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On the Influence of Emotional Factors in Chorus

Zhou Wenjian, Music Department of Guangdong Vocational College of Literature and Art.

Emotion is an important factor that affects the normal performance of chorus skills. Emotional state plays an important role in chorus performance, which has great influence on the intonation, timbre, strength, speed and emotional expression of music. Chorus performers should have appropriate emotional state, so that chorus skills can be played normally and chorus art can be reproduced more perfectly.

Keywords emotion; Emotional state; Chorus; Pitch; Timbre; Strength; Speed; Emotional expression

Emotion is an emotional phenomenon, which usually refers to people's mood and mental state. Psychological research shows that emotions have an influence on many cognitive factors. Emotional state is the expression of emotions in practical activities, which is of great significance to people's lives. It may improve people's work and study efficiency, and it may also reduce people's work and study efficiency. [1] P205 Music is an emotional art, and its relationship with emotion is even more inseparable. Music can affect people's emotions, and in turn, the emotional state of the singer (performer) directly affects the expression of music. This is especially true of the art of singing-"the advanced behavior of singing activities is the external physiological response of singing psychological consciousness, and the art of singing is the art of human mood." [2] P4 In chorus art, emotional state always influences and dominates the occurrence and development of skills, techniques and artistic emotions, which is an important factor affecting the normal performance of chorus skills. The intonation, timbre, strength, speed and emotional expression of chorus are important aspects in chorus training, and the emotional state of chorus members has certain influence on these aspects. Let's analyze them one by one. 1. Emotion and intonation are the basis of music expression and the most basic requirements in chorus. In fact, inaccurate intonation still occurs from time to time in competitions or performances. According to the statistics of Professor Zhang Yida, the judge of the Eighth School Chorus Festival in Guangzhou, 85.9% of the participating teams are chorus teams with inaccurate intonation. There are many reasons for inaccurate intonation, among which emotion is also an important factor affecting intonation, and it is also an easily overlooked factor. "Inner feelings and physiological state are the main conditions for intonation." (3) P34 emotion plays a positive role in forming a good singing state, and singing state has a certain influence on the quality and intonation of voice. In all vocal music arts, singers are required to have a good singing state first, and chorus is no exception. Qiu Li, a famous chorus conductor, believes that the posture of the singer is very important in rehearsal, and at the same time, it is necessary to maintain an excited state. Lack of energy will directly affect the vitality of the diaphragm, and the sound will naturally become lower; When performing on the stage, due to the change of environment and unstable psychological state, you are very nervous on the stage and easily get too excited. [4] P 19 In addition, Professor Magshun also pointed out: "The repression and excessive tension of the conductor will destroy harmony (intonation), especially during the performance." [5] P94 So, how can we make the choir members have a good singing state? It's not enough if the conductor only says the requirements, such as "lift the smiling muscle and open the soft flap ...". We must find ways to mobilize the emotions of the chorus members and ask them to be in an excited state of mind and have the desire to sing, so as to achieve the singing state we require. If the mood is too lazy, it will easily lead to a low tone. Of course, excessive tension, excessive excitement and excitement will make us unable to control our emotions. At this time, intonation is the most prone to problems, and even leads to singing failure. Therefore, when singing, the mood should be just right, there should be excitement in relaxation and tension in calm, in order to achieve good results. Let's take a look at the following example: During the eighth school chorus festival in Guangzhou, Mr. Meng Dapeng was invited to give a lecture at Baylor Theatre. The choir cooperating with this lecture is a middle school choir in Guangzhou. When the group demonstrated singing, the intonation was seriously low, but Teacher Meng Dapeng didn't say a word of criticism or mention a word about intonation. As soon as he took the stage, he started boxing and asked the players to fight together. These two or three movements, the players were amused at once, and the nervous mood was relaxed. At this time, teacher Meng Dapeng put forward some requirements about singing state in time, and the players did it at once. When singing again, the pitch problem was solved automatically. Therefore, when there is a problem with intonation, consider the emotional factors. 2. Emotion and timbre chorus is a collection of various voices, so its timbre changes are endless, with extensive and rich color adjustment, which greatly enriches the expressive force of chorus. Emotion is the main factor that affects the change of timbre, and timbre is the externalization of emotion and emotion. Different moods will produce different timbres. "Because there is emotion, the color of the sound will change immediately" and "Without emotional response, it will produce poor sound quality". [3] p15 Different emotions and emotions of singers will produce different timbres. For example, happy emotions and emotions can produce bright timbre, while sad emotions and emotions can produce dim timbre and so on. The change and contrast of timbre is an important manifestation of chorus art. If you want to express music with rich timbre, you must inject emotion and emotion into the sound, so as to "bring sound with emotion". "Use stories, emotions, etc. We can infiltrate the desired dramatic emotions into sensitive voices. " [3] P 15 For example, the first part and the reproduction part of Ballad of Yellow Water are the same melody, but the timbre requirements are different due to different contents. The first part, "The Yellow River flows eastward ...", describes a scene of peace, harvest and joy on both sides of the Yellow River before the Japanese invasion, so the tone is slightly brighter, so the mood is clear; The reappearance part, "Huang Shuichong is busy day and night ...", describes a bleak scene after being trampled by Japanese devils. The timbre is dim and needs to be sung with sadness. 3. The change of mood and intensity is an important expression in chorus art, and its emotional effect is also very profound. It brings people rich emotional experience, which is like an avalanche when it is strong and shocking; Weak power can express delicate emotions ... "The infinite change of power is the most appropriate expression of the infinite change of human emotions, and there are as many kinds of emotions as there are." [6] P94 "Pitch is expressed through the fluctuation of melody, and the change of pitch is mainly controlled by the singer." [2] P429 As we all know, the volume of people will change with the change of mood. The more emotional, the louder the voice. On the contrary, the calmer and more relaxed the mood, the lighter and darker the voice; With the emotional tension, the voice will get stronger and stronger; With the relaxation of emotions, the voice will become weaker and weaker. In singing, you can refer to the above rules. For example, when singing ff, you should sing with full and rich emotions. However, it should also be noted that singing and talking are different. The strength of music not only refers to the volume, but also includes the expression of musical emotion. Although the volume is very small when singing pp, we can't relax the control of singing intensity, so we should use the same tension as when singing ff. If we are relaxed when singing pp, then the voice will be lazy and weak. Therefore, the emotional state must not be relaxed when singing, and the mood should be adjusted according to the specific content and needs of the work, so as to achieve reasonable strength and good singing effect. For example, when singing Brahms' lullaby, the whole song should use sweet and soft emotions, and the intensity should be controlled within the range of ppp to mp. The strength of some works changes greatly, so does the singing mood. For example, the beginning of "roar, Yellow River" is "roar, Yellow River!" The trumpet-shaped tone is a very imposing cry, with F strength and passionate emotions; In the middle part, "A nation with 5,000 years has suffered a lot ..." The intensity drops to mf, and the speed also slows down. At this time, the singing mood should be deep and implicit; The turning point of this mood is "But the dawn has broken in new China". With the strengthening of intensity, the mood becomes more and more passionate. Finally, "send a warning signal to the suffering people all over the world!" It symbolizes the China people's cry for final victory. The strength should be above ff, and it has a strong appeal. The conductor and chorus members must be very passionate, even full of blood and passion, in order to sing the earth-shattering "battle alarm"! 4. Emotion and speed The singing speed of songs is closely related to emotions. Like strength, the motion state of speed is consistent with the motion state of human emotions. People will speak fast when they are happy and slow when they are sad. [6] P93 "A certain speed reflects a certain mood. Generally speaking, the faster the speed, the more excited the mood. On the contrary, the slower the speed, the calmer or deeper the mood. " [2] P438 songs with cheerful and lively emotions have a faster singing speed; Sadness and sadness should be expressed at a heavy and slow speed; Songs with strong emotions generally use the speed of March ... With the change and development of the mood and emotion of the song, the singer's mood also changes, thus affecting the change of the speed of the song, that is, gradually fast, slowly, suddenly fast or suddenly slow. Usually, emotion and speed affect each other: the same melody can be sung at different speeds, and vice versa. The same work will be sung at different speeds if there are different understandings in emotion (of course, we advocate fine-tuning according to our own understanding of the work and the actual situation of the chorus on the basis of respecting the author's intention). For example, singing My Roots, in China! "(Quyi Ci Situ Kangqu) When writing this chorus, some choirs use" slow and medium speed "and some choirs use" medium speed ". In fact, behind these two speeds are different understandings of the emotions of the works. Using "slow and medium speed" to interpret can better express the yearning and yearning for "root" hidden in the depths of memory, and the mood of singing is stable and full of affection; The interpretation of "medium speed" feels smooth, which makes people feel that "I" has a good memory of "My roots are in China", which better expresses "I"' s eagerness to return to my old nest, and makes people feel happy when singing. In addition, people's mood will change at any time, which will affect the normal speed of chorus at any time. For example, some choirs sing faster and faster in performances or competitions, which is caused by the change of environment and excessive emotional tension or excitement. As a conductor, he should always pay attention to regulating the emotions of himself and the members of the choir, especially in performances or competitions. If the chorus members are nervous, the conductor should first stabilize their emotions and try to influence the chorus members with stable emotions to stabilize them and cheer them up. This is one of the effective ways to ensure the normal performance of chorus speed. 5. Emotional expression of emotions and music Music is the art of expressing emotions, and the emotions expressed by chorus music are also rich and colorful. In chorus performance, the emotional state of performers (including conductors and chorus members) has a direct impact on the emotional expression of music. The specific manifestations are as follows: first, the chorus emotion can not be produced without the emotions and emotional fluctuations of the performers during the performance. From the psychological point of view, singing is the expression of the singer's inner feelings and emotions. It is recorded in Yue Ji: "Those who feel sad are killed by their voices;" People who feel happy have a slow voice; Those who are satisfied with their feelings have dispersed their voices; People who feel angry have a rough voice; Those who respect their hearts are straight-talking and mean; Those who are caring, their voices are gentle. It can be seen that emotion plays an important role in the expression of musical emotion. Good music can be sung in different ways, but there is one thing in common-it must be sung with heart and emotion. To make the performance have a touching effect, it is necessary to mobilize the singer's emotions and emotions and put them into singing performance activities. However, emotions are very complicated. Different growth experiences and social experiences make everyone have different emotional experiences on music works. Chorus is a collective artistic activity, and the emotion conveyed by chorus music is collective. In chorus activities, the conductor needs to mobilize and unify the emotions and emotions of chorus members, create chorus voices to express the contents of chorus works and shape the musical image. If we don't pay attention to the unity of the chorus members' emotions and emotions, or even the chorus members are absent-minded, it will definitely affect the singing effect of the chorus and make the singing become "lip service". Second, the emotion and emotion of chorus can not be separated from the emotional connotation of songs. "Emotions and emotions are the reflection of the singer's ideological content and the source of the singer's emotions and emotions ... So singing emotions and emotions are the psychological response of the singer to the analysis, understanding and experience of the song." [2] P40 1 That is to say, before singing, the ideological content of the work must be analyzed in detail to grasp the artistic conception and emotion of the work. Chorus is an art performed by conductor and chorus members (including accompaniment). Therefore, before rehearsing the chorus works, the conductor, as the soul of the choir, should make a detailed analysis of the works, deeply understand the theme, performance content, creative techniques, creative motivation, background and creative style of the works, grasp the overall artistic conception of the works, and explain his understanding and singing requirements to the members of the choir during rehearsal. Only under the unified requirements of the conductor, each member can deeply understand the ideological content of the work and vividly express the feelings of the work, and the singing can achieve a touching and touching effect.

Generally speaking, the emotional state in chorus performance should be full and positive, excited and excited, and the singing mood should be adjusted according to the emotional content of the song. Only in this way can our chorus skills be brought into normal play and the chorus art can be reproduced more perfectly. Therefore, as the conductor and trainer of the chorus, we should attach importance to this kind of training and try our best to mobilize the emotions of the chorus members in order to give full play to their best level.