In addition to whatever raw talent they bring to the table, black singers are culturally encouraged and trained to use emotionally expressive and effective phrasing and vocal techniques that we all customarily use in speech in delivering a sermon or a song.
This is not a talent, but a technique: it can be taught, and learned.
This class will begin by lining out familiar techniques we commonly use for communicating emotion in speech. That done, we’ll look for places to use them in songs you already perform. Simple.
But there is some alchemy to this: to do it effectively, we need both a singer and an audience.
In the spirit of play, we will rotate through singers one at a time. Participants will have the opportunity to sing a verse or two of any song of their choosing, in any style. Then at my suggestion, we’ll try out small, specific changes in the delivery of a particular line or verse and see how they impact the emotional responses to the lyrics.
Over the course of the week, as both singers and listeners, we will develop an appreciation for the emotive power of specific techniques as we try them out and hear them employed.
I will be the only one offering feedback or suggestions, and the class is private.