Application for Permanent Course Approval For Perfa 18-01

May 25, 2016

1. School: School of Liberal Arts Department of Performing Arts Course Number: PERFA 018-01 Course Title: Lyric Diction

2. Justification for the Course:

Central to vocal music study is the research, preparation, and performance of literature from multiple languages and cultures. Lyric Diction focuses on the study of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) with application (vocal technique) to lyrical (melodic) delivery. Within the discipline of vocal music study, Lyric Diction is generally viewed as an essential course for all students majoring or minoring in vocal performance and aligns St. Mary’s College with established vocal curriculum at peer colleges and universities. If approved as a permanent course it will be a required course for all vocal majors and minors which will positively impact enrollment.

3. Student Population: Students taking this course will be music majors and minors pursuing vocal

performance study, and some theater students who may this to augment their vocal studies. We have offered this course twice; 7 students were enrolled each time it was offered.

4. Relationship to Present College Curriculum: Lyric Diction is a conceived as being a required course for all students pursing a major or minor in music with a vocal performance emphasis, and a proposal it to be approved as a requirement will follow. Course content included in-depth diction study of repertoire within the discipline that may or may not be presented in other courses. If so, it strengthens and augments students’ understanding of the great cannon of classical and modern repertoire; if not, it serves to introduce students to new music which broadens their exposure to solo repertoire. It has no impact upon other existing courses in or outside of our department.

5. Any extraordinary implementation costs: Lyric Diction is best taught in a classroom which has an AV system, a piano, and capacity for projection (such as power-point). Syufy 110 is where it has been taught thus far which works well and poses no negative impact on facility use.

6. Library Resources: None are needed at this time.

7. Course Credit and Grading Options: Students who complete the course will receive one (1) SMC course credit. Students and professor meet in class for three hours and fifteen minutes weekly throughout an academic semester. A minimum of two hours of student work will be expected for every hour of in-class instruction.

8. Pre-requisites: None. This is our introductory course and is recommended for first or second year students, and first semester transfer students.

9. Course description for College Catalog: This course explores pronunciation and articulation that enables vocalists to realize discernable and rhetorically expressive singing (and acting) in four different languages (English, German, Italian, and French). Study focuses on learning and utilizing The International Phonetic Alphabet (a universal phonetic alphabet) to express musical lyrics from classical music repertoire. Mostly conceived for vocal music majors or minors, the

course is open to students who have some experience and interest in singing classical solo or choral music. Offered in the fall on odd-numbered years.

10. Course Content: See attached syllabus.

11. Review of Experimental Offering: This course was offered by lead faculty with expertise of lyric diction, and the course content was designed to parallel that at peer colleges and conservatories. The music program director reviewed and approved the content and the execution of the course. The students participated in two informal feedback sessions at six weeks and ten weeks to solicit feedback on the organization of content and the perceived helpfulness of the assignments and assessments. Slight modifications were made along the way as a result and end of semester student evaluations were highly positive.

Submitted by Dr. Julie Ford, Music Program Director, Performing Arts Department

LYRIC DICTION SYLLABUS – FALL 2015 PERFA-018-01 (64446) • Meets Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9:15AM - 10:20AM, Syufy Room 110

Dr. Julie Ford, Associate Professor of Performing Arts; Office: LeFevre #5

Summary Lyric diction is the study and employment of diction that promotes lyricism – i.e. pronunciation and articulation that enables vocalists to realize technically beautiful and rhetorically expressive singing. Singers have the wonderful opportunity to animate (“give life to”) texts and their ability to do so can be greatly enhanced by a richness of tools in musicianship, vocal technique, and rhetorical delivery. Successful and celebrated singers convey authenticity - “convince-ability”- that allows greater truths within a story or poem to be conveyed without distraction (both mis-articulation and mispronunciation are powerful detractors). Voice students gain an increasing awareness of vowels and consonants and how their formation can affect pitch, tone quality, vocal flexibility, and clarity of communication. A central part of developing a singer’s musicianship is gaining a facility of a wide vocabulary of sound in order to empower artistic exploration of literature in many different languages and from a variety of regions, cultures and genres.

The International Phonetic Alphabet We will study specific speech sounds (phonetics) from several languages, learn how they are represented in universal single symbols (the International Phonetic Alphabet), obtain translations to understand the connections between sound and meaning, and use spoken sounds as a springboard to lyrical delivery. Successful pronunciation of texts requires precise, flexible, and nuanced adjustments of the lips, tongue, jaw, and soft palate to create specific sounds, and the singer must learn how to sustain, rhythmically align, and modify texts to make them musical. We will learn to speak, sing, and write the basic IPA symbols for English, German, Italian, and French.

Process of Text Study: Internalization of Meaning, Technical Analysis, and Musical Delivery Our study will be a survey of the essentials of English, French, German, Italian, and pronunciation as outlined in the concise reference “Diction for Singers” by Joan Wall. The process will include (1) pre-reading assignment followed by a lecture reviewing the material (power-points which you will be provided access to via Moodle, (2) applying information/concepts to songs along with word for word and poetic translations. Homework will be light but specific and needs to be done on schedule (some homework will recorded and submitted online). Grading will be based on demonstrated progress through (1) written and oral quizzes, (2) singing exercises with group analysis, (3) individual sung presentations, and (4) your reference binder (organized notes).

Learning Outcomes Upon successful completion of this class, students will be able to (1) transcribe English, French, German, and Italian texts into IPA symbols, (2) produce all the associated sounds represented by these symbols, (3) demonstrate the various articulators and vowels placements that affect diction, and (4) possess materials and strategies for troubleshooting various challenges that one encounters when addressing lyric diction.

Course Topics and Assignments This class is grounded in performance application with repertoire choices that responsive to the students involved. Therefore, the following outline of topics, the breadth of details to be covered in each language study unit, and related timelines are all subject to alteration according to the pace of progress and needs of the individuals in class.

Unit 1: ENGLISH: INTRO TO IPA: VOWELS & CONSONANTS (September) Intro to IPA Vowels: anatomy; purity; placement diagram; frontal, back & central; diphthongs

Consonants: fricatives & nasals, lateral “l” & glides. Typical challenges of singing in English Presentation due: English 1-pg piece

Unit 2: FRENCH (late September through mid-October) Distinctive qualities; single, two, and three consonants; consecutive vowels Stress & rhythm; Mixed vowels; Glides; nasal vowels (& their various spellings) Final mute e; pure vowels e & o; mute & aspirate h; enya Pronounced and silent consonants; elision & liaison Common pit-falls in pronunciation Fourth presentation: French chanson

Unit 3: GERMAN (mid-October through early November) Vowels: distinctive qualities; open, closed & exceptions; unstressed e; diphthongs Mixed vowels; Consonants: interpretive use; ach-laut & ich-laut Consonants: dental; voicing & un-voicing of b, d, g; contractions Double consonants & contractions; use of glottal stop Vowels & Consonants in detail; trouble shooting Second presentation: German song

Unit 4: ITALIAN (early November through December) Special features: syllabification; 1, 2, & 3 consonants; consecutive vowels Stressing: primary & meaning; accent marks; Double Consonants, special doubling Long and short vowels; Consonants l, d, t, and n; stop-plosives Vowels a, e, o; flipped and trilled r; two glides: j & w; enya and elya Apocopation, elision; Diphthongs, glides, triphthongs, two syllables Singing consecutive vowels & connecting words; pitfalls Third presentation: Italian aria

FINAL : Fifth sung presentation: TBA; Written/Oral exam: Italian, French, & German diction (open book)

Expectations & Grading The study of diction is accomplished by classroom coaching that follows detailed and thoughtful preparation outside of class. Attendance is essential and required: the only way to learn diction is by performing in class and observing other people performing. Course activity involves homework (reading & transcription assignments and preparation of songs) that serves to prepare students for tests. Song preparation includes learning pitches, rhythms, phrasing, and doing basic contextual research outside of class. Reading assignments are provided in class and posted on Moodle; if transcription assignment is provided in class, anyone absent is required to take initiative to obtain a copy (extra copies will be available outside my office door).

Grading of Tests, Song Presentations, and the Final Tests and solo presentations will be worth 80% of your grade, and the final, 20% of your grade.

- Each language unit = 20% (test = 10%; solo presentation = 10%) - Final = 20% (comprehensive test = 10%; comprehensive reference binder =10%)

Consistent attendance alone does not earn you an “A”, but poor attendance will severely affect your grade. You can miss three classes without any affect to your grade. Subsequent absences will affect your grade:

- if you miss 4 classes, grade is lowered by 1/3 (“A” becomes A-; B+ becomes B, etc.) - miss 5, grade is lowered 2/3 (A to B+; B+ to C) - miss 6, grade is lowered a full letter grade (A to B, B to C)

PERFA 018: Lyric Diction

Review of Library Resources Summer 2016

This is a review of library resources for the course “Lyric Diction”, which has been offered as an experimental

course in the past and is now being submitted for permanent course status. The library will be able to support

this course using the existing collections and collection budget allocated for the Performing Arts.

Collections

The Performing Arts allocation for library resources is shared between music, dance, theatre, the MFA in

Dance, and also includes support for the LEAP program. Prof. Ford indicates that no new library resources are

needed at this time.

It is noted that in a November 2012 library review for Lyric Diction (then being submitted as a new course

proposal), Sharon Walters, the previous librarian for the Performing Arts, was aware of “growth in the music

program and the corresponding need for more resources to support this growth ­­ specifically music scores and

vocal sheet music.” Responding to this, the library added Naxos Sheet Music to its collection of databases and

increased the collection of popular sheet music. In 2012, it was unclear if “our current audio CD collection has

the appropriate types and quantities of performances in Italian, French, and German songs to meet the listening

expectations for this course.”

Like Ms. Walters, I am happy to work with music faculty to strengthen existing media, monograph, and sheet

music collections in support of this course and as the library resource allocation for the Performing Arts allows.

The following is a brief selection of databases and titles in our collection related to this course. Library of

Congress Subject Heading: Singing ­ Diction

1. International phonetic alphabet for singers: A manual for English and Foreign language diction / Joan Wall.

Greenbank: Pacific Isle, 1989. [Included in textbook collection]

2. Diction for singers: a concise reference for English, Italian, Latin, German, French, and Spanish

pronunciation / Joan Wall. Redmond: Diction for Singers.com, 2009. [In textbook collection]

3. A handbook of diction for singers: Italian, German, French / David Adams. New York: Oxford University

Press, 2008.

4. Phonetics and diction in singing: Italian, French, Spanish, German / Kurt Adler. Minneapolis: University of

Minnesota Press, 1967.

5. Understanding French verse: a guide for singers / David Hunter. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

[e­book]

Databases:

1. Naxos Music Library: More than 126,000 CDs and 1,800,000 tracks including choral, vocal and vocal

ensemble music.

2. Naxos Sheet Music: M ore than 45,000 sheet music titles available.

Library Instruction

PERFA 018: Lyric Diction

Library research assistance is available during regularly scheduled reference and research help hours as well as

by appointment. Formal library instruction sessions are available as student research assignments demand and at

Prof. Ford’s discretion.

Respectfully submitted,

Josh Rose Librarian, Performing Arts June 10, 2016

Approval of the Dean of SOLA, Sheila Hughes Begin forwarded message:

From: Sheila Hughes <smh21@stmarys-ca.edu>

Subject: Re: updated permanent status proposals for Perfa 120, Perfa 114L, Perf 117L, and

Perfa 018

Date: November 17, 2016 at 3:19:47 PM PST

To: Julie Ford <jaf17@stmarys-ca.edu>

Cc: Dana Lawton <dlawton@stmarys-ca.edu> Hi Julie, I have reviewed the proposals for permanent course status for Perfa 120: Conducting, Perfa 018-01: Lyric Diction, Perfa 114L-01: Sightsinging I and Perfa 117L-01: Sightsinging II. I have also circulated them among SOLA chairs and directors for feedback, but received none. All of the concerns I raised earlier have been addressed in these final versions, and I am happy to lend my support to these proposals. Thanks & cheers, Sheila <New Proposal for Permanent statusl-PERFA 120 Conducting.docx> <New Proposal for Permanent status-PERFA 018-01 Lyric Diction.docx> <New Proposal for Permanent status-PERFA 114L-01 SIghtsinging I.docx> <New Proposal for Permanent status-PERFA 117L-01 Sightsinging II.docx>