Organization of the visual structuring of the voice in a singing lesson

Abstract

Drawing on ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, I examine a lesson for Japanese nursery rhymes as an activity in which the culture of a particular expression is reproduced. More precisely, I investigate the way in which the singing voice becomes the object of instruction in a lesson and the object is visually structured by gesticulating the singing voice, thereby identifying the mechanisms of a lesson that produce better singing. To this end, the analysis focuses on (1) the sequential characteristics of a vocal lesson, (2) the use of the body configuration to demonstrate the singing voice to be taught, (3) and the envisioning of the singing voice to make it accountable. Based on the presented analysis, this article specifies the ways in which the teacher can convey the invisible qualities of singing to their student, with particular attention to the visualization of the voice.