Steps for Performance

Twelve-Step Preparation Program for Performance, Recital, and Concert

by William Hicks

Before you begin the preparation of any music, it is necessary to study with a good voice teacher in order to find the “sweet spot” in the voice that is focused, in the center of the tone and perfectly in tune. Your voice needs to resonate on pitch in order for your performance to be viable. The music you sing needs to be vocally, temperamentally, and physically appropriate.

1. Understand what every word of your text means. If it is in a foreign language, translate it word for word, observing the word order of the original text to honor the intention of the composer.

Then answer the questions:

• Who am I? (Character, protagonist, narrator?)
• Where am I?
• What am I saying, both literally and intentionally (subtext).

Word Work: Read each word of the text slowly and drink in the meaning of the word separately. Live with each word until it provokes a reaction. Find the trigger words, those that resonate deeply with emotion. Physicalize each word with a gesture, as a bad actor; this helps you own the words.

2. Listen to the music; notice the accompaniment, the melody, rhythm, and harmony, so that you become one with the whole. Be mindful of key changes and discover how you react to them. How does the music move? That is, all music except recitative is based on movement; does your selection move in one movement per bar, or two? Perhaps it moves once every two bars. Is it a European waltz movement, with the second beat strongly emphasized?

3. Find an idiomatic recording, DVD, or video and watch someone who is a master of the style. Understand the choices they are making in context; the goal is to elicit your unique sound, not imitate their vocal sound.

4. Diction. Master the authentic sound of each syllable you are going to present. Choose someone to be your coach who knows the distinction between language as it is spoken and as it is sung; you need to pronounce from an open throat, repeating the pronunciation until you master each word, including the authentic stresses and accents.

5. Learn what the historical context of the poetry is, of your character; what were the unique cultural mores, etiquette and dress of the time periods. There are historical context coaches who specialize in these matters.

6. Understand the rhythm that the composer has given you, so that your voice always arrives “on time.” Make distinctions among the different note values; e.g., a half note in a moderate tempo needs to be articulated differently than an eighth note: the half note needs to be “filled in,” while the eighth note needs to move quicker. Use all longer note values to express your interpretation. Mozart truly said that the music is made in the “white spaces” between the black notes. Make sure that all vowels occur on each beat, so that you don’t lag behind the beat, and make sure to form the consonants around the exact location of the vowel using the tip of the tongue and the wet part of the lips. Know how the conductor beats the measure, and how you subdivide it if necessary. Clap out the rhythm while practicing, including the inner rhythm to get it into your body. Understand the length of the phrase, and mentally remove the bar lines in order to understand the entire phrase, not its segments.

7. Read the score; this is the map the composer has given you. Tempo? Dynamics? ( Know that dynamics must always have a dramatic motivation; dynamics of themselves mean nothing.) Over which words of the text are there dynamic markings and instructions by the composer? What meaning do they have for what you are saying? Remember that the way to bring your unique interpretation to life is to have a connected thought to your own experience; if this is not possible, substitute something that will make the listener believe that you have had this experience. Be sure to find the best authentic edition for each style (e.g., Ricordi for Italian opera, Durand for French, etc.)

8. Style: know the style of the period; for example, dissonance is very important to bring out in Baroque music. This is the province of a well-rounded coach.

9. Say the words in rhythm on one comfortable pitch in order to master the phrase.

10. Sing the melody without the words, using only the vowels, perhaps initially on a comfortable vowel followed by the vowels of the words. Then put together the words, melody, and rhythm.

11. Address any technical concerns that arise with your voice teacher. It is important that every note you sing remain within your portrayal of the character.

12. Find a great acting teacher for singers who can help make the character live within your body. Finally, remember that your singing is always a presentation: sing with your head up, with an open face, without frowning or looking down.