Music Teachers National Association

What is Vocal Coaching?

Author(s): Timothy Hoekman
Source: American Music Teacher, Vol. 54, No. 2 (October/November 2004), p. 72, 91
Published by: Music Teachers National Association
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 What is Vocal Coaching?

are performed by one person, but they and clearly, and are they inflected
Although widely
widely usedused
term,thethere
titlestillterm,
is of there vocal still coach is is a are two separate roles. When perform- appropriately and expressively?
much confusion about what the vocal ing with a singer, the collaborative Suddenly, we have delved into deep-
coach actually does. Usually when I tell pianist must, of course, listen to the er territory with the inclusion of lan-
people I am a vocal coach, they assume singer for matters of ensemble, balance guage. Vocal repertoire comes in many
I am either a singer or a teacher of and interpretation. However, much of languages, and the vocal coach is
singing. When I explain I am a pianist the collaborative pianists attention expected to be able to work with at
who works with singers, the response is must necessarily be focused on what least four: English, French, German
often, "So what do you do?" The usual she is doing at the piano, since she is and Italian. Linguistic areas in which
reply is that I work on all aspects of one of the performers. When that the coach may be helpfvxl to the singer
singing except vocal technique, which same pianist serves as a vocal coach, include diction (the correct choice of
is the realm of the voice teacher. however, she must focus her attention vowel and consonant sounds, suitably
The most important thing a vocal chiefly on the singer. This often is dif- produced), what is sometimes called
coach must do is listen. This seems ficult for those of us who have been the "lilt" of the language (how the lan-
almost too obvious to mention, but it trained for many years to listen to our- guage is inflected; how it flows; which
is too vital not to. Intense listening is selves and the sounds we make at the syllables, if any, should be stressed and
crucial, since the coach is expected not keyboard. However, the coach can bet- how they should be stressed), transla-
only to play along with the singer, but ter help the singer by listening rather tion of the text (if it is in a language
also provide feedback - to tell the than playing the piano part exquisitely. foreign to the singer) and interpreta-
singer what he hears: what is good, Naturally, I'm not advocating that the tion of the text (figuring out what the
what needs improvement. Sometimes a pianist play poorly, or that she not care poem - or prose - really means).
coach may be able to work with a about her playing; it's simply a shift in This is one of the most rewarding
voice/piano duo. More often, however, the focus of attention. In fact, it is a activities for many coaches, especially
a vocal coaching will include only the great advantage if the coach is an when they are working on the mar-
singer and the coach. I will use this as excellent pianist, since she must be velously rich and varied art-song reper-
the norm for the sake of this article. able to play the piano part and some- toire. As coach and singer discuss the
This brings up one key difference times sing cues (in operatic and orato- poetry of songs, they can discover vari-
between a collaborative pianist and a rio repertoire), while still focusing her ous levels of meanings in the poems.
vocal coach. Frequently, these two jobs attention on what the singer is doing. What was the poet trying to express?
The coach must pay attention to a Judging from the music, what did the
wide array of vocal and musical issues. composer think the poem was about?
Hoekman is a pro- The basic musical elements the coach What can the poem and the song
fessor of vocal V must listen for include correct pitches, mean to you or your audience? These
coaching and rhythms and words. Presumably, these can be stimulating and gratifying ques-
accompanying at all have been learned before the singer tions to explore together.
The Florida State meets with the coach, but that does Does this mean the coach has to be
University. He not always happen. Even if the singer fluent in all those major song and
holds a B.A. has done his homework, he may have opera languages? It certainly would be
degree from Calvin College, an learned something inaccurately, or per- useful if he was, but it is not necessary.
M.M. degree from Peabody haps he has not yet had an opportunity What he should have is knowledge of
Conservatory and a doctoral degree to sing his part with the instrumental the rules of diction; a basic under-
in piano performance from the part. Then, to go a step further, are the standing of grammar, since that is
University of Michigan . Hoekman correct pitches in tune? Are the often a key to translating; a love of
was the 2002 MTNA-Shepherd rhythms truly accurate, and do they language and poetry; and good dictio-
Distinguished Composer of the give the music life, or are they only naries. He also should constantly be
Year metronomic? Are the words not only developing an ear for the cadence and
correct, but also pronounced accurately continued on page 91

72 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2004

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Collaborative Arts
continued from page 72

inflection of the languages. And once a

coach's basic languages are in pretty I i NEW MUSIC MEDALS
good shape, he may want to add
Spanish or Russian or Swedish or
Czech or ....
Another important role for the vocal
^ RIBB0N
coach is to help the singer achieve a
finer grasp of musical style, which
could include discussing performance
practices of specific eras, such as
baroque ornamentation; style charac-
teristics of certain genres, like verismo
opera; and compositional traits of spe-
cific composers.
Other things a vocal coach should
listen for include the shaping of phras-
es, a convincing communication of the
text, an efficient taking and using of
breath, a smooth vocal line and an
even resonance/color/placement of
tone. The last few items in this list
may sound very technical, and, in fact,
they should be a part of the vocal tech-
nique the singer is working on with
her voice teacher. Actually, the roles of
voice teacher and voice coach fre-
quently overlap. With issues of vocal
technique, however, it is not necessary
for the coach to be able to teach the Nationally ranked conservatory-level program
singer how to sing a legato line or how within a major research university
to match vowels, but to point out
fpSll/ Wide range of flexible undergraduate and
when those things are not happening. graduate programs
If the singer cannot fix a technical NORTHWESTERN
university Stellar faculty (including members of the Chicago
problem in a coaching, a useful phrase
Symphony Orchestra)
for the coach is: "Take that to your
teacher." Located close to the cultural life of downtown

Singers often ask their coaches for Chicago

help choosing repertoire. Therefore,
the more knowledgeable the coach
becomes about vocal repertoire and Music Education Faculty
operatic voice classifications, the more
Carlos Abril James Kjelland
useful she will be to her singers.
As this brief introduction to the Janet Barrett Scott D. Lipscomb
work of a vocal coach shows, a coachs Bernard J. Dobroski Peter R. Webster

job is extremely varied, especially when Maud Hickey Judith Willoughby

one considers that each singers voice is
unique. Each singer comes with his
own complex combination of
strengths, weaknesses and interests,
which keeps the coachs job intriguing
Auditions on the Evanston campus and in 18 cities nationwide
and challenging.
Office of Music Admission and Financial Aid Northwestern University School of Music
711 Elgin Road Evanston, Illinois 60208-1200
847/491-3141 (phone) 847/467-7440 (fax) [email protected]

Northwestern University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action educator and employer.

AMERICAN MUSIC TEACHER 91

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