My plan for Week 3 rehearsals was to sing as much as possible. With Christmas one week away, I wanted to teach the actors all the music so they could practice at home on their own. I did accomplish my goal, and learned a few things along the way.
The biggest lesson is that writing for children is different than writing for adults. Usually, when I'm thinking of harmonies, I think in four parts: bass, tenor, alto, soprano. I might deviate a little from this, but four parts is standard. But... in a group of children, there are boys whose voices haven't changed yet, or are in the process of changing. So even if I have a group that is half boys/half girls, I may have only a handful of actual bass or tenor voices. Most of my young male actors sing alto or soprano.
So, a vocal director for children's theater must find ways to be creative. Since most musicals were written with adults in mind, this kind of musical tweaking happens more often than you might think. At this point, I have several older female singers volunteering to sing tenor. I love that they want to try something new! I have in the past dropped a part or rewritten a few notes. We shall see if I'll need to make changes like that in this show. There has already been a few spots where I'm making changes based on what I hear (and I have complete freedom to do so!!)
Now we're on break until the New Year, and since there isn't much more to report, I thought I'd share a little about my songwriting process.
I heard this advice when I was a teenager: the music is coming out from the character. It's not the other way around, that the music is playing and the character is responding. Rather, the character him/herself is actually creating the music. And the audience just happens to be able to hear it too.
And that is how I approach writing songs for a musical. I close my eyes, become the character, and try to put all his/her thoughts and feelings into music.
Of course, it's a little more complicated than that, but I won't go into music theory and poetic structure and all that. A lot of the time, I'm just sitting at my piano and playing around with different combinations of things, or I'm driving in the car and humming to myself, and find a melodic line that I really like. It's part trial-and-error, part inspiration, part work. I don't have a formula. Sometimes I start with a melody line, sometimes a lyric. In the case of Five Children and It, several of the songs started with something I read in the book. "Fairy palace in an earthly paradise" and "the wonderfullest Psammead" are straight out of E. Nesbit's mouth (or pen). Her words painted a picture for me and inspired my lyrics. When there aren't words from the author, I go back to the emotion of the character or the feeling of the scene that I'm trying to portray.
It also helps to understand how songs serve in a musical. There are three basic functions of songs:
-narration- songs that give background information
-exposition- songs that tell the story
-"I want" "I am" "I feel"- songs that convey emotion and inner thought
Narration and "I want..." songs slow down the action. Exposition (which can include songs that convey conflict or summarize) move the story along. Songs can also be used as a metaphor, comic relief, background, or as a performance within the show itself, but most songs fit into one of the three listed above, or straddle two functions.
Next is understanding when these songs should happen within the show. Narration is a good opener, of course. Do I want a big opening number, or something more quiet? Too many "I want..." songs makes the show drag. So when is it beneficial to hear the heart of a character? Too much exposition done in song means some of the details may be lost and the audience can't stop to think. But in some cases, I want to move quickly onto the next scene, or I need to give information but want to do it in a fun way.
It's all about balance! This is the basis for my work; this is how I'm thinking as I'm writing. I'm no expert... definitely no Lin-Manuel Miranda or Stephen Sondheim. But I hear my actors singing the songs outside of rehearsal and I see how excited they are to practice with me, so I'm encouraged. I can't wait to start combining singing with blocking and dancing!
If you are interested in writing for musicals, I recommend listening to a variety of music. Music is a language, and you can't learn a language without listening to its sounds. Listen to music from shows, but also ones not from shows. Listen to songs from Gilbert and Sullivan, Rogers and Hammerstein, and George Gershwin, not just current writers. Then study lyrics, poetry, and story-telling. To write lyrics, you have to understand character, which is a whole other blogpost in itself!
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