No Music Club this Tuesday. Our Lady Knights have a basketball game this Tuesday that I thought had been taken off the schedule. We will resume Wednesday. But please use this post to get a head start on any questions or ideas you had hoped to discuss!
We are going to continue our discussions on melody.
Our topics in this portion of discussion so far have included (but are not limited to):
Sound waves,
Pythagorous,
The Circle of Fourths and Fifths,
Semi-logarithmic graphs,
Staffs,
How pitches are determined,
Octave,
Key Signature,
Note System,
Diatonic Scale,
Chromatic Scale,
Whistle Tones,
Tessitura
I will be preparing more information on this site from what we've already been touching on in class, so leave comments and questions here as well!! Keep the discussion going.
For Clara:
I still haven't found that perfect chart that I want to demonstrate
clearly the lineup of fachs, or vocal ranges, but also showing the notation. But I did find a
nice video utilizing different operatic singers that compares the mezzo
and soprano.
As you can hear, a lot of the notes are shared between the mezzo and
soprano parts, but the sopranos offer little more in the higher notes
than the mezzos in the way of duration and power.
The way to see it for the higher ranges is basically as follows:
Soprano Lirico-Coloratura
(Soprano Lirico)
Mezzo Soprano
Contralto (often confused with mezzo)
Alto
A mezzo soprano can often sing some of the same notes as a soprano, but it
comes down to what is comfortable and how long their voice endures those
higher notes. A coloratura is a step higher than the soprano because of
their agility and flexibility while singing higher runs, also noted for
more dramatic bursts and runs in their vocals.
So if the tessitura
of a song (which is basically the general range of a song, or the
average notes keeping within that range that an artist feels comfortable with singing) remains in a certain range
comfortable for a mezzo, it can still include some of the higher notes
that you may hear from a soprano, but the mezzo will simply sing them
with less gusto or at a softer amplitude.
Hope that clarifies.
I'll keep looking for the perfect chart I have in mind that would show
the ranges clearly and include some of the other parts of information I
think it should get across. If I don't find the kind of chart I am
hoping to find, I might eventually just make one haha...
