Type of Submission
Podium Presentation
Keywords
Music, voice, pedagogy, bel canto, singing, jazz, Estill, Alexander Technique
Abstract
This paper aims to communicate the ways in which the definition of Bel Canto style singing has changed and developed since the eighteenth century, as well as how the techniques of Bel Canto are still being used today and the way that they impact new and modern vocal techniques such as the Alexander Technique and Estill Voice Training. Solo vocal material has come a long way since the eighteenth century and vocal music has made huge strides in its difficulty and material. Old Italian School voice teachers used to teach the importance and proper use of such vocal features as registers, tone, vibrato, and ornamentation. Today, voice teachers still teach and greatly emphasize these concepts, but in ways that are much different than 18th and 19th century Italians. Today, with pedagogy systems such as the Alexander Technique and Estill Voice Training, vocal pedagogues take the original ideas of Bel Canto style singing techniques and modify them to incorporate what we now know about the science of the voice. Research was acquired through and evidenced by historical documentation on Old Italian style Bel Canto techniques, as well as books on both eighteenth century and modern vocal pedagogy.
Campus Venue
Stevens Student Center, Room 241
Location
Cedarville, OH
Start Date
4-11-2018 1:00 PM
End Date
4-11-2018 1:30 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
From Italian Opera to Estill: An Overview of Bel Canto Style Singing Techniques from the Eighteenth Century to Modern Day
Cedarville, OH
This paper aims to communicate the ways in which the definition of Bel Canto style singing has changed and developed since the eighteenth century, as well as how the techniques of Bel Canto are still being used today and the way that they impact new and modern vocal techniques such as the Alexander Technique and Estill Voice Training. Solo vocal material has come a long way since the eighteenth century and vocal music has made huge strides in its difficulty and material. Old Italian School voice teachers used to teach the importance and proper use of such vocal features as registers, tone, vibrato, and ornamentation. Today, voice teachers still teach and greatly emphasize these concepts, but in ways that are much different than 18th and 19th century Italians. Today, with pedagogy systems such as the Alexander Technique and Estill Voice Training, vocal pedagogues take the original ideas of Bel Canto style singing techniques and modify them to incorporate what we now know about the science of the voice. Research was acquired through and evidenced by historical documentation on Old Italian style Bel Canto techniques, as well as books on both eighteenth century and modern vocal pedagogy.
