Techniques for Writing for Voice

Great news! This year in school I have an independent study in composition. I'm all by myself in a lab with Macintosh computers, each with a full version of Finale. :thumbsup:

I've already studied four-part writing in depth, and now comes the part where I'm going to write a piece for SATB. I'd like to know: are there any specific techniques, besides four part writing techniques and counterpoint, which will help me create a more musically effective vocal piece? Is there anything that I should avoid?

Thanks for any and all help.

Uh, keep ranges in mind. That's important.

Apart from ranges, which could be more specific for the said choir (check with the choir master, instead of going with the classic ranges), another thing to keep in mind:

Depending on the music, of course, but dissonances are MUCH more difficult to sing melodically than harmonically. If you plan to have them sing clusters (for example), it's not much of a problem, as long as the voices, or dvision of the voices, go there, by easy steps or normal intervals. If you want to have a melody like.... CBGABbFC# etc... then you might see your singers having problems. While the same notes on top of each other, should be fine (ok, not easy, again, but... "fine")

Be aware of the lyrics. Most obviously, the vowels in particular control what is possible in terms of range, but all phonetic aspects of a word can potentially have an influence on what type of phrasing etc comes naturally and what might be more difficult to accomplish convincingly. Classical singers like to compensate for the vowel problem by sacrificing intelligibility in favour of equalized timbre—when a soprano is singing near the top of her range different vowels can almost be indistinguishable. That's just part of that particular idiom, but it might be worth taking into account when writing. On the flip side, less trained singers might simply be unable to sing the requested notes on a particular vowel convincingly.

Much of the traditional four-part idiom really is about writing singable vocal music, so you already know much of the really important stuff. Above all as far as melodic contour goes, singers more than any instrumentalists dislike leaps. And perhaps unlike many instruments, it's not so much the size of the leap that matters as it is the strangeness of it. A singer prefers a leap of an octave or a fifth to an augmented second any day. The magnitude of this problem is inversely correlated with the skill of the singer, and decreases fairly rapidly as the quality of the choir rises.

The best thing I ever learned about writing for voice:

If you write gorgeous lines, your piece will sound gorgeous.

Just keep in mind that most singers (as opposed to vocalists) are of the trained-dog-show variety... they learn their parts by repetition ad nauseum, so try to make the lines interesting enough to keep their attention. You also have to balance the amount of independence between the parts. Nothing loses steam faster than a piece where one section has all the good parts and everyone else is singing simple background noise.

ah yes, the eternal "alto factor"...

here is a demonstration of the "alto factor":

sing c - c - c - d - c - c - c - zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz - c - d - e - c - c# - c--- zzzzzzzzzzz

you end up losing the interest of your singers completely by giving them "filler".

Totally. Gorgeous lines man.... that's what it's all about. If they love your voice leading it's amazing the difference it makes.

Keep ranges in mind oviously, vowels like everyone said. You must remember we have to breath so allow for that.

Finally, just like turnababa said, your job is to make the voice sound beautiful.

Have fun!!

I'd really suggest checking out new music written for voices -- especially stuff by Luciano Berio and Gyorgy Ligeti.

edit: AND most importantly, be aware of the rhythm of the text. Spoken language has an inherent rhythm in it, which can be very inspirational, and which can really help you get past thinking in 2s, 4s and 8s rhythmically.

Thanks so much for the advice, everyone. I will keep all of it in mind.

As to ranges, since I'm a vocal music fanatic, I would recommend the following...

Choral Soprano: from middle C to the A an octave and a sixth above middle C

Solo Soprano: From the A or Bb below middle C to the D (or if you're crazy, Eb) above the soprano clef. Beware, though, that those notes are freakin' high and not to be used sparingly. Same goes for stuff below middle C.

Choral Alto: G below middle C to E or F an octave and a third/fourth above middle C.

Solo Alto: Same, though maybe up to around G. As to mezzo-sopranos, I'd give their lowest note as G too, but they can go up to the high Bb, though not often.

Choral Tenor: from low C to A above middle C.

Solo Tenor: Same, but all the way up to C an octave above middle C.

Choral Baritone: from Bb below low C to F above middle C

Solo Baritone: Same, but able to go up to G or (if you feel crazy) A above middle C.

Choral Bass: from Eb a sixth below low C to middle C or maybe D if it needs to.

Solo Bass: From deep C to E or F above middle C if you feel daunting.

Any objections, Qccowboy? :P

well, I find you are lacking in generosity towards baritones and basses....

I would give a slightly wider range to choral baris and basses.

This purely fom my personal experience.

however, I may have been seriously spoiled by having worked with a VERY fine chorus which mounted 4-5 operas every eyar.

So I'd say baritones may be asked to do a low F or E (just below the staff in bass clef) however, NOT in fortissimo passages. I would expect my baritones to EASILY reach the G above middle C. I've had to sing that high numerous times in opera choruses.

We worked with an awful lot of Russian music, so the basses were expected to be able to go below that low E, a few instances had low C. And still they were expected to reach almost as high as the baritones - the F above middle C.

I think the thing is that SOME choruses have singers capable of wider ranges, while others don't.

I've heard some groups where the basses couldn't reach a low E.

likewise, I've been in choruses where the entire soprano section (80+ singers) had a high C, cool as a cucumber. And yet other choruses where anything above a G above the staff sounded like someone torturing a herd of drugged-out nanny-goats with an electric cattle prod.

I think range issues are best dealt with on a case-by-case basis. In other words, listen to the chorus for which you are writing, and see how they handle the various ranges of the pieces they are singing.

It all boils down to the question, DO YOU REALLY NEED THAT HIGH A?

Yes.

YES, ALWAYS!!! hahaha

No please, no high A's.

I almost died singing Carmina Burana!!!! haha!

If you're a tenor, you must :P

Apart from just ranges, composers who are not singers tend to forget or understand other issues concerning the voice. If you are writing for young singers you definitely don't want a part hanging around the parts of the passaggio where the "break" happens. It can tire out a young voice. Poor writing for that area of the voice can even pose challenges for singers of established technique. There is also the issue of timbre. Eample, do you want the alto or the tenor on C4 (middle c) singing Pianissimo? Octave leaps are great but can be troublesome to developing singers. Larger leaps should be done with great care and with the particular singer(s) in mind.

A little personal story.

I remember the issues I had when my voice changed from Baritone to a more Dramatic Baritone almost Bass-Baritone to my teacher speculating that I was a young Basso (eventhough I don't talk like one, lol). Not only did my voice get heavier but the whole passaggio "break" thing became so annoying.