Surviving the Gospel Choir Sound
Guest Post by Dave Hook
Have you ever listened to a gospel singer or gospel choir and wonder how in the world they do it? Belting out notes at full volume in chest voice, soaring to top of their range and holding at that altitude for extended periods of time; “honking” out percussive, highly rhythmic attacks and “punches”; Stylistic pronunciation and diction that could produce unhealthy tension and strain on the vocal instrument, and, if done exclusively over time, prove to be detrimental to the voice. Add to this the challenge of singing over the volume of a full, amplified rhythm section and pushing the envelope with regards to emotional extremes and dynamics. I’m tired and hoarse already! Some purists will simply shrug it off, insisting that it’s the sacrifice to be made if a group is going to perform gospel music correctly. Still, many, if not most traditional purists and pedagogues will vehemently resist and refuse to sell out or compromise vocal health in the name of emotion, virtuosity and stylistic integrity. However, the result is usually a poorly- executed, rhythmically sloppy, boring, gutless, contrived, unengaging, half-baked gospel performance… so why bother, in my opinion?
A brief look at the style and nature of gospel singing
Believe or not, I believe true gospel singing is really “a distant cousin” to opera. Pavarotti once stated in an interview that singing was nothing more than a controlled scream. And I think Neil Diamond got it partially right too (see the lyrics to Song Sung Blue), we should sing with a cry in our voice. In the 50’s we started seeing the slow shift from the crooners (Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Paul Anka) to the criers and shouters (Joe Turner, Mama Thorton, Elmore James).” Blues, rock and country took the vocal instrument to new stylistic extremes and demands. However, all of this was all rooted in one of America’s true original genres-gospel. Let’s face it, most of us really are drawn to the voice that can just soar and belt out those high notes with power and emotion; it doesn’t matter what the style is. It’s a desired quality in just about every genre of vocal music today.
What are some of the overarching, broad-stroke characteristics of gospel singing? Here’s a few . . .
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A full robust timbre– when it comes to gospel music, this would be achieved through what many modern singers and teachers call a “chest mix.” This is where the cry or shout is derived.
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Use of vibrato– if vibrato was ketchup, gospel singers pour it on, even in dissonant sections. In many ways, I think that this technique, physiologically-speaking, saves the vocal instrument and helps it endure the belting quality of the singing.
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Diction– what I’m going to share here is not meant in any way to be derogatory or disrespectful; on the contrary. I am giving credit where credit is due. If you want to pronounce the text in gospel music correctly, listen to the music of the African-American tradition (early spirituals, gospel and blues, Motown and R&B/Soul) as well as early Appalachian folk song and bluegrass. Today, it’s best to sing the text the way you would in everyday language. However, given the desired color and sound needed in the music, vowels (even closed ones) can be much more open as opposed to traditional choral diction. There is also a lot of “playfulness” with the pronunciation of the text. The use of diphthongs, or maybe an extreme variation upon an ee vowel; an overly exaggerated cut off on a T or and S. These are meant to heighten the emotional impact and meaning of the text.
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Tessitura (range)– Again, to intensify the power and emotional effect of the music, the range of the singers-especially the men and sopranos, are taken to the top of their range. And most of the time, they stay there for the duration of the music.
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Vocal phonation– The glottal attack or stop is often used, even when the choir is “hitting” or accenting notes and words. This is more of a preference than a rule.
So… how do we accomplish all this without causing unnecessary fatigue and long-term damage, and, more importantly, in a way that’s authentic and non-manufactured, staying true to what I/we can really pull off and do with quality and excellence. You don’t have to be a Grammy-award winning gospel choir or R&B celebrity to sing gospel in a genuine, stylistically-informed manner. How you incorporate these qualities is totally up to you (or the director). You gotta be you!
Here’s a little survival guide from a vocal-coach’s perspective:
Again, how much you incorporate all this will be based on many factors, including the experience and training of the singers, the preference of the director and his or her interpretation of the song, and so on. But you don’t have to ruin your voices to make your choir sound more gospel. You canmaintain a certain degree of vocal health and technique.
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Warm up more than usual!
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Use exercises that focus upon building bothregisters-head and chest.
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Focus upon opening and expanding the throat and lifting the soft palate. This is a life-saver in all styles of vocal music. If you want more sound, build a bigger room! Find exercises that teach you how to open the muscles immediately surrounding the vocal instrument.Tim Carson (www.vocalartistry) provides great exercises that focus uponFreedom-releasing tension in the jaw, neck and tongue and Strength, building the head and chest voice and learning to mix the two.
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Keep that sound in the schnoz! More accurately put; learn to really sing “in the mask,” utilizing that resonating chamber to take the pressure off the base of the throat, where a lot of singers bear down when trying to sing higher and louder. Vocalizing on oh, eh and ee vowel sounds coupled with m and n consonants are great for this!
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Engaging your breathing apparatus. Notice I didn’t say “support the breath” or “sing from the diaphragm.” These are, in my opinion, very misleading, overused and misinformed concepts. When thinking about the use of breath in singing, do what comes natural. Get a good low breath, learn to “budget” and control the flow of air over the cords-it’s not about more air, it’s about achieving a faster, smaller stream of air instead. Pushing out more air or bearing down on the diaphragm is what causes undue tension. Breath and singing involve so much more than that flap of muscle in the middle (the diaphragm); it’s about engaging your lower back, your “lats” and yes, even your pelvic muscles. The problem lies in the fact that singers just get too tired or lazy when singing and forget to keep working at taking in and utilizing air in a manner that make the breath an engineto propel and free the vocal instrument up. Most of all, learn to execute those quick punches and percussive attacks from the belly, for lack of better words.A light, short “chug” of air by manipulating those abs will be much healthier than a glottal stop/attack, and in many ways better sounding and more powerful.
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Sopranos and Tenors-if you listen to a lot of gospel singing, you will find at some point the higher voices do indeed flip into falsetto/head voice when they reach the stratosphere. As a matter of fact, the approach is quite operaticsounding and full. They keep the sound open, resonant and full of vibrato.
