Going the distance when communicating about the voice

Digital singing lessons during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

This article examines the role of proximity and distance in the joint coordination of musical practices, more precisely: in intersubjective communication about vocal practices in professional singing classes. For this purpose, a phenomenological perspective on the voice, its relation to proximity and distance, will be broadened by an empirical view on forms of interaction in classical singing classes with the implementation of online lessons during the pandemic. The article analyses the conditions of a form of interaction largely based on physical proximity, its possibilities, and limits which the actors involved encounter – and which they change through communication. Following the idea of a triangulation of research methods (Flick 2004), different types of data have been combined to form a multi-perspective approach. This includes Participant observation and video recordings of singing lessons as well as expert interviews with professional opera singers, répétiteurs and teachers at conservatories in Germany, Italy and Austria, which have been collected and analysed in the context of a qualitative study of communicative practices about the musical use of the voice.