Vocal: what is vocal and its main types

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Every music lover invariably encounters the concept of vocals. Most assume that vocals are just singing. In part, this is true. But let's look at the question of what vocals are more broadly. Among other things, we will try to consider its main types.

What is vocal: definition

In general, if we look at many explanatory dictionaries, there are quite a few interpretations of what vocal is. What does such a concept mean from the point of view, so to speak, of a musical scientific approach? In a general sense - the ability to sing, voice control, the art of singing, the ability to express certain emotions with a voice at a musical level, etc.

You can often find an interpretation of understanding the essence of the question of what vocals are in music. Many musicologists, composers and even performers themselves call it the most sophisticated musical instrument capable of touching deep feelings and soul strings. Agree, it is the human voice that is capable of conveying an unimaginable number of emotional shades, which is inaccessible to any of the knownmusical instruments.

Vocal Types

So let's look at the vocals. What is the ability to master the voice musically in relation to different types of music, we will now see. Let's focus on the most common classification.

The basis for the entire vocal school is the so-called classical vocal, which is sometimes called academic. There is no need to think that this is only an operatic voice production, because classical music, like any other direction, implies different genres. As a rule, such a voice is characterized by incredible volume and depth, and also in most cases does not involve singing into a microphone, since its use can cause severe distortion of the voice sounding in the speakers.

It was from academic vocals that the division of voices into corresponding groups began, differing in voice height, that is, the ability to sing notes in a certain range and with a certain timbre. Here you have a soprano, a mezzo-soprano, a tenor, an alto, a baritone, and much more.

One of the most common is pop vocals. It is probably not necessary to explain what pop or pop music is. Here, the framework for voicing, corresponding to the classical one, is completely absent, although there are some requirements.

Unfortunately, today there are so many pop singers that many of them consider themselves vocalists, even without being able to sing, and all vocal parts are "aligned" with the help of computer programs like Melodyne, which allows you to pull up any falsenote to the desired sound level. However, vocals are not so important for the stage, here the first place is rather given to music and rhythm. It is not surprising that pop vocals imply, so to speak, at least the ability to sing at least somehow. But there are many professional performers who still focus on the vocal perception of any composition.

One of the most difficult manifestations of voice control is jazz vocals. What is a jazz voice in a singer and singer? This is a very fine command of the voice in a very wide range, the ability to very accurately take dissonant notes with a transition, say, through an octave or more, but the main thing here is the ability to improvise. Actually, jazz music itself basically implies improvisation.

Now consider another type called rock vocals. Everyone knows what rock is - music is often very expressive. It is clear that "rock" vocals primarily imply expression and incredible dynamics. Without it, rock music itself looks dry.

Vocals are prevalent here along with rhythm guitar. It is he who carries the charge of energy for which its fans love rock music. But here, too, there are caveats. It's no secret that rock ballads are recognized as the most melodic in the world. So a rock vocalist should not only be able to “turn on” the audience when rhythmic compositions are performed, but also convey all the notes of the mood of the ballad.

By the way, recently in rock very oftenused academic vocals. This is most often seen in Scandinavian bands and performers. Take, for example, the former vocalist of the famous Finnish band Nightwish named Tarja Turunen. Her voice, by almost all definitions, fits the classical production.

Vocalise

Vocalise should also be considered separately, since it is also a kind of vocal. In principle, the performance technique involves the use of only vowels like “a”, “o”, “y”, “e”, etc. in singing. However, the seemingly simple technique of performance is much more complicated than when using text.

One of the most striking examples is Pink Floyd's Great Gig In The Sky from the album Dark Side Of The Moon, which has become a classic of the genre. Even in the concert version, one can feel the skill and professionalism of the vocalists performing the main part. By the way, the group usually invites black women, because they have very specific voices, somewhat reminiscent of the jazz school and the soul style.

Conclusion

Of course, this is not all that can be said about the vocals. It remains to be added that if a person wants to learn how to sing and use his voice as flexibly as possible, it is necessary to devote more than one year to classes, with everyday chants designed to develop the technique of performance, as well as significantly expand the boundaries of the range of sounds reproduced by the voice.