Course
MTA - Singing Curriculum Overview
A minimum of 10 hours contact time a week is devoted to the singing component of the course.
- Technical Singing
- Song performance and analysis
- Choral rehearsal practice
- History of Musical Theatre
- Theory and basic keyboard skills
- Audition technique
MTA teaches all students the classical technique of singing, as we believe this to be the safest technique. Whilst we do not endorse the traditional 'belt' style of singing, we realise that the 'belt' sound is needed in today's musical theatre. There are safe ways to reproduce the required sound for those students who don't have a natural 'belt'. If we consider your progress satisfactory, and it is safe to do so, we will teach you a technique that gives your sound the required edge - without forcing a naturally low chest voice too high. The classical technique subscribes to a low breaking point between your head and chest voice, eventually making the break negligible to the listener.
Finding your voice can involve a process of negotiation - remember that what you hear reverberating inside your head actually sounds very different to those around you.
Continuing on the holistic approach of MTA, be prepared for the statement that singing is only 10% technique, the rest...... Is psychological. If this sentence alarms you just think for a moment how much your own lack of confidence affects the development of your singing voice?
Singing in a modern musical is the vocal equivalent of running a marathon - it is essential that you get the technique right to remain vocally safe at all times. You need to understand your voice; it is after all the most basic and essential tool that any actor uses. To put it bluntly, you only have the one voice, once it's gone - so has your career! MTA understands that and takes its responsibilities seriously.
2. Song Performance and Analysis
Whilst being a technically safe singer is important for your long term career, it is usually the performance and understanding of a song that will actually get you that first job.
Starting with very basic ideas, using songs that you will no doubt be familiar to you, you will start to explore how a song is performed successfully. At its most basic level why do we sing in shows? It can't simply be because we like the sound of our own voices! Song performance classes start simply and slowly, looking at what makes a good vocal performer. We explore why some songs are easier to perform than others. It is certainly true that our emotional wellbeing at any given time can affect the timbre of the sound that we are able to produce. At MTA all performance classes adhere to this belief. You won't be required to simply 'sing emotionally', you will be required, just like in your acting classes, to explore the emotion and then emit it, in this instance via music.
You might not in the early days of training have the ability to read music, however you will be able to analyse musical ideas. Think on a very basic level at what a minor sounding song tells you, or how an unusual rhythmic pattern makes you feel uncomfortable. Starting with simple, every day language, eventually progressing to a much more legitimate musical language, all MTA students learn to understand music - more than simply listen.
You will have classes that only involve listening and talking. The best performers are the ones that understand their craft inside out - they don't simply 'perform'. Since the1970s musical theatre actors have been required to really think. For example, you couldn't just suddenly sing a Sondheim number without understanding at least some of the multitude of nuances that he includes in every song. How will you cope on your first job when a director asks you to explore the emotion in a song? By the time you have finished your 2 years, you're more likely to struggle if they don't ask you.
Understanding how to sing words as opposed to music, looking at how a scene can turn into a song, learning how, as a performer, to make the song as emotionally raw as possible, whilst not making your audience feel uncomfortable. Every song has an emotional line, every good performer knows it, every competent performer strives to find it, every MTA student strides up to it, initially crossing it, eventually standing right on it and learn how to perform the song from the truth of that line.
As the course progresses so does the material that you are encouraged to explore. By your final term you will know where your weaknesses in performance lies, and combined with the work that you do in your acting classes, you will soon challenge yourself to face the more difficult repertoire that exists in the modern musical theatre.
Combined with this individual personal work, which you undertake in group situations, you also look at the dynamics of group performance. As a year group you will study and analyse many songs throughout the course, and explore the various options that you have as an ensemble performer. How much is enough, and how do you know when you're pulling focus within the groups (in a bad way)? By pushing limits and deliberately holding back you will soon learn how much you personally have to project emotionally to perform in a professional manner, befitting today's industry.
Combining good professional practice with the desire to produce good sounds, with the need to hold a harmony, whilst performing your socks off. Learning how to play with your voice to enable it to blend with others is a key ingredient to being a successful Musical Theatre performer. In weekly ensemble classes you will explore the nuances of group singing, when to shine, when to hold back, when to let it rip! Working steadily through a traditional Musical Theatre repertoire your knowledge base will increase as your singing gets stronger.
To understand any art form you must look at the history that surrounds it. At MTA the history of Musical Theatre is studied as an integral part of the course. In the first term you will be given a full historical context to the modern musical. In following terms you will explore in more detail the main contributors to the art form. With the links that MTA is already forging with new Musical Theatre writers/producers you will top up the history with a healthy dose of the future.
By extending your musical theatre vocabulary you will be better placed to know the perfect musical theatre song for any audition.
At MTA we like to give our students the best possible head start for a career in musical theatre. Nowadays it is not imperative that musical theatre performers can read music, however we believe that it can help. Music is a language, and understanding that language will obviously enable you to work much quicker. All students will be given a basic grounding in music notation. For those students wishing to go further down this road extra classes will be provided.
From the moment that you embark on your training at MTA you will be made aware of how the audition process works in today's theatre. We believe that it takes time to create the perfect portfolio of songs that will show you off in the best possible light. Therefore audition technique and portfolio classes run through the entire eight terms. By the time you leave the course you should have sung the majority of your portfolio in a mock audition set up. In addition to the performance of audition material you will also be advised on your 'image', as very often it is the simple things that can let you down.
Through mock auditions you will be given constant feedback and appraisals from industry professionals on where you are currently going wrong (or right). You are constantly put under pressure to deliver the best possible performance at all times.
In addition to classes all MTA shows are cast from auditions only.
As you progress through the course there will be the chance to audition for outside directors/producers for various workshops developing new shows.