The Usage of Italian Solfeggios and Vocalizations in the Contemporary Czech Singing-Educational Process

Abstract

and vocalizations are didactic compositions, the practice of which builds muscular coordination, creating singing skills. Properly formed tone is the foundation of the correct singing technique and is indispensable in maintaining a healthy voice. From today's point of view, and vocalizations are the traditional method of perfecting singing technique. Singing technique is closely linked to the process of vocal education, in which the Czech Republic has a rich tradition. At the primary level elementary art schools, children and young people have systematic and practical encounters with music and singing. Using a quantitative research design, this paper investigates the practical use of Italian and vocalizations in the current singing and teaching process in basic art schools in the Czech Republic. A total of 142 teachers participated in a questionnaire survey to find out whether the teachers implement Italian singing etudes in the teaching of solo singing and whether singing etudes facilitate the improvement of their pupils’ singing skills. The results of the research refute the original hypothesis and prove that teachers use and vocalizations, despite the general popularity of folk songs, which to some extent are represented by singing etudes in the Czech system of vocal education. The research provides answers to research questions related to this interesting issue, in which two phenomena intersect - the traditional Italian method of improving singing technique on the grounds of a unique system of basic art schools.

Keywords: Solfeggio, vocalization, art schools, singing

Introduction

Interpretive singing practice is inseparably linked to singing technique, which should be continuously consolidated and developed during the course of education. Singing etudes are linked to vocal technical development. These are didactic compositions of varying degrees of difficulty, the proper, consistent and purposeful practice of which builds muscular coordination, creating singing skills that form the basis of a quality tone (Soukupová & Špaček, 2021b). Properly formed tone is a sign of proper voice training, is a prerequisite for tasteful, stylish interpretation and is indispensable in maintaining the health of the voice. Singing skills are the foundation of good singing technique, which Bickel defines as a learned process through which the pupil learns to coordinate elementary physiological systems including vocal breathing, phonation, resonance, and articulation (Bickel, 2017).

The singing etudes can be categorised into and vocalizations, whose common feature is the singing-didactic function. A singing etude contains a so-called singing pattern, a frequently repeated musical motif, which serves as a singing mnemonic device - it not only helps the pupils to practise and build singing skills, but also enables them to improve the quality and efficiency of the practice of the recital repertoire (Soukupová & Špaček, 2021a). A consists of a melody or a melodic combination, in the interpretation of which the pupil uses solmization (Solmization syllables are used to indicate the tones of the diatonic scale, which are derived from the first syllables of the verses of the Latin medieval chant Ut queant laxis. These syllables are indicated by the letters of the Latin alphabet and serve as a mnemonic in teaching and learning new compositions. The inventor of this teaching method was the music theorist and teacher of High Medieval music Quido d'Arezzo.) syllables. In a historical context, was of considerable importance in the context of the foreignization of singing technique and was intrinsically linked to the teaching of other musical disciplines taught in Italian conservatories during the 18th and 19th centuries - these included lessons in counterpoint, keyboard playing, composition and improvisation (Baragwanath, 2011). According to Baragwanath (2011), the pedagogical overlap of is evidenced by written records in the statutes and regulations of educational institutions, such as the Conservatory of Santa Maria della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples. The, who acquired his singing skills by practising and then applied them in his own teaching practice, held the position of teacher of singing and that of teacher of counterpoint (Baragwanath, 2011). He further adds that many voice teachers and singers have focused their attention not only on teaching singing but also on composing operas (Baragwanath, 2011). Unlike, vocalization (A vocalization is a concert composition or singing exercise with the accompaniment of an instrument, which is most often interpreted by the singer using one or more vowels (or a symbolic text), according to the vocal-technical needs of the singer basing his or her singing skills in order to improve the sung tone.) is sung to a vocal or symbolic text, melodically very often based on pre-existing, and has historically had only one main pedagogical role: it has functioned solely as a singing exercise (Baragwanath, 2020).

From today's point of view, and vocalizations can be considered a traditional method of improving singing technique, as their use during the educational process has been evident for centuries, as evidenced by the large number of these compositions stored in the archives and libraries of conservatories, since the inception of opera in the territory of Italian provenance. Singing etudes have been an integral part of teaching and have formed the basis of the didactic repertoire. However, this paper aims to uncover how the use of and vocalizations are viewed in the contemporary singing-education process in the Czech Republic.

The Czech Republic is a country where singing and music education has a significant tradition. The period of the 18th century was characterised by the work of artistically gifted cantors and the birth of town music schools, which in the following century crystallised into organised music education, and which were gradually supervised by a school inspectorate (Bořek, 2010). The transformation of these schools took place in the 20th century. The schools began to be called 'folk art schools' and offered future pupils the study of not only music but also art, dance and literature and drama (Bořek, 2010). After the collapse of the communist regime in 1989, these Czech institutions were restored to the school status that had been removed during the normalisation period, and became part of the system of continuing arts education bearing the current name of Basic Art School (Bořek, 2010).

Basic art schools are a unique phenomenon. They have an irreplaceable place in the field of Czech artistic education of children and youth. A new system of curriculum documents created at the state and school level has been implemented into the educational system of these institutions (Bořek, 2010). The national level is represented by the National Programme of Education and the Framework Educational Programmes defining the binding frameworks of school education (Bořek, 2010). The school level of these documents is represented by school curricula, according to which education is implemented in individual schools. Basic art schools create their school curriculum completely independently, taking into account the profile of their school, the needs of their pupils and the national Framework Education Programme (Bořek, 2010). The preamble of the Framework Curriculum for Basic Arts Education states that the wide range of these schools and their interdependence is unique not only in the Czech environment, but also in the European and global context (Bořek, 2010). These schools provide pupils with live contact with music, prepare them professionally and systematically for active artistic activity and future studies at higher types of art schools, especially at secondary education institutions, conservatories and universities - meaning studies at music departments of pedagogical faculties and academies of performing arts (Grobár et al., 2018).

The following discussion focuses on the above-mentioned issue in more detail and presents research on the connection of two musical phenomena simultaneously - singing etudes ( and vocalizations) and elementary art school. The paper presents the current research results investigating the practical application of the traditional method of improving singing technique by means of Italian singing etudes in the teaching of solo singing in the contemporary singing-educational process in basic art schools in the Czech Republic.

Problem Statement

The intention of the vocal education process at the basic art school is primarily to maintain the health of the child’s voices, which would be capable of systematic and progressive development. The main parameters of the quality of the child's expression are a healthy voice and the quality of the sung tone. These two aspects of solo singing are ideally practised and maintained through didactic pieces - singing etudes that have been composed for this purpose. By practising the singing etudes with the help of the teacher's communicative methodological instructions, the pupil becomes familiar with classical singing technique and learns to work properly with his voice, since the voice is the inner musical instrument of every adept singer (Lehmann, 2005). Since the pupils use solmization syllables, vocal or symbolic text when practicing singing etudes, they can fully concentrate on building and developing their singing skills, which require not only adequate pedagogical guidance from the teacher, but also a high level of concentration.

Over the centuries, singing etudes have penetrated the Czech educational process, so they should be part of the vocal education of future voice professionals. In the Czech school environment, however, this methodological role has, to some extent, been represented by Czech and Moravian folk songs (Soukupová & Špaček, 2021a). Due to the extensive use and popularity of these folk songs, it can hypothesized that and vocalizations could not sufficiently penetrate the educational process in basic art schools, and thus, folk songs took over the methodological function, while, at the same time, remaining a legitimate part of the performance repertoire (Soukupová & Špaček, 2021a). The purpose of this article is not to examine the status of the function of folk songs, but to clarify the role of singing etudes in teaching and their practical application in the course of vocal education. In light of the above literature, this study has the following objectives, which were reflected in the final design of the questionnaire:

to focus attention on the objective confirmation or refutation of hypotheses and answering research questions based on reflection on data obtained through questionnaires

to objectively evaluate whether and to what extent solo singing teachers implement singing etudes in their pedagogical practice

to map the overall approach of teachers to Italian singing etudes

to reveal the attitudes and opinions of teachers with regard to the practical use of Italian and vocalizations in the course of teaching solo singing

Research Questions

The present study aims to present the results of a questionnaire survey evaluating the responses of teachers which will confirm or refute the following hypotheses:

H1: "Less than 50% of the surveyed teachers use singing etudes (regularly or occasionally with selected pupils)."

H1 was created generated based on the premise of the general use of folk songs in Czech elementary art schools (see explanation in the Problem Statement section)

H2: "More than 50% of the surveyed teachers agree with the statement that singing etudes are a suitable didactic means to build and improve singing skills."

H3: "More than 50% of the surveyed teachers agree with the statement that, based on correct practice of singing etudes, it is possible to accelerate the acquisition of singing skills and thus positively influence the quality of the sung tone."

H2 and H3 were generated based on the premise that teachers are theoretically familiar with singing etudes from the time of their artistic studies, as these were, to some extent, part of their initial vocal training

This study will also deal with the following research questions:

Q1: Which singing criteria are most important for a teacher to consider when choosing a singing etude for a pupil?

Q2: What type of singing etudes do teachers prefer?

Q3: Which composers of Italian singing etudes have been used or are being used in teaching solo singing?

Q4: Which singing skills can be improved by practicing singing etudes?

Q5: Do teachers replace singing etudes with folk songs?

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study was to investigate the above issue in greater detail and to find out whether the traditional method of improving singing technique through the practice of Italian and vocalizations is used in basic art schools. Additionally, the study aims to find out whether the practice of Italian and vocalizations helps solo singing teachers improve the singing skills of their pupils. The study focused on an examination of basic art school solo singing teachers’ attitudes with regard to the actual use of Italian and vocalizations in their pedagogical practice.

Research Methods

The research was conducted on the basis of the Specific Research Project of the Faculty of Education, University of Hradec Králové, as part of the author's doctoral studies. The research method was selected with regard to the procedures and techniques of music-pedagogical research (Váňová & Skopal, 2017). In particular, the method of theoretical research analysis - questionnaire form - was chosen. Therefore, the research was conducted using a quantitative empirical questionnaire survey method focused on real data collection in practice and their subsequent analysis. The questionnaire was prepared by the author of this research work. The author generated her own questionnaire including new and individually prepared questions based on vast analysis of professional literature and information resources. These questions were validated by experts from the Music Department of the Faculty of Education at the University of Hradec Králové. At the initial stage of questionnaire development, the subject, aim and object of the research were determined. Then, a semi-structured questionnaire was created consisting of structured questions with given answers and open questions that allowed more comprehensive answers. Some questions were multiple choice ones. The survey included a "pre-survey" testing of the validity, relevance and clarity of each question. A small number of respondents participated in the pilot testing. Their answers were not included in the results of the survey as these only served to amend the questions for the questionnaire.

The first part of the questionnaire gleaned demographic details of the sample such as the gender and age of the respondents, the length of their teaching experience, the specific courses taught at the basic art school and the highest level of education attained in the field. The second part of the questionnaire survey, which is explained in more detail in the following chapter, aimed at establishing facts key to answering the research questions and was directed towards the use of singing etudes in teaching and the important selection criteria that influence the selection of singing etudes. We considered it important to find out what type of singing etudes teachers prefer, which authors of Italian singing etudes they have worked or are working with in their teaching, and whether they consider etudes as an essential part of teaching suitable for improving singing skills. Last but not least, the respondents were asked about their overview in the field of this didactic repertoire, whether the selection of available etudes was sufficient for them or whether they would welcome the addition of new singing etudes to their repertoire portfolio. The final questions concentrated on indicating the most common reasons leading teachers not to use singing etudes and whether they substitute singing etudes with other didactic pieces.

The questionnaire which fully respected the anonymity of all respondents was distributed via email using the online questionnaire creation platform Survio to the sample. The collected data were evaluated and analysed using relevant and appropriate statistical comparison methods. Therefore, the research focused on the absolute frequency of responses, the frequency of which is expressed numerically and determines how often a particular response appears in the survey. The research questions also aim to determine the relative frequency of responses, which are expressed as percentages. These data are presented in the provided tables.

The questionnaire was completed by 142 singing teachers from various basic art schools in the Czech Republic during December 2022 and January 2023. Initially, as many teachers as possible were approached. Nevertheless, the target group is represented by the subset of the teaching population that voluntarily decided to participate in this research activity (i.e. not all solo singing teachers from all primary art schools).

Findings

The following subchapters discuss the research findings. These are divided to the demographic information and the findings connected with the research questions.

Conclusion

The results of the quantitative research among basic art school teachers in the Czech Republic has revealed interesting findings. More than 50% of the teachers surveyed use Italian singing etudes in teaching solo singing, thus refuting the first hypothesis. A total of 78.2% of the teachers consider singing etudes as a suitable didactic tool for improving singing skills. 80.3% of the teachers believe that, based on the correct practice of singing etudes, it is possible to accelerate the gaining of singing skills and thus positively influence the quality of the sung tone, thus confirming the second and third hypotheses. 70.4% of the teachers consider singing etudes as an important part of teaching solo singing. When choosing a singing etude, teachers consider the following aspects: the individual vocal needs of the pupil and the scores of each etude. These areas are reflected in the selection criteria. These include the vocal maturity of the pupil, the range of the voice, the age of the pupil, and the pupil's willingness to rehearse these pieces and the pupil's current vocal technical issues.

With regard to the selection of a singing etude, teachers observe the tonal range of the composition, its cantabile, virtuosity, the types of intervals used, the vocal-technical continuity with the currently studied recital repertoire and the instrumental accompaniment. 57% of the teachers prefer singing of singing etudes to an instructional text in Italian, 40.8% percent prefer singing of singing etudes to vocals, and the lowest percentage of teachers use singing etudes sung to solmization syllables, 27.5% in total. In the Czech educational space, the etudes of Nicola Vaccaie and Giuseppe Concone are the most used. Singing etudes most often improve, singing in and the ability of pure intonation. They refine vocal agility, singing intervals, phrasing, help to balance vocal registers, improve singing in resonance and overall correct pitch setting, the pupil's vocal range and cantilena. If teachers substitute any other option for the singing etudes, it is most often voice exercises taken or created by the teacher. The results also pointed to the fact that teachers replace Italian singing etudes with folk songs or use etudes by composers other than Italian. They temporarily transform the pre-recital compositions into etudes sung on vocal or solmization syllables at the beginning of the rehearsal.

Most teachers would welcome a broader portfolio of these didactic compositions and would use a comprehensive collection of Italian singing etudes specifically created for basic art school pupils, which is still missing for the needs of Czech teachers. The most frequent reasons for not using singing etudes in teaching solo singing to basic art school pupils were given by teachers as too much vocal technical difficulty, insufficient vocal technical maturity of the pupil, low interest in practising these compositions or inclination towards other types of compositions, which to some extent reflects the increasing prevalence of the so-called "Italian etudes". This may result in a decreasing quality of pupils' singing expression. This phenomenon is very interesting and would certainly be worthy of further investigation. The research project has met its objectives: it confirmed and refuted the predefined hypotheses and answered the research questions. The study has provided empirical evidence whether teachers implement Italian singing etudes in the teaching of solo singing in basic art schools in the Czech Republic, mapped their general approach and attitudes towards this issue, all with regard to the area of practical use of these didactic compositions in practice.

Data Availability Statement

Data is available upon request.

Declaration of Conflicts Interests

The author declares that they have no conflict of interest to disclose.

Funding

The research was carried out with the financial support of the Faculty of Education of the University of Hradec Králové within the Specific Research Project "Research on the practical use of singing etudes in teaching solo singing at the basic level of art education in the Czech Republic and Italy", project No. 2119/01510/1210.

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