Conceptual Metaphors about the Voice in Teacher-Student Interaction during Lyrical Singing Class

Background: The voice is a complex instrument, which is fully integrated into the body of the singer. When learning vocal technique, there is a pedagogical need to address certain aspects through metaphors to facilitate adjustment and psychomotor control. The use of imaginery, used through metaphorical expressions, stands out as a methodological resource in the singing class, since it allows physical sensations, perceptions and vocal characteristics to be linguistically expressed, helping to build the interaction between teachers and students in the singing class. Objective: The aim of this research is to explore the conceptual metaphors regarding the singing voice present during the lyrical singing class in the interaction between teacher and student. The study uses the audio recording of lyrical singing classes given by various lyrical singing teachers in the city of Concepción, Chillán and Santiago, Chile. From this data, the metaphorical expressions used regarding the voice quality during the class are identified. These are analyzed by the researchers, identifying their target domain, their source domain and the correspondence between them. The results of this stage are triangulated through a focus group of singing teachers, with the aim of confirming and validating the categorizations made by the researchers. Results: The results show a heterogeneous use of metaphors from various conceptual domains, which are used with different objectives throughout the singing class. Certain methodological difficulties are noted in identifying the source domain in some metaphorical expressions, which suggests the existence of some challenges in the understanding of vocal physiology by singing class participants. Conclusion: Metaphorical expressions are used profusely in the context of lyrical singing class. More research is required to determine their nature and their relationship with both the mechanisms of vocal production and the changes that occur during singing.