Stages of Work on the Quality of Timbre Sound of a Pop Vocal Ensemble
Authors: Stulov I.Kh. , Stulova G.P. 
Published: April 2020

The article deals with the problem of organizing the methodical work of a teacher on the quality of timbre sound of the pop vocal ensemble depending on the level of development of vocal skills of singers. Throughout the period of students’ education in ensemble singing at the Department of Pop and Jazz Art, the author managed to highlight four stages in the trans-formation of the quality of the timbre sound of singing voices and to give special recommendations to the methodology of the teacher’s work in accordance with the tasks of training. Stage 1: from the very beginning of work with the singers of the ensemble it is necessary to rely on the quality of sound that is available at the moment. The joint sound of the singers «voices, is distinguished by the absence of unison, the forcing of sound and the diversity of pronouncing the phonemes as a result of the various manner of work of the articulation apparatus. A special task of the teacher is to prevent sound forcing, that is, when singing not to exceed the dynamic range: mf - mp. Stage 2: Multi-voice works are included in the educational repertoire. In connection with this, new tasks arise in the work of the teacher — building the structure and ensemble. When singing it is necessary to use special exercises for the development of harmonic hearing of singers, requiring activation of auditory attention and independent work. However, there is some stagnation and even degradation in the development of the singers ’vocal skills. After removing the forcing of the sound, there appears a dullness of the timbre sound of their voices, as singers do not always know how to use singing breath, besides, the reasons for this are general fatigue of the body of students, reduction of cognitive interest, loss of motivation, which can be eliminated by introducing new methods or techniques of work into the learning process. The 3rd stage: timbre sounding of vocal ensemble can be characterized as lighter, facilitated, but rectilinear, that is without singing vibrato. In the process of performing songs, when the melody is transferred to sounds in the area of low tessitura, there is a split of voice due to non-level of voice registers. The educational repertoire should include works that contribute to the formation of the ability to enjoy wide breathing by maintaining the position of inhalation and economical phonation exhalation when singing, as well as works that require flexible nuance and contrast in the type of the sound: staccato, legato, marcato. Stage 4: further consolidation of the acquired knowledge, skills and practices takes place. In the process of singing, the stability of the skill of proper muscle coordination of the whole voice-forming complex is demonstrated as a result of systematic singers’ work. The timbre sound of the singing collective in multi-voice singing is distinguished by the slightness of voices, good structure and ensemble, variety of timbre paints, clarity of articulation and muscle freedom in voice formation. As a result, singing vibrato, smoothness of voice registers, and full voicing of thoracic and head resonators appear in singers’ voices. To consolidate the results, it is necessary to use special vocal exercises in the classroom to master the vocal difficulties of the performed works. The educational repertoire should include works of diverse characters in style, contrasting in pace, rhythm, dynamics and types of sound science. The author emphasizes that the vocal abilities and skills formed by the singers at the previous stages of training require fixing in the process of constant training and improvement in further independent and professional practical work.