Vocal music is a genre of
music performed by one or more
singers, with or without
instrumental accompaniment, in which
singing (i.e. vocal performance) provides the main focus of the piece. Music which employs singing but does not feature it prominently is generally considered
instrumental music (e.g. the wordless women's choir in the final movement of
Holst's
The Planets) as is music without singing. Music without any non-vocal instrumental accompaniment is referred to as
a cappella.
Vocal music typically features sung words called lyrics, although there are notable examples of vocal music that are performed using non-linguistic syllables or noises, sometimes as musical onomatopoeia. A short piece of vocal music with lyrics is broadly termed a song.
Vocal music is probably the oldest form of music, since it does not require any instrument besides the human voice. All musical cultures have some form of vocal music.
Vocal music without lyrics
World traditions
Elaborate untexted vocal improvisation was and still is an important element in Turkish and Middle Eastern music traditions. Such music existed prior to the 13th century and the First Crusade into Palestine and the city of Jerusalem, possibly even before the year 900.
The modern descendants of the ancient Kung tribes and clans of Southern Africa utilize similar traditional music techniques.
A form of improvisation known as thillana is a very important feature of Carnatic music from South India.
Tuvan throat singing often features wordless and improvised song. The sygyt technique is a particularly good example of this.
The Anglo-Saxon and Gaelic communities.
Hasidic Jews use a form of voice improvisation called nigunim. This consists of wordless tunes vocalized with sounds such as "Bim-bim-bam" or "Ai-yai-yai!” often accompanied by rhythmic clapping and drumming on the table.
Puirt a beul, also known as "Mouth Music", is a Scottish technique based around imitating the sounds of bagpipes, fiddles, and other instruments used in traditional Scottish music. It was popularized in North America by Scottish immigrants, and has been incorporated into many forms of American music from roots music to bluegrass.
European classical vocal music
Solfege, a vocalized musical
scale, assigns various syllables such as ‘‘Do-Re-Mi‘‘ to each note. A variety of similar tools are found in traditional
Indian music, and
scat singing of jazz.
Jazz and popular music
Hip hop music has a very distinct form of vocal percussion known as
beatboxing. It involves creating beats, rhythms, and
scratching.
The singer of the Icelandic group Sigur Rós, Jón Þór Birgisson, often uses vocals without words, as does Icelandic singer/songwriter, Björk. Her album Medúlla is composed entirely of processed and acoustic vocal music, including beatboxing, choral arrangements and throat singing.
Singer Bobby McFerrin has recorded a number of albums using only his voice and body, sometimes consisting of a texted melody supported by untexted vocalizations.
Vocal music with lyrics
Songs
See
Song and
: Category: Song forms for short forms of music with sung words.
Extended techniques that involve lyrics
The
Second Viennese School, especially
Alban Berg and
Arnold Schoenberg, pioneered a technique called
Sprechstimme in which singers half-talk, half-sing, and only approximate pitches.
Wide-ranging voices
Lucrezia Aguiari: C4 - C7.
Elizabeth Billington: A3 - A6.
Maria Callas: F#3 - E6. Some said she has hit an F6. In his review of Callas's June 11, 1951 concert in Florence, music critic Rock Ferris of ''Musical Courier said, "Her high E's and F's are taken full voice." In a 1969 French television interview with Pierre Desgraupes on the program L'invité du dimanche'', La Scala's maestro Francesco Siciliani speaks of Callas's voice going to high F.
Manuel Garcia: G or A2 - D5.
Maria Malibran: G3 - E6.
Mado Robin: E4 - D7.
Yma Sumac: her range was said to be "well over four octaves" and was sometimes claimed to span even five octaves at her peak. From B2 to C#7
Cher: A2 - F6
See also
Choir
Human Voice
National Center for Voice and Speech
Phonation
Sweet Adelines International
Vocable
Vocal registration
Vocal learning
References
Vocal music
Category:Oral communication
Category:Singing
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