love
‘And the stars were shining, and the earth was scented. The gate of the garden creaked and a footstep grazed the sand… Fragrant, she entered and fell into my arms.’
translation into English, from Tosca, by Puccini
Love is the emotion we are probably asked to convey more than any other, in music. This month, my blog is going to give you some singing and performance tips and tricks on how to convey the emotion of love in your singing or music performance. Whether new to performance or a pro, these are some of the ways to experiment as part of your practise to leave the audience in no doubt of what you are trying to convey, without having to make a heart with your hands!
1 Text, context, character, historical research.
If you are singing something in/from an opera or musical, make sure you understand your character and the plot before and after your aria. You need to find out if your character really means it. Are they so madly in love as to make the eventual heartache/tragedy even more poignant? Or perhaps your character isn’t sure, they have some questions. Is your character merely full of lust instead of love? You might want to think of ways to convey this in your performance - is your voice or body language fully committed to the words you are saying? By experimenting in your own practise you will try out a multitude of versions, perhaps also trying out some different things just as a director might wish to ask you to do in the production.
If you are singing a song or playing an instrumental piece - what is the character you will choose for your performance? How do you choose to convey the meaning of the poem? Has this altered over the centuries? What are the ways other recordings and artists have conveyed the emotional message?
If you are singing or playing a duet, are you playing in harmony? If you are making beautiful music in thirds… love birds are in the air!
2 Thought: Breathe: Sing
Whether singing or playing, the thought must come first. Music and singing are the conveying of an emotional message using language both with and without text. We sang before we had language. We talk by first thinking of the emotional content before breathing and talking.
It will alter the tone and colour of your voice - just as when you talk your voice is different when you are saying the same phrase but with a different emotion.
If your body is playing an instrument, it is also useful to communicate in your playing with your body - if you are impassioned, or full of enthusiasm you may move more.
If you are angry those movements may be more staccato.
If you are calm and serene your movements will be very legato and smooth, perhaps long and flowing.
3 Mirror Practise
It is hard to always know how successful our movements or facial acting are, so don’t forget your best friend the mirror. It not only shows you what you might not want to do, but also what you should do more of. Subtlety not usually connected with displays of love or passion! Whilst your subtlety may be beautiful in a small room - does it read in a Concert Hall?
As you observe your performance check in on these questions:
Do I look like I’m in love? For instance: Smiling, happy, bright face, enthusiastic, long glances and holding eye contact with the other character
Is my body language matching the emotion I wish to portray? For instance: open posture, hugging/selfhug posture, stroking/smooth movements when moving, wide arms and shoulders, legs routed hip distance or so apart not narrow, legs uncrossed, confident walk, relaxed movements or energised excited. We often talk about people who are in love walking around in a daze, or being in their own world. If this is suitable, perhaps you are staring into the distance smiling.
4 Showing emotion in the voice
Adding colour to the voice to portray different emotions is integral to your technical work. The work of breathing and opening into spaces is often done for you if you simply add an emotion, then breathe, then sing. That’s right: singing is not just a list of anatomical movements that will make you a good singer.
Arias and music of great love and passion are usually legato, rich, full, have swells of dynamics. So how will you use this in your performance?
Isolate a phrase or passage and experiment with these:
Any legato passages make sure you are using every inch of space in your voice. Stroke those phrases like the bow on the string
Crescendos and diminuendos in keeping with the era the music is from - always historically informed, obviously!
To add or ensure you are using a rich velvety colour experiment with speaking the phrases with feeling
‘I loooove rich chocolate’ over emphasising the sung quality of the spoken voice, open into the space you will then sing your passionate phrase.
Gently sirening on an mmMMMMmmmm with a crescendo and diminuendo as though you love the smell of what is cooking, or a favourite perfume/aftershave.
As ever, the best way to work on communication is with a teacher who will guide and help you experiment to find your own true performance. What works for one singer or performer will not work for another - so you are looking for your interpretation and technique. This will ensure you sing with your own true voice and complete commitment to the music.
Happy Experimenting!
I’ve made a Youtube playlist on my channel with some of my favourite romantic arias, duets, and trios from opera and musicals. They were all recorded live - and chosen because they feature some wonderful examples of singing and performance. Enjoy researching and being inspired by these wonderful artists.
As always, feel free to leave your comments below - what helps you convey love in a performance? Did I miss something out? Did you find this post useful in your practise?
