The FlemIngo Stance on Marking

We offer here the first of what we hope will be a series of joint essays dealing with combined views on singing technique by one person who lives on stage, one who lives in the studio, and one who lives in the laboratory. Each of us overlaps a bit with the other two, however; we all sing, we all teach, and we all explore. We begin with the technique of "marking" because relatively little has been written about it and opinions vary significantly. Marking can be defined as "singing with reduced effort to preserve the voice for an upcoming performance." The key words here are "reduced effort" and "preserving," which leads to two primary questions: How is effort reduced in singing?; Why and how is the voice preserved with this reduced effort?The techniques of marking can broadly be cast into several categories:1 ) singing with reduced loudness;2)singing within a reduced pitch range (taking octaves up or down on extreme pitches);3)singing in a lighter registration;4)singing only portions of the piece, keeping silent on less important parts;5)speaking or whispering some or all of the piece;6)mouthing and gesturing (acting) without any vocalization.Discussion of these techniques cannot be centered on only one individual singer, but must generally include the partners on stage. This includes the conductor, stage director, chorus, other soloists, pianist or orchestra, technical personnel for audio enhancement, and those who come to preview the show at a rehearsal. The general rule would be that one must give the partners what they need for a meaningful and productive rehearsal; otherwise, your gain might be their loss. If they need your vocal entry or release, your pitch, your dramatic expression, or any other cues, you must communicate them effectively within your marking strategy.Renee explains how she utilizes marking: "I sing in head voice-as lightly as possible without weight or pressure-usually avoiding chest voice altogether. Marking helped me to develop pianissimo in the passaggio and above. I used to mark entirely on pitch, but in the last ten years or so, I sometimes take higher things down an octave. I also mark the physicality of what I'm doing, particularly when rehearsing a dramatic performance, for my muscle memory of staging and for those I am rehearsing with. I enact the basic physical aspects of voice production without the intensity of actual performance. It can look exaggerated, but doesn't have the muscle or intense emotion behind it. My thinking is to project with the least amount of effort." Similarly, Susan Graham states the following on her use of marking: "When I mark, it's primarily to take the pressure off my vocal cords. I use a very light, gentle version of head voice, usually staying in the proper octave, occasionally going down the octave if it gets too high. But sometimes I have to be careful dropping the octave, because I can start to put too much pressure on the vocal folds, almost ?belting', which defeats the purpose of marking, which is to preserve and not tire the vocal apparatus." Vocalists whose roles call for belting and heavier vocal production will also sing in a lighter head-dominant vocal production during rehearsal and may also rehearse down an octave on higher passages in order to reduce vocal fatigue.The above strategies embrace the earlier identified techniques 1, 2, and 3, which may be ideal for lyric sopranos and tenors who are very comfortable in mixed registration. Often the female speaking voice is already in mixed registration (head-dominant mixed voice), creating a safe zone with reduced effort. There are singers in lower voice categories, however, for whom mixed registration is a never ending struggle, beginning with their speaking voices. From a muscular point of view, effort may not be reduced in lower ranges, even though the vocal folds collide fewer times and the vibrating tissue experiences less trauma. Reduced muscular effort and tissue preservation do not always correlate directly. …