These are instructions for Tuesday’s class. Advice: Aim for lively language! You don’t need to get too technical. Just use the terms to help  you think about the singers and their performances.

First, review the terms that describe elements of singing I’ve posted. Then, read the assigned chapters by Tracey Thorn. Pay attention to the way she writes about technique in a passionate way. Think of her as a role model.

Then, Click around and listen to some of these singers. Listen for the qualities of singing we–and Tracey Thorn–are talking about: tone/timbre, range, phrasing, dynamics, pitch, timing/rhythm. I recommend listening without watching–and on headphones or good speakers. Keep in mind that for one singer, range and tone may be central; for another, maybe it’s phrasing and dynamics; for still another, it may be all of the above. Basically, every singer is different. Think about what makes a singer unique.

Following Tracey Thorn’s lead, ask yourself a couple of questions. If you had two sentences,

1.) How would you describe the voice or vocal performance of one of these singers in two sentences?

2.) In another two sentences, how would you describe the contrast between two singers. What makes them different from each other? I’ve listed these singers in pairs you might compare, but you can choose to pair any two from the list:

Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross (of The Supremes), Scott Walker and Karen Carpenter, Kendrick Lamar and Eminem, Patti Smith and Marvin Gaye, Kesha and Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Rotten (of the Sex Pistols) and Ella Fitzgerald, Jack White (of The White Stripes) and Taylor Swift, Alex Turner (of the Arctic Monkeys) and Curtis Mayfield,  Nico (of The Velvet Undergound) and Dusty Springfield,  Snoop Dogg and Missy Elliot, or George Michael and Nina Simone or Ralf Hütter (of Kraftwerk) and Astrud Gilberto.

Synchopation refers to how much a musical rhythm stresses the subdivisions between each beat verses the beat itself. –Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding, Switched on Pop (88)

There are a lot of varieties of syncopation–including “suspension syncopation,” “missed-beat syncopation,” “even-notes syncopation,” “off-note syncopation,” and “backbeat.” The site Hip Hop Makers breaks them down pretty thoroughly here. You don’t need a mastery of all these types, but it’s good to know they exist.

Here are some examples.

First, Romeo Santos, a bachata artist. Bachata is originally a Dominican musical genre, and it’s all about dancing. The syncopation is fundamental to bachata as a dance.

Here’s an example of bachata dancing. Notice how the leg work is all about the syncopation.

Here’s James Brown using a syncopated groove suited to his signature moves–and to make a mid-tempo song danceable.

Here’s Bruno Mars taking a cue from James Brown style syncopation to get people on the dance floor.

Here’s Raphael Saadiq, using syncopation to create a feeling of disorientation.

Here’s Kendrick Lamar, bringing more disorientation.

Here’s New Order with a new wave synth variation on syncopation, creating a menacing feeling with robotic sounding syncopation with a military vibe.

These are some examples of songs with nonsense lyric, vocal improvisation, and ‘hiccups.” Take a listen, with Ann Powers observations about what nonsense can mean in mind