(By
Ann Alex).
Lance thought it was
most amusing when I said that I was going to a Bulgarian Singing Workshop. This
was at the Sage on Wednesday December 18 and was lead by Katherine Zeserson,
and very useful and enjoyable for the 30 or so people taking part. This type of folk singing is usually
performed unaccompanied, out of doors, with big natural voices, no vibrato, and
has a sort of ‘earthy feel’. Very
different from jazz singing so far.
The bit that helped me
as a would-be jazz singer was to do with the way the harmonies are
constructed. Many songs are in 3 parts,
with 1 voice doing a drone, another voice singing a ‘crooked’ drone, that is
the original drone with small differences, and the third voice singing the
tune. The intervals between notes are
much smaller than we are used to, quarter tones or less. We practised singing slightly sharp or flat
against the drone, fascinating to try.
When a whole choir does this you get a shimmering type of sound, which
has to be heard to be believed. The
songs also have tricky Balkan rhythms, which are best learned by walking to the rhythm. It struck me that these exercises were useful
for jazz singers, especially for improvisation and scat. Mock not, Lance!
We then attended a
concert of this music by Bulgarian
Voices Angelite, conducted by Georgi
Petkov, who is also a composer whose work has been played by such bands as The
Chieftains. This featured religious
songs, folk-based tunes and lots of individual singing, including what we would
consider to be scat singing, as part of a song Dumba, which was a cheerful song about a group of women working
together.
It seems to me that it’s
a good idea to experience as many types of singing as possible.
Ann
Alex
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