Vocal music

280px|thumb|Macbeth (Verdi)|Macbeth at the [[Savonlinna Opera Festival in St. Olaf's Castle, Savonlinna, Finland, in 2007]] thumb|280px|La Scala of Milan thumb|280px|Palais Garnier of the [[Paris Opéra]] Opera is a form of Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically g

sound made by a human being using the vocal tract

stage work that combines songs, music, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance

group or solo singing without instrumental sound

thumb|250px|The first page from the manuscript of [[J. S. Bach's Baroque era motet, entitled Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf (BWV226)]]

thumb|right|300px|This score for Handel's ''[[Lascia ch'io pianga'' shows the simple accompaniment for a recitative; much of the time, the basso continuo (the lower staff in bass clef) play half notes and whole notes underneath the vocalist's recitative part.]] thumb|right|200px|A recitative from J.S. Bach's Cantata 140, "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" Recitative (, also known by its Italian name recitativo (), is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat lin

thumb|The Whistling Boy, Frank Duveneck (1872) Whistling, without the use of an artificial whistle, is achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips, usually after applying moisture (licking one's lips or placing water upon them) and then blowing or sucking air through the space. The air is moderated by the lips, curled tongue, teeth or fingers (placed over the mouth or in various areas between pursed lips) to create turbulence, and the curled tongue acts as a resonant chamber to enhance the resulting sound by acting as a type of Helmholtz resonator. By moving the various parts of the l

genre of music performed by one or more singers

thumb|right|Caccini, Le nuove musiche, 1601, title page

Muwashshah ( '''' 'girdled'; plural '; also ' 'girdling,' pl. ') is a strophic poetic form that developed in al-Andalus in the late 10th and early 11th centuries. The ', embodying the Iberian rhyme revolution, was the major Andalusi innovation in Arabic poetry, and it was sung and performed musically. The muwaššaḥ features a complex rhyme and metrical scheme usually containing five '''' ( 'branches'; sing. '), with uniform rhyme within each strophe, interspersed with ' ( 'threads for stringing pearls'; sing. '') with common rhyme throughout the song, as well as a terminal kharja'' ( 'exit'), t

range of tones a certain voice type can reliably produce.

Zemirot or Z'miros ( zǝmîrôt, singular: zimrah but often called by the masculine zemer) are Jewish hymns, usually sung in the Hebrew or Aramaic languages, but sometimes also in Yiddish or Ladino during Shabbat and to some extent the Jewish holidays. As a result of centuries of custom, albeit with some communal variations, each of the has become associated with one of the three obligatory meals of Shabbat: the Friday evening meal, the Saturday day meal, and the third Sabbath meal that typically starts just before sundown on Saturday afternoon. In some editions of the Jewish prayerbook (siddur),

In Arabic Music, the mawwāl (; plural: mawāwīl, ) is a traditional and popular Arabic genre of vocal music that is very slow in beat and sentimental in nature, and is characterised by prolonging vowel syllables, emotional vocals, and is usually presented before the actual song begins. The singer performing a mawwal would usually lament and long for something, such as a past lover, a departed family member or a place, in a wailing manner.

exercises to prepare the voice for use

Martinetes (, sing. martinete) are a flamenco palo belonging to the group of the tonás or cantes a palo seco. As the rest of the songs in this group, it is sung with no accompaniment. In some dance shows for the stage, though, it is accompanied by percussion played with the compás of siguiriya. The percussion instruments chosen for this are frequently a hammer and anvil, to evocate the origins of this palo, attributed to Gypsy smiths. It is not probable, though, that they were real work songs: they demand too much effort and faculties to be sung while carrying out a heavy task like that of a s

singing technique

musical instructor

The cantiñas () is a group of flamenco palos (musical forms), originated in the area of Cádiz in Andalusia (although some styles of cantiña have developed in the province of Seville). They share the same compás or rhythmic pattern with the soleá and are usually sung in a lively rhythm (between 120 and 160 beats per minute). They are normally sung in a major mode and have a festive mood.

French Baroque music genre

Tonás () is a palo or type of flamenco songs. It belongs to the wider category of Cantes a palo seco, palos that are sung a cappella. Owing to this feature, they are considered by traditional flamencology to be the oldest surviving musical form of flamenco. This musical form originated in the Calé Romani subculture of Southern Spain. The first known flamenco singer, Tío Luis el de la Juliana, who lived in Jerez de la Frontera in the last third of the 18th century, was said to have excelled in this palo.

composed music that intentionally exploits sound localization

manner of setting words to music