The Performance Space: How to Learn an Opera Aria - Rhythm & Melody
I’ve got rhythm, I’ve got music…
The intent of today’s blog isn’t to teach you notation. Instead, we are going to go over the things you need to pay attention to and piece together your opera aria.
1) Learn the Rhythm Separate
This starting step seems very simple but can actually be very challenging to focus on. You’ve probably listened to or sung through your aria a handful of times so keeping the rhythm separate from the other elements of the aria can be difficult to focus on. While learning music by ear training is a great skill to have, don’t rely solely on that. Isolate your rhythm and make sure you’re being accurate. That doesn’t mean you have to spend a long time on this step, but thoroughly work the rhythm without the melody to ensure accuracy. You’re less likely to have complications down the line.
You can isolate and work through the rhythm however works best for you. If you count sing/chant, do that! If you just use “la la la” or “ta ta ta” then go for it! If there is a particularly challenging rhythmic spot, mark up your score as you need and narrow in on that section. You’ll probably be surprised how quickly you work through a tough spot by keeping it simple and isolated. Once you’re confident with the accuracy of the rhythm, move on to step 2!
2) Rhythm + Text
See what we are doing here? Still keeping the melody separate from the rhythm. I know, I know! It can be really challenging because you’re chomping at the bit to sing sing sing!!! All that text work you did is going to come in SUPER handing for this step and everything is going to start flying together. If the composer knows their stuff, then the rhythm and text should feel natural together. Especially if you’re singing in a foreign language you don’t have much experience with. Hopefully, the rhythm will give you a lot to work with as far as making the text fluid. One of the biggest recommendations I can give a singer when working this step is to free themselves from trying to be robotic. Let the rhythm move forward through the text. Don’t just plop down on each syllable and each beat. You may be a little robotic at first when piecing the two together, but do your best to keep it fluid. Create a legato line even if you have no melody. There is music in the text and rhythm.
3) Melody
Honestly, this is the easiest step once you’ve gotten to this point. You have the rhythm learned well, the text is flowing in rhythm, and now you just need the melody. Now, take a step back from the rest of the aria process and just focus on the melody. Don’t even worry about keeping the melody in rhythm or tempo. All you need to focus on in this step is how the notes connect to each other. Narrow in on the intervals and drill into the tricky parts.
4) Rhythm + Melody
The rhythm is accurate. The melody is accurate. Simply work them together the same way you worked putting the text and rhythm together.
5) Put it all together!
This step is pretty self explanatory, rhythm + melody+text = Sing your aria! You’re at the point where you can refine the nuances of your music and start bringing in performance specific elements.
While I believe this is the most efficient process to get your music up and running, that doesn’t mean you have to follow each step to a “T” and never deviate. There are plenty of times where you may be working through a section and it’s hard to stay focused or the challenge is becoming overwhelming. Move on! If there is a rhythmic spot that is deflating your motivation to stick with the practice session then jump over to working on the melody. You’ll feel a lot better when you come back around to that tricky spot that was bumming you out.
I hope you find this process as beneficial as I do. Opera arias are complex and can be overwhelming if you try to bite in more than you can chew. Separate the work load into manageable steps and you’ll be putting it all together in no time.
-Laura
