A Lyric Text First Approach to Learning Musical Theatre Song
Many musical theatre singers learn the musical elements of a song first when approaching new repertoire. This can be detrimental to the deep understanding of lyric text that results in nuanced, embodied musical theatre performances. Through my research into coaching classical singers in musical theatre song, a lyric text first approach to learning musical theatre song emerged. This approach was informed by coaching literature for classical singing and musical theatre singing as well as interviews with experienced hybrid practitioners in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom.
In this approach to learning musical theatre song, singers explore a series of Spoken Text exercises, including speaking with different levels of speech energy, changing the syllabic emphasis in the lyric text, and physically investigating the role of punctuation. A number of Improvised Recitative exercises follow to bridge the gap between speaking and singing. In this presentation, I outline the background of the exercises, briefly explain the structure of the model and show video footage of singers in my PhD coaching study working through this approach.
Trevor Jones
Bio
Trevor Jones is an entertainer, conductor, educator and advocate based in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia. Until August 2021, he held the position of Programme Leader at the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Arts (NASDA) in Christchurch, New Zealand. Prior to that, Trevor was a Lecturer in Musical Theatre at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, and the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. His PhD thesis “Coaching Classical Singers in Musical Theatre Song: An Epistemological Exploration of Hybrid Vocal Coaching” will be submitted in August 2022. Trevor’s other academic fields of interest include Australian musical theatre and Teaching Aural and Musicianship skills to musical theatre students. He has published articles on Australian musical theatre in the MTEA Journal and The Conversation.
Trevor is a highly respected musical director and conductor, working across musical theatre and opera. He specialises in developing cross-genre works including Songs To Die For for Opera Queensland and The New Regent Street Spectacular for Bread and Circus Festival. Trevor was the 2011 recipient of the Brian Stacey Award for Emerging Australian Conductors. He is a popular cabaret and piano bar entertainer and performs regularly around Australia. A full portfolio of Trevor’s work can be found at www.trevorjones.com.au