Articulation and vocal quality when singing
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can adjust my articulation and vocal quality to convey the emotion and purpose of a song.
Key learning points
- We can explore characters by thinking which body part they lead from when they move.
- We can use different singing techniques to change the vocal timbre to suit a different character.
- Changing the articulation, for example, from legato to staccato, can change the mood and atmosphere of the music.
- Adding body percussion can add another level of characterisation and can be performed 'in character' too.
Keywords
Staccato - performing in a short and detached way
Forte - a dynamic instruction asking us to play or sing loudly
Articulation - how individual notes or groups of notes should be played or sung
Diction - how clearly and precisely words are spoken or sung
Vocal timbre - a description of the tone, sound or singing quality of our voice
Common misconception
Singing in opera is just like our everyday singing.
Singing in opera is all about telling a story. We can adapt the quality of our voice by using a different vocal timbre, using diction in a more percussive way or by singing with different articulation to bring our character to life.
Teacher tip
Leading with different body parts (eg nose, knees, shoulders) is a great way into creating a character. Developing a character's voice can build from this. Revisit the reasons why this song is so different to the previous one (legato/staccato, short/long phrases, forte/piano, tempo, vocal timbre).
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
4 Questions
Q1.What is a score?
Q2.The character help us to stage our song.
Q3.Articulation is:
Q4.What is a polyphonic texture?
Assessment exit quiz
4 Questions
Q1.The musical word for performing in a short and detached way is called ...
Q2.Which of these helps us to portray character in our voice?
Q3.What is a scale in music?
Q4.Match these musical terms.
loud
quiet
gradually gets louder
short and detached
smoothly
To help you plan your 6 music lesson on: Articulation and vocal quality when singing, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 6 music lesson on: Articulation and vocal quality when singing, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 music lessons from the Singing for performance: conveying emotion and character through performance unit, dive into the full primary music curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.