Vocal Standards
Located in 1 route
Vocal Standards foreground close attention to lyric, melodic contour, diction, breath control, and a singer’s interpretive authority over familiar material. Accompaniment can range from full orchestra to modest jazz combo, but the performance ideal is poise, balance, and a feeling that the song is being newly inhabited rather than merely repeated.
History
The style emerged when standards from theater, film, and popular publishing became shared repertory for major singers, especially in the radio and LP eras; mid-century interpreters such as Sinatra, Fitzgerald, Bennett, Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughan, and Peggy Lee established the model, while later standards revivals kept the form alive by proving that durable songs could survive changing production fashions and generational turnover.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Great American Songbook Foundation, “What is the Songbook?”
- Wikipedia, “Traditional pop”
- Library of Congress, “Songs of America.”