduced into paying attention and is

constantly intrigued and forced to ask, "How what happens?" If the
piece is well-known, the listener becomes curious about how the per¬
former will personalize it.
♦ Clear in musical and emotional intent. The performer has made

decisions about phrasing, structure, and emotional content and is able to
communicate them.
♦ Within the performer's technical and emotional capabilities.

The ability to sing all the pitches does not mean the singer is capable of
singing the music. There are seventeen-year-old sopranos capable of
singing high B flats, but that does not mean they should attempt to sing
Mi chiamano Mimi. Singers sometimes lock themselves in vocal knots
attempting to perform compositions which are far beyond their technical
capabilities. They occasionally miss completely the emotional content of
what they are singing. I recently heard a breathy, sixteen-year-old
soprano sing Schumann's Ich grolle nicht. In addition to being unable to
negotiate the wide range of the piece, she could not begin to understand
the brooding, dark bitterness of the text since she had never dreamed
such emotions could exist.
♦ Physically congruent. The performer's face, body, and gestures

are congruent with the musical and emotional content. If gestures are
used, they enhance and punctuate the emotion being sung. The per¬
former frowns, smiles, laughs, weeps, or grimances, reflecting the emo¬
tional content of the composition. The body is free to move as necessary,
with shoulders back or slumped, chest raised or sunken, the stance defi¬
ant or light, all depending on the emotional content of the piece. The abil-
ity to use the face and body precludes the attitude that singers must
stand in one fixed position in order to sing well. As the song says, "It
ain't necessarily so."
♦ The performer gives the impression of freshness, spontaneity,

and taking risks. However well rehearsed the performance, it need not
become mechanical. Performers in long-running Broadway productions
provide good examples of constantly giving the impression of a fresh
performance even after hundreds of performances. They accomplish this
by finding small things they can do differently such as taking an extra
pause, holding a note longer, singing a phrase louder or softer. Taking
small risks will help the performer avoid the stigma of a "careful" perfor¬
mance (translation: accurate but dull).
♦ Appropriate to the style and intentions of the composer. Many

listeners would agree that classically trained singers can sound ludicrous
singing pieces from Broadway if they are not aware of the style, just as
"pop" singers sound unintentionally funny when attempting to sing
classical pieces. Singing in the wrong style sounds just as strange and
funny when singing art songs, for example, as when singing a Wolf song
with a Schubertian style. The style of any given epoch is a use of space,
time, energy, weight, balance, and plasticity—the elements of the Dal¬
croze equation—which is peculiar to that period. Study of the correspon¬
dence and other documents of a period will assist the singer in determin¬
ing how the elements should be balanced.
The rules are intended to serve as guides instead of edicts, since

both Lussy and Dalcroze knew the composer and the performer always
have the prerogative to change the rules for expressive purposes. The
rules apply to all tonal music from the Baroque until the present. They
are dependent on tempo. Slower tempos are usually intended by the
composer to use more nuance while quicker tempos use less. Finally, the
rules can serve as guides to seeking out expressive clues while learning
a score. Finding such clues will help us think and learn more while prac¬
ticing less.
It is time to explore the actual rules. If you study them diligently,
you will begin to analyze a musical score differently because, among
other things, you will see how composers use notation to indicate their
expressive intentions.
The rules are sprinkled throughout Jaques-Dalcroze's writing so I
will not refer to any specific book. They were translated from the original
French by Ruth Mueller-Maerlei; I have added further changes in the
translations as well as my own comments. I have chosen to use only
those which are most often found in song literature.
musical rules 75
GENERAL RULES OF PHRASING
♦ PHRASING RULE 1 ♦
When beginning to sing a piece, a breath should be taken on the

beat immediately preceding the first note of the melody. In piano
playing, this breath needs to be felt as well.
Although this rule seems so obvious that it need not be written, I

have noticed students who simply do not breathe before beginning a
phrase. Even those who do breathe before beginning a phrase tend to
take a quick breath that is often out of rhythm, even when the tempo is
moderate to slow. Instead of taking a breath that lasts the entire beat (*-
— shows the length of the breath), as in Example 1, they breathe as in
Example 2.
♦ Example 1 ♦
0—
iifea im
Experience also shows students occasionally do not feel the differ¬
ence between stopping a breath and taking a breath.
If a phrase contains subphrases, the subphrases need to be sepa¬

rated by either stopping the breath momentarily or by inhaling.
The time needed to do so has to be taken from the last note of the
(sub)phrase (if there is not a rest) in order to avoid delaying the
beginning of the next (sub)phrase.
Here is a short melody by Caccini. The typical singer will have little
difficulty with the first phrase, but will probably sing through the shorter
phrases if not careful. Remember in this example, and in all the following
examples, the (*) indicates either a breath or a sound stop produced by
stopping the breath: breathing at every asterisk is not recommended
unless the singer enjoys hyperventilating.
♦ Udite, amanti by Giulio Caccini ♦

*indicates sound stop
Iz 14
-p-1 “
=ffc 9—
4= - f- 7
r -#■— •# bz'W
-k-m
Don - ne e don - zel - le Le mie pa - ro - le
Do not stop the breath in the middle of a rhythmic unit (compara¬

ble to breathing in the middle of a word!).
The rhythmic pattern in the Caccini is
jjjijjij jijjjij jij jij j j.
Phrasing Rule 3 indicates a breath should not be taken anywhere in

the pattern. The rhythmic patterns in the previous example are all brack¬
eted by stopping the sound.
♦ Example 3 ♦
^1
musical rules 77
Example 3, presented in an unedited form, illustrates the various

rules of phrasing that apply.
When a rhythmic pattern is repeated, breathe or stop the breath

before the repetition.
Phrasing Rule 4
1 1
1 1
1 1
— 1
7 2 # d -m 1
^1 -1-
7~%
w i
l—0
[j
1
r? i—# 4 l-|-
1
1
1
Every final note of rhythmic pattern, or phrase, loses some of its

sonority (as well as duration) if not followed by a rest. The final
note of a crescendo is an exception.
Phrasing Rule 5
measure 2 would be performed
Every group of notes that is not part of a phrase or subphrase but

serves to complete the measure (transition, etc.) has to be sepa¬
rated both from the preceding and from the following phrase or
subphrase.
In once repeated notes, there must be a break between the two

notes if:
a. The two notes are the last and first notes respectively of two
consecutive patterns.
phrase phrase
meas ure 3 k
k s—s-nJ- -
M i
b. The two notes are at the beginning of a pattern, period,
or phrase. This rule overrides Phrasing Rule 4. If the first note
of a rhythmic grouping is repeated, it must be staccato. The
second note will have more weight than the first, even if it falls
on a metacrusic beat.
measure 3
musical rules 79
Exceptions:
a. When the two notes represent a weak ending2 of a rhythm,
period, or phrase.
Phrasing Rule 7
Exception a
*
y -
17-
-*—0-
#
V,-
—J--'—/ J- —‘-i
0 : ,—* ^ * 9 |
7 ^ 9 m
w
r/rs-^- 7 ^ m-MX
9 J
b. When the two notes do not fall vinder P hrasing Rule 7a or 7b.
Phrasing Rule 7
Exception b
i- - i
1
i î|
m* 1 ^-0 _—m' . ^h I h
-TT5-1- V • I m - i M « —J-*—
■ |. T ^—v-r d• • 4- k 4- -1-
/ 7—«fr——a 1 1
•>-o ^ k- _ —
3 i i ^ i1 k
k , . .* i N ih 0 * 0 ’.ML
h- -1—hd—r r _ •1 0h
-hr y- — 9 4 /
m m ■4—
/ .J • ^ • .<-
7 7
6 1 1 >
-1-1—- ‘T -— ?r ■ *' - :
»». 1 — ?—■-—
~—d- d- 9 m m m j- - - l-h-hi
y - — •4■ * / J- \
k— 2 r J
T
2I have chosen to use the terms weak and strong rather than the traditional theoretical
terms that have sexist implications: "masculine" (for strong), "feminine" (for weak).
c. When the two notes are part of a rhythmic formula (e.g., twice
as fast).
An anacrusic pattern should be preceded by a breath. This rule is

stronger than Rule 4.
musical rules 81
When a series of notes of equal length are followed by a much

longer note, breathe after the long note. If this long note is fol¬
lowed by a shorter one to which it resolves (weak ending), breathe
after the resolution.
Phrasing Rule 9
1 p
«*•
# ■-ff-
L
-#-p
0 P
-m~\
4)= i a r
- ' p 4—- =Ni 1
1
The first note of a measure or rhythmic grouping is separated

with a breath if the interval to the following note is a fifth or
more. Exception: there should be no separation if the two notes
constitute a weak ending.
Phrasing Rule 10
Successive group of two notes, each consisting of a long note fol¬

lowed by a shorter one, are separated by lightly stopping the
breath.
Phrasing Rule 11
+Refer to Phrasing Rule 6
A breath should nearly always be taken after the (harmonic) "rest¬

ing" note of a phrase (tonic, dominant, or even subdominant).
Review the musical examples in this section; most of the resting

notes coincide with the musical rules.
When a succession of notes of equal value (run, grouppetto) is

followed by a longer note, take a breath after this note.
Phrasing Rule 13
6
musical rules 83
When a group of two notes consisting of a short note followed by

a longer one is repeated, take a breath before each repetition
(compare with Phrasing Rule 12).
Phrasing Rule 14
RULES OF ACCENTUATION
♦ ACCENTUATION RULE 1 ♦
If the last note of a measure is held over into the next measure, it
must be strongly accented (even though it is normally not an
accented beat).
If a weak beat is subdivided (into eighths, sixteenths, etc.) follow¬

ing a number of undivided beats, the first note of the weak beat
must be accented.
Accentuation Rule 2
Any note preceded and followed by a rest must be accented, even

if it falls on a weak beat.
3 —| |— 3—| (—3-i Accentuation Rule 3
r3~i i-3-! n~3_i
The first note of a measure must be more strongly accented if it

has the same pitch as the last note of the preceding measure.
Accentuation Rule 4
8
musical rules 85
For measure 8, refer to Phrasing Rule 6.
The highest note of a descending passage must be accented even

if it falls on a weak beat.
Refer to Example 1.
Any altered neighbor note or appoggiature must be slightly

accented, even on a weak beat. The accent is stronger if it is an
upper neighbor note.
Accentuation Rule 6
1-
i
1 i
J o 1-
y # i S —
o —^ ^2 a
Vc-L/✓i " a j ■ - w M• w
j ~ ■■——w
-1
1
+ These lower neighbors would receive less

stress than the upper neighbors.
An altered note that induces modulation must be accented, even

on a weak beat.
In a leap of a fourth or greater, either ascending or descending,

the second note of the interval receives an accent.
Accentuation Rule 8
k i
ds r— y i.^\
&) /1 #
' —5
• 7TI
- —
1 !+
>— —
i
musical rules 87
RULES OF NUANCE
♦ NUANCE RULE 1 DYNAMICS ♦
a. Ascending melodies generally ought to be performed with

a crescendo (for exception, see Nuance Rule 12b).
b. Descending melodies generally ought to be performed with a
diminuendo (for exception, see Rule 12a).
Nuance Rule la
♦ NUANCE RULE 2 ♦
The notes of a melody are not all of equal importance and thus
require different amounts of intensity. Very active, fast passages
require less dynamic differentiation; slow passages with notes of
equal value need more.
b-JO J1 i>
etc.
h—s h k v -*E£
6
♦ NUANCE RULE 3♦
A long note in an ascending run participates in the general

crescendo by increasing its intensity. However, if this long note is
the last one of the run, it must end in a diminuendo.
musical rules 89
Repeated notes of the same pitch receive a crescendo.
Nuance Rule 4
Repeated notes leading to the return of the melody are performed

with a crescendo and a rallentando.
If a musical entity (motif, phrase, section, etc.) is repeated imme¬

diately, it must be separated (by breathing or articulation) and
performed with different dynamics (forte becomes piano, and
vice versa).
Nuance Rule 6
1 2 1 3 4 i
^1 i
—KJ— ■ n \ i -i—
7
2 Jl
J —J # —#'t-
V I-# -# _m *\-0 -\—
I-7 vm ' -J' \
1 mf
m f \p
The transition to the return of the melody receives a rallentando

(see Nuance Rule 5).
a. A series of stepwise moving notes of equal value at the end of a

melody are to be performed staccato.
b. If this series leads to the return of the melody, a rallentando
is also required (see Nuance Rules 5 and 7).
musical rules 91
If the first notes of a melody are twice as long or longer than the
notes of the run leading to its return, the run should get a rallen-
tando that doubles the value of its last notes.
Nuance Rule 9
Nuance Rule 10.N.B.:

The rallentando applies
to the rests, not the
chords (or single notes).
Rests between the final single notes (chords) of a piece are to be

performed with a rallentando.
A series of notes of equal value in an otherwise rhythmically var¬

ied piece should be strongly accented.
0
— — —\— l7
t J m
— —
—a - —
— =5= —-J T-
—a —J
j a
-a
Nuance Rule 11
r-
Q t4i 1\^h— 1 1
- - -
4J *5
b
-7—
'
—
, 1-
1
1 ■
-i~i
1
a —4 -4 X— • a
Mr*-JW
•
£ — 1 _
musical rules 93
a. When a descending melody leads to the return of a forte or for¬

tissimo theme, it must be performed with a crescendo.
b. When an ascending melody leads to the return of a piano or
pianissimo theme, it must be performed with a diminuendo
(exception to Nuance Rule la).
The first of two slurred notes of equal value is always performed

stronger (more accented, more weight) than the second one, even
if the second note falls on a strong beat.
A k _^ V
—U <rs- ~r \ — L^ L
-j'-x—a —w— /
N f ~9~—W~ # m • -M
j 4-vr # -M
'r - i y ^ If? 4
-|- k— —hi
/L • 0 4^
4 —w 4> 4= _m
m
—#
*
j
—
1»\—0
8
Thus even the banal little composition used for Example 3,

although appearing quite simple, takes on a new level of complexity
when the rules are added:
musical rules 95
Writing the musical effects of the rules begins to make the score
appear very complicated, so I am not suggesting you write the effects
into the score. My goal is that you begin to hear what makes a perfor¬
mance expressive (or, more typically, inexpressive) and be able to give
concrete reasons.
♦ Chapter 11 ♦
applying eurhythmies
to
technique
This chapter addresses the following areas:
♦ Performer controls
♦ Voice classification
♦ Breathing
♦ Articulation
♦ Coordinating ear and voice
♦ Coordinating ear and body
♦ Affect and its effect on technique
♦ Three methods of processing information
♦ Three forms of kinesthesia
Although I have written a good deal so far about the importance of

balancing technical studies with musical studies, do not interpret this
focus as a lack of interest in technique. If a person wishes to study
singing seriously, then technical studies cannot be avoided unless the
student has one of those one-in-a-million voices where the muscles, ear,
and mind are completely coordinated, in short, a real "natural talent."
Even then, naturally talented singers should understand as much as pos¬
sible about their personal technique because as they age or sing under
less than ideal conditions, they will experience vocal changes and occa¬
sional difficulties. Understanding how they do what they do will assist
them in working through troublesome times.
The recurring issue of this book is not one of physical technique versus
expressive technique, but rather how to develop both. I used to believe that 90
96
percent of performing was mental and the remainder was physical.

However over a period of several years, I came to understand that we
think with our bodies through movement. When we begin to "think"
physically about expression as well as "technique," we begin to meld the
two seemingly different approaches until they are inseparable.
In correcting musical or technical problems either for myself or
my students, it is my experience that a majority of the problems I
encounter are musical, rather than "technical," and often fall into three
broad categories.
1. Rhythm. More often than not, rhythmic difficulties are associ¬

ated with lack of physical coordination. Here are some examples of poor
coordination:
♦ Difficulty maintaining a steady beat

♦ Inability to perform subdivisions and dotted patterns correctly even
though the mathematics of the subdivisions (J^ = J ) are understood
♦ Inability to vary the quality of the beats, resulting in performances
in which everything sounds the same
2. Faulty Aural Perceptions. Ill-formed aural "images"(which I call

the "vocal images") are the result of listening primarily to pop singers
and attempting to imitate them, or not listening to classical singers
enough to know what voices are capable of. Lack of listening to art music
continues to be a major problem in training singers; an increasing num¬
ber of voice students enter our studios with no aural goals in mind other
than singing "better."1
3. Lack of Awareness of Harmony and/or Structure. Singing with¬

out understanding of phrasing results in poor choices of where to
breathe. Singing without awareness of harmony leads to intonation diffi¬
culties and vocal tension, even when all the other elements of good phys¬
ical technique are present (registration, vowel modification, etc.).
The more we know about physiology and acoustics and their ma¬
nipulation, the better our technique will be. There are several fine books
available that delve into technique. Each book has its supporters and
detractors, but every singer and teacher should have them in a personal
library because they are valuable resources.2 However, well done as these
books are, they do not delve into musical considerations (except for Vol¬
ume 2 of the Garcia), whereas my thesis here is that developing musical
'This attitude is analogous to a traveler beginning a journey without a specific desti¬

nation, but rather with the intention of "going somewhere."
2See Doscher, Miller, Vennard, Fields, Garcia, Foote, and Coffin.
understanding will inform and improve technique. As voice teachers, most of

us have been trained to develop technique, but few of us have been
trained to teach musical understanding.
I have also chosen to avoid discussing specific vocal techniques
I use because (1) the books just mentioned, as well as others, cover
that territory quite well, and (2) it seems that voice teachers can agree
on very little. Also, I do not wish to distract from my central message:
you can enhance musical performance regardless of your technical
approach.
Part of my avoidance of presenting my personal technique
springs from an experience I once had at a symposium of twenty-five
voice teachers convened by an otolaryngologist. His goal for the ses¬
sion was to attempt to make physiological sense of what voice teachers
mean by the various terms we use. His first question of the day was.
What do you mean by the term support? Three and a half hours later,
with glazed eyes, he stopped the discussion by saying that obviously
none of us could even agree on what he thought was a basic concept for
teachers.
I will discuss several general topics related to basic technical issues
but from my experience as a eurhythmies teacher as well as a voice
teacher. I maintain that instilling musical behaviors and understanding
should occur in all phases of the lesson, and that even standard technical
exercises can be musical. You are capable of creating music even during
your warm-ups. The exercises are those I use with beginning singers and,
with adaptations, advanced singers as well.
PERFORMER CONTROLS
The term performer controls3 refers to the aspects of music that are under
the direct control of the performer: tempo, dynamics, and articulation.
All other musical elements are indicated by the composer, that is, scales,
harmonies, durations. This is true of all Western music.
Composers indicate tempos and dynamics when they write "alle¬
gro" and "forte," but how fast is the allegro, and what is its relationship
to other tempos? How loud is the forte? The composer might indicate
"allegro, forte," but the performer decides how fast and how loud
because there is no single universal level of tempo or dynamics. The
same is true of other diacritical markings such as crescendo, diminuendo
(how fast will I get louder or softer?), agitato, and so on, even those that
indicate articulations such as staccato (j), or sostenuto (J_). For a staccato
written J, the performer must decide if it is to be a short quarter or a long
eighth, whether to stop the sound immediately before it or to glide into
3This term was devised by Guy Duckworth.

it. Other considerations include the note's position within a measure, its
position in a scale, and what affect is being depicted. Does this sound
complicated? It is, but the endless possibilities are what make art music
exciting and worthy of lifelong study.
However, very few young singers, or other musicians for that
matter, are aware of the performer controls and seldom make con¬
scious decisions about how to use them in their practice or per¬
formance. They wait for the teacher to make the decisions for them.
Thus new students return week after week to the lesson having prac¬
ticed in the same tempo (usually moderato even if the score indicates
otherwise), using the same dynamic levels (usually mezzo forte), and
the same articulations (what articulations?), and then complain that
their practice is boring.
The exercises that follow can teach more than breath management
or good tone production: they can also develop the ability to make con¬
scious decisions about the performer controls. They most certainly
should not be construed as being either a complete listing of the possible
approaches, nor as being the only way to use Dalcroze concepts. They are
here only to whet your interest and spark your imagination.
VOICE CLASSIFICATION
One of the first technical questions I ask myself about a new student is.
What is the student's voice type? Voice classificiation is an extremely
important subject because great damage can be done by misclassification.
Since I usually teach undergraduates, most of whom are teenagers,
I categorize them as late adolescents. Their voices will likely change dra¬
matically from their freshman through senior year, so my impressions
about their voice type remain tentative for some time. But I have to
assign literature at some point, so it is helpful to know if I should start
with a high, medium, or low category.
The exercise I use is quite simple:
1. "Place your hand on your chest and say your name loudly."
Most people will typically use their lowest register when speaking. With
an individual student, I ask if he felt anything happening in his chest as
he said his name. If his answer is no, I ask him to repeat the exercise until
he feels something, anything. I am starting the process of heightening his
kinesthetic awareness by asking these questions and I am concerned that
his answer reflects his experience. Usually, after several repetitions, the
student will say he felt vibrations or buzzing. Once he can feel vibrations,
with his hand still on his chest, he is ready for the next step.
i--
J 2. "Beginning in the lower part of your speaking voice, say [a],

loudly sliding up to your highest notes."
i_i
This step is repeated with a slower slide upward until a change is sensed,
any change, in the amount or intensity of the vibrations in the chest.
I pay close attention to the approximate pitch(s) where the student
senses a change in vibrations. This tells me where the transition is being
made from the lowest register to another register.
i-1
3. "Starting where you experienced the change in vibrations, slide

upward again, loudly on [a]. Repeat this step until you sense a
second change in the amount or intensity of the vibrations."
i-1
I pay close attention again to the approximate pitch(s) where the second
change occurs. Experience tells me that tenors and sopranos tend to
change in similar areas (the tenor being an octave lower than the
soprano), and mezzo sopranos and baritones also tend to change in simi¬
lar areas (again, an octave apart). Bass-baritones tend to change slightly
lower, and contraltos and bassos lowest of all.
The exercise gives me some information about which voice type I
might be dealing with (notice I wrote, "might," since conditions are
highly variable), and alerts the singer that her physical sensations are
important. Classification of voices (tenor, mezzo, etc.) will become very
important as studies continue. Gean Greenwell, whom I quoted in Chap¬
ter 1, believed that misclassification of voices was frequent and destruc¬
tive, so I choose to err on the conservative side when classifying them.
"You have to find your own backyard and stay in it," he used to say.
You will find a registration chart which Greenwell developed in
Appendix B. I have included it because it partially explains some of the
technical problems I frequently encounter. I hope you will find it useful.
BREATHING
We turn to breathing, also known as "breath control" or "breath manage¬

ment." I assume you already use or teach the type of breathing used by
professional singers, commonly called "diaphragmatic breathing." The

question is, What are the goals of breathing techniques? The list of
answers would include, control and coordination of muscles in order to
successfully complete the musical phrasing. A Dalcrozian would add, at
all tempos, all dynamics, and using various articulations.
The five-note scale will serve to illustrate some of the exercises, but
you may use almost any composition or other exercise.
Many teachers use the five-note scale with various syllables and
consonants. It is common to extend the breath by exact repetitions. I use
this form of the exercise, but with changing dynamics (mezzo piano to
forte, forte to mezzo piano, etc.), and changing tempos (moderato, alle¬
gro, adagio, etc.).
Changing articulations within one breath is instructive as well. Be

sure to vary the tempo with each repetition.
more difficult variations are
Notice the second measure of the third example above. This forces
the singer to count during the longer note, something which few novice
singers do.
Add changing dynamics to the varying articulations and varying
tempos, and the exercise quickly becomes more complicated.
fa fa fa fa fa
j-1
Clap and breathe on every third beat: breathe only on the third
beat (this means the pitch will not be sounded).
i-1
fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
X = clap
[■--i
Put in the third beat; breathe and clap on the second. Breathe and
[ clap on the first beat. Breathe and clap on the first beat of the first
J measure, the second beat of the second measure, the third beat of j
the third measure.
i-1
What did you discover? Was it difficult to remember when to

breathe and clap? Did you have difficulty finding the correct pitch of the
note following the clap? An outcome of this exercise is that you will learn
not only to control when you breathe, but that you have to internalize the
pitch you omitted in order to reenter accurately.
These exercises can be placed into your literature and can become
as elaborate as your imagination will allow. Here is a familiar song, Frere
Jacques (Brother John) in its bare essentials. Nothing is indicated about
tempo, dynamics, or articulation. I have omitted the text so you can sing
either the French or English version. Feel free to transpose it as well.
Moderato
Now, turn this into an exercise for learning to control breathing.

Clap and breathe only where the x's occur.
Moderato
Did you have difficulties finding the melody after the clap? This
exercise also strengthens your inner hearing. You can make the exercise
more complicated by adding dynamics and varying the articulation.
These exercises may be performed with any literature.
ARTICULATION
I have already introduced the concept of articulation. Remember, by

articulation, I am not referring to diction (that is another subject but
closely related). Articulation refers to the sense of movement between the
pitches and what happens as the pitch is attacked, how it is sustained,
and finally how it is released as the voice moves to another pitch. Articu¬
lation is closely related to plasticity.
Words that describe articulation include float, glide, press, punch,
skip, hop, jumping, lift, dab, slide, step. The musical terms for these
movements include legato, sostenuto, staccato, marcato. The movement
of articulation is closely related to levels of energy, such as energetic,
lazy, placid, calm, tranquil, forceful, soft. The musical terms for these
states of energy include tranquillo, forte, piano, mezzo piano, leggiero,
pesante.
Here is Frere Jacques again with articulation added.
Moderato
Here is the piece again with performer controls of dynamics and

articulation indicated. I am not suggesting it should be sung this way, but
rather that you can experiment with the performer controls. Notice the
physical adjustments you must make in order to perform the piece. You
may stumble along the way; if so, pay attention to what you have to do
physically and mentally to recover.
Moderato
Transpose the piece both higher and lower to experience the new
adjustments you have to make technically. Be sure to vary the tempos.
COORDINATING EAR AND VOICE
Warm-ups can serve to coordinate ear and voice as well as to activate

vocal muscles. The following exercises are transposed up or down in
your normal manner as the following directions are added:
You can continue using your favorite syllable (i.e., fa, li, re) and
count on your fingers, or say the numbers.
1. Sing the scale normally.

2. Lower the third degree.
3. Back to normal.
4. Raise the fourth degree.
5. Back to normal.
etc.
The order of the changes is not important. What is important is that

you develop the feeling, the kinesthesia, of the changing scales, and pay
attention to the places where the distances between the notes seem to de¬
mand a physical response. Use your hands to draw the scales in the air as
your sing. Pay attention to how your voice responds to the changes.
The following exercises are variations on the same theme.
Change the rhythm and meter of the exercises.
or
One of the goals of this simple exercise is to teach that each scale
has its own way of moving, that changing the rhythms of the scales fur¬
ther alters that way of moving, that our voices can respond to those dif¬
ferences if we "hear" them with our bodies, not just our ears. It is my
contention that many of the technical problems we encounter are a result
of our bodies not understanding how to move through the varying scales
(see Chapter 8).
COORDINATING EAR AND BODY
Occasionally a student will enter my studio and begin the lesson by

telling me about a technical problem she is having in a section of one of
her pieces. Rather than have her describe the problem, I ask her to sing
that section so I can hear it.
Typically, she will sing until she arrives at the point where the
problem occurs and then suddenly stop, saying that it always happens
here. I point out that she stopped before the problem occurred, so I still
do not know what the problem sounds like. It might take several more
abrupt stops before she is willing to sing through the problem spot. It is
important that she sing rather than tell me about the problem because
spoken words cannot convey all the physical, acoustical, and musical
information that singing can.
Fifty percent of the time, when she finally sings through the prob¬
lem spot, she will experience no difficulty whatsoever, rather like having
the toothache until you walk into the dentist's office. One possible expla¬
nation for this sudden change is that she began thinking about what she
was doing, changing her physical response.
How did thinking about it help? When we encounter problems
when singing, we often respond affectively ("It feels terrible," or "I
don't like this feeling") and the analytical part of our brain shuts down
as does our kinesthetic awareness. When we dissect the physical expe¬
rience—we must have the experience first—we remove, or lessen, the
affective reaction because by paying attention to the smaller, discrete
components of the problem we break it into smaller, more manageable
units. It stops being a giant looming over us and becomes, at second
glance, a group of dwarfs on each other's shoulders. Have you ever had
the experience of solving an apparently knotty problem simply by
telling someone else about it? This was partly brought about by break¬
ing it into smaller parts and removing the affect. When the student's
technical problem suddenly disappears, I will ask her to recreate the
problem anyway because she needs to understand how she resolved
the problem or it will probably reoccur .
What about the other 50 percent of the time when the technical
problem does not magically disappear? These are the times I look for¬
ward to because both the student and I will learn something.
Once the student has reproduced the problem, I analyze it aloud so
she can hear what I am thinking. This is a way the teacher models the
problem solving process which the student will eventually have to
employ when the teacher is not present. The analysis will probably
include both technical and musical possibilities. There might, in fact, be a
readily detectable technical problem: her mouth might be nearly closed;
she might be in the wrong register, mispronouncing a word, or the vowel
might need to be modified.
Such obvious problems are fairly easy to remedy if the student can
be made aware of them. Here's the rub: the teacher is aware of what the
student is doing, but the student is not. The student is only aware of the
unpleasant outcome, not what caused it. I discuss some methods for cre¬
ating awareness in Chapter 13, so I will not linger on the subject here.
Very often faulty physical technique is only a part of a larger musical
problem which typically falls under one or more of the following areas:
♦ The student does not understand the position of the beats within
the measure, or harmonies or scales in the passage (ref. Chapter 8 ).
Without this information, the student will not understand the shad¬
ing and leaning necessary to efficiently produce the sounds (see
Chapter 8).
♦ The student has trouble physically coordinating the rhythmic ele¬

ments in the passage. The internal rhythmic "motor" may not be
turned on. Without this internal sense of beat and rhythm, the stu¬
dent lurches from sound to sound, never knowing exactly when to
start or stop. Physical tension is one outcome of rhythmic insecurity.
The second area is easy to test. The typical procedure begins with
the following:
♦ The student claps the beat of the passage as she chants the melodic
rhythm.
♦ The student then speaks the beat as she claps the melodic rhythm.
♦ The student alternates between the steps when I say, "Switch."
Occasionally, I will ask the student to perform the same steps, but
add her feet to her voice and hands and move around the studio, alter¬
nating the beat and melodic rhythm between the three.
Rhythmic problems almost always make themselves evident dur-
ing this process. We continue these and related procedures until she has
coordinated and internalized the rhythm of the passage.
I will ask the student to sing the passage again and 90 percent of
the time her vocal muscles will have worked through the problem. The
student's body has taught her voice! Occasionally, at this moment, a stu¬
dent will look at me with a sense of wonder that is most gratifying. It
also allows me to pontificate that the body is very smart, perhaps
smarter than the brain, and it is certainly quicker. Rather than me
imparting some magical solution for her problem, she has learned the
"dance" of the passage.
I will ask her to do one final thing before we move on: perform the
passage in the new way, then the old way. We will alternate the two per¬
formances until she has a strong kinesthetic sense of the new use of her
muscles. The last step is based on this principle: if you don't know what
you've changed, how can you be sure of what you've changed or that
you will ever repeat it again?
AFFECT AND ITS EFFECT ON TECHNIQUE
I encourage you to introduce affect as early as possible in the learning

process. There is an interesting question regarding affect and physical
response: does physical gesture cause or motivate affect, or does affect
inform the physical gesture (in this case the term includes the response of
the vocal mechanism)?
Perhaps which causes which is less important than the fact that
both need to be addressed. The effect on technique will be dramatic, even
on warm-ups. You can make up flash cards, each with one emotion or
attitude on it. I have included a short list in Appendix A, "Suggestions
for Learning a Score Musically."
Introducing affect leads to a changed thought process. Rather than
thinking, "Oh no, here comes the high note," the thought becomes,
"What am I expressing?" The high note is not forgotten, but the body
responds and coordinates itself in response to the affect. I have had occa¬
sion to attend sports events with both male and female students who
assured me that "I can't sing that high" when working on a piece of
music, only to hear them enter the vocal stratosphere in the excitement of
the game. Their excitement prompted their vocal muscles into action.
Several years ago, public television televised interviews with
pianists competing in the Tchaikovsky Competition. A Russian pianist,
as usual, won the competition, and the other pianists were asked why
they thought the Russians always did so well. Their answers varied, but
almost all of them mentioned that the Russians seemed to see pictures as
they played, as if they participated in a story they were telling with their
music, whereas the other competitors spoke of thinking about their tech¬
nique or visualizing the score.
My experience has been that the coordinating process between
affect and body is quick and almost without effort; the effort comes when
the brain tries to overcome the body and redirect its actions without
changing the original affect. Redirection of the body by the brain will be
facilitated by either changing the affect (e.g., angry into elated) or shad¬
ing the affect (e.g., angry into bitter).
For example, a male student described the affect of a troublesome
passage as "happy." Try as we could, we were unable to resolve a tech¬
nique problem in that passage. We had almost given up when his
pianist, who had been looking through my set of attitude cards, sug¬
gested we try "jolly." We spent a minute exploring the differences
between "jolly" gestures and sounds and "happy" gestures and
sounds. The singer repeated the passage in a "jolly" way and the tech¬
nique problem disappeared.4
I learned a great deal in that moment: the earlier the redirection of
the physical technique is connected to an affect, the easier the process.
Words from the teacher tend to prolong the process of redirection, so the
greater the number of words, the longer the process. This is why Dal-
croze insisted that music teach music; musical behavior, on the teacher's
4The change probably occurred because the singer's physical response to the differ¬
ent affect was just different enough to change his muscular use.
part, facilitates the learning of new musical and technical behavior on the
student's part because few words from the teacher are needed.
Prepare a number of affect flash cards.
i-1
Choose an affect at random as you sing either a warm-up or a sec- !

i tion of a composition.
i-!
It is not important if the affect is appropriate to the music. In fact,

experimenting with affects that are quite different from what you
believe fits the music will lead to new insights about the importance of
changing and shading affect within the course of the song. For exam¬
ple, smiling as you sing a sad song can give the effect of "smiling
through your tears," a proven theatrical device for tugging at your
audience's heartstrings.
|- 1
Choose at least two affects. Alternate the affects as you sing a sec-
! tion of a composition.
Pay attention to any changes in your gestures and technique as you alter¬
nate the two randomly.
Choose at least three affects. Memorize them. Alternate them as

you sing a longer composition from memory.
This exercise works better if someone other than you gives the command
to change. You might find it difficult at first to remember both the com¬
position and which affect you are switching to. Remember, it is better to
have the experience and have difficulties than not to have the experience.
You will learn more about memorization and technique from your diffi¬
culties than you will from your successes.
Use your affect cards in conjunction with the improvisation exer¬

cises in Chapter 7 and the earlier exercises in this chapter.
THREE METHODS OF PROCESSING INFORMATION
Humans, it seems, have many traits in common. Among these traits are
the three basic ways we take in and process information from the world
around us:
1. Aurally. We use our ears to take in information. When asked to

recall the information, the person who unconsciously prefers the aural
mode will access the aural cortex of the brain to recreate the sounds asso¬
ciated with the memory, rather like playing a tape recording.
2. Visually. We use our eyes to take in information. When asked to

recall the information, the person who unconsciously prefers the visual
mode will access the visual cortex of the brain to recreate the images
associated with the memory, rather like seeing pictures. This is also
known a “eidetic" memory.
3. Kinesthetically. We use physical sensations to take in informa¬

tion: touching, tasting, movements that are felt internally if not exter¬
nally.5 When asked to recall the information, the person who uncon¬
sciously prefers the kinesthetic mode will access the portions of the brain
that control movement and recreate the muscular contractions and
releases associated with the memory.
Of the three modes, I personally gravitate to the visual. I say things

like “I see what you are saying" when someone explains something to
me. If I do not have a mental picture of the event or idea, then I do not
understand it. One of my goals in learning a musical composition is to
learn in each of the three modes. When I am in a performance, I want to
have all three working in case something happens to one or more of
them.
I used to think that I really knew a composition when I could visu¬
alize it, and I was satisfied with that. However, several years ago dur¬
ing a public performance of a composition in English, I turned the page
inside my head only to discover it was blank, white as the new fallen
snow. After a split second of panic, I began making up the words and
melody. The pianist accompanying me stuttered once at the keyboard
as she tried to find out where I was in the printed score. She quickly
realized I was creating my own score, so she began improvising in the
style of the composer while valiantly trying to stay with my improvisa¬
tion. After several measures, she and I had modulated to where we
"Musicians and athletes often refer to skills developed through repetition and
remembered by the body as "muscle memory."
should be in the score, so she played a chord she hoped I would recog¬
nize. Fortunately, I did and found my place again. Later, I timed the
improvised measures as I listened to a recording of the performance; it
had lasted only twelve seconds, but they were some of the longest
twelve seconds of my career.
I have also had the experience of performing music I learned when
I was younger, and I am constantly struck by how long, and how well,
my vocal muscles remember the composition, usually to my dismay. My
muscles remember with great accuracy how they performed the piece
years ago, even if the performance was far from wonderful. Even though
my musical and vocal abilities have changed, for the better I hope, in the
intervening years, my muscles are very reluctant to give up the old ways.
This is why, when preparing an "old" composition, I often have to spend
more time than with new literature.
As you study the modes, it will become important to determine
which mode you prefer. The psychological approach known as Neuro
Linguistic Programming™ (NLP), developed by Richard Bandler and
John Grinder, can provide many insights and is well worth studying. I
recommend Frogs into Princes as an introduction to their work.
Discovering Your Favorite Mode
Give yourself the following directions and pay attention to your physical
responses, particularly the manner in which you use your eyes:
r
i
i
i
i Visualize a familiar object, face, or scene. i
i i
L.
i
J
Did your eyes move up and to the left or right? Perhaps your eyes did
not move, but rather became unfocused.
-- n
i
Visualize yourself wearing polka dot tights and a blue wig. i
i
i_ j
i
Did you eyes move up and to the left or right (the direction will probably
be the opposite of the remembered image in the first exercise)? Did they
become unfocused? These first two questions are designed to allow you
to understand how you access your visual mode.
i-1
i i
Inside your head, listen to your favorite singer.
Did your eyes move either left or right? Listen to your voice in your
head. Where did your eyes move? Obviously, we are accessing the
aural mode.
i---1
Imagine yourself in a warm bath or shower. Feel the water flow¬

ing over your body.
i_i
Did your eyes move down and to the left or right? Now imagine a won¬
derful smell or taste. This is the kinesthetic mode.
As you worked through the exercises, did you find yourself stuck
in one mode? For example, if you are visually oriented, you might have
tried to see yourself in the shower or seen your favorite singer. There is
nothing wrong with relying on one mode, but experiment with the other
modes as you access all three modes for your learning. This will take a
bit of doing on your part, since working in our least-used modes feels
strange.
In my experience, singers who have trouble learning and memoriz¬
ing are usually stuck in one mode or access the wrong mode. For exam¬
ple, they try to access the visual mode as they listen, or access the kines¬
thetic mode as they attempt to visualize the page.
Other examples of accessing the wrong mode occur in nonmusical
settings as well. Good spellers, for instance, tend to access their visual
memory when asked to spell a word; poor spellers, on the other hand,
will access their aural or kinesthetic memories. One of the challenges of
NLP is that people who use unsuccessful strategies—like the poor
spellers—can be taught the strategies of good spellers who access their
visual memories. The same can be done for musicians who have learning
problems.
Using all three modes while learning music allows us to feel secure
and be flexible, since we "know" the music in several different ways. The
following are basic exercises to access the three modes. Select a composi¬
tion that you have been working on only a short time.
Aural
Sing only the first beat of each measure aloud, singing the
remainder of the measure internally. Proceed through the compo¬
sition in this manner. For an added challenge, sing only the sec¬
ond or third beat of each measure. Use the piano to keep you on
track if necessary.
You will quickly discover what you hear internally and how well you
hear it. Be sure not to berate yourself if you have trouble; the purpose of
these and all the other exercises in the book are to give you new experi¬
ences to discover what you know and do not know. Enjoy the challenge.
If you had a great deal of difficulty, play the first note of each measure on
a piano.
j-1
Sing the first measure aloud, then sing the next measure inter¬
nally, listening closely to your "inner voice." Proceed through the
J composition in this manner.
Sing every third measure (every fourth measure, every fifth mea- !
sure, etc.) aloud and hear the other measures internally.
! Sing only the first measure of each phrase (you will have to ana¬
lyze the phrase structure).
As you progress through these exercises, you should find that your inner
voice grows stronger. Pay attention to the quality of that voice and make
it your ideal sound. Your ideal inner voice will eventually come to lead
your outer voice.
" 'Before I sing a tone I must have thought it/ Luciano Pavarotti
said recently. . . . [He] did not say: before I start singing I assume good
posture and take a deep breath with my diaphragm; then I bring my lar¬
ynx and the tongue in the correct position; I open the mouth adequately
and lift the velum, and start the sound by a firm contraction of the
abdominal wall" (Gunter, p. 4).
Visual
Repeat the preceding exercises, beginning with just the first

phrase. However, close the score as you work. As you listen to
your inner voice, visualize the score as clearly as you can.
As you work through these exercises, be sure to move your eyes to the
'visual access" position you discovered as you worked through the exer¬
cises in Discovering Your Favorite Mode.
Kinesthetic
You have possibly already discovered that when you internalized the
aural and visual modes, your internal kinesthetic sense was activated.
Any muscle contraction or relaxation, any sense of the torso or throat
muscles responding to the music playing in your head—all of these sen¬
sations are grouped under the rubric of kinesthesia. The development of
internal kinesthesia is one of the primary goals of eurhythmies. Learning the
internal dance" of the music allows all the elements of physical and
expressive technique to merge and be communicated to the audience.
In learning a new piece, it is often necessary to externalize the
"dance" to strengthen the internal dance. To do this requires the external
use of the large muscles to train the smaller muscles.
Working one phrase at a time, move around the room using your
torso, arms, and feet to draw the music you hear in your mind.
Pay attention to dynamics, tempo, quality of beat (heavy, light,
floating, gliding, etc.), harmonies, and melodic movement (step¬
wise, skips, etc.).
This exercise can be performed without using your singing voice. Find
ways to practice and learn music while saving your singing voice. Most
of the singers I have worked with over the years maintain that the only
way they can learn and memorize their music is to sing it over and over
until it is beaten into their heads. This kind of rote learning is tedious and
inefficient. Our brains are wired to work quickly and will "wander" after
two or three repetitions of a pattern.
Using the Three Modes Together
"I have trouble memorizing words" is a common complaint among

singers. I discuss ways to read scores musically in Chapter 12: the exer¬
cises you will find there are also very helpful in the memorization pro¬
cess. But before we leave this section, here is one more exercise that will
pull together the three modes.
Without referring to the score, write the text as you quietly sing
the melody out of rhythm.
Little needs to be said about this exercise because once you try it you will
discover how the three modes work together. You might also have found
yourself constantly glancing at the score; fight that urge! In those
moments of uncertainty or "blankness," your brain is furiously looking
for the answer by searching its "memory banks," rather like the internal
memory of a computer. Be patient and allow your brain time to find the
missing piece of the puzzle. If necessary, skip the part you cannot
remember and go on to the next thing you can remember. In most cir¬
cumstances you will not facilitate the memorization process by con¬
stantly glancing at the score because you are not forcing your brain to
work, and you will probably have to look it up again.
THREE FORMS OF KINESTHESIA
I have written a fair amount about kinesthesia in this chapter. The subject
of kinesthesia is made even more complex because it comes in three fla¬
vors: unconscious, conscious, and imagined.
Unconscious and conscious kinesthesia are used every day of our
lives. Any new task, for example, learning to walk, skip, read, write, or
drive, begins with conscious kinesthesia. The task might be awkward at
first, but once our bodies have mastered the activity we stop thinking
about it and we move it to unconscious kinesthesia.
If you commute to work, the first day you commuted you probably
had to consciously look for street names, building numbers, and per¬
haps make note of many details on your route. Before long, you proba¬
bly began your commute by starting the car or boarding the train, and
then began thinking about a myriad of other things. On the subway in
New York City, I have watched commuters enter the car, take a seat, fall
promptly asleep, then spring awake at precisely the right stop and leave
the car. Their unconscious kinesthesia is on full alert. Conscious kines¬

thesia provides the way for our bodies and brains to learn the task;
unconscious kinesthesia allows us to put repeated activities on auto¬
matic pilot so we do not have to make conscious decisions every time
we perform an ordinary task such as putting on our clothes or brushing
our teeth.
If, however, you break a leg or arm, you will find unconscious
kinesthesia suddenly becoming conscious. Just getting into the car or
boarding the train becomes a chore. But if you stay in the cast long
enough, even that will become unconscious again.
All music study uses kinesthesia in at least two of its three forms.
As singers, when we learn a new technique or composition, we begin
with conscious kinesthesia. When we say we have learned a technique or
composition, we mean we have moved most or all of it into unconscious
kinesthesia so we can allow our attention (conscious kinesthesia) to focus
on other activities. During a performance, if that conscious focus contin¬
ues to be related to the information stored in the unconscious kinesthe¬
sia, then we usually feel we are performing well, since we are free to play
with the material as it emerges. If we move too much into the uncon¬
scious, then we are on automatic pilot and the performance can become
perfunctory and dull; on the other hand, if everything is conscious, we
can feel out of control and unprepared.
The third form, imaginary kinesthesia, has probably been used by
musicians for many years, but we have only recently given it a name.
Some years ago, trainers of world-class athletes began using imaginary
kinesthesia as a regular part of their training. Athletes are taught to
imagine themselves performing their sport; they feel their bodies hurling
down the slopes or pole vaulting as their muscles are trained by their
minds. Singers can do the same. They can feel, see, and hear themselves
in the ideal performance, or can be taught to predict and deal with
distractions if they are prone to anxiety.
Dalcroze taught that there was a sound for every motion, and a
motion for every sound; placing that concept into an imaginary kinesthe¬
sia allows singers to imagine their sounds coming to life. In their imagi¬
nation, they can, for example, create dancers responding to their singing,
or an infinite number of colors swirling.
I often direct singers to imagine their audience moving to the
music. How would they want them to move? In my studio, singers will
sometimes "conduct" with their voices, and I will move to show how I
hear their music. Sometimes I will conduct the singers and they will
interpret my movements with their sounds. We are turning sound into
gesture and gesture into sound.
This is why I do not slight technique in my teaching, but rather am
always searching for ways to direct it outward. "What do you want your
audience to feel? How do you want your audience to move?" are ques-
118 putting the dalcroze Methodology to work
tions my students hear often. Their response shades their sound, which
in turn shapes the direction of their technique at that moment in the
composition.
A Dalcrozian constantly looks for ways to enlarge the repertoire of
the conscious kinesthesia because that automatically enlarges the range
of choices by the unconscious. The imaginary kinesthesia then has a
broader selection to choose from when it is called on. A reason for all of
this emphasis on kinesthesia is that a goal of eurhythmies is to produce a
clear and compelling performance in which the singer has learned the
dance of the music and then is able to stand quietly and make the souls of
the audience dance and sway.
I have given you brief overview of teaching technique, learning a

score, and memorization using principles based on eurhythmies. It is not
exhaustive and there are gaps I am tempted to fill, but I want to keep this
book a reasonable length. I learned some years ago to stifle the urge to
teach everything I know within one lesson. The same will have to be true
for this chapter.
♦ Chapter 12 ♦
putting it all
together:
creative practicing
Robert Abramson, the premier eurhythmies teacher in America for a

number of years, has, half seriously, proposed writing a book titled Read¬
ing Music Will Kill Your Soul! Perhaps the sequel could be Practicing Can
Kill Your Soul. We form our feelings and concepts about music and
develop our technique in the practice room, yet so much of our practice is
undirected and boring. This is partly a result of thinking that repetition—
also known as learning by rote—is the only way to learn.
Throughout my years of teaching, I have often had students bring
different literature into their lessons and proclaim, "I hate this piece. It's
boring! When I ask how they are practicing, they respond, "I just go
over and over it until I pound it into my head!"
Fortunately, I can tell them there is a better way to practice. Our
brains are wired so that after approximately two exact repetitions our
attention begins to wander. Notice I wrote "exact repetitions"; this is
because any deliberate change in a pattern will produce attention. Our
brains are wondrous, quick creations, yet we tend to treat them as if they
were slow lethargic masses between our ears. Rote practice has the effect
of slowing our learning; during a given practice period, the more we
practice by rote, the less we learn. Changing our practice by setting tasks
that demand our attention will turn drudgery into interest. Practice can
become challenging and exhilarating.
Before we go further into this chapter, it will be helpful to you to
know the principles that underlie the exercises that follow.1
'If you happen to be teaching adolescents or young adults, then you probably know
you will often need to teach the students how and what to practice. I consider the first year
a student works with me to be directed primarily to assessing, developing, and improving
practice skills. Some come to me with excellent practice habits, but most do not. I have
arrived at the assumption that how and what I want the student to practice must first be
taught in the studio. Consider making the same assumption about your students.
119
IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES
We Learn Quicker When We Are Proactive
Refer to Chapter 7 for the definition of proactive. Proactive behavior puts

us in charge of our practice and learning. Proactive behavior allows us to
interact with the score rather than simply reacting; when the composer,
for example, indicates forte, we can question why and experiment with
different levels of forte.
Learning and Memorizing Are the Same Function
I do not separate these activities because looking at a score too long

makes us "eye-bound." The eyes take in the information that then passes
through the mouth without being heard or remembered.2 Nothing is
internalized.
I provided myself with an example of being eye-bound recently. I
was preparing a group of new songs for a recital and, as I practiced them
over a period of several weeks, I continued to read them, having con¬
vinced myself that I was practicing efficiently and creatively.
The day arrived when I decided I had to wean myself from the
score, so I closed the score and began to perform them. To my bewilder¬
ment, I came to a screeching halt: I could not remember anything—the
key, the language, the meter, nothing! I had learned—again—the results
of being eye-bound.
I was reminded of why I inflict the torture on my students of per¬
forming their music without a score, at least once, during a lesson. Our
ears and memories do not work so long as we are eye-bound.
Learn Music Using All Three Modes:

Auditory, Kinesthetic, and Visual
Refer to Chapter 11 for an analysis of the modes.
Set Goals to Help Organize Practice Time
Specific goals give us ways to measure our progress. Setting specific

goals for each session will assist in using the practice time well. I say
"specific" because goals which are too broad or general, such as "I want
This term was created by James Froseth, head of music education. University of
Michigan.
putting it all together 121
to sing better" or "I will start memorizing my music," will simply waste
time. A more specific way of stating a goal of memorization would be, "I
will be able to recite and sing the lyrics of the Caccini at the end of the
next twenty minutes."
Incidentally, practice sessions of fifteen to twenty minutes are usu¬
ally best for maintaining a high level of concentration. Singers who are
under twenty years old should limit their singing to two or three short
sessions daily or they risk damaging immature vocal muscles.
Find Ways to Practice Without Constant Singing
Practicing does not always mean singing. Tasks such as memorizing,

working on pronunciation, analyzing phrasing and form, or working out
rhythmic difficulties do not require constant singing. Practicing without
constant singing will keep your voice fresh. Most of the exercises in this
chapter may be practiced outside of the practice room. I occasionally tell
my students, "Don't practice harder or longer; practice smarter." Singers
can practice several hours a day and emerge vocally fresh.
Apply the Performer Controls Early
The performer controls (refer to Chapter 11) are dynamics, tempo, and
articulation. Applying them early in the learning process encourages
proactivity as we move through the early learning stages. Using the per¬
former controls also stimulates the affective response and generates cre¬
ative curiosity. It is quite easy to become mechanical as we struggle with
the score unless we continuously search for ways to keep the creative
juices flowing.
Form a Gestalt Early in the Learning Process
Gestalt is a German term meaning "form" or "shape." Rather like work¬

ing a puzzle, finding the framework of a composition makes it easier to
begin placing the myriad other pieces; by grasping the form (e.g., ABA or
strophic) early, we can more easily fit the parts of the musical puzzle
together. The gestalt process also encourages the use of metaphors3 as a
means of developing the affective colors of a piece. This process is some¬
times referred to as "holistic."
5"The concepts that govern our thought are not just matters of the intellect. They also
govern our everyday functioning down to the most mundane details ... the way we think,
what we experience, and what we do every day is very much a matter of metaphor" (Lake-
off, p. 3).
You may be familiar with some or all of the following exercises,

since they have been developed by many teachers over the years. How¬
ever, the sequence of the exercises is almost as important as the exercises
and appears in three general steps:
♦ First, the exercises begin without specific pitch. Adding pitch to

rhythm and text is difficult: either the pitch suffers (this is often
experienced as physical discomfort and strain), the diction suffers,
or, most frequently, the rhythmic vitality is reduced to timing.
♦ Second, pitch is added to text and rhythm, but only spoken pitch,
not sung pitch. All the rules of accent, phrasing, and nuance (see
Appendix A) can be applied before adding the written pitches.
♦ Third, the singing voice is added.
Once you are familiar with the exercises, you will discover you may
rearrange them and add or skip them as the process becomes clear. If you
are a teacher, I strongly urge you to work through these exercises before
asking your students to try them. The problems you encounter, and the
feelings you have, will probably be similar to those of your students.
Remember, the goal is not to completely succeed the first time—you will
learn very little if the exercise was too simple for you—but to enjoy the
struggle because that leads to new levels of accomplishment.
i--
i
Create a character and setting.
i i
i_i
If the composition is in a language you do not speak, be sure to translate

it, then ask questions like these:
Are you the character in the piece?

Are you describing, narrating, the action?
Are you telling a story in the first person or third person?
Where is the character: indoors, out of doors, in a city, in a forest?
How old are you? Is the setting in the present or the past?
What is your social class?
What are you wearing?
Are you being introspective, thinking aloud?
Are you addressing another person, a group of people?
Are you talking to friends, enemies, strangers, your sweetheart?
What were you (as the character) doing immediately before you
began telling this story? Eating dinner? Running through the forest?
All of the questions are designed to evoke feelings and spark the
imagination. The questions relating to class and dress lead to exploring
how the character moves; this has a direct effect on tempo and nuance.
--
i i
j Create a subtext.
i i
i_ i
i
After you have formed a gestalt and asked questions like the ones just
listed, you are ready to think like the character who is singing. We use
subtexts in almost all of our daily interactions with other people, and in
most situations we do so on a subconscious level. For example, if you
buy a hot dog from a vender, this might be your subtext:
"I could really go for something to eat right now. That smells good!
I wonder how much it costs? I don't see any prices listed. Does this
guy speak English? His hands look dirty; I hope he uses those tongs
. . . Three dollars! And I've already taken a bite! I can't give it back!
Three dollars! This is outrageous!"
Meanwhile, the words you speak aloud might be these:
Gimme one, please. How much? That's more than I usually pay ...
You have a nice day, too."
Situations like the one described occur all the time, but as performers, we
have to make them interesting, and subtexts can aid us immensely
because we have to create them and then make them obvious to the audi¬
ence through facial, physical, and vocal gestures.
THE EXERCISES
Choose a song that is new to you for the following exercises. Even
though I suggest you work through the exercises on one composition, I
strongly advocate working on several compositions at one time. Many
people engage in "serial learning" in the early stages of study, that is,
working on one work until it is "perfected" before beginning another.
The result of this type of learning is that the person forgets the previous
piece while working on the current piece and is always "between
pieces," a state of affairs best avoided.
j Begin with the text.

Assume the composer of a song had a text in mind before writing the
music. This is not always true of pop composers, but is almost always
true for composers of art song. The music to which the text is set is the
aural result of the composer's response to the text. So the text seems the
natural place to begin the examination of any song.
Read the text (or a translation of the text if one is available). What
mood or emotion do you experience? Describe the moods or emo¬
tions you feel.
Describing the moods or emotions you feel is an increasingly diffi¬

cult assignment because many people (1) do not know how they feel, and
(2) do not have the emotional vocabulary to describe their feelings.
You have the opportunity to discover the infinite colors and flavors
of the emotional spectrum. The typical response to the question, "How
would you describe the emotions of this piece?" will be, "It's happy" or
"It's sad," a rather limited emotional spectrum to say the least. Some¬
times people will use words like "jerky, smooth, gliding, bumpy, heavy,
light, soft, hard," which describe physical reactions but not emotional
reactions. I recently had a student describe a piece as "happy." When I
suggested to her that "happy" was fairly broad and asked if she could be
more specific, she thought for a moment and said, "Real happy."
I believe our response to music reflects our responses and reactions
to events and forces that shape our lives; we are with our music as we are
with our lives. Linguists tell us that our vocabulary defines and limits
our perceptions;4 likewise, psychologists tell us that a lack of emotional
vocabulary limits our ability to describe or perhaps even be aware of our
various emotional states. This lack of emotional range reminds me of the
critic who wrote that Katherine Hepburn's facial expressions "spanned
the range of emotion from A to B."
You might have to expand your emotional vocabulary. If you do,
you will be enriching your life in untold ways.
i-1
i i
Form a gestalt.
i_i
“For example, Eskimos have more than seventy words to describe ice and snow but
approximately four words describing events in time. People from Western European cul¬
tures have many words for time and have incorporated time concepts into the structure of
our grammar, but we have few words to describe that cold wet stuff.
Listen to the entire piece. It is important to establish a gestalt of a new

piece, since this not only gives you a feel for the piece, but also accelerates
learning. I am usually able to hammer and slash my way through a new
score at the piano; perhaps it is not pretty but it is useful. If you do not have
any piano skills, recordings are helpful. Several recordings of the same
work are preferable because the goal is to form a concept of the piece, not
imitate someone else's performance. If there are no recordings available,
then you might attempt to find a friendly pianist to play the piece for you.
Whatever the means you choose, pay attention to the feeling of the
entire composition; follow the song by ear as much as possible rather
than looking at the score.
Examine the composer's tempo markings (andante, largo, allegro,

rallentandos, accelerando), dynamic markings, fermatas, sudden
high or low notes. What do they tell you about the composer's
feelings about the text?
What we call a "musical score" is the physical evidence of a composer's

reactions to sounds which sprung from the inner hearing of the com¬
poser. The markings on the score result from the composer's efforts to
use a commonly accepted code to convey thoughts and feelings. Simply
re-presenting, or re-creating, the code is not enough to create an expres¬
sive performance because it does not bring insight into the emotional
reactions of the composer.
TEXT
t
COMPOSER
thoughts
feelings
compositional skill
I
SCORE
t
PERFORMER
thoughts
feelings
technique
(vocal)
(expressive)
The graph shown above gives a simplified depiciton of the ideal

relationship between the composer and the performer. Performers, as re¬
creators, allow us to hear their interpretation not only of the code, but of
the composers' and performers' personal reactions.
Imagine living in the days when the telegraph was the quickest
form of communication, and you received a telegram from your sweet¬
heart which read:
Unless you read Morse Code, it looks like a series of dashes and
dots and is devoid of meaning. You would probably stride into the tele¬
graph office and demand someone read it for you. If the clerk said, "Well,
it says: dot dot dot dash dash dot dot..." you would be justified in feel¬
ing frustrated because he did not interpret the message but simply re¬
produced what was on the page. You want to know what words the
dashes and dots represent.
If the clerk translates in a flat, computer-like voice, "We've just won
the lotto," you might be surprised and pleased with the information, but
your level of excitement would not be what it might have been. If the
clerk's voice was lively and joyful ("We've won the lotto!!"), your level of
excitement would be multiplied because of the clerk's personal reaction.
The content was the same, but the performances—the way the content
was relayed—were different.
The next exercise is designed to move beyond the dashes and dots
and into the words the composer might have intended us to hear.
Speak the text in a dramatic fashion, as in a public performance.

How many times did you breathe? What pitch range did you use
in your speaking? Find your speaking pitches on the piano.
Repeat the exercise and increase the range of the spoken pitches.
Translate the text into your own words. Recite the text again using
an emotion or attitude picked at random. How did the randomly
picked attitude highlight or contrast the feelings in the text?
Speak the text as poetry (or prose) in a dramatic fashion as you

would in a public performance. This exercise is difficult since many
young singers dislike poetry. This dislike usually springs from unfortu¬
nate experiences in schools in which teachers have had the students learn
the correct interpretation of poems, meaning the teacher's interpretation.
If you are a teacher, you might have to help students interpret the text
without imposing your interpretation on theirs. Sometimes students
offer complicated, offbeat interpretations. These interpretations usually
come from high school teachers who insisted on a metaphysical meaning

for the most mundane text. A student interpretation of "The sun was
high, and I spied a flower on the edge of the road," might be, " I'm, like,
middle-aged, old, you know, and I, uh, see this beautiful girl sitting, like,
in an outdoor restaurant, maybe, having a drink?" I usually advise such
a student to look for the most obvious answers.
How many times did you breathe? Sometimes singers will read a
text, breathing in obvious places (commas, ends of sentences, etc.) with¬
out being aware they breathed at all. They will then proceed to sing
through two or more phrases without breathing, only to gasp for breath
in the middle of a phrase. They are unaware the composer builds places
into the music that call for the sound to stop (phrasing). These built-in
places usually coincide with word phrasing. Becoming aware of breath¬
ing points in the text alerts the student to similar breathing points in the
music.
What pitch range did you use in your speaking? Singers frequently
misuse their speaking voices by placing the speaking pitch too low
(sopranos sometimes place them too high). Finding their approximate
speaking pitch on the piano makes them aware that their voices have
pitch (many people are, somehow, unaware of that fact). Morton Cooper,
in his book Change Your Voice; Change Your Life, gives many fine exercises
for discovering the best speaking pitch for a voice.
Repeat the exercise and increase the range of the spoken pitches.
Repeating any exercise is a waste of time, in most cases, unless some
thought and analysis has occurred between the repetitions. Setting a goal
("increase the range") is one way to make a repetition useful.
Increasing the range of the pitches used in the speaking voice will
also incorporate an element of improvisation. Deliberately distorting the
usual speech pattern will assist in finding new ways of using the voice,
for example, changing pitch within a word, elongating a word,
playing with consonant sounds, or making usually long sounds short. Of
course, if you are a teacher, you should be able to demonstrate.
Translate the text into your own words. If the text is in a language
other than English, work out a literal translation. It is important that this
be done very early in this process, since singing with understanding is an
integral part of an expressive performance.
Translate the text into your own words, even if the text is already in
English. Remember, one of our goals is to move from reactive behavior
(simply accepting whatever words appear on the page) into proactive
behavior (interpreting). Rather than assuming you understand the text,
translate it; if you have a literal translation of a non-English text, translate
the translation. For example, "I spied a fair damsel," might be translated
"l saw a pretty girl." This is an uninspired translation to be sure, but at

least you would know that I understood the word "damsel/ Putting the
text in your own words allows you to make an affective connection with
the text.
Recite the text again using an emotion or attitude selected at ran¬

dom. How did the randomly selected attitude highlight or contrast the
feelings in the text? Too often, we work in an affective vacuum until we
near a performance. This exercise will suggest to the student that the
"feeling" of the text and music is an integral part of the learning process.
An attitude that is quite different from the affect of the text and music
will highlight the attitudes which the composer intended. A list of atti¬
tudes and emotions is included in Appendix A.
i-j
Speak the text following the melodic line, out of rhythm, using
the musical rules.
!_i
This exercise develops the understanding that spoken words have inher¬
ent qualities of beat, rhythm, pitch, and accent. It is also the most difficult
exercise because so many musicians think the music is in the pitches. In
fact, the pitches contain only a part of the music; the majority of the
music is contained in the rhythms, dynamics, and structure of the com¬
position. Following the musical rules will necessitate the examination of
the formal structure and rhythmic makeup of the composition.
We all want to sing through pieces, not realizing that the sounds of
our voices confuse us; we think we are using dynamic shadings and clear
diction, but are fooled by the physical effort we are making to produce
the sound. It is difficult to hold the urge to make singing sounds in check,
but the more you internalize the musical elements of the performance,
the more you will save your singing voice. We want to sing, sing, sing,
when we should be listening, feeling, and thinking.
Speak the text in the rhythm of the music, being careful to vary
pitch and dynamics, following the musical rules and the normative
measure. What types of articulation did you use? Pay attention to
the phrasing of the text as it relates to the phrasing of the music.
Speak the text in the rhythm of the music, being careful to vary
pitch and dynamics, following the musical rules. Most singers tend to
speak the text in a flat, lifeless monotone (errhythm strikes again!).
Record your performance to ensure your voice has not gone "flat."
Use the normative measure. If you discover that applying the musi¬
cal rules in the context of a normative measure becomes difficult, if not
impossible, then you are using the musical rules correctly. The function of
the normative measure is to "normalize" the measure; the function of
expression is to deviate from the normal. Changes from the normal are, by
definition, expressive. The question is always, "What is being expressed?"
What types of articulation were used? Articulation is different than

"good diction." For a Dalcrozian, articulation refers to the way a note is
attacked, the quality of the duration, and its eventual release. For singers,
the qualities of attacks are determined by the first letter of the word (con¬
sonant or vowel) and what happened at the end of the preceding word.
The movement between the words, "I love you"—the "I" sliding into the
"1" followed by sustaining of the "ove" which elide with the "y"—is
quite different than the movement in "I hate you"—with the "I" followed
by the aspirated "h" which quickly moves to the "t," which bites into the
"y." But if those words appeared in the context of
J J J J J J
I love you I hate you
all other musical elements being the same, the inexpressive singer will
perform both legato because of lack of awareness that the words demand
very different articulations.
Pay attention to the phrasing of the text as it relates to the phras¬

ing of the music. Exploring the phrase structure of the composition began
with the first exercise in this section ("Hozv many times did you breathe?'').
SINGING MUSICALLY IN THE EARLY LEARNING STAGES
Now we come to the difficult part: singing musically while in the early
stages of learning a composition. Singers want to learn the pitches, but
learning pitches without reference to key, form, or harmony is like seeing
many different colors (a green streak there, a red one here, a blue one
there) without understanding that you are looking at an impressionist
painting. Sight-reading musically involves improvisation and awareness
of harmony and tonality: improvisation, because of willingness to miss a
"pitch" and "go for the gesture"; harmony and tonality, because of the
awareness that musical gesture lives within the framework of those two
elements.
One part of the problem in the early learning stages is that usually,
when a new task is being learned, we develop amnesia, forgetting all
previous learning. Part of your task is to bring the previous learning back
to consciousness. This amnesia is one reason young singers lose good
voice quality when they are confronted with a new task; another reason
has to do with fear of making mistakes.
I have alluded to mistakes often in this text. Teachers and students
often think of them as something to be avoided at all costs, since they
might represent a character flaw. They feel stupid when they make mis¬
takes. Putting mistake avoidance as a high performance priority is a
guaranteed way to ensure you forget all previous learning and concen¬
trate on "getting the notes right"; it is also a good way to create perfor¬
mance anxiety. However, if you assume you will make mistakes as the
number of tasks increases, you will become process-oriented, rather than
product-oriented as learning unfolds. The performer using a gestalt
approach does not overlook mistakes, endure sloppiness, or otherwise
lower standards of performance, but rather views mistakes as part of the
learning process and finds ways to correct the mistakes through musical
means. The traditional "error-detection/error correction" approach and
the gestalt approach both correct mistakes: the difference lies in how mis¬
takes are analyzed and how and when they are corrected.
Another problem I encounter with sight-reading is that most of the
students I teach are, at least in the early years, poor readers. As I work
with them to develop their reading skills, I insist they read as musically
as they can. They can still use a wide range of dynamics and pitch in their
speaking voices and many types of articulations (e.g., legato, staccato,
detached), as well as developing coordinated bodies; lacking reading
skills makes them slightly handicapped, not musically disabled.
Earlier in this chapter I suggested you use a recording of the piece
with the intent of developing a broad concept of the composition. If you
are a teacher, you will also discover that some of the steps listed are
superfluous for some students because they immediately use their speak¬
ing voices musically (singers who translate musical expression into their
speaking voices, however, are very rare). These expressive students usu¬
ally need only to be led through the musical rules and they will develop
a quick grasp of the composer's style. Other students will need to be led
through each step slowly. Remember, your goal as a teacher is to assist
those students who are not naturally expressive (probably about 95 per¬
cent of our students) to become so. In short, you are teaching the student
techniques of expression.
Suggested Steps
The following steps are designed for a teacher to use with students, but if
you are working alone, and assuming you have some keyboard skills,
you can adapt them for your private use as I have often done.
If you have worked through the earlier exercises and have begun
incorporating expressive elements in your voice as you speak the text,
then you are ready for the following steps.
i-1
j Once again, play or sing the composition, this time following

j the score.
i_i
If you are a teacher, ideally you or a pianist will perform the composi¬
tion, with the vocal line highlighted, as the student speaks the voice part,
using all the musical rules of expression she can remember as she hears it
played. This exercise assumes the pianist will also perform the piece
expressively.
The intent is to form a gestalt that incorporates the expressive ele¬
ments as quickly as possible, with little attention directed toward "get¬
ting it right."
Play the accompaniment in chords out of rhythm as you sing the

melody. Roll (i.e., arpeggiate) the chords so you can hear all the
notes.
Pay attention to subtle changes in the quality of your sound as you per¬
form this exercise. These changes will occur as you intuitively adjust
your technique to "get the right feeling." I alluded to this phenomenon in
Chapter 9 in the discussion of rhythmic solfege.
A goal of this exercise is to become aware of how the voice part fits
the harmony, allowing your voice to adjust to the changing scales. I am
continually fascinated by the looks on students' faces when their voices
suddenly adjust to accommodate the harmonies that support them. I per¬
sonally experience an almost audible click, a feeling of settling into a
groove, when my voice and body understand the musical scale I am
singing. My students have other descriptions for what happens to them,
but the effect is the same: reduced muscular effort, more "ring" to the
sound, and a sense of flow with the music.
In performing this exercise, pay close attention to any sense of
muscular holding you hear; this happens when the singer fights
against or ignores the harmony surrounding the melody, what I call
the harmonic matrix. This is most often an example of a musical prob¬
lem (not hearing/feeling the harmonic matrix) disguised as a technical
problem.
Conduct yourself as you sing using the traditional conducting

patterns.
i_i
Conducting yourself as you sing will clarify the meter. Rhythmic and
metric mistakes you might be making will quickly become evident. Pay
attention to moments when your arms become uncoordinated while con¬
ducting; this usually means your body does not understand the rhythm
or meter.
i-1
Improvise the text as you sing the printed melody. Improvise the |
melody as you sing the printed text.
i-1
Refer to Chapter 7 for exercises you can adapt for this process. Learning
to improvise in the style of the composer can give you added confidence
that you can handle any occurrence while performing. Learning to
improvise text in your native language, one of the most difficult skills,
will also aid you in overcoming the urge to stop the music because you
forgot a word.
Suggestions for the Later Stages of Learning
Eventually you will sing from memory while working with a pianist. The
first run-throughs will be difficult but necessary. You will probably need
to sing through a piece from two to four times before you feel reasonably
comfortable. I refer to these early run-throughs as "critical mass," rather
like the amount of nuclear material needed for an atomic reaction. This is
an important stage of the learning process because you and the pianist
will quickly discover what you both need to learn. You will be tempted
to use the score to avoid making mistakes rather than stumbling through;
don't do it! Keep stumbling: you will discover what you know and what
you need to learn. Use the following five-step score accuracy check.
♦1♦
Sing the entire composition four, five, or six times slower than
your regular tempo while looking at the score, preferably as you
play your part on the piano.
This is a method of checking for accuracy, so avoid dynamic and range

extremes. Sing quietly, sing an octave lower and take as many breaths
as you need, since you will not be able to use your usual phrasing.
Pay close attention to the score and make no assumptions about your
accuracy.
♦ 24
i-1
Sing the composition four, five, or six times slower than your reg¬
ular tempo without looking at the score.
i_i
This is a method of strengthening your memory and concentration. Con¬

tinue to sing as easily as possible.
♦ 34
i-1
! Sing the composition at your normal tempo while looking at the
! score.
i_i
This is another check for accuracy, but using your normal tempo will
accelerate your thought processes. Sing as easily as possible.
♦ 44
i-
i
1 Sing at your normal tempo without looking at the score.
Continue to sing as easily as possible.
♦ 5♦
i-j
| Sing four, five, or six times faster than your normal tempo with- j
\ out looking at the score.
Sing easily. This exercise will force your memory to function quicker
than will be required in performance. In addition to forcing your physi¬
cal and mental muscles to work efficiently and rapidly, you will discover
you are more able to deal with distractions during performance.
The final exercise is the incorporation of all the elements mentioned

in this chapter through movement and singing. Now you have the infor¬
mation; it is up to you to put it to work.
One caveat: if you encounter problems on any of the steps, return to
an earlier step. Coordinating technique, listening, and the musical ele¬
ments (the musical rules, rhythm, dynamics, tempo, pitch) is a very com¬
plicated juggling act. When we have problems, we usually let go of the
rhythm and become errhythmic; if we still have problems, we tend to
ignore all nuance, accents, and phrasing. At this point, our muscles are so
confused that they become spastic and arrhythmic and we stop singing,
complaining that our technique is not working.
Developing practice skills is of vital importance, since we spend
more time practicing than performing. Approaching practice efficiently
and musically will lead to more musical performance.
♦ Chapter 13 ♦
three
sample
lessons
I present three sample lessons in this chapter to demonstrate how I use

Dalcroze principles in different circumstances. The sample lessons are
based on composites of lessons I have taught over the years. Teaching,
like learning, is a process. The sample lessons illustrate the teaching
activity and my related analysis (descriptive) rather than a step-by-step
teaching technique, such as “when this happens, do this" (prescriptive).
The musical or pedagogical principles appear in bold italic type.
While teaching, I attempt, with varying degrees of success, to keep
the following concepts in mind:
♦ Music teaches music. Music is not about words, since no words

can completely capture what happens within a musical performance.
Therefore most lessons should be about music, not words: the less the
teacher talks during a lesson, and the more the teacher becomes the
music during the lesson, the better. Teaching is a performing art.
I am not always successful in implementing this concept because I
occasionally catch myself yammering on while the student's eyes glaze
over. However, when I stop talking and make music with the student,
more learning always takes place.
♦ Excellent teaching teaches the student while the student wrestles

with the material To describe this approach to teaching would require
another book, but briefly stated, using this approach, the teacher pays
attention to the entire student and the learning style, attitudes about the
task, reactions to challenges, and the overall physical approach to the
task. Another term for this approach is "student-centered teaching."
135
Traditional teaching is "teacher-centered," meaning the musical goals

and, occasionally, the teacher's ego, are the teacher's primary concern. This
teaching is also authoritarian, with the teacher (the authority) setting the
student's goals and determining the student's needs. Student-centered
teaching does not deny the teacher's needs, but suggests ways that both
teacher and student can combine their needs to create common goals.
♦ The student's job is to do the learning; the teacher's job is to cre¬

ate the environment for learning to take place. It has been written that
the student will do everything possible to get the teacher to do the learn¬
ing: don't do it! The student who has the same lesson week after week,
who asks you to "show me again," repeatedly, who does not like to try
anything until you have demonstrated several times is having you "do
the learning." Whenever I feel this is happening, after I have repeated
something more than twice, I stop and say, "I already know how to do
that. You try it now."
♦ Dalcroze methodology teaches musical behavior rather than

teaching pieces or even concepts. To a Dalcrozian, training ears, brains,
and bodies to feel and hear what the eyes see is more important than
teaching a series of pieces. Voice teachers often just want to train voices
and teach "pieces" while disregarding the emotions, minds, ears, and
bodies that are attached! This is a serious problem in our profession and
one that will be with us so long as we remain technically oriented.
♦ Don't confuse the teacher's need for comfort with the student's
learning needs. "My students need a lot of structure. I don't think they
will be comfortable with this approach." This is a comment I often hear
from voice teachers. The question is, who really needs the structure, and
who is, in fact, uncomfortable with this less teacher-structured approach?
Sometimes it is the student, but most often it is the teacher. When a
teacher becomes frustrated and angry that a student is not doing well,
the cause for the anger is often not the student but rather the little voice
in the teacher's head that keeps saying, "maybe if I were a better teacher,
this student would be doing better." This is what I mean by the teacher's
ego involvement.
♦ Mistakes create possibilities for learning. Examine your attitude

about mistakes. What do they mean to you? Teachers and performers
who choose a gestalt approach need to have a fearless attitude about mis¬
takes. For them, mistakes are opportunities for learning rather than signs
of eminent failure.
♦ Teachers do more than merely give directions. In the Dalcroze

philosophy, instructors give directions, lead students through exercises
and point out mistakes; teachers, on the other hand, create an environ-
merit where students experiment with different skills and attitudes, and
leave lessons with not only better skills but enlivened imaginations and a
joy of making music. A Dalcrozian gives tasks that are within the grasp
of the students, but which cause them to stretch to accomplish the tasks.
Mistakes are viewed as doors to learning rather than potholes in the road
to understanding.
Gean Greenwell provided wonderful examples of excellent teach¬
ing in many of our lessons. He was very pleased whenever I was per¬
forming well, but his eyes would sparkle when I encountered a problem.
This was not from wishing me ill, but rather that he had an opportunity
to teach me something. I recall observing another student's lesson where
the student apologized for having a problem (this was an interesting
comment on the student's relationship with his previous teachers).
Greenwell chuckled and said no apology was necessary, and that he
understood the student might be a bit frustrated, but he (Greenwell) was
just starting to have fun because he finally had something to do!
♦ What the student discovers, the student remembers. This is actu¬

ally, I think, an ancient Chinese saying, but it is still applicable to our
teaching. Have you ever “fixed" an incorrect rhythm or interval, only to
hear the same mistake week after week? The problem is that you discov¬
ered the mistake, but the student has not yet had the experience of its
“mistakeness." The best way to fix the mistake is to create a situation
where the student has the "aha!" revelation.
♦ The map is not the territory: music lies within sound, not on the
printed page. Just as a map only represents a territory, so the printed
score only represents the music. The music lies within the sounds that
emanate from the person. The task is to discover how the person can best
create the sounds, develop the aesthetic, technical, imaginative, and
musical capacity to express them, and shape them according to the
design the composer has indicated.
Now to the lessons.
FIRST LESSON WITH A NEW STUDENT
I'm sitting in my studio at the university waiting for Tom to arrive. I hear
a soft knock on the open door and Tom enters, exactly on time. He is a
first-semester freshman and this is the first lesson we will have together.1
I have been looking forward to working with a new student, but Tom,
’Jaques-Dalcroze thought of the teacher as learning from the student; ideally, all the
participants in a lesson share the roles of teacher/student.
understandably, seems to have some trepidation about having a new

voice teacher.
Other things I know about Tom: he listed his voice type on his audi¬
tion form as " bass," which is probably the part he sang in his high school
choir and not necessarily his actual voice type; he is eighteen years old
and probably undergoing the throes of the typical freshman who is away
from home and making his own decisions for the first time.
Background
I ask him to be seated and tell me about his musical background and to
describe his professional goals. His background is typical for many voice
students: he had piano lessons as a child but quit after a few months, he
was in the marching band and chorus in high school and enjoyed being a
part of a musical ensemble. He had some private voice lessons with his
school choral director as preparation for solo-ensemble festivals, but no
outside study.
When I ask him about his professional goals, he says he wants to
be a high school choral teacher, since he liked his director a lot. He says
nothing about loving, or even liking music other than as a social activity.
When I ask him what kind of music he enjoys listening to, he replies that
"pop" and "rock" are what he usually prefers, but he sometimes likes
"semiclassical" as well. When I ask him what he means by semiclassical,
he explains that he means works such as Phantom of the Opera and Les
Miserables.
Listening to his responses, I think about the work that lies ahead of
us. He will have no understanding of genres of music he will be required
to perform in order to satisfy the requirements of an academic setting, so
he and I must find ways to make the music relate to his life experiences.2
He also does not have a vocal role model, since he does not listen to trained
singers, so I will have to find ways to clarify the aural goals of his study.
First Steps Toward Building a Vocal Image
"How does your voice sound to you, and what would you like it to
sound like?" I ask him. No one has ever asked Tom this question before,
so he takes a long time before replying. "It's kind of, you know, just
there," he says. "I can't sing very high and I can't sing very soft. What
would I like it to sound like? I guess I want to be able to sing higher and
not have it hurt." I notice he has not said anything about his sound, only
how it feels. Part of this inability to talk about sound comes from (1)
2Musical studies that are not related to the student's life experiences and feelings
have little affective meaning to the student.
never being asked to talk about it and (2) lack of vocabulary.3 Building an
expressive vocabulary will be another part of our work together.
I have also noted the manner in which Tom has used his body dur¬
ing our talk, the energy level of his gestures, the pitch range and quality
of his voice, any obvious physical tension; all of these elements help me
form an image of Tom that will eventually be called into play during his
lessons. This interview has taken only five or six minutes. Now I ask him
to perform a couple of pieces he is comfortable with so I can have a better
sense of his voice.
He says that he has three pieces, and waits for me to choose one.
Instead, I ask him to pick one. This is a subtle way of making him take
responsibility for his work (become proactive) rather than simply follow¬
ing directions given by the teacher (being reactive).
Lesson 1: How to Establish a Tempo
He chooses Caro Mio Ben by Giuseppi Giordani. I take the music and go
to the piano. "What is your tempo?" I ask. "I don't know . . ." he replies.
"It's kind of like this; one, two, three, four," he says, using a quiet voice
to indicate an allegro. I play as he indicated, and he immediately stops
me, saying it is too fast and too soft.
"Oh? Well, give me a better tempo and dynamic level," I say, and he
gives the same tempo but louder dynamic level. I point out the tempo is
identical to his first tempo. He tries again but the pulse is barely slower.
I suggest he sing the first line. Finally, he arrives at a tempo that is
comfortable for him; it does not necessarily match any of the affect of the
music, but I imagine his choral director always chose the tempo for him
rather than helping him determine it for himself.
He sings the piece as if it were a slow march, bumping from note to
note. The melody and metric rhythms are correct and the performance is
lifeless: it is a typical errhythmic performance. I make a mental note to
work on that, but I want to quickly make the act of singing a little easier
for him because that is one of the goals he stated.
Teaching Technique Nonverbally:

Encouraging Analysis
I had noticed that he barely opened his mouth while singing, so I ask him
to watch. I mimic his performance of the opening passage (without
3One of the teaching goals of the Dalcroze methodology is appreciation of nuance.

Nuance in language is the ability to express feelings and perceptions in fairly specific terms.
Most students' vocabularies are limited to "happy-sad," " good-bad," or "fast-slow," and
they have to be taught affective words (such as glib, exuberant, melancholy, elated) and
descriptive words (such as sparkling, dull, bright, colorful, vibrant).
telling him I am reproducing his performance), then I repeat the passage,

this time allowing my mouth to open more. I ask him if he sees or hears
any difference between my performances. He says he hears a little differ¬
ence. When I ask him to describe the difference, he says the first one is
more "nasal" than the second.4
I repeat the performance, asking him to look for any differences.
He does not see any, so I repeat again, pointing to my mouth (directing
his attention). Finally he notices the effect of the jaw opening on the
tone.
Problem: debauched kinesthesiaf developing awareness. I ask Tom

to sing first with his mouth closed, then open. He sings the passage
twice, but the amount of opening remains the same. I direct him to stand
in front of a mirror and watch as he repeats the performances. As soon
as he begins singing, he looks away from the mirror. I stop him and
repeat the directions. He says he thought he was watching, but tries
again.
This time he watches as he sings the passage twice, keeping his
mouth almost closed both times. I ask if he saw any difference in how far
his mouth was open. He replies that it felt different. "But did you see any
difference?" I ask. "I don't know," he replies. I conclude that he cannot
see, hear, and feel at the same time: when he feels, he cannot see; when
he hears, he cannot feel or see. Of course, I have kept all of these observa¬
tions of his awareness to myself, but they will be of value in helping me
determine his curriculum.
I direct him to stand in front of the mirror and make some sounds
with his jaw closed, then open. After a few seconds, I ask him to simply
speak the words of the passage he has been singing; it quickly becomes
apparent that he does not remember the words without the melody.
Internalizing music and text will be one of the first skills I will attempt to
teach him in coming lessons.
Problem: ignorance of the meaning of the text; absence of affect.

Before returning to the kinesthesia exercise, we look at the score and I
ask if he knows what the words mean. "Not really," he says ("not
really" in student jargon means "no"). "Do you like this piece?" I ask.
He looks at me as if he has never considered that question. "Not really,"
he replies.
"Then why are you doing it?" I ask. Again, that look as if I had
just arrived from Mars. "Because my teacher said it would be a good
"Nonverbal performance, which demands attention, followed by analysis, helps

develop two necessary skills for the successful musician.
5A majority of people are unaware of how they use their bodies. It is necessary to
reestablish kinesthetic awareness.
audition piece." I give him an option: we can continue working on this

piece or he can choose one of his other pieces. He chooses Passing By
by Edward Purcell. "It's kind of a boring piece," he says, "but I like it
better."
Tailoring the Teacher's Agenda

to the Student's Needs
Rather than continue with the kinesthesia exercise in its present context,
I decide to shift it into another form. Tom performs Passing By and, while
the performance is still errhythmic, there is some improvement in his
sound. He is quicker in noting the difference in sound, as well as feeling,
when he opens his mouth more. He also has a better sense of the mean¬
ing of the text, since it is in a language he understands, and we begin
speaking the words, "There is a lady sweet and kind," playing with their
sounds and feelings, such as the vocative of "th" of "there," the "z" of
"is" that slides into "a" creating a "za," which, in turn, tapers into the "1"
of "lady" (I have him perform the American "1" and the European "1" to
sense the difference in tongue position).
I call his attention to the sensations in his tongue, lips, and jaw as he
plays with the words, and ask him about his feelings about the words.
He still has no particular emotional connection with the text, so I ask him
to visualize the most beautiful girl he could imagine and we explore—
with some embarrassment on his part—how he might react to seeing
such a woman pass by and, in an instant, change his life. I have him sing
the first verse again, this time while attempting to use all the emotions
and sensations he has discovered. Of course he cannot keep all the
changes, but there are small improvements in his sound.
Testing
I ask Tom to repeat his first performance again. "I can't remember how
I sang it," he says. To help him remember, I guide him back to his first
performance by reproducing what I remember. Then he repeats the
"new" performance and I ask him to change between the old and new
performances when I say "change."6 We continue the exercise until
he starts laughing at the troubles he encounters juggling the two per¬
formances.
‘How do we know what we have changed unless we can remember what we did? If
the student cannot reproduce both the original performance and the changed performance,
the teacher may assume the changes will have to be taught again.
Summary
I ask Tom what he has learned during our few minutes together and he
mentions the need to open his mouth more and to find out what the
words mean before he brings a piece into a lesson. We talk about lit¬
erature requirements and collections he should purchase. After he leaves,
I review the lesson and realize we will have to look at his inefficient prac¬
tice habits very soon.
This lesson has been about developing awareness. Tom is not
unusual in his lack of awareness of self-perception, so every lesson for
the foreseeable future will have to incorporate activities that focus on
awareness. Much of his progress in developing musical and technical
skills will hinge on this ability to become aware.
The lesson also touched on several important musical and technical
elements in a very cursory manner, but basic musical behaviors such as
paying attention, concentrating, and remembering and reproducing the
sounds were the major focus.
LESSON WITH A SECOND-YEAR STUDENT
Background
Cindy, a sophomore performance major, has been studying with me

since coming to the university and has presented many challenges for me
as a teacher. Two years ago, she sang a very nice audition in which she
displayed a lovely young soprano voice. The voice faculty was en¬
chanted with her and counted her as one of the bright new members of
the freshmen class. However, during her first lesson with me, I discov¬
ered she did not read music. She told me her previous voice teacher had
spent a year teaching audition repertoire to her by rote. So I had unwit¬
tingly taken on the task of teaching a bright, ambitious young singer with
a lovely voice who was musically illiterate. I needed to find ways to teach
her to read and to help her develop her musical and technical skills, all
the while keeping her quick intelligence and natural exuberance engaged
in the process.
Her musical tastes far exceeded her abilities. During her first year,
she would bring in arias from operas she had discovered and fallen in
love with ("Sempre libera" from La Traviata by Verdi, and "Der Holle
Rache" sung by the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute are two I
vividly remember) while struggling to understand how to perform sim¬
ple dotted rhythms in her lessons!
Her lessons during her first semester consisted of the following:
Vocal exercises that led her through major, minor, and modal scales.
Singing pop songs she liked and using them to learn reading skills.
Working on ear training exercises by using rhythmic solfege.
Having her play her class piano drills and relating them to the
songs she was studying.
Learning the diction in her required literature (some early Italian
songs) and using direct experiences7 in which I spoke nothing but
Italian to her for extended periods until she understood the transla¬
tions before singing.
My objectives for her first year of study were to train her ears, brain,
and body to feel and hear what she saw on the page because I knew her
vocal apparatus would then follow along.
During her second year, Cindy has been assimilating all these new
skills and beginning to learn literature quickly and accurately. Her tech¬
nical development has also been rapid, although she tends to sing too
"heavily" in the range from the tenth above middle C (E) to the twelfth
above middle C (G),
causing her to sing under pitch. I have assigned her vocal exercises that
call for her to "lighten" the sound by singing softer as she moves into her
upper register, and we have performed many kinds of scales and har¬
monic exercises so she can learn to feel where she is within the scale (see
Chapter 9, "Rhythmic Solfege").
She will perform her junior-level jury for all the voice faculty at the
end of this semester, a jury she will have to pass in order to be allowed to
enroll for upper-class credit. The jury includes sight-singing as well as
acceptable performances of literature in English, Italian, and German.
We began the semester by discussing the jury requirements, then
worked backward on the calendar, setting deadlines for when all music
would be memorized (one month before the jury) and when all literature
7In this case, a direct experience would consist of me giving simple directions (e.g.,
touch your nose, point to your foot, stand up, sit down) in Italian (or German or French)
with the student repeating the words while performing the action. This is very similar to
the way children learn language, and helps the student "feel" the flow and natural rhythm
of the language.
would be selected8 (by the fifth week of the semester—the'semester has

sixteen weeks). Two weeks ago, she arrived with eleven compositions
she thought were interesting, and we spent the lesson with Becky, her
accompanist, flailing away at the piano as Cindy and I partly read/partly
improvised our way through the pieces. The goal was to get the feel of
the pieces (several were also new to me) and decide which might be used
as the jury repertoire.
At last week's lesson, Cindy had brought in seven pieces she
wanted to learn. We looked at the key and tempo relationships to make
sure there was enough variety to make an interesting short program for
the jury, since juries are treated as artistic performances at the university,
and to ensure the literature and language requirements were fulfilled.
Then Cindy, Becky, and I spoke, sang, danced, and played our way
through the pieces. Together, we discussed which musical rules were
applicable, used appropriate musical exercises, and looked for sections in
which Cindy felt she might have technical problems. I asked her how she
would analyze the problems and, of the exercises I have taught her,
which ones might she use to solve the problems.9 We will begin working
on several of the pieces in more detail at today's lesson.
The Lesson Begins
Cindy and Becky arrive two minutes late and Cindy is in a state of agita¬
tion. She had a late-night fight with her boyfriend, a test in European his¬
tory this morning, and a biology test immediately before her lesson. She
announces she did not sleep very well and that she bombed the biology
test and has no idea how she did on the history test. As I listen to her, I
begin wondering if she will be able to concentrate during the lesson.
Becky is also a sophomore and, coincidentally, in the same biol¬
ogy class. Becky says the biology test was very hard and she didn't
even finish. The two commiserate a bit and both become more irritated
at the professor.
This is the selection process I generally use:

a. Give the student a list of names of prominent composers who wrote in the period
and language the student is studying and direct the student to the library or
music store to browse through the literature. For the student who does not play
piano most do not—I suggest finding recordings of pieces by the composers on
the list, or I play them myself as the student watches the score.
b. The student is directed to find a total of approximately twenty pieces that will
comprise the reading repertoire; then the culling process begins. We start with
student's affective responses to music and texts, gauge the student's technical
skills vis-a-vis the technical requirements of a particular piece, and end with
approximately ten pieces from which the memorized repertoire will be selected.
Teaching the skills to analyze and solve problems is part of effective teaching.
Making Feelings Work for You
I ask Cindy to make a gesture with her arms that will show how she
feels. After she makes the gesture, I ask Becky to make a gesture to show
how she feels. Then I direct both of them to put the feeling in their faces,
then in their voices and bodies. I perform their gestures with them to
understand10 what they are feeling. Soon the three of us are laughing.
Cindy announces she wants to work on Vergebliches Standchen of
Brahms because the "high F-sharps don't feel right" (she is using the A
major version). I am not sure Cindy and Becky have moved past their
irritation, so I ask them to perform the piece using the feelings they were
experiencing and to show them with their faces and gestures.
♦ Vergebliches Standchen Op. 84, No. 4 by Johannes Brahms ♦
lit It ft yT,rrrtf f -=p *7fT
#4=
Gu - ten a bend mein Schatz, gu - ten A - bend mein Kind
The performance has very little shading but a great deal of energy.
We laugh again at the irritated young man in the song and the heated
replies of the young lady. I think Cindy and Becky have moved past the
feelings they brought with them, and are now able to concentrate.
Cindy says she felt better singing the piece this time, partly because
she was paying attention to her feelings and not to the music (she became
musically unconscious). Now she wants to be able to "feel good about
singing it when I'm thinking about it."
Relating the Music to Movement
I ask if they know what a Landler is. No. I demonstrate the heavy
Landler steps and then have them try them as I improvise a Landler on
the piano. They quickly understand the heavy crusis on all the beats, par¬
ticularly the first beat of each measure.
I ask them to make the second beat of each measure the heaviest
beat. They dance in that manner for a few seconds, then I call out "third
beat" and play accordingly.
«
‘"Understanding cannot exist without being related to experience. Whether an event

actually occurs or is imagined, when the brain causes the body to react, then the event is
"experienced." I have watched moving pictures projected on 180-degree screens and experi¬
enced stomach-churning dives and knuckle-whitening flights as my body responded to what
my eyes saw, even though my "rational" brain kept telling me I was safely seated in a theater.
I demonstrate the rhythmic pattern n\n jjmjjiand ask them

to join me as we move around the room feeling the weightiness of the
note that follows shorter notes. After they have spent a few seconds on
the exercise, I ask Cindy to speak the text as she moves around the room.
Learning to Analyze
She quickly realizes she has to stress the "bend" of Abend (measure 2) in
order to match the musical stress11 even though the spoken emphasis is
Abend. I suggest that either Brahms made a mistake in setting the text, or
he is trying to tell us something about the background and character of
the young man (Er). We look at the girl's part (Sie) and find similar
unusual stresses in verschlossen and Mutter.
Becky points out that the first beat of several measures seem to go
up rather than down. She has realized that not all downbeats go down
and, like the first beats in Vergebliches Stdndchen, some actually go up. I
play several measures as Becky and Cindy move around the room, some
with downbeats (in this case using a quarter note on the first beat) and
others with downbeats which go up (using rhythmic patterns that
divide the first beat). Once again, they move around the room with
Cindy reciting the text, feeling the upward moving quality of the so-
called downbeats.
Returning to the text, I ask Cindy and Becky to think about why
Brahms would distort some of the words—assuming he did so pur¬
posely. After some thought, they respond with answers like "maybe to
show the people are kind of uncultured," "to show they're young and
gawky," "it just makes it (the music) more interesting to kind of twist it
around."
She and Becky perform again, this time paying attention to places
where the music supports the natural accent or distorts it. At the end of
the performance, I ask them what they learned that time, and listen as
they talk about the need to overdo the stresses so they are clear; Cindy
says she will go through her other jury literature to see how other com¬
posers followed or distorted natural accents.
I ask her how her "F-sharps" felt; she chuckled and said they felt
good and that she was hardly paying attention to them because she was
so involved with the accents and how they affected her characterization.
I told her they sounded clearer and easier to me, but that she could mod¬
ify the vowels on the F-sharp even more to further clarify the sound. I
have her practice saying the word Abend as if it were "ab (A)nd" several
times until she notices the small changes in feeling in her throat.
"There are two principles at work here: (1) a longer note after a series of shorter
notes receives added weight (ref. the rule of subdivision); (2) in an intervallic leap of a
fourth or greater, either up or down, the second note receives greater stress.
Once I am satisfied with the modification, I ask her to describe the

physical effect. It is important that she be able to describe the feeling; I
am aware of the action of the base of her tongue and the changes in space
in her pharyngeal opening, but my knowledge of this is quite different
than her experiencing the changes.
Next, I direct her to sing the F-sharp an octave lower than written to
test the new feelings and, finally, to sing it as indicated in the score. As
she sings it, I ask Becky to play the harmony so Cindy can hear how the
F-sharp fits into the entire chord. She repeats the passage several times,
attempting to reproduce the kinesthetic response.
Testing
At this point in the lesson, we turn to other literature and continue the
analysis of how composers juxtapose spoken and musical accents. As the
lesson continues, I am interested in observing how Cindy and Becky use
their newly discovered information.
Summary
This lesson provides you one example of solving an apparent technical

difficulty through musical means. In the case of Vergebliches Stdndchen,
Brahms had distorted the normative measure (normally 1 2 3, 1 23
into 1 2 3,1 2 3) to achieve an artistic end. Discovering ways to expe¬
rience this distortion through movement allowed Cindy's body to "teach
her voice."
It would have been of little value for me to tell Cindy and Becky
about the distortion, since I would have been giving them my percep¬
tions of my physical sensations. No person can read another person's
mind, nor can one person ever fully experience the physical sensations
of another. As an Alexander teacher told me recently, "I do not live in
your body." Understanding comes with experience, so Cindy and
Becky had to have the experience before they could really understand
the distortion.
LESSON WITH A FOURTH-YEAR STUDENT
Background
Manuel is a twenty-two-year-old undergraduate baritone in his fourth

year of study with me. He is an outstanding student who plays jazz piano,
is in the marching band, and has had leads in several campus musicals
and operettas. This semester, in addition to singing the role of Ben in The
Telephone (by Giancarlo Menotti), he is also giving a full recital.
He is working toward a degree in choral music education, and his
career goals include teaching music in the public schools for a few years,
probably as a high school choral director ("Just to try it out, he says),
then returning to graduate school to earn a performance degree and see
what the life of a professional singer might hold.
This lesson occurs approximately three weeks before his recital-
approval jury. He has selected his repertoire using the process I
described earlier, and has arrived at a program that includes three Han¬
del arias, four lied of Brahms, three melodies by Debussy, four Cabaret
Songs by William Bolcom, and three songs from The House of Life by
Ralph Vaughan Williams, as well as selections from several musicals.
He has approached his learning using several of the musical exer¬
cises, analyzed the music using the musical rules, and memorized the
texts through movement. We have already gained more insight into the
literature by having Manuel sing the bass line of the accompaniment
while Carl, the pianist who will accompany him, sang the melody and I
recited the text using the dramatic indications given in the music.
The Lesson
Manuel arrives and announces his life is a bit hectic, but going well. He
mentions that he has had some allergy problems, and we commiserate
about the bane of allergies. I suggest that since he is physically not quite
up to his usual standards, he might not be able to sing quite as softly or
as slowly as he would like in several of the pieces he works on today.12
He agrees that this might be a good idea.
Carl has not arrived yet, so I move to the piano and have Manuel
perform several vocalises that are useful warm-ups when the vocal
mechanism feels "thick." After performing several, he says he feels bet¬
ter, but his voice might be a "little touchy."
Organizing the Lesson Around Student Goals

and Teacher Goals
Carl arrives, and he, Manuel, and I discuss what will be worked on in the
lesson. I mention I want to hear the Brahms and Debussy groups to make
I2My experience has been that many students automate their performance behavior
without considering the varying conditions of their bodies or their surroundings. Conse¬
quently, they are surprised that today they cannot sing as loudly, softly, quickly, or slowly
as they did yesterday, or that the room is drier, dustier, bigger, or smaller than they
expected. Teaching students to respond to the environment, to use it rather than fight it,
enhances their flexibility in performances.
sure the song order works in terms of key and tempo relationships and
vocal endurance. Manuel and Carl mention they have had some dis¬
agreements about tempos in several of the pieces and want my reactions.
They decide to begin with the Debussy group. I ask them what will
be most helpful: stopping between pieces or running an entire group and
then going back? They choose the latter. So I sit at my desk and have a
notepad ready to take notes during the performance. The notes will
include remarks about score accuracy, diction, vocal technique, and de¬
scriptions of mood and movement that I might describe as vivid, hazy,
flowing, uneasy, restful, and so on.
(I digress from the lesson for a moment to mention my expectation
that they will continue the performance regardless of what happens.
They have both been through improvisation exercises in the learning
process that will enable them to proceed even if Manual forgets words,
gets lost, or has a technical problem. They must now create the perfor¬
mance atmosphere.)13
I begin mentally reviewing the criteria for performance as Carl and
Manuel take their performance positions, as well as pay attention to how
they deal with the problem of creating a mood before the first notes are
sounded. The performance opens with Beau Soir, then Romance, followed
by Mandoline, and ending with Les Cloches.
I immediately note that the tempos need to be more clearly defined
or the entire group will be performed in the same tempo even though the
meters differ. I write other remarks that describe the tension I see in
Manuel's left shoulder; the very nice subtle shift of his eyes, face, and
body between the pieces that help change the mood; several diction mis¬
takes; deft use of nuance in most of the pieces; fine balance between the
piano and voice; the silky quality of Manuel's soft upper voice on
"vapeur surnaturelle" in Romance.
Analyzing the Performance
I begin the critique by asking Manuel and Carl how they felt about the
performance and hear "I felt a little stiff in that section. . . ." "I thought
"Research into learning has confirmed that we tend to perform better on tests when
the tests are taken in the environment where the learning took place. Translated for per¬
formers, this means we will perform best if the learning takes place on stage, in front of an
audience! Obviously we cannot have infinite access to auditoriums or audiences as we
study our music, so it behooves us to create the performance environment in the studio and
the practice room.
Yet, in training performers, we almost always teach and practice in an affective vacuum,
so when the performer steps on stage in front of a live audience, it comes as an affective sur¬
prise. Finding ways to generate the adrenaline, concentration, distractions, and thrill of live
performance in the studio and practice room needs to be a paramount task of the per¬
former, at least in the final learning stages.
we were really together here . . “\ started thinking about what you

were writing, and forgot the words .."I don't know what s going on in
this section. Help!" We laugh about the vagaries of performance. I men¬
tion the chagrin I felt after a recital in which I sang an entire section of a
Ravel piece in French gibberish when I forgot the words, only to be
greeted backstage afterward by four French exchange students!
I quickly read my notes about the performance aloud, then give
them to Manuel to take with him for review. I suggest we begin working
on the opening of Beau Soir.
Analyzing and Problem Solving
I ask them to begin the piece again. I know that most disputes about
tempo are not about speed, but about quality of beat, and I suspect this
might be the case here. After several measures of a tug-of-war, I stop the
performance and ask Carl to count aloud as he plays the opening.
♦ Beau Soir by Claude Debussy ♦
He counts "1 2 3,1 2 3" very metacrusically. I ask him to count, "1
2 3,1 2 3," saying "3" in a floating quality to understand that feeling. He
immediately hears the change in the motion over the bar line, and says
he likes it.
I ask Manuel to sing his first phrase a cappella and conduct himself
as he sings the first phrase.
^3 n K K - sr b- —bis*—#
V 7T•
XTW~
-0
-# -
Lorsque au soleil cou - chant les ri - vie - res sont ro - ses.
It is clear from his singing and movement that he is feeling each

measure in one. I direct Carl and Manuel to link arms and each to move
through the measure in his own way. Manuel takes one step per measure
while Carl takes three; Carl tugs at Manuel and Manuel holds back,
resisting the pull. The tempo dispute is made visible.
There is more laughter after several measures of this tugging and
resisting. I direct them to reverse roles, Carl moving in one and Manuel
in three. After several more reversals, I direct Manuel to sing the accom¬
paniment pattern, while moving in three, and Carl to sing the voice line
while moving in one.
Next, I direct Manuel to sing the vocal line as he puts the accompa¬
niment pattern in his feet, and for Carl to sing the accompaniment pat¬
tern as he puts the rhythm of the vocal line in his feet; this is a very diffi¬
cult assignment. They struggle with this for several measures until, as
expected, they both fall apart.14
Testing
I am curious to see how much each has learned from the other. I ask them
to return to the linked-arm position and each to sing his part while trying
to incorporate ideas he has learned from the other. Their joint movement
begins flowing without the previous tussle as each incorporates aspects
of the other's movement. Neither has forced his ideas on the other, nor
has he given up his own ideas, but, rather, their ideas have evolved into a
new movement that combines the best of both.
However, another problem remains. Like most singers, when
Manuel sings alone, he is rhythmically accurate, but when his two eighth
notes are against the piano's triplets, he begins gliding through them so
the listener does not experience the two against three movement.
I4It is better to have experience and fail than never to have the experience because
through our failures we explore our limitations and find ways to surmount them. We can
learn from our successes, but we learn even more from our failures.
To deal with this problem, I ask both Manuel and Carl to step a
quarter note beat while clapping three times per beat. On the command,
"change," they clap twice per beat. They can perform this task easily, so
the new direction is to clap the quarter and perform the two, then the
three, beats with their feet. When this becomes easy, I ask them to speak
the words "one, two" while clapping three times per step. I join them as
we play with this exercise, switching the patterns from voice, to feet, to
hands, until we perform the task easily.
I ask Manuel to clap the quarter beat, step the triplets, and recite the
text in the duples. This is a difficult task, and he stumbles—literally—a
couple of times before he is able to make the three rhythmic elements
work together. I ask Carl to try this and he has a great deal of difficulty,
since he—a typical pianist—seldom moves to music and is fairly uncoor¬
dinated when moving through space. Manuel, watching Carl having
problems, mentions he is "kind of glad to see you're having trouble too,
since I was feeling like the proverbial 'dumb singer.'" Carl laughs.
We return to the performance as Carl and Manuel work to incorpo¬
rate what they have just learned. They are successful some of the time
and fumble other times, something I assume will happen, since its takes
time and thought to incorporate new skills.
Transferring Ideas
After another performance in which they have more success, I ask

Manuel if he wants to continue working on Beau Soir or move on to other
pieces. He decides to change.
We explore the metaphors that Carl and Manuel have developed
for each piece and discover both performers have quite different ideas. I
introduced Manuel to the use of metaphor early in his studies with me
because metaphor can provide an affective background to both the learn¬
ing and performing processes.
Each describes and then plays or sings his metaphor for a particu¬
lar piece. Then we search for ways to combine the two metaphors until
they arrive at shared perceptions about the affective intent of the piece.
They perform the Brahms group, and it is clear a similar process would
work there and, indirectly, they discover ways to organize their prac¬
tice times together.
Carl and Manuel have realized they need to talk about their percep¬
tions of the music without constantly playing and singing. If, for exam¬
ple, they sit at a table and discuss the music and chant their way through
the pieces, they will accomplish more in an hour than in three hours of
playing and singing.15
Summary
The process of Manuel's lesson included the following:
♦ Having the students as full partners in organizing the lesson time

and setting goals.
♦ Creating a performance climate by continuing to work through dif¬
ficulties without stopping.
♦ Analyzing what worked, and what did not work, in the perfor¬
mance.
♦ Defining the possible problem, developing a way to solve the prob¬
lem, then testing the solution.
♦ Transferring newly learned abilities to other pieces to see if they
work there also.
♦ Developing ways to organize practice time.
,5Playing or singing the pitches constantly can distract from learning the music. In
order to learn music well, we must internalize it; focusing on the external sound distracts
from this internalizing process.
154 ptitting the Dalcroze methodology to work
SUMMARY
I believe that for effective teaching, the following concepts and processes
need to occur in various degrees in all lessons.
1. Tlw students are recognized asfidl partners in organizing the les¬

son time and setting goals. They are also made aware of their learning
processes. Teacher and student work together to structure the learning.
The teacher is responsible for setting the standards and, in institutional
settings, making the student aware of curriculum requirements. For
example, in a typical lesson in my studio, I begin the lesson by asking the
student what she wants to know or be able to do by the end of the lesson.
After hearing the student's answer, I then add my own plans, such as, "I
want to hear the Brahms, especially that passage we worked on last
week." Thus the lesson is quickly structured and both the student and I
have contributed.
Students involved in structuring their learning learn more, and the
teacher who shares the authority does not lose authority, but shares the
role of "teacher" with the student. Sharing authority also releases the
teacher from maintaining the facade of having godlike wisdom and
knowledge. I believe that ideally the teacher becomes a co-learner with
the student.
2. The teacher encourages the students to bring their emotions and

personal experiences to the music. This raises the issue once again of
assigning music and text that is beyond the physical and emotional
understanding of the student. All too frequently at auditions and compe¬
titions, I hear high school and college undergraduates singing pieces that
would physically and emotionally tax thirty-year-olds. A century ago,
Jaques-Dalcroze deplored the fact that teachers assign music to students
that is beyond their ken. Unfortunately, the practice continues.
Robert Abramson gives an example of this. During a workshop for
pianists he gave in California, he was working with a young girl who
was performing a Chopin nocturne in a very errhythmic manner. He was
unable to make the changes he wanted, and in exasperation he said,
"Can't you remember what it's like being passionately in love and losing
that love? Remember the heartbreaking sense of loss that comes over you
when you look back at it?"
The girl looked at him and said, "I don't know what you mean. I'm
only twelve years old!"
3. The music is related to affect from the first stages of learning.

When words are used to describe the music and feelings about the music,
the student is encouraged to explore a broad range of emotional and
musical shadings. Examples of words that describe music might include

bouncy, light, floating, gliding, skipping (notice these are descriptions of
qualities of motion); affective words might include angry, elated, melan¬
choly, bitter, joyous.
Occasionally, technique might be highlighted or the score ap¬
proached in a piecemeal manner to check for accuracy, but this process
should be brief because it can be devitalizing.
4. A performance climate is created in the studio. Rather than work¬

ing in an emotional vacuum, students are encouraged to create
metaphors while learning the music, and to focus on what they want the
audience to experience during the performance. During a lesson, before
students sing a piece they have prepared, I often ask, "What do you want
me to listen for as you sing?" This question encourages students to (1)
remember someone is listening and (2) focus attention on the effect of
their sound on the audience rather than the production of the sound. A
Dalcrozian says, "Let me know by your performance how I should move
to the music you are making."
Additionally, experiencing the various elements that will occur in
the actual performances will both improve concentration during practice
and lessen the anxiety felt before performances. In an ideal world, all
lessons and practice would occur in the setting in which the performance
will actually occur.
5. Music teaches music. I believe that in a well-taught lesson, the

teacher speaks as little as possible. When the teacher does speak, it is to
give an analysis of what was just sung or to encourage the student to
analyze the performance. But most of the time the teacher can give the
analysis by recreating the sound or showing how the teacher would
move if dancing the sound. Graphically or aurally demonstrating pro¬
duces quicker, more lasting results than using words. For example, if the
student reads the poetry in a deadened voice, the teacher demonstrates
the deadened voice and then reads in a lively manner. Telling the student
his voice was dead might change his performance slightly; showing the
student will change his performance quickly.
In the ideal lesson, the teacher becomes the music through the use
of voice, face, and gesture, and the environment in the studio becomes a
musical environment.
6. Vocal technique and technical studies are not slighted, but placed
within a musical context. All technical studies can be placed within a
rhythmic and harmonic context.
For example, the faithful old exercise
may be rhythmically changed into
while the piano provides the harmony that might be as simple as
or more complicated:
or:
In this manner, the teacher teaches technique but always within a

musical context.
7. The students learn to analyze their work. Most students practice

poorly because they cannot analyze their work in the practice room;
when they have a problem, they simply wait for the next lesson and
assume the teacher will fix it. This is one reason why most students
accomplish so little from week to week. If the students can learn to define
the problem, develop a way to solve the problem, then test the solution,
they will have taken a giant step toward becoming artists capable of
making their own decisions.
If the lesson includes a performance, helping the student analyze
what worked and what did not work will also teach discrimination and
reduce performance anxiety. Learning to describe the performance rather
than evaluating the performance is very important during the analytical
process. The educational system teaches us to evaluate (good, bad,
mediocre, excellent, terrible), but not to describe ("I was under pitch in
these measures ... I performed these very well ... I forgot the words
here/')- Performance anxiety occurs because the performer imagines the
worst possible outcome ("I might forget the words"), then evaluates it ("I
will look stupid").
8. Transferring newly learned abilities to other pieces to see if they

work there also. When the teacher has taught the Italian "gl" in the word
"imbroglio," then has to teach it again in "gli," and again in "glielo," then
the student is not transferring learning. Students are excited when they
learn to transfer a new skill or understanding from one piece to another
because there is a sense of being in control, and learning becomes an
interesting challenge rather than an odious task. In addition, the teacher
is less frustrated when the students begin to transfer learning because the
teacher does not have to teach the same lesson over and over.
9. Developing ways to organize practice time. We voice teachers

tend to assume that students somehow know how to practice. We expect
people to practice and be discerning at the same time when, in fact, they
need an expert sitting beside them to not only make the corrections, but
suggest directions. When practicing alone, seldom does a student say,
"I'm having trouble with this. Why am I having trouble with this? How
can I change it?" Rather, they wait for the teacher to provide the critique
and solve problems. While they are willing to accept the teacher's guid¬
ance, they often do not know how they make the changes and solve the
problems. Experimenting with solutions leads to artistic independence
and should be encouraged.
Each lesson provides us with the opportunity to train our students

to be musically intelligent, to use their imaginations and analytical abili¬
ties in new ways as they develop their techniques and musical skills. I
believe the best teachers do not, in fact, teach music; instead they teach
students how to learn music.
Robert Abramson once said that after a lesson his first question is,
"After thirty minutes with me, do you feel more aware, more alive, have
more questions? Are you quickened to work at something, and do you
have more skills to work with? That's my question and it helps me to
know whether or not I have taught a good lesson."
♦ Chapter 14 ♦
conclusion
One of my acquaintances, a gifted performer, works as a high school

choral director. He recently told me about a recurring nightmare that has
become more intense over the years.
In his dream, he walks into a rehearsal with a high school choir that
is new to him. This is the first of twenty-five rehearsals he will have to
prepare for a concert. He sits down at the piano and begins his usual
vocal warm-ups and is immediately elated to hear his ideal choral sound
coming from the choir. He continues the warm-ups and discovers the
group can do anything he asks of them technically.
He hands out the music, and begins the rehearsal with the simplest
composition. The choir reads the score with absolute accuracy. He moves
to a more difficult piece; again the ensemble reads it accurately. Eventu¬
ally he has had the ensemble read all the music for the concert, and they
have read with unerring accuracy, including the pieces in German and
French.
At this point in his dream, he breaks into a cold sweat because for
years he has had to teach the rhythms, the pitches, diction, and tech¬
nique, and now, suddenly, he is standing in front of an ensemble that
does not have to be taught any of these things: he has twenty-four
rehearsals and nothing to teach! "Eve been so busy teaching the basic
skills, I woke up terrified that I've forgotten how to teach music," he said.
Like my friend the conductor, voice teachers and student perform¬
ers often become so bogged down with the obvious need to "fix notes,"
build technique, or teach "pieces" that we forget the music is not in the
pitches or the technique. Having a good technique, learning a score accu¬
rately, and having excellent diction are all necessary attributes for a suc¬
cessful singer, but they must all be directed toward a common end: the
expression of human emotion through the medium of music.
159
I have tried to show how musical considerations have a direct effect

on technique. The illustration which follows demonstrates some of the
elements that need to be taken into consideration in the performance of a
"simple" quarter note.
i-1
I dynamic level movement
articulation j timbre J unit of time J harmonic position
meter | frequency feeling ! position in the phase
beat in a measure
Transform that symbol into
and other questions must be asked if it is to be performed in an expres¬

sive manner:
♦ What is the dynamic level?

♦ What is the articulation (how is it attacked, sustained, released)?
♦ How was it approached (by a step, a half step, a larger skip; from
above, from below)?
♦ Where is it in the scale (I in A-Flat major, iii in F minor, IV in E-Flat
major, vi in C minor—there are at least twelve possibilities)?
♦ What is the meter and where does the note come in a measure?
♦ Where does the note occur in the phrase?
♦ What affect motivated the sound (anger, lust, suspicion, giddiness,
etc.)?
While the technical skills for singing have developed steadily over
the years, teachers and critics have noted that vocal performances
become more emotionally sterile with each passing year. More and more
concerts are becoming displays of admirable technical prowess that leave
audiences emotionally anesthetized, and they leave such concerts
remarking on the "high notes," the "bigness" (or "smallness") of the
voice, the flexibility, the legato, followed by the question. Where shall we
go for dessert? Nothing has happened affectively to the audience; they
conclusion 161
leave unchanged, unmoved. The medium has become the message: what
you hear (a pretty voice and good technique) is all you get.
The values, principles, and methodology developed by Jaques-Dal-
croze one hundred years ago is an antidote to this emotional narcolepsy. By
applying the principles and methodology described in this book, we can
begin to deal with musical problems without having to resort to a coach.
I believe a major strength of the Dalcroze methodology is its con¬
cern with teaching musical behavior more than teaching any specific
musical technique: Dalcroze-oriented voice teachers or performers are
more interested in teaching and learning how to hear, think, feel, and
behave like musicians than simply performing pieces.
Other tenets of the methodology that have been explored in this
book are these:
♦ The raison d'etre of Western music is to express emotion.

♦ We experience emotions physically and can train our bodies to
transform internal reactions into external motion, motion that can
be perceived by the listener.
♦ To live, music must have perceived qualities of motion. If the lis¬
tener does not perceive various qualities of motion, then the perfor¬
mance is dead.
♦ If all music begins with human motion (taking a breath, pressing a
valve, and so on), then the most effective way to learn and study
music is to experience the qualities of motion with the body. The
performer learns the "dance" of the music in the practice room, in¬
ternalizes that "dance," then can stand quietly during the perfor¬
mance and make the hearts and souls of the audience dance and
sway. "Feelings" are closely linked to movement. The power of
singing comes not from beautiful or massive sounds, but from the
ability of the performer to make the listener feel.
♦ Music teaches music. Music is not about words (talk about music),
but sounds that are organized with the intent of expressing emo¬
tion. The teacher who is able to use few words and much music will
probably produce musical students.
♦ As teachers, if, in fact, we are training artistic behavior, then we
must model that behavior for our students. It is not enough for the
teacher to tell the student how to perform. He or she must use
voice, face, and gestures to indicate the desired effects. We must be
able to teach technique and literature, but if Western music is an
expression of emotion, then we must not lose sight of the higher
goal of assisting our students to express their emotions musically.
Good teaching is a performing art.
♦ As students and performers, our job is to learn what the composers
have indicated in their scores and to develop the technical skills to
interpret the music to the audience. We can give the audience the
basic "dashes and dots," but the audience wants to know what those
dashes and dots mean. When we convey that meaning through our
sounds, when the audience perceives our sounds as organized and
moving, then we have become expressive performers.
Where will you go from here? I have given an overview of the Dal¬
croze methodology and examples of how you might apply it. Often
while learning a new approach, teachers and performers will feel betwixt
and between an old way of teaching and learning and a new, not-quite-
integrated approach. As we struggle to incorporate new thinking into
our behaviors, we often develop amnesia: we forget that we are intelli¬
gent, imaginative, and experienced teachers and performers already.
When I stumbled on Dalcroze ideas, I had been singing profession¬
ally for six years and teaching voice at the university level for twelve
years: I had also conducted professionally for eighteen years: I was a
very experienced musician. The effects of the Dalcroze approach on my
performance were immediate and obvious to me and my colleagues; the
effects on my students' performances became apparent over the course
of several semesters. However, when I had lessons with Robert Abram¬
son I sometimes felt as if I had returned to kindergarten, as if I did not
have a musical bone in my body! This was not Abramson's fault. It was
because I developed amnesia! In pursuing new skills, working to incor¬
porate new thinking, I forgot what I knew.
When I give workshops in the Dalcroze method, teachers tell me
they have similar feelings of incompetence. I am certainly sympathetic,
so I remind them, as I am reminding you: you have a wealth of knowl¬
edge and experience to add to the ideas presented in this book. Consider
these ideas as guides to examining, adding to, and enhancing skills you
already possess: ponder them, experiment with them, change them, and,
most of all, enjoy them.
questions
and
answers
If I really start using this stuff in my teaching (moving around the stu¬
dio, etc.) will my students think I'm crazy?
Yes. Next question.
You wrote about learning pieces in a boring way. Aren't there some
pieces that are boring?
Yes. However, most truly boring, cliche-ridden pieces fall by the

musical wayside and die a natural death of neglect unless discovered
and put on life support by a musicologist in search of a project. Even the
great composers wrote some real stinkers, but even they (the composi¬
tions, not the composers) can be given interesting performances—once.
Part of my rationale for writing this book is that I am very tired of
hearing interesting, life-filled music performed in a boring manner.
If I really believe the ideas presented in this book, does that mean I
have been teaching the wrong things over the years? Does that mean I
have been teaching poorly?
As the song says, "It ain't necessarily so." Remember, the Dalcroze
system is descriptive, not prescriptive: I am more interested in having
you think about and explore new ways to teach, and what to teach, than
giving you three hundred little "tricks" to use. You might have already
been addressing many of the issues in the book, but called them by other
names. If not, then think about them!
163
164 questions and answers
Also, the musical behavior of our students tells us a great deal

about the effectiveness of our teaching: how well do they perform, and
how expressively? How do they feel about their performing? Do they
love making music over the years, even if they are not "professionals"?
Several years ago, an internationally renowned conservatory polled
its graduates and discovered almost 90 percent of them were not making
their living in music, dance, or theater. Other major conservatories have
arrived at similar statistics with other polls. The reasons for these statis¬
tics vary, but they seem to fall into two categories:
1. The small musical "market" and lack of money to support the arts.
2. "Burnout" from overpractice and feelings of intense competitiveness.
Many of the 90-percent also reported they were no longer inter¬

ested in making music! It had become too much of a struggle with too
many bad feelings; they had lost their love for music.
Having students become professional performers ought not be the
sole criteria of success for the teacher. I think our society needs a musical
populace, people who have music in their homes and participate in an
active musical life in their communities. To me, my success as a teacher
lies in the answers to these questions:
♦ Do my former students look back on our time together with good

feelings of having been challenged and a sense of accomplishment?
♦ Did they leave my tutelage loving music and performing as much
or more than when we began our work together?
♦ Do they still make music in their homes and communities, as well
as the concert halls?
If, when I ask these questions, I receive mostly affirmatives, then I

believe I am justified in feeling successful as a teacher.
What about the frustration a student might have learning music this
way?
Present-day teaching wisdom says, do not allow students to be

frustrated because, as everybody knows, frustration is bad. Everyone
knows learning has to be developed in easy stages or Johnny will get
mad and quit because Johnny does not know how to control his emo¬
tions! Everyone knows a good teacher does not allow the student to
become frustrated. I wonder if those same teachers have seen those same
students struggling to learn a new task that is important to them, like
learning to drive? So long as the students perceive the task as important
to them, for their own reasons, they will continue the struggle. Who is
this ubiquitous "everyone"?
questions and answers 165
Life is hard, and life is sometimes frustrating. We will give our stu¬
dents a great gift if we can teach them to be aware of their feelings and
then to control and direct those feelings. During a lesson, when a student
looks at me and says, in a critical tone, " I'm getting frustrated'." I respond
(in my most innocent tone), "Can you feel frustrated and still work?" I
have never yet had a student say no. I am giving students the opportu¬
nity to learn to be in control of emotions rather than allowing the emo¬
tions to control them.
I hasten to add that I do not deliberately want to create frustration,
but I do want to make the task a challenge for the student's skills. Other¬
wise the student will learn nothing.
♦ Appendix A ♦
suggestions for learning

a score
musically
EXERCISES DISTILLED FROM CHAPTER 11
1. Read the text (or a translation of the text if one is available). What
mood or emotion do you experience? Describe the moods or emo¬
tions you feel.
2. Examine the composer's tempo markings ( andante, largo, allegro,
rallentando, etc.), dynamic markings, fermatas, sudden high or low
notes. What do they tell you about the composer's feelings about
the text?
3. Speak the text in a dramatic fashion, as in a public performance.
How many times did you breath? What pitch range did you use in
your speaking? Find your speaking pitches on the piano. Repeat the
exercise and increase the range of the spoken pitches. Translate the
text into your own words. Recite the text again using an emotion or
attitude selected at random. How did the randomly selected atti¬
tude highlight or contrast the feelings in the text?
4. Speak the text following the melodic line, out of rhythm, using the
musical rules.
5. Speak the text in the rhythm of the music, being careful to vary
pitch and dynamics, following the musical rules and the normative
measure. What types of articulation were used? Pay attention to the
phrasing of the text as it relates to the phrasing of the music.
6. If you can, play the accompaniment in chords out of rhythm, as you
sing the melody. Roll (i.e., arpeggiate) the chords so you can hear
all the notes.
7. Sing the piece using all the expressive elements just listed.
suggestions for learning a score musically 167
You may assume you will not be able to keep all of the expressive
elements working during the first attempts to sing the piece. Usually the
rhythmic vitality diminishes and the body becomes dead because you
might be concerned about the physical technique and confused by the
sounds of the notes.
Find ways to keep your body alive and moving, and to attend to the
musical rules of expression. It will take several attempts for you to coor¬
dinate all the skills.
You will notice that many technical problems begin to resolve
themselves as you synthesize the skills.
BONUS EXERCISE FOR NON-PIANO PLAYERS
Sit at a table or some other hard surface, and imagine the table is
your keyboard.
Begin by playing the prominent rhythms of the left hand, being
sure to move your hand left and right as the music indicates.
Do the same with your right hand separately.
Play both hands together. Be sure to observe all the diacritical
markings (accel, rit., fermatas, cres., etc.).
Play just the left hand as you speak the rhythms of your vocal line
("scat," the syllables used by jazz singers, works nicely for this
exercise).
Do the same as you play just your right hand.
Feeling pretty good? Then play both hands together as you "scat"
your line.
Feeling courageous? Rather than "scatting," speak the written text
in rhythm as you play both hands.
If you are feeling adventurous, play your solo line as you sing one
of the hands of the piano part.
After you have worked through most or all of the preceding exer¬
cises, close the score. Can you still feel the rhythms you just played? The
goal is to understand as much of the piano part as possible and experi¬
ence how the lines intermingle.
LIST OF ATTITUDES
Make a set of flash cards with one attitude on each card. The flash cards
will prove helpful in developing an affective matrix for practice and
performance.
168 suggestions for learning a score musically
arrogant proud cowardly

brave excited dejected
bubbly sensual bold
eager longing relieved
ecstatic haughty humble
giddy angry happy
melancholy confused sadly
passionate penitent avaricious
pious fervent remorseful
sexy lustful suspicious
vengeful cynical sarcastic
vindictive hopeful ardent
♦ Appendix B ♦
Greenwell
registration
chart
INTRODUCTION
In the last years of his life, Gean Greenwell constructed a registration

chart based on his many years of experience teaching voice. He had an
extraordinary ability to analyze voices and was able to explain, often
humorously, what he heard, and was a strong believer that efficient reg¬
istration cured many technical problems.
He had given the chart to several of his older students, myself
included, and had asked us to field-test it for him. He was aware that it
was in a rudimentary stage and was hoping to add refinements but was
unable to do so.
The most important aspect of studying how a master teacher works
is to learn to hear as the teacher hears. Greenwell generously allowed my
colleagues from Central Michigan University and me to audit his lessons
and understand how he heard. A chart cannot impart that knowledge,
but I hope you will find it and the accompanying information useful.
ELEMENTS OF REGISTRATION
How and when a singer moves from one register to another is deter¬
mined by:
♦ the dynamics (how loud or soft) of the line.
♦ the vowel being sung at the time.
♦ whether the vocal line is ascending or descending, and whether the
higher note(s) was approached by step or by leap.
♦ the musical and emotional effect the singer wants to give the audience.
169
170 Greemvell registration chart
The Register Chart gives examples of where register changes typi¬

cally occur on the (a) vowel sung forte. Singing at quieter levels generally
causes the upper registers to enter sooner.
Greenwell used vowel modification and assumed even untrained
singers would modify to some degree, so the (a) in the upper registers
was only approximate.The register transitions are based on a dynamic
of forte, on an "ah" vowel.
♦ Register Chart ♦
The register transitions are based on a dynamic of forte, on an "ah" vowel.
chest middle
upper
typical alto
I
chest middle
high C
upper
typical tenor
Ifr middle
chest
upper
typical baritone or bass
:s:
chest middle
The overlapping lines indicated on the chart indicate those pitches

which may be performed in a higher or lower register, depending on the
Greenwell registration chart 171
direction of the vocal line. For example, look at the soprano portion of the
chart and you will see the E and F above middle C are bracketed. If the
soprano were singing a line like:
she would be advised to sing the F in the chest register. If the line were:
she would be advised to sing the E in the middle register.

Of course, whether she would follow these guides is dependent on
the other elements listed above, dynamic, vowel, and so on.
The Register Chart is based on the dynamic being forte and the "ah"
vowel. But what about the other vowels? The chart is presented below.
Whole notes indicate lower voice; solid notes indicate upper voice
[e] & [o] [a]
L
soprano T9 • t)
-o O °
[a]
/ [e] & [o]
alto
tenor
[e] & [o] [a]

/ O
[i] <> «
baritone 6^1 m
172 Greenwell registration chart
[e] & [o] [a]

f
[i] O ^
Q O
bass
H
The next issue is: how do you tell one register from another? It is
easiest to describe what happens to the sound when the singer does not
shift registers appropriately. Some rules of thumb are:
1. When a lower register is carried to high, the sound becomes harsh, "yelly"
(a Greenwell term), and the singer cannot get softer (diminuendo) without
the voice "breaking." There are also accompanying physical signs of
effort and discomfort such as muscles in the neck and throat look¬
ing strained. Tiredness and hoarseness also occur quickly, and
there are complaints of "I can't sing that high."
2. When a higher register is carried too low, the sound becomes breathy and
the singer cannot get louder (crescendo), regardless of how much breath he
or she uses. Vocal fatigue can occur because of efforts to increase the
amount of sound by "pushing" the voice.
3. The "I can't" comments from the singer are signs of poor register shifting.
Mezzo soprano: "I can't sing above the G (above middle C)..."
She is stuck in her chest register and not shifting to her middle
register.
Soprano: "I can't sing above that E (the 10th above middle C)..
She is stuck in her middle register and not shifting to her upper
register.
Soprano: "I can't sing very loudly below an E (above middle C)..
She is stuck in her middle register and not shifting into her chest
register.
Tenor: "I can't sing above an F (the 4th above middle C—the male
voice being an octave lower than the female)..
He is stuck in his middle register and not shifting to his upper
register.
Tenor: "I can't sing anything below an E (6th below middle C)..
He is stuck in his middle register and not shifting into his chest
register.
Baritone/Bass: "I can't sing above a C (middle C) without cracking..."

Care to guess?
bibliography
Abramson, Robert M. Rhythm Games for Perception and Cognition. Miami, FL:
C.P.P. Belwin, 1973.
Balk, H. Wesley. Performing Power: A New Approach for the Singer-Actor. Min¬
neapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1985.
Bandler, Grinder. Frogs Into Princes: Neuro Linguistic Programming .™ New York:
Carl Fischer, 1988.
Caldwell, Timothy. "A Dalcroze Perspective on Skills for Learning Music." Music
Educators Journal, 79 (7): 1993.
Caldwell, Timothy. Dalcroze Eurhythmies with Robert Abramson. Videotape,
Chicago: G.I.A. Publications, 1992.
Campbell, Joseph. Creative Mythology—The Masks of God. New York: Viking Pen¬
guin, 1968.
Choksy, Abramson, and Gillespie, Woods. Teaching Music in the Twentieth Cen¬
tury. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1986.
Christiani, Adolph F. The Principles of Expression in Pianoforte Playing (reprint of
1885 ed.). New York: Da Capo Press, 1974.
Coffin, Berton. Sounds of Singing. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1987.
Cooper, Morton. Change Your Voice, Change Your Life. New York: Macmillan,
1984.
Doscher, Barbara M. The Functional Unity of the Singing Voice. Metuchen, NJ:
Scarecrow Press, 1988.
Duckworth, Guy. Handbook for Group Environments. Unpublished document,
Boulder, CO: University of Colorado, 1980.
Fields, Alexander. Training the Singing Voice. New York: Kings Crown Press (sub¬
sidiary of Columbia University Press), 1947.
173
174 bibliography
Foote, Jeffrey. The Vocal Performer: Development Through Science and Imagery.
Mount Pleasant, MI: Wildwood Music, 1989.
Gallwey, W. Timothy. The Inner Game of Tennis. New York: Random House, 1974.
Garcia, Manuel, II. A Complete Treatise on the Art of Singing, Parts I and II Col¬
lected, translated, and edited by Donald V. Paschlie. New York: Da Capo
Press, 1975.
Green, Barry. The Inner Game of Music. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota
Press, 1986.
Gunter, Horst. "Mental Concepts in Singing: A Psychological Approach, Part 1."
The NATS Journal, 48 (5): 1992.
Jaques-Dalcroze, Emile. Rhythm, Music and Education. Translated by Harold F.
Rubenstein. New York: Putnam Press, 1921.
Lakeoff, George, and Johnson, Mark. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1980.
Lussy, Mathis M. Musical Expression, Accents, Nuances, and Tempo, in Vocal and
Instrumental Music. Translated by M. E. von Glehn. New York: Macmillan
Publications, 1986.
Martin, Frank. Emile Jaques-Dalcroze—L'Homme, le Compositeur, le Cretur de la
Rhythmique. Leipzig: Neuchatel, 1965. Unpublished translation by Robert
Abramson, New York.
Miller, Richard. The Structure of Singing: System and Art in Vocal Technique. New
York: Schirmer Books, 1986.
Mueller-Maerlei, Ruth. Rules for Musical Expression. Unpublished manuscript.
New York.
Seitz, Jay. "I Move ... Therefore I Am." Psychology Today, March/April 1993, pp.
50-55.
Spector, Irwin. Rhythm and Life: The Work of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze. Dance and
Music Series No. 3. Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1990.
Vennard, William. Singing, the Mechanism and the Technic. New York: Carl Fischer,
1967.
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary. Springfield: G. & C. Merriam Company, 1974.

♦ Index ♦
Acoustics, 3 Dewey, John, 14

Aesthetic, 63
Affect, 5, 6,16, 29, 39, 41,108-10
Anacrusis, 33 Eclectic voice teacher, 5-6
Anatomy, 3 Effect of the normative measure, 32
Anesthetic, 63 Elements of registration, 169
Arrhythm, 31 Elements of music, 21
Art songs, 72 Emotion. See Affect.
Articulation, 104,129 Emotional vocabulary, 124
Arts medicine, 27 Emotions, 16
Aware, 69 Errhythm, 31
Awareness, 64 Errhythmic, 26,139,141
Eurhythm, 32
Eurhythmies, 41
Balance, 24-25, 28 defined, 19
Balk, H. Wesley, 48 Expressive performance, 62, 71, 72-74
Basic musical behaviors, 142 defined, 73
Beat, 22, 23 Expressive performer, 71
Expressive reading, 43
Eye-bound, 120
Claparede, Edouard, 14,15
Concentration, 64
Crusis, 32-33 Faure, Gabriel, 12
First principles, 15-16
Fixed do, 56
Dalcroze equation, 21
Dalcroze eurhythmies, 7. See also
Eurhythmies Games, 13
Dalcrozian, 63,137 Gestalt, 10,121,124,130
Debauched kinesthesia, 140 Gesture, 19
Debauched sensibilities, 58 Gibberish, 53-55
Developing awareness, 140 Goals for practice, 120-21
175
176 index
Gymnastics, 5 Orfeo (Gluck), 14
Harmonic matrix, 131 Perception, 72-73,124

Hellerau, 14 Perceptive fields, 73
Performance anxiety, 47
Performance atmosphere, 149
Imaginary kinesthesia, 117-18 Performer controls, 98-99
Imagination, 63 Pestalozzi, Johann Heinrich, 12,
Improvisation, 19,45, 46, 67,129
14
Improvise, 52 Phrasing, 56
Incorporate, defined, 7
Plasticity, 48-51
Inner hearing, 125
Practice skills, 134
International Phonetic Alphabet, 3 Proaction, 46
Irregularity, 71
Proactive, 139
Process-oriented, 130
Product-oriented, 130
Jaques-Dalcroze, Emile
biographical data, 12-14
first principles, 15-17
influences, 14-15 Quality of beats, 22
Kinesthesia, 116-18,140 Reaction, 46

Kinesthetics, 26, 39-40 Reactive, 139
defined, 13 Rhythm, defined, 26
Rhythmic solfege, 56-62
Rhythmics, 19, 67. See also
Landler, 145 Eurhythmies.
Learning styles, 3
Learning theories, 3
Levels of energy, 22
Lussy, Mathis, 12,15, 69 Score, 43
Self-perception, 142
Solfege, 67
Mason, Lowell, 14 Sound in motion, 48, 53, 54
Matter, 22 Space, 22
Metacrusis, 33 Stretching metacrusis, 34
Meter, 30 Student-centered teaching, 135
Mindful, 69 Subtext, 123
Mindless, 69 Subdivision, 37
Mirror exercises, 51-52
Modeling, 65. See also Teacher model
ing Teacher modeling, 65
Music teaches music, 155,161 Teacher-centered teaching, 136
Music theory, 15 Technique, 108-10
Music score, defined, 125 goal of, 10
Musical standards, 65 vocal, defined, 10
Musicality, 13, 67 Techniques of expression, 130
Tempo, 24
Tension, 27
New Age music, 70-71 Three elements of music, 21
Normative measure, 30-38,129 Time, 23-24
Nuance, 60 Transferring learning, 157-58
index 177
Translating a text, 66,127-28 Vocal pedagogy, 3, 4

Vocal technique. See
Technique.
Unconscious kinesthesia, 116-17. Voice builders, 9
See also Kinesthesia. Voice science, 9
Vocal myths, 8-11 Weight, 24, 29

'
hARYGROUE COLLEGE
3 1127 □□□ 57LL7 S
DATE DUE
JAN 3 0 200 l
M ft 5 20V
DEMCO 38-296
%)xdate/ze £uxftytfimict. fat Voice
J. TIMOTHY CALDWELL
Singers...Voice Teachers...Choral Directors...Have you ever asked:

» Can singers be taught to be expressive?
° Can singers develop vocal technique and be expressive at the
same time?
The answer is: yes! By using the principles of Eurhythmies as developed

by Emile Jaques-Dalcroze (1865-1950), you can teach your students and
ensembles to learn compositions, sing more expressively, and develop
technique simultaneously. What’s more, soloists can use the exercises to
do the same.
COWTEMT HIGHLIGHTS:
• Vocal mythology: Three myths that hinder the training of singers.
° Eurhythmies: Using movement to teach expressive singing.
° Musical rules: Guides to understanding the expressive element
of a score.
• Skills for learning: The basic attributes needed to study music.
° Enlivening technical studies: How better musical understanding
improves technique.
o Practicing: Creative ways to vitalize and accelerate learning
music.
° Improvisation: Exercises to enhance performance.
° Application: Sample voice lessons using the principles of
Eurhythmies.
PRENTICE HALL ISBN D-13-Cm52T5-5

Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632
00
9 78 1 3 452955

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What is the Dalcroze method?

What is the Dalcroze method?

What are some vocal myths addressed in the book?

What are some vocal myths addressed in the book?

783.

Central Michigan University

PRENTICE HALL, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey 07632

Acquisitions editor: Bud Therien

© 1995 by Prentice-Hall, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 0-13-0 4 52=15-5

Prentice-Hall International (UK) Limited, London

To Robert Abramson, teacher, friend, mentor:

Thanks for the kick in the pants.

THE ECLECTIC VOICE TEACHER 5

SPACE, ENERGY, AND PLASTICITY 22

AFFECT AND MOVEMENT 40

PRO ACTION AND REACTION 46

IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES 120

FIRST LESSON WITH A NEW STUDENT 137

questions and answers 163

EXERCISES DISTILLED FROM CHAPTER 11 166

teacher. This kind of voice education, without a musical education, is

Music is one of the most powerful forces known to humans; it touches

1. The teaching/learning process of studying voice

The book has three divisions:

♦ Part I provides a background for what follows in the rest of the

2 It may be argued that singing expresses ideas, or tells a story, in addition to

Above all, I hope Expressive Singing: Dalcroze Eurhythmies for Voice

♦ First and foremost, I thank Dr. Barbara Dixon, professor of piano

♦ John McCollum, professor of voice. University of Michigan, shep¬

The experience of art is personal; the experience of teaching is just as per¬

In my travels as a singer and clinician, I have found many other

not moved? Part of the answer occurred to me one day as I watched an

THE ECLECTIC VOICE TEACHER

The "white" sound, the "black" sound, the "German" sound,

WHY THE DALCROZE METHOD?

If you are a teacher, imagine creating situations where students show

demonstrate, for example, that it does not understand the phrasing of a

Before looking at the method of Eurhythmies and its applications, these

1. Musically expressive singers are born, not made.

I use the term myths as Joseph Campbell and other mythologists

This belief might be summarized as "you either got it or you ain't."

Of course pitch, rhythm, diction, and technique are all necessary

Expressive singing is more than a collection of vowel sounds, tech¬

taught musical concepts by using activities he described as "games" or

Jaques-Dalcroze and his methodology can hardly be discussed without

As mentioned earlier, Jaques-Dalcroze was already an established per¬

wondered why so many textbooks on harmony, transposition, and coun¬

1. What is the source of music; where does it begin? The beginning of

♦ What if we developed our artistic sensibilities as we developed our

The principles Dalcroze formulated have the potential to funda¬

In 1906, Jaques-Dalcroze had his first volumes of work published by San-

♦ Solfege (to study scales, harmony, and theory)

Since I have not intended this book as a textbook on the Dalcroze

view of the system instead of describing it in great detail. The emphasis

What is rhythm? After years of experiments, Jaques-Dalcroze came to