Somebody pointed out that it’s much easier if everyone is the same height. This got me thinking …
I’ve written before about The 7 elements of vocal blend and how to control them.
What I hadn’t realised at the time was that differences in height between singers can make it easier or harder to achieve blend.
I used to lead a women’s ensemble of 12 singers. One of the women had a bad leg and had to sit in a chair during a performance. She remarked afterwards that it had been really hard to hear the other voices as they sailed over her head.
I ran a harmony singing retreat the other weekend and we found that, when singing in quartets, if the singers were of a similar height it made it easier to blend.
It’s obvious really, but had not occurred to me before!
What are the implications for this?
- When singing harmony in a small group, it makes life much easier if you sing with people of a similar height to you.
- If that’s not possible, see if you can use chairs or risers to ensure that singers’ heads are at a similar height.
- The same applies to a larger choir. As well as putting voices together which blend well, be sure to place singers of a similar height together. If you have large differences in heights, you can use risers to distribute singers more effectively.
- If somebody needs to sit in rehearsals or performances when everybody else is standing, be aware that they will not be able to hear the other singers as well. I have used bar stools in the past so that seated singers can be at almost the same level as those standing.
- If you’re leading a group and there are quite a few singers who need to sit, perhaps you might get the whole group (or at least one section) to be seated so that heads are at the same height.
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Chris Rowbury
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