choirsinging Archives - ImPulzus
Vocal Technics form a Materialistic Angle

Vocal Technics form a Materialistic Angle

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Vocal Technics form a Materialistic Angle

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Written by Csaba Tőri

30 January 2019[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Getting weaker a butterfly – is said – could less and less fly, its wings get collapsed more and more. And after hours/days of waiting for passing away, in a minute it soars high as long time before, and as it lands it takes its final breath.
Allegedly most humans pass away after getting better all of a sudden. As if they would show once again what really is hidden in them.

Several music pieces are composed the same way: slowing, fading, calming down, and by the end flying high again: a big crescendo, a strong dominant and it ends.
This pattern could be detected in many areas: we humans are like this, we see it in the animal world, and we even find it in music.

„Everything is energy, this is all what you should know.

Tune yourself on the frequency of the Reality you want to live on and you will get it. It can not be other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics.”

One can read these – not always relevant – kind of quotations in esoteric notes. I lifted up my head when I learned that these words were those of Einstein. So a man who happened to be one of the highest peaks of materialistic thinkers, greatest minds described these words over those I can discuss truly with  friends knowledgeable in sciences. :)

For many years I had thought there was no depth behind material. There was nothing behind things, once we would understand why things are like they are, as all relations can be learnt and proved. But then there was no reason to play music: if everything is logical and explainable, someone should please help to understand why I get depressed by one precise and accurate performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and catch fire by another one that is almost the same by the music notes. Still there must be a substantial difference.

I still feel likely that most of the things could be described by exact calculations but for a long time I have been observing when materialistic and spiritual approaches are conform. Learning the world is sensational and I feel it becomes apparent more and more that different approaches get to the same point.

Eventually singing consist of the same mechanisms as life. Energy, unexplainable self confidence are key factors in whether two line H will sound or fall. Just as we have been developing by learning reading and writing or as we learn our qualities, whether we bear hot spices or not, we are following the same route when training to sing. We need to know when starting where we are and where we want to get. In order to see what we have to develop – and after smaller successes, filled up with self confidence to cope with bigger tasks.

And our biggest help is energy and common wish: as we motivate and inspire also each other that it could be and will be better the obstacles will outweigh.

Immediately I fell less that „I do not have a voice, it is better for everybody not to hear this”. But Steve is standing beside me, who also does not have.

Not yet.

But till it will come, it is good to invest energy together.

This is what Choral Vocal Training is about. We do believe that one does not have to face all time at the beginning what one does not know. When starting, we set goals together and collect good practices so as to get more spirit and knowledge what one can base higher goals on when stepping forward.

ImPulzus would like to help here, and that is why we developed weekly Choral Vocal Trainings or intensive weekend workshops.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Should I become a musician, or should I play as a hobby?

Should I become a musician, or should I play as a hobby?

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Should I become a musician, or should I play as a hobby?

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Written by Csaba Tőri 

5 November 2018[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]As I’ve been talking a lot to professional musicians as well as to amateur ones, I came across this problem many times. How can I decide whether I should become a musician or just play the instrument as a hobby while having another job?

The answer is always difficult for people who ask themselves this question. Of course, there are musicians that don’t even care about this, but those usually come from a musician family and the examples help them a lot to prevail in this field.

Musical career is beautiful.

This is how it always starts and although we often experience its „dark side”, it really seems to be true as a basic thesis. If someone commit himself/herself to this job, 95% will become an instrumental artist or will work as a teacher. Without question, the „dark side” includes low salary, inner conflicts in the art wold, and the competition that exists in the musical world nowadays.

Usually when this question appears, people are about 16-20 years old, some of them study musical training, others study at music schools, orchestra or sing in a choir. Those who learn at a music conservatory usually get a wide range of education. For them it’s also a question whether to stay in the music industry or to do something else. For those who took it as a hobby often feel like they’re late, won’t get into conservatory or into university.

I think in both ways we deal with good dilemmas. I consider something as a „good dilemma” when whatever we choose as an answer, it’ll bring us closer to our goal. Meanwhile we may not have time to realise that what we’ve learnt at music school will not disappear. Sometimes we get job offers that requires musical background, which is useful for those who’s already qualified. For amateurs, this dilemma will tempt them until they make the great decision. It can take years, and as you make your decision, new perspectives will open as a musician or as something else.

One of my close friends asked me this question directly: Can you not do it?

If you can live your life without music, it’s better for you not to choose this field where only the best 5% will achieve something. I believe it’s very important.

Same time I think this dilemma is not always about your end goal – and from the realisation of this making a decision is going to be much easier. In life we must make thousands of decisions which will take us somewhere, but it doesn’t help if we take responsibility of our whole life beside every decision we make.

Many scientific resources show that 80% of the population don’t work in the field where he/she has the highest qualification. Then why people who’ve learnt as a musician must work as one for the rest of their lives?

If that is true, then the decision made at the age of 16-20 is not actually for a lifetime: it’s enough to decide what to study for the next couple of years. It’s a fact that having a professional background is essential to get well-paid jobs, but we probably won’t even know about the 60% scope of the position of the next 100 years.

Those who can easily adapt to the changing requirements, will be successful, and those who can’t will probably become less useful in this world of robots.

So, we don’t make our decisions for life (like 100 years ago). Quoting another close friend: „ it’s worth deciding what we want to learn, and let’s try to get to know it on the best level.”

And he continued with this: „But be careful not to become a diverse educated dilettante.” It’s not worth learning everything perfectly at the same time, because you can’t be successful. You need one thing that you’re excellent at and what you can build up your life on. But it’s becoming harder and harder to decide this at the age of 20.

So for those people who want to learn music, most of the time I encourage them to learn! As you get deeper into it, you’ll find the meaning of it, and its place in your life. Maybe you’ll need it in your profession, and maybe you’ll be proud that you’ve learnt it![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

How different is a vocal training of a choir?

How different is a vocal training of a choir?

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How different is a vocal training of a choir?

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Written by: Csaba Tőri

October 27, 2018[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]In one word: a lot :)

When you found an amateur choir, you do not dream of building up a choir from well-educated singers. Of course, if it works well, there will be often choir members, who will feel ambition for more self-improving, but as a conductor you should expect that the “spine” of the choir will always be those who are engaged for the community, but do not consider themselves as professional musicians.

So that if someone would like to be a soloist, it usually happens that a choir will not too big motivation for them, moreover a lot of times they should give up the vocal training principles that are evident for them, because there is no other tool that help to assimilate into the common sounding.

A well-trained singer would solve any kind of situation naturally.
Sometimes it happens that after a couple of years of vocal training, they emerge from the community that launch their improvement; later the private lessons are cancelled, but they have no time to reconnect – so playing music will temporarily will disappear from their life.

Our aim is double, when we teach vocal trainings for choirs: on one hand we would like to have everyone to sing healthy without pain (since I wrote it first, I have realized how common this problem is); on the other hand we would like that everyone could do this in a way that the community they belong to could be around them.

We are over several concerts where we could experience that a singer’s vocal knowledge – let it be with awareness or skill-based – is essential. every play would be grateful when the singers learn not only the notes, but the technical part of it, even the whole music interpretation. Nevertheless, if somebody can do that, it is worth to step forward to the solo roles. Within our choirs we could observe that there was else that provided more improvement in self-esteem than a couple of arias or to sing a part of any musicals successfully.

Otherwise there is a difference in the technical exercises too: while a singer with professional ambition like to invest months or years in learning a technical element, an amateur singer won’t have so much time for it even they have a strong desire to do so. It needs to compromise a lot of times but establishing a kind of an illusion has extreme importance: if you believe and feel that it would be successful, it will succeed easier and later much better.

 

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Why the vocal training of each choir is different?

Why the vocal training of each choir is different?

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Why the vocal training of each choir is different?

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Written by: Csaba Tőri

October 27, 2018[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The answer seems to be very simple, and actually, it is simple, but it reserves so many interesting things, so it worth to have a post about it.
The reason behind of this is that each person has different voice capabilities. We are different in terms of volume, tone, pitch, and comfortable range, and our vocal strain ability and agility are important determination factors in the songs that are worth for us to sing.

As choir singers there is another aspect that is worth to focus on. When we choose a choir or a seat, on one hand it is good to pay attention to be among people with same type of voice, on the other hand to focus on technically how to sing.

Of course, an amateur choir works for the joy of singing primarily, and it has no priority to build technical know-how. Same time I could observe on my choir members that they could find their optimal neighbours, and their technical knowledge improved two-three times more within a couple of weeks. That is why it is so important, because the members within the choir started to assimilate to each other, so the conductor will also be happier, and the audience could expect more beautiful result soon. Anyway, be careful: avoid making this as a source of unnecessary tense. Some people will pay attention to this, others maybe would not be aware of this, but we also have an impact on each other by instinct. It would not be any good if this became another source of conflicts among people with different views. When we pay attention to enjoy ourselves vocally during the rehearsals too, for sure, the common experience of the choir would provide more value for us.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Life satisfaction in a girls’ choir

Life satisfaction in a girls’ choir

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Life satisfaction in a girls’ choir

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Written by Vera Daniella Dalos

15 October 2018[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

The most outstanding positive outcomes of singing in a choir are the following: benefits for well-being and relaxation, improved breathing and posture, social, spiritual and emotional benefits, and positive effects on the immune and cardiovascular system. In the present study, I examine the well-being of a person through the measurement of satisfaction with life. 88 singer and non-singer female student participated in the study. I measured their extracurricular activity and its frequency, and the factors of singing influencing well-being. Main results show that there is a significant difference between life satisfaction of singers and non-singers – singers achieving higher scores on the scale. This result can provide a basis for further examination of the Hungarian choir population concerning wellbeing. In the future social aspects of singing should be studied and more emphasis should be placed on the impact of extracurricular activities.”

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Original article (Hungarian): http://www.pszich.u-szeged.hu/impulzus/?page_id=1919[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

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