CHAPTER I_The Psychology of Singing A Rational Method of Voice Culture Based on a Scientific Analysis of All Systems, Ancient and Modern

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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SINGING

A Rational Method of Voice Culture

based on a Scientific Analysis of

all Systems, Ancient and Modern

DAVID C. TAYLOR

New York

1922

by the MacMillan Company.

New York--Boston--Chicago--Atlanta--San Francisco

MacMillan & Co., Limited

London--Bombay--Calcutta--Melbourne

The Macmillan Co. of Canada, Ltd.

Toronto

Set up and electrotyped. Published November, 1908.

Norwood Press: Berwick & Smith Co., Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.

To My Mother

WHOSE DEVOTION TO TRUTH AND EARNEST

LABOR HAS PROMPTED ALL MY EFFORTS

THIS WORK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED

PREFACE

A peculiar gap exists between the accepted theoretical basis of

instruction in singing and the actual methods of vocal teachers. Judging

by the number of scientific treatises on the voice, the academic

observer would be led to believe that a coherent Science of Voice

Culture has been evolved. Modern methods of instruction in singing are

presumed to embody a system of exact and infallible rules for the

management of the voice. Teachers of singing in all the musical centers

of Europe and America claim to follow a definite plan in the training of

voices, based on established scientific principles. But a practical

acquaintance with the modern art of Voice Culture reveals the fact that

the laws of tone-production deduced from the scientific investigation of

the voice do not furnish a satisfactory basis for a method of training

voices.

Throughout the entire vocal profession, among singers, teachers, and

students alike, there is a general feeling of the insufficiency of

present knowledge of the voice. The problem of the correct management of

the vocal organs has not been finally and definitely solved. Voice

Culture has not been reduced to an exact science. Vocal teachers are not

in possession of an infallible method of training voices. Students of

singing find great difficulty in learning how to use their voices. Voice

Culture is generally recognized as entitled to a position among the

exact sciences; but something remains to be done before it can assume

that position.

There must be some definite reason for the failure of theoretical

investigation to produce a satisfactory Science of Voice Culture. This

cannot be due to any present lack of understanding of the vocal

mechanism on the part of scientific students of the subject. The anatomy

and physiology of the vocal organs have been exhaustively studied by a

vast number of highly trained experts. So far as the muscular operations

of tone-production are concerned, and the laws of acoustics bearing on

the vocal action, no new discovery can well be expected. But in this

very fact, the exhaustive attention paid to the mechanical operations

of the voice, is seen the incompleteness of Vocal Science. Attention has

been turned exclusively to the mechanical features of tone-production,

and in consequence many important facts bearing on the voice have been

overlooked.

In spite of the general acceptance of the doctrines of Vocal Science,

tone-production has not really been studied from the purely scientific

standpoint. The use of the word "science" presupposes the careful

observation and study of all facts and phenomena bearing in any way on

the subject investigated. Viewed in this light, the scientific study of

the voice is at once seen to be incomplete. True, the use of the voice

is a muscular operation, and a knowledge of the muscular structure of

the vocal organs is necessary to an understanding of the voice. But this

knowledge alone is not sufficient. Like every other voluntary muscular

operation, tone-production is subject to the psychological laws of

control and guidance. Psychology is therefore of equal importance with

anatomy and acoustics as an element of Vocal Science.

There is also another line along which all previous investigation of

the voice is singularly incomplete. An immense fund of information about

the vocal action is obtained by attentive listening to voices, and in no

other way. Yet this important element in Vocal Science is almost

completely neglected.

In order to arrive at an assured basis for the art of Voice Culture, it

is necessary in the first place to apply the strictest rules of

scientific investigation to the study of the voice. A definite plan must

be adopted, to include every available source information. First, the

insight into the operations of the voice, obtained by listening to

voices, must be reviewed and analyzed. Second, the sciences of anatomy,

mechanics, acoustics, and psychology must each contribute its share to

the general fund of information. Third, from all the facts thus brought

together the general laws of vocal control and management must be

deduced.

Before undertaking this exhaustive analysis of the vocal action it is

advisable to review in detail every method of instruction in singing now

in vogue. This may seem a very difficult task. To the casual observer

conditions in the vocal world appear truly chaotic. Almost every

prominent teacher believes himself to possess a method peculiarly his

own; it would not be easy to find two masters who agree on every point,

practical as well as theoretical. But this confusion of methods is only

on the surface. All teachers draw the materials of their methods from

the same sources. An outline of the history of Voice Culture, including

the rise of the old Italian school and the development of Vocal Science,

will render the present situation in the vocal profession sufficiently

clear.

Part I of this work contains a review of modern methods. In Part II a

critical analysis is offered of certain theories of the vocal action

which receive much attention in practical instruction. Several of the

accepted doctrines of Vocal Science, notably those of breath-control,

chest and nasal resonance, and forward placing of the tone, are found on

examination to contain serious fallacies. More important even than the

specific errors involved in these doctrines, the basic principle of

modern Voice Culture is also found to be false. All methods are based on

the theory that the voice requires to be directly and consciously

managed in the performance of its muscular operations. When tested by

the psychological laws of muscular guidance, this theory of mechanical

tone-production is found to be a complete error.

Part III contains a summary of all present knowledge of the voice.

First, the insight into the singer's vocal operations is considered,

which the hearer obtains by attentive listening to the tones produced.

This empirical knowledge, as it is generally called, indicates a state

of unnecessary throat tension as the cause, or at any rate the

accompaniment, of every faulty tone. Further, an outline is given of all

scientific knowledge of the voice. The anatomy of the vocal organs, and

the acoustic and mechanical principles of the vocal action, are briefly

described. Finally, the psychological laws of tone-production are

considered. It is seen that under normal conditions the voice

instinctively obeys the commands of the ear.

In Part IV the information about the vocal action obtained from the two

sources is combined,--the scientific knowledge of mechanical processes,

and the empirical knowledge derived from attentive listening to voices.

Throat stiffness is then seen to be the one influence which can

interfere with the instinctively correct action of the voice. The most

important cause of throat stiffness is found in the attempt consciously

to manage the mechanical operations of the voice. In place of the

erroneous principles of mechanical instruction, imitation is seen to be

the rational foundation of a method of Voice Culture. The mystery

surrounding the old Italian method is dispelled so soon as the

possibility is recognized of teaching singing by imitation. Practical

rules are outlined for imparting and acquiring the correct use of the

voice, through the guidance of the sense of hearing. The singer's

education is considered in its broadest sense, and training in

tone-production is assigned to its proper place in the complex scheme of

Voice Culture.

During the past twenty years the author has found opportunity to hear

most of the famous singers who have visited America, as well as a host

of artists of somewhat lesser fame. In his early student days the

conviction grew that the voice cannot reach its fullest development when

mechanically used. Siegfried does not forge his sword, and at the same

time think of his diaphragm or soft palate. Lucia cannot attend to the

movements of her arytenoid cartilages while pouring out the trills and

runs of her Mad Scene. A study of the theoretical works on Vocal

Science, dealing always with mechanical action and never with tone,

served only to strengthen this conviction. Finally the laws of

physiological psychology were found to confirm this early belief.

Every obtainable work on Voice Culture has been included in the author's

reading. No desire must be understood to make a display of the results

of this study. One citation from a recognized authority, or in some

cases two or three, is held sufficient to verify each statement

regarding the accepted doctrines of Vocal Science. As for the practical

features of modern methods, the facts alleged cannot in every case be

substantiated by references to published works. It is, however, believed

that the reader's acquaintance with the subject will bear out the

author's statements.

This work is of necessity academic in conception and in substance. Its

only purpose is to demonstrate the falsity of the idea of mechanical

vocal management, and to prove the scientific soundness of instruction

by imitation. There is no possibility of a practical manual of

instruction in singing being accepted, based on the training of the ear

and the musical education of the singer, until the vocal world has been

convinced of the error of the mechanical idea. When that has been

accomplished this work will have served its purpose. All of the

controversial materials, together with much of the theoretical subject

matter, will then be superfluous. A concise practical treatise can then

be offered, containing all that the vocal teacher and the student of

singing need to know about the training and management of the voice.

It is in great measure due to the coöperation of my dear friend, Charles

Leonard-Stuart, that my theory of voice production is brought into

literary form, and presented in this book. To his thorough musicianship,

his skill and experience as a writer of English, and especially to his

mastery of the bookman's art, I am deeply indebted. True as I know

Leonard-Stuart's love to be for the art of pure singing, I yet prefer to

ascribe his unselfish interest in this work to his friendship for the

author.

CONTENTS

PART I

MODERN METHODS OF INSTRUCTION IN SINGING

CHAPTER I

Tone-Production and Voice Culture

CHAPTER II

Breathing and Breath-Control

CHAPTER III

Registers and Laryngeal Action

CHAPTER IV

Resonance

CHAPTER V

Empirical Materials of Modern Methods

CHAPTER VI

A General View of Modern Voice Culture

PART II

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF MODERN METHODS

CHAPTER I

Mechanical Vocal Management as the Basis of Voice Culture

CHAPTER II

The Fallacy of the Doctrine of Breath-Control

CHAPTER III

The Fallacies of Forward Emission, Chest Resonance, and

Nasal Resonance

CHAPTER IV

The Futility of the Materials of Modern Methods

CHAPTER V

The Error of the Theory of Mechanical Vocal Management

PART III

THE BASIS OF A REAL SCIENCE OF VOICE

CHAPTER I

The Means of Empirical Observation of the Voice

CHAPTER II

Sympathetic Sensations of Vocal Tone

CHAPTER III

Empirical Knowledge of the Voice

CHAPTER IV

The Empirical Precepts of the Old Italian School

CHAPTER V

Empirical Knowledge in Modern Voice Culture

CHAPTER VI

Scientific Knowledge of the Voice

PART IV

VOCAL SCIENCE AND PRACTICAL VOICE CULTURE

CHAPTER I

The Correct Vocal Action

CHAPTER II

The Causes of Throat Stiffness and of Incorrect Vocal Action

CHAPTER III

Throat Stiffness and Incorrect Singing

CHAPTER IV

The True Meaning of Vocal Training

CHAPTER V

Imitation the Rational Basis of Voice Culture

CHAPTER VI

The Old Italian Method

CHAPTER VII

The Disappearance of the Old Italian Method and the Development

of Mechanical Instruction

CHAPTER VIII

The Materials of Rational Instruction in Singing

CHAPTER IX

Outlines of a Practical Method of Voice Culture

Bibliography

CHAPTER I

TONE-PRODUCTION AND VOICE CULTURE

In no other form of expression do art and nature seem so closely

identified as in the art of singing. A perfect voice speaks so directly

to the soul of the hearer that all appearance of artfully prepared

effect is absent. Every tone sung by a consummate vocal artist seems to

be poured forth freely and spontaneously. There is no evidence of

calculation, of carefully directed effort, of attention to the workings

of the voice, in the tones of a perfect singer. Yet if the accepted idea

of Voice Culture is correct, this semblance of spontaneity in the use of

the voice can result only from careful and incessant attention to

mechanical rules. That the voice must be managed or handled in some way

neither spontaneous nor instinctive, is the settled conviction of almost

every authority on the subject. All authorities believe also that this

manner of handling the voice must be acquired by every student of

singing, in the course of carefully directed study.

This training in the use of the voice is the most important feature of

education in singing. Voice Culture embraces a peculiar and distinct

problem, that of the correct management of the vocal organs. Vocal

training has indeed come to be considered synonymous with training in

the correct use of the voice. Every method of instruction in singing

must contain as its most important element some means for dealing with

the problem of tone-production.

No complete and satisfactory solution of this problem has ever been

found. Of this fact every one acquainted with the practical side of

Voice Culture must be well aware. As the present work is designed solely

to suggest a new manner of dealing with this question, it is advisable

to define precisely what is meant by the problem of tone-production.

In theory the question may be stated very simply. It is generally

believed throughout the vocal profession that the voice has one correct

mode of action, different from a wide variety of incorrect actions of

which it is capable;--that this mode of action, though ordained by

Nature, is not in the usual sense natural or instinctive;--that the

correct vocal action must be acquired, through a definite understanding

and conscious management of the muscular movements involved. The

theoretical problem therefore is: What is the correct vocal action, and

how can it be acquired?

On the practical side, the nature of the problem is by no means so

simple. In actual instruction in singing, the subject of vocal

management cannot readily be dissociated from the wide range of other

topics comprised in the singer's education. In much that pertains to the

art of music, the singer's training must include the same subjects that

form the training of every musician. In addition to this general musical

training, about the same for all students of music, each student must

acquire technical command of the chosen instrument. This is necessarily

acquired by practice on the instrument, whether it be piano, violin,

oboe, or whatever else. In the same way, vocal technique is acquired by

practice in actual singing. Practice makes perfect, with the voice as

with everything else.

But the voice is not invariably subject to the law that practice makes

perfect. In this important respect the singer's education presents a

problem not encountered by the student of any instrument. Given the

necessary talents, industry, and opportunities for study, the student of

the violin may count with certainty on acquiring the mastery of this

instrument. But for the vocal student this is not necessarily true.

There are many cases in which practice in singing does not bring about

technical perfection. The mere singing of technical exercises is not

enough; it is of vital importance that the exercises be sung in some

particular manner. There is one certain way in which the voice must be

handled during the practice of singing. If the vocal organs are

exercised in this particular manner, the voice will improve steadily as

the result of practice. This progress will continue until perfect

technical command of the voice is acquired. But if the vocal student

fails to hit upon this particular way of handling the voice in practice

the voice will improve little, or not at all. In such a case perfect

vocal technique will never be acquired, no matter how many years the

practice may continue.

What is this peculiar way in which the voice must be handled during the

practice of singing? This is the practical problem of tone-production,

as it confronts the student of singing.

It is important that the exact bearing of the problem be clearly

understood. It is purely a feature of education in singing, and concerns

only teachers and students of the art. Properly speaking, the finished

singer should leave the teacher and start on the artistic career,

equipped with a voice under perfect control. There should be no problem

of tone-production for the trained singer, no thought or worry about the

vocal action. True, many authorities on the voice maintain that the

artist must, in all singing, consciously and intelligently guide the

operations of the vocal organs. But even if this be the case the fact

remains that this ability to manage the voice must be acquired during

student days. In seeking a solution of the problem, that period in the

prospective singer's training must be considered during which the proper

use of the voice is learned.

It may be taken for granted that teachers of singing have always been

aware of the existence of the problem of tone-production, and have

always instructed their pupils in the correct management of the voice.

Yet it is only within the past hundred and fifty years that vocal

management has been the subject of special study. A brief review of the

history of Voice Culture will serve to bring this fact out clearly.

To begin with, the present art of singing is of comparatively recent

origin. It is indeed probable that man had been using the voice in

something akin to song for thousands of years before the dawn of

history. Song of some kind has always played an important part in human

life, savage as well as civilized. To express our emotions and feelings

by means of the voice is one of our most deep-seated instincts. For this

use of the voice to take on the character of melody, as distinguished

from ordinary speech, is also purely instinctive. Singing was one of the

most zealously cultivated arts in early Egypt, in ancient Israel, and in

classic Greece and Rome. Throughout all the centuries of European

history singing has always had its recognized place, both in the

services of the various churches and in the daily life of the people.

But solo singing, as we know it to-day, is a comparatively modern art.

Not until the closing decades of the sixteenth century did the art of

solo singing receive much attention, and it is to that period we must

look for the beginnings of Voice Culture. It is true that the voice was

cultivated, both for speech and song, among the Greeks and Romans.

Gordon Holmes, in his _Treatise on Vocal Physiology and Hygiene_

(London, 1879), gives an interesting account of these ancient systems of

Voice Culture. But practically nothing has come down to us about the

means then used for training the voice. Even if any defined methods were

developed, it is absolutely certain that these had no influence on the

modern art of Voice Culture.

With the birth of Italian opera, in 1600, a new art of singing also came

into existence. The two arts, opera and singing, developed side by side,

each dependent on the other. And most important to the present inquiry,

the art or science of training voices also came into being. In _Le

Revoluzioni del Teatro Musicale Italiano_ (Venice, 1785), Arteaga says

of the development of opera: "But nothing contributed so much to clarify

Italian music at that time as the excellence and the abundance of the

singers." A race of singing masters seems almost to have sprung up in

Italy. These illustrious masters taught the singers to produce effects

with their voices such as had never been heard of before. From 1600 to

1750 the progress of the art of singing was uninterrupted. Each great

teacher carried the art a little further, discovering new beauties and

powers in the voice, and finding means to impart his new knowledge to

his pupils.

This race of teachers is known to-day as the Old Italian School, and

their system of instruction is called the Old Italian Method. Just what

this method consisted of is a much-discussed question. Whatever its

system of instruction, the old Italian school seems to have suffered a

gradual decline. In 1800 it was distinctly on the wane; it was entirely

superseded, during the years from 1840 to 1865, by the modern scientific

methods.

Considered as a practical system of Voice Culture, the old Italian

method is a highly mysterious subject. Little is now known about the

means used for training students of singing in the correct use of the

voice. This much is fairly certain: the old masters paid little or no

attention to what are now considered scientific principles. They taught

in what modern vocal theorists consider a rather haphazard fashion. The

term "empirical" is often applied to their method, and to the knowledge

of the voice on which it was based.[1] But as to what the old masters

actually knew about the voice, and just how they taught their pupils to

sing, on these points the modern world is in almost complete ignorance.

Many attempts have been made in recent years to reconstruct the old

Italian method in the light of modern scientific knowledge of the voice.

But no such analysis of the empirical system has ever been convincing.

[Note 1: "The old Italian method of instruction, to which vocal

music owed its high condition, was purely empirical." (Emma Seiler, _The

Voice in Singing_. Phila., 1886.)]

How the practical method of the old masters came to be forgotten is

perhaps the most mysterious feature of this puzzling system. There has

been a lineal succession of teachers of singing, from the earlier

decades of the eighteenth century down to the present. Even to-day it is

almost unheard of that any one should presume to call himself a teacher

of singing without having studied with at least one recognized master.

Each master of the old school imparted his knowledge and his practical

method to his pupils. Those of his pupils who in their turn became

teachers passed the method on to their students, and so on, in many

unbroken successions. Yet, for some mysterious reason, the substance of

the old method was lost in transmission.

What little is now known about the old method is derived from two

sources, the written record and tradition. To write books in explanation

of their system of instruction does not seem to have occurred to the

earliest exponents of the art of Voice Culture. The first published work

on the subject was that of Pietro Francesco Tosi, _Osservazione sopra il

Canto figurato_, brought out in Bologna in 1723. This was translated

into English by M. Galliard, and published in London in 1742; a German

translation by J. F. Agricola was issued in 1757. The present work will

call for several citations from Tosi, all taken from the English

edition. Only one other prominent teacher of the old school, G. B.

Mancini, has left an apparently complete record of his method. His

_Riflessioni pratiche sul Canto figurato_ was published in Milan in

1776. Mancini's book has never been translated into English. Reference

will therefore be made to the third Italian edition, brought out in

Milan, 1777.

Tosi and Mancini undoubtedly intended to give complete accounts of the

methods of instruction in singing in vogue in their day. But modern

vocal theorists generally believe that the most important materials of

instruction were for some reason not mentioned. Three registers are

mentioned by Tosi, while Mancini speaks of only two. Both touch on the

necessity of equalizing the registers, but give no specific directions

for this purpose. About all these early writers have left us, in the

opinion of most modern students of their works, is the outline of an

elaborate system of vocal ornaments and embellishments.

On the side of tradition a slightly more coherent set of rules has come

down to us from the old masters. These are generally known as the

"traditional precepts." Just when the precepts were first formulated it

is impossible to say. Tosi and Mancini do not mention them. Perhaps they

were held by the old masters as a sort of esoteric mystery; this idea is

occasionally put forward. At any rate, by the time the traditional

precepts were given to the world in published works on the voice, their

valuable meaning had been completely lost.

Gathered from all available sources, the traditional precepts are as

follows:

"Sing on the breath."

"Open the throat."

"Sing the tone forward," or "at the lips."

"Support the tone."

To the layman these precepts are so vague as to be almost

unintelligible. But modern vocal teachers are convinced that the

precepts sum up the most important means used by the old masters for

imparting the correct vocal action. An interpretation of the precepts in

terms intelligible to the modern student would therefore be extremely

valuable. Many scientific investigators of the voice have sought

earnestly to discover the sense in which the precepts were applied by

the old masters. These explanations of the traditional precepts occupy a

very important position in most modern methods of instruction.

There can be no question that the old masters were highly successful

teachers of singing. Even leaving out of consideration the vocal

achievements of the castrati, the singers of Tosi's day must have been

able to perform music of the florid style in a masterly fashion. This is

plainly seen from a study of the scores of the operas popular at that

time. Empirical methods of instruction seem to have sufficed for the

earlier masters. Not until the old method had been in existence for

nearly one hundred and fifty years does an attempt seem to have been

made to study the voice scientifically. In 1741 a famous French

physician, Ferrein, published a treatise on the vocal organs. This was

the first scientific work to influence the practices of vocal teachers.

For many years after the publication of Ferrein's treatise, the

scientific study of the voice attracted very little attention from the

singing masters. Fully sixty years elapsed before any serious attempt

was made to base a method of instruction on scientific principles. Even

then the idea of scientific instruction in singing gained ground very

slowly. Practical teachers at first paid but little attention to the

subject. Interest in the mechanics of voice production was confined

almost entirely to the scientists.

In the early decades of the nineteenth century the mechanical features

of voice production seem to have appealed to a constantly wider circle

of scientists. Lickovius (1814), Malgaine (1831), Bennati (1830), Bell

(1832), Savart (1825), brought out works on the subject. It remained,

however, for a vocal teacher, Garcia, to conceive the idea of basing

practical instruction on scientific knowledge.

Manuel Garcia (1805-1906) may justly be regarded as the founder of Vocal

Science. His father, Manuel del Popolo Viscenti, was famous as singer,

impresario, and teacher. From him Garcia inherited the old method, it is

safe to assume, in its entirety. But for Garcia's remarkable mind the

empirical methods of the old school were unsatisfactory. He desired

definite knowledge of the voice. A clear idea seems to have been in his

mind that, with full understanding of the vocal mechanism and of its

correct mode of action, voices would be more readily and surely trained.

How strongly this idea had possession of Garcia is shown by the fact

that he began the study of the vocal action in 1832, and that he

invented the laryngoscope only in 1855.

It must not be understood that Garcia was the first teacher to attempt

to formulate a systematic scheme of instruction in singing. In the

works of Mannstein (1834) and of Marx (1823) an ambitious forward

movement on the part of many prominent teachers is strongly indicated.

But Garcia was the first teacher to apply scientific principles in

dealing with the specific problem of tone-production. He conceived the

idea that a scientific knowledge of the workings of the vocal organs

might be made the basis of a practical system or method of instruction

in singing. This idea of Garcia has been the basic principle of all

practical methods, ever since the publication of the results of his

first laryngoscopic investigations in 1855.

Before attempting to suggest a new means of dealing with the problem of

vocal management, it is well to ascertain how this problem is treated in

modern methods of instruction. It would not be easy to overstate the

importance assigned to the matter of tone-production in all modern

systems of Voice Culture. The scientific study of the voice has dealt

exclusively with this subject. A new science has resulted, commonly

called "Vocal Science." This science is generally accepted as the

foundation of all instruction in singing. All modern methods are to

some extent based on Vocal Science.

To arrive at an understanding of modern methods, the two directions in

which vocal theorists have approached the scientific study of the voice

must be borne in mind: First, by an investigation of the anatomy of the

vocal organs, and of the laws of acoustics and mechanics in accordance

with which they operate. Second, by an analysis of the traditional

precepts of the old Italian school in the light of this scientific

knowledge.

As the present work demands a review of modern methods from the

practical side only, it is not necessary to include a description of the

vocal organs. It will be sufficient to describe briefly the manner in

which scientific investigators of the voice treat the subject of the

vocal organs.

The vocal mechanism consists of three portions,--the breathing

apparatus, the larynx with its appendages, and the resonance cavities.

Vocal scientists apply their efforts to finding out the correct mode of

action of each portion of the mechanism, and to formulating rules and

exercises by which these correct actions can be acquired and combined

for the production of perfect tones. The analysis of the traditional

precepts also conforms to this general plan; each precept is referred to

that portion of the vocal apparatus to which it seems best to apply. The

outline of the principles of modern methods contained in the following

chapters follows this general scheme.

It must be understood at the start that on most of the doctrines

included in Vocal Science there is no unanimity of opinion among either

theorists or teachers. Far from this being the case, practically all the

principles of Vocal Science are the subjects of controversy.

CHAPTER II

BREATHING AND BREATH-CONTROL

It is generally considered that, as the breath is the foundation of

singing, the manner of breathing is of vital importance to the singer.

This subject has therefore received a vast amount of attention from

vocal scientists, and the muscular actions of breathing have been

exhaustively studied.

Several sets of rules for inspiration and expiration are put forth by

different authorities. But there is no occasion for going into a

detailed discussion of the different modes of breathing advocated by the

various schools, or of the theoretical arguments which each advances. It

is sufficient to say that the modes of breathing most in vogue are five

in number,--deep abdominal, lateral or costal, fixed high chest,

clavicular, and diaphragmatic-abdominal. However, on experimenting with

these five systems of breathing, it is found that the number may be

reduced to two; of these the others are but slight modifications. In

one system of inspiration the abdomen is protruded, while the upper

chest is held firm, the greatest expansion being at the base of the

lungs. In the other mode of taking breath the abdomen is slightly drawn

in, while the chest is expanded in every direction, upward, laterally,

forward, and backward. In this system the upper chest is held in a fixed

and high position.

Necessarily the manner of filling the lungs involves the manner in which

they are emptied. Opinions are practically unanimous as to the proper

position of the singer before taking breath, that is, at the end of an

expiration. The singer must stand erect, the weight of the body evenly

supported on the balls of both feet, with the whole body in a condition

of lithe suppleness. In both systems of breathing the manner of

expiration is simply a return to this position.

A wide variety of breathing exercises are in use, but these do not

require detailed description. Any one of the prescribed systems of

breathing can easily be adopted, and the student of singing seldom

encounters any difficulty on this point. Still most teachers attach

great importance to the acquirement of the correct manner of breathing.

Toneless mechanical exercises are generally given, by which the student

is expected to master the muscular movements before applying in singing

the system advocated by the teacher. These exercises are usually

combined with those for breath-control, and they are described under

that head.

_Breath-Control_

Very early in the development of Vocal Science the management of the

breath began to receive attention. Mannstein,[2] writing in 1834, says:

"The air in expiration must stream from the chest slowly and without

shock. The air must flow from the chest with the tone." In a footnote he

adds: "In order to acquire this economy of the breath, students were

required to practise daily, without singing, to take and to hold back

the breath as long as possible." Mannstein does not mention the muscular

action involved in this exercise.

[Note 2: _Die grosse italienische Gesangschule._ Dresden, 1834.]

This subject is also touched upon by Garcia. In the first edition of his

_École de Garcia_, 1847, Chap. IV, p. 14, he says: "The mechanism of

expiration consists of a gentle pressure on the lungs charged with air,

operated by the thorax and the diaphragm. The shock of the chest, the

sudden falling of the ribs, and the quick relaxing of the diaphragm

cause the air to escape instantly.... If, while the lungs are filled

with air, the ribs are allowed to fall, and the diaphragm to rise, the

lungs instantly give up the inspired air, like a pressed sponge. It is

necessary therefore to allow the ribs to fall and the diaphragm to relax

only so much as is required to sustain the tones." It may be questioned

whether Garcia had in mind the doctrine of breath-control as this is

understood to-day. Very little attention was paid, at any rate, in the

vocal instruction of that day, to the mechanical actions of

breath-control; the great majority of teachers probably had never heard

of this principle.

As a definite principle of Vocal Science, breath-control was first

formulated by Dr. Mandl, in his _Die Gesundheitslehre der Stimme_,

Brunswick, 1876. From that time on, this doctrine has been very

generally recognized as the fundamental principle of correct singing.

Practically every scientific writer on the voice since then states

breath-control as one of the basic principles of Vocal Science. The most

influential published work in popularizing the doctrine of

breath-control was probably the book written jointly by Lennox Browne

and Emil Behnke, _Voice, Song, and Speech_, London, 1883.

This doctrine is of so much importance in Vocal Science and in modern

methods of instruction as to require a detailed explanation. The theory

of breath-control may be stated as follows:[3]

"In ordinary breathing the air is expelled from the lungs quietly, but

rapidly; at no point of the breathing apparatus does the expired breath

meet with resistance. In singing, on the contrary, the expiratory

pressure is much more powerful, yet the expiration must be much slower.

Furthermore, all the expired breath must be converted into tone, and the

singer must have perfect control over the strength and the speed of the

expiration. This requires that the air be held back at some point. The

action of holding back the breath must not be performed by the muscles

which close the glottis, for all the muscles of the larynx are very

small and weak in comparison with the powerful muscles of expiration.

The glottis-closing muscles are too weak to oppose their action to the

force of a powerful expiration. If the vocal cords are called upon to

withstand a strong breath pressure, they are seriously strained, and

their proper action is rendered impossible. In the same way, if the

throat be narrowed at any point above the larynx, so as to present a

passage small enough to hold back a powerful expiration, the entire

vocal mechanism is strained and forced out of its proper adjustment. The

singer must have perfect control of the breath, and at the same time

relieve the larynx and throat of all pressure and strain. To obtain this

control the singer must govern the expiration by means of the muscles of

inspiration. When the lungs are filled the inspiratory muscles are not

to be relaxed as in ordinary breathing, but are to be held on tension

throughout the action of expiration. Whatever pressure is exerted by the

expiratory muscles must be almost counterbalanced by the opposed action

of the muscles of inspiration. The more powerful the blast, the greater

must be the exertion by which it is controlled. In this way the singer

may have perfect control both of the speed and of the strength of the

expiration."

[Note 3: This statement of the doctrine of breath-control must not

be construed as an endorsement of the theory of the vocal action

embodied in this doctrine. On the contrary, both the theory of "opposed

action" breath-control and the "breath-band" theory are held to be

utterly erroneous. For a further discussion of this subject see Chapter

II of Part II.]

The exercises for acquiring command of this "opposed action

breath-control" are easily understood; indeed, they will readily suggest

themselves to one who has grasped their purpose. Most important of these

exercises is a quick inspiration, followed by a slow and controlled

expiration. Exercises for breathing and breath-control are usually

combined; the student is instructed to take breath in the manner

advocated by the teacher, and then to control the expiration.

Teachers usually require their pupils to obtain command of this action

as a toneless exercise before permitting them to apply it to the

production of tone. Methods vary greatly as to the length of time

devoted to toneless drills in breathing and breath-control. Many

teachers demand that students practise these exercises daily throughout

the entire course of study, and even recommend that this practice be

continued throughout the singer's active life.

Simple as these exercises are in theory, they demand very arduous

practice. Control of the breath by "opposed action" is hard and tiring

muscular work, as the reader may easily convince himself by practising

the above described exercise for a few minutes.

No special rules are needed for applying this mode of breathing to the

production of tone. Theoretical writers generally do not claim that the

control of the breath brings about the correct laryngeal action, but

merely that it permits this action by noninterference. Several

authorities however, notably Shakespeare, maintain that in effect this

system of breath-control embodies the old precept, "Sing on the breath."

(Wm. Shakespeare, _The Art of Singing_, London, 1898, p. 24.) Other

theorists hold that the empirical precept, "Support the tone," refers to

this manner of controlled expiration. (G. B. Lamperti, _The Technics of

Bel Canto_, Trans. by Dr. Th. Baker, N. Y., 1905, p. 9.)

_The "Breath-band" System_

While most authorities on the voice advocate the system of

breath-control by "opposed muscular action," there are a number of

masters who teach an entirely different system. This is usually known as

the "Breath-band," or "Ventricular" breath-control. Charles Lunn, in

_The Philosophy of the Voice_, 1878, was the first to propound the

theory that the breath may be controlled by the false vocal cords. There

is reason to believe that this idea was also worked out independently by

Orlando Steed ("On Beauty of Touch and Tone," _Proceedings of the

Musical Assn._, 1879-80, p. 47). As a number of prominent teachers base

their entire methods on this theory, it is worthy of careful attention.

The "breath-band" theory may be stated as follows:

"When the lungs are filled by a deep inspiration and the breath is held,

the glottis is of necessity closed so tightly that no air can escape. In

this condition the expiratory muscles may be very violently contracted,

and still no air will escape; indeed, the greater the strength exerted

the tighter is the closure of the glottis. Obviously, this closure of

the glottis cannot be effected by the contraction of the glottis-closing

muscles, strictly speaking, for these muscles are too small and weak to

withstand the powerful air pressure exerted against the vocal cords.[4]

The point of resistance is located just above the vocal cords. The

sudden air pressure exerted on the interior walls of the larynx by the

expiratory contraction causes the ventricles of the larynx to expand by

inflation. This inflation of the ventricles brings their upper margins,

formed by the false vocal cords, into contact. Thus the opening from the

larynx into the pharynx is closed. This closure is not effected by any

muscular contraction, therefore it is not dependent on the strength of

the muscular fibers of the false vocal cords. It is an automatic

valvular action, directly under voluntary control so far as the

contraction of the expiratory muscles is concerned, but independent of

volition as regards the action of the false vocal cords. On account of

their important function in this operation the false vocal cords are

called the 'breath-bands.' Closure of the glottis by the inflation of

the ventricles imposes no strain on the vocal cords.

[Note 4: One of the strongest arguments of the "breath-band"

advocates is based on this action,--the resistance of the closed glottis

to a powerful expiratory pressure. The theory of breath-control by

"opposed muscular action" takes no cognizance of this operation. It will

however be shown in Chapter II of Part II that the "breath-band"

theorists are mistaken in asserting that the action of holding the

breath is not performed by the glottis-closing muscles.]

"Control of the breath in singing is effected by this automatic valvular

action. To produce a tone according to this system, the lungs must be

filled and the breath held in the manner just described, while the vocal

cords are brought to the proper degree of tension; then the tone is

started by allowing the 'breath-bands' to separate very slightly, so

that a thin stream of air is forced through the opening between their

margins. The tone is ushered in by a slight explosive sound, which is

nothing but the well-known stroke of the glottis. So long as the

expiratory pressure is steadily maintained, this tone may be held, and

yet no strain is imposed on the vocal cords. Perfect control of the

breath is thus attained. For a powerful tone, the breath blast is

greater, therefore the ventricles are more widely inflated, and the

opening between the 'breath-bands' becomes narrower. The action is

always automatic; once the tone is correctly started, the singer need

pay no further attention to the operation of the 'breath-bands.' All

that is necessary is to maintain a steady breath pressure."

In the methods of all the "breath-band" advocates, the first and most

important step toward perfect tone-production is held to be the

acquirement of this automatic breath-control. As in the "opposed

muscular" system, the initial exercises are toneless drills in

breathing. The basic exercise, of which all the others are variations,

is as follows: "Fill the lungs, then hold the breath an instant, and

forcibly contract all the chest muscles. Then force the air out slowly

and powerfully through the glottis." Practice of this exercise is always

accompanied by a hissing sound, caused by the escape of the air through

the narrow slit between (presumably) the "breath-bands." Tone-production

by the same muscular action is very simple, and requires no further

explanation.

In its practical aspect this system of breath-control is the direct

opposite of the "opposed muscular" system. In one the breath is expelled

powerfully, the object being to bring a strong expiratory pressure to

bear on the larynx. In the other system, the air is held back, in order

that the larynx be exposed to as slight a pressure as possible.

The "breath-band" advocates hold that the glottic stroke is the key to

correct laryngeal action. As a rule they instruct their pupils to attack

every tone, throughout all their practising, with the stroke of the

glottis. In the course of time the automatic valvular action is supposed

to become so well established that the singer can dispense with the

glottic stroke in public performance. Needless to say, these teachers

usually recognize that this explosive sound is very harsh and unmusical,

and utterly out of place in artistic singing.

An important claim of the "breath-band" teachers is that their doctrine

contains the explanation of the traditional precept, "Support the tone."

Their idea is that the throat, being "firmly set," furnishes a secure

base for the tone to rest on. This explanation is of course utterly

unscientific, and it cannot be said to throw any light on the meaning of

the precept. "Singing on the breath" is also referred to this system of

breath-control, but with no more coherence than the "Support of the

tone."

No necessary connection obtains between systems of breath-control and

those of breathing strictly speaking, that is, of inspiration. As has

been said, the great majority of vocal theorists adhere to the "opposed

muscular action" breath-control. In this number are included advocates

of every known system of breathing. Bitter controversies have been

carried on between champions of different modes of breathing, who yet

agree that the breath must be controlled by "opposed action." This is

also true, although not to the same extent, among the "breath-band"

teachers. And to render the confusion on the subject of breathing and

breath-control complete, instances might be cited of controversies

between teachers who agree as to the correct mode of inspiration, and

yet disagree on the manner of controlling the expiration.

Both systems of breath-control cannot be right; if one is correct, the

other must necessarily be absolutely wrong. Instead of attempting to

decide between them, it will be seen that both are false, and that the

theory on which they rest is erroneous. This discussion is reserved for

a later chapter.

CHAPTER III

REGISTERS AND LARYNGEAL ACTION

Probably no other topic of Vocal Science has been studied so earnestly

as the registers of the voice. Yet on no other topic is there such wide

diversity of opinion among theorists and investigators.

Very little is definitely known regarding the manner in which the

subject of registers was treated by the old Italian masters. Suffice it

to say here that the old masters did not refer the registers to changes

in the laryngeal action. They were treated simply as different qualities

of tone, each quality best adapted to be sung only in a portion of the

voice's compass.

In the early decades of the nineteenth century the registers of the

voice received much attention from vocal theorists, especially in Paris.

Garcia's first published work, _Mémoire sur la Voix humaine_, was

presented to the Academy of Sciences in 1840. This Mémoire gives the

results of observations which Garcia made on his own pupils; it deals

mainly with the position of the larynx during the singing of tones in

the various registers. Garcia describes how the larynx is raised and

lowered in the throat, according to the register in which the tones are

produced. He also notes the position of the tongue and the soft palate.

Widespread interest was awakened by the account of Garcia's

laryngoscopic investigations of the registers, published in 1855. The

attention of the great majority of vocalists was at once drawn to the

subject, and the actions of the vocal cords in the different registers

were studied by many prominent physicians and voice specialists.

Exhaustive treatises on the registers have since been published by Mme.

Seiler, Behnke, Curwen, Mills, Battaille, Curtis, Holmes, and by a large

number of other investigators.

All the results of the laryngoscopic investigation of the vocal action

have been disappointing in the extreme. In the first place, no two

observers have obtained exactly the same results. Writing in 1886, Sir

Morell Mackenzie says: "Direct observation with the laryngoscope is, of

course, the best method at our disposal, but that even its testimony is

far from unexceptionable is obvious from the marvelous differences as to

matters of _fact_ that exist among observers. It is hardly too much to

say that no two of them quite agree as to what is seen." (_The Hygiene

of the Vocal Organs_, London, 1886.) Wesley Mills, in his latest work,

endeavors to show a substantial agreement among the best equipped

observers of the registers, but his attempt can hardly be called

convincing. (_Voice Production in Singing and Speaking_, Philadelphia,

1906.) Opinions on the subject of registers, held by the leading voice

specialists to-day, are fully as divergent as in 1886. Widely different

statements are made by prominent authorities as to the number of

registers, the vocal cord action by which each register is produced, and

the number of notes which each one should properly include.

Another deficiency of the doctrine of registers is even more serious in

its bearing on practical instruction. Not only have all investigators

failed to define exactly what the correct laryngeal action is. Even if

this were determined it would still be necessary to find means for

imparting command of this correct action to the student of singing.

Knowing how the vocal cords should act does not help the singer in the

least to govern their action. What the vocal student wishes to know is

how to cause the vocal cords to assume the correct position for each

Vocal Science has shed no light whatever. A student may hear

descriptions of the laryngeal action, and study the highly interesting

laryngoscopic photographs of the vocal cords, until thoroughly familiar

with the theoretical side of the subject. Even then, the student is no

better able to control the vocal cord action than when profoundly

ignorant of the whole matter.

This deficiency of Vocal Science is frankly recognized by one of the

latest authoritative writers on the subject, Dr. Wesley Mills. On page

173 of his work just quoted, he advises students to _hear the great

singers_, to note carefully the _quality of tone_ which characterizes

each register, and to _imitate these qualities_ with their own voices.

This advice may almost be described as revolutionary. Vocal theorists

have always assumed that the correct action cannot be acquired by

imitation. In this advice to rely on the imitative faculty for acquiring

control of the laryngeal action, Dr. Mills abandons the basic principle

of modern methods. Without exception, all instruction in singing is

to-day based on the idea of mechanical tone-production. An entirely new

theory of Voice Culture is involved in this advice of Dr. Mills.

Turning to practical methods of instruction, it is found that the

subject of registers is very seldom treated in the manner suggested by

the theoretical works on the voice. This would be, to make the "placing"

of the voice in the different registers the exclusive subject of

instruction for a certain number of lessons;--to train each register of

the voice separately;--when the correct vocal cord action had been

established in each register, to unite the different registers, and to

correct any "breaks" which might have developed. Comparatively few

teachers attempt to follow this course. The great majority treat the

registers in a much less systematic fashion. A single half-hour lesson

usually includes explanations and exercises on several topics of

mechanical tone-production, as well as hints on agility, style,

execution, etc. As merely one of this variety of subjects, the

registers usually receive rather desultory attention.

Some teachers profess to ignore the subject of registers entirely. They

maintain that, when properly trained from the beginning, the compass of

the voice is one homogeneous whole; "breaks" and changes of quality are

in their opinion merely the results of bad instruction. But the general

belief of vocal authorities is overwhelmingly against these teachers.

The condition which they describe is without doubt the ideal of vocal

management; but the vast majority of teachers believe that this

condition cannot be attained without some attention being paid to the

individual registers.

Most teachers recognize either two registers,--chest and head; or

three,--chest, middle, and head. Comparatively few extremists recognize

more than three. Several sets of names for the registers have been

proposed by vocal theorists,--thick and thin, long reed and short reed,

high and low, etc. But these names have not been adopted by teachers to

any extent.

One important phase of the registers has not received much attention

from the laryngoscopic investigators. This is, that most of the notes of

the voice's compass can be produced at will in more than one register.

Vocal teachers as a rule recognize this fact. Julius Stockhausen for

instance, in his _Gesangsmethode_ (Leipzig, 1884), says: "The registers

cross each other. The two principal registers of the voice have many

tones in common. The perfect blending of the registers on a single tone

leads to the _crescendo_, called in Italian the _messa di voce_."

Teachers generally do not set hard and fast limits to the extent of each

gradually from chest to middle, middle to head voice, etc.

In most practical methods the chest register occupies about the same

position; this is also true of the head register. Even those teachers

who profess to ignore registers recognize these two distinct qualities

of tone; they instruct their pupils to sing low notes in one quality,

and high notes in the other. This is in fact the general practice. In

this connection the topics of registers and resonance are often

combined. The terms "head voice," "head register," and "nasal

resonance," are used interchangeably by the great majority of teachers.

This is also true of the expressions "chest voice," "chest resonance,"

and "chest register."

In practical instruction, the extending of the compass of the voice is

usually treated, rather loosely perhaps in most cases, as a feature of

the registers. Methods vary greatly in points of detail, but in most of

them instruction on this topic is given along the same general lines.

Usually the three classes of voices receive different treatment, one

form of instruction being used for sopranos and tenors, another for

mezzo-sopranos and baritones, and a third for altos and bassos.

In teaching students with high voices, teachers usually "place"[5] the

medium notes first, roughly speaking, from G to d (for male voices one

octave lower). Then the lower notes are developed, mostly by descending

scale passages, the lowest note practised being usually C. The high

notes are sometimes "placed" by ascending scale passages and arpeggios,

but more often by the octave jump and descending scale. There is room

for considerable variation in this class of exercises, but they all

conform to the same general principle.

[Note 5: The expression "placing the voice" is more fully treated in

Chap. VI. It is assumed, however, that the reader is familiar with the

ordinary usage of this expression.]

For mezzos and baritones about the same system is followed, the

exercises being sung a major third or so lower. In the case of

contraltos and bassos, the voice is usually trained from the middle in

both directions. Most teachers favor the "chest voice" for singers of

these types throughout the entire compass.

A discussion of the use of special vowels and consonants in this class

of exercises is contained in Chapter V.

It must not be understood that this topic of instruction is assigned by

many teachers to any particular period of the student's progress.

Moreover, practice in the registers seldom forms the exclusive material

of lessons and home study for any definite time. The wide range of

topics considered in the average singing lesson has already been

mentioned.

Very little connection can be traced between the scientific doctrine of

registers, and the treatment which this subject receives in modern

methods. This is only to be expected, in view of the fact that

laryngoscopic investigation has not resulted in practical rules for

managing the vocal cords. The registers of the voice are handled by

modern teachers in a purely empirical fashion.

_Movements of the Larynx, Tongue, and Soft Palate_

It was remarked, in speaking of the registers, that no mechanical means

has ever been found for directly controlling the operations of the vocal

cords. To this statement one apparent exception is seen in the method

originated by John Howard. This earnest student of the voice sought to

carry out, to its logical conclusion, the accepted idea of mechanical

vocal control. In this respect he stands practically alone. His is the

only method which even pretends to reduce the entire operation of

correct tone-production to a set of defined muscular contractions.

Howard's theories, with the details of a practical method based thereon,

are fully described in his most important published work, _The

Physiology of Artistic Singing_, New York, 1886. A complete exposition

of Howard's theories is not called for here. For the present purpose

the following short summary will suffice:

"The difference between correct tone-production and any incorrect vocal

action is solely a matter of laryngeal adjustment and vocal cord action.

Whether the tone produced be right or wrong, the influence of the

resonance cavities is about the same. It is therefore idle to pay any

attention to the subject of air resonance. Only one form of resonance is

of any value in tone-production (considered as distinct from vowel

formation). This is the sounding-board resonance of the bones of the

head and chest. To secure this, the most important reinforcement of the

tone, the larynx must be firmly held in a fixed position against the

backbone, at the fifth cervical vertebra. All theories as to the

registers of the voice, derived from laryngoscopic observation, are

completely erroneous.

"In the production of tone, the muscular tissue of the vocal cords is

thrown into vibration by the air blast, and not merely the membranous

covering of the inner edges of the cords. For a soft tone, only a

portion of the fleshy mass of the vocal cords vibrates; if this tone is

gradually swelled to _fortissimo_, a constantly increasing portion of

the muscular tissue is called into play. For the loudest tone, the

entire mass of the vocal cords is bought into vibration. Thus the

increased volume of the tone results not alone from the increase in the

power of the breath blast. Each addition to the power of the expiration

demands also a change in the adjustment of the vocal cords.

"The contractions of the muscles inside the larynx, including the vocal

cords, cannot be brought under direct voluntary control. But these

contractions can be regulated by the actions of other sets of muscles,

viz., those by which the larynx is connected with the skeletal framework

of the head, neck, and chest. These latter muscles can all be controlled

by direct volition. Each of these sets of muscles has its function in

tone-production. One set pulls the larynx backward, into the position

already described, against the backbone. Two other opposed sets hold the

larynx firmly in this position, one set pulling upward, the other

downward. Finally, and most important in their influence on the actions

of the vocal cords, a fourth set of muscles comes into play. These tilt

the thyroid cartilage forward or backward, and thus bring about a

greater or less tension of the vocal cords, independent of the

contractions of the muscles of the vocal cords themselves. In this way

is regulated the amount of the fleshy mass of the vocal cords exposed to

the expiratory blast. Correct tone-production results when exactly the

necessary degree of strength is exerted by each one of these four sets

of muscles."

For each of these groups of muscles Howard devised a system of exercises

and drills by which the singer is supposed to bring all the movements

involved under direct voluntary control. The parts thus exercised are

the tongue, the soft palate, the jaw, the fauces, and also the muscles

by which the larynx is raised and lowered in the throat, and those by

which the chest is raised. In teaching a pupil Howard took up each part

in turn. A sufficient number of lessons was devoted to each set of

muscles for the pupil (presumably) to acquire the necessary control of

each group.

Howard also paid much attention to the breath; he worked out the system

of high-chest breathing in a really masterly fashion. But his manner of

dealing with this subject did not differ from that of a great number of

other teachers.

Howard retired from active teaching about 1895. His theories of the

vocal action have never been generally accepted by vocal theorists, and

the number of teachers who now profess to follow his method is very

small. There are, however, many other masters whose methods, in their

main features, are patterned after Howard's. These latter teachers may

therefore be justly said to follow the Howard system, even though they

give him no credit for their doctrines of vocal control.

Howard usually insisted that his pupils should understand the

theoretical basis of his method, and the exact purpose of each exercise

and muscular contraction. But as a rule his successors do not make this

demand on their pupils. They are content to have the students practise

the prescribed exercises; this the students do, with very little thought

about the theory lying behind the method. For the pupil this system, as

at present generally taught, consists solely of a series of muscular

drills for the tongue, larynx, palate, etc.

In this review of modern methods, the Howard system is important, mainly

because it represents the consistent application of the idea of

mechanical tone-production. As was observed, Howard's theories had very

little influence on the general trend of Vocal Science. The external

features of the Howard system are indeed shared to some extent by the

methods of many other teachers. Muscular drills of about the same type

are very widely used. Some teachers go so far in this respect that their

methods might almost be confounded with the Howard system. But the

resemblance is purely external. Even in 1880, at the time when Howard

had fairly perfected his method, there was nothing novel about exercises

of this type. The first attempts at a practical study of vocal mechanics

consisted of observations of those parts of the vocal organs whose

movements can be readily seen and felt. These are the lips, tongue,

palate, and larynx. Garcia's _Mémoire_, already cited, is mainly a

record of observations of this kind. Nearly every vocal theorist since

that time has also paid some attention to this phase of the vocal

action.

In practical methods of instruction, elaborate systems of rules have

long been in use for governing the positions of the tongue, lips,

palate, etc. Unlike the Howard theory, no definite scientific basis is

usually given for specific directions of this kind. Each investigator

has simply noted how certain great singers held their tongues or soft

palates, whether the larynx was held high or low in the throat, etc.,

and considered that these must be the correct positions. It would be

hard to find a greater diversity of opinion on any topic connected with

the voice than is encountered here. To enumerate all the rules which are

given for governing the actions of each part would be useless. A few of

the contradictory opinions regarding the correct position of the larynx

will suffice to show how great is the confusion on this topic:

"The larynx should be held low in the throat for all tones." "It should

be held in a fixed position high in the throat." "It should be high for

low tones, and should descend as the pitch rises." "It should be in a

low position for the lowest note of each register, and should rise as

the pitch rises; when the highest note of the register is reached, it

should at once descend for the lowest note of the next register."

Prominent teachers and writers could be cited as authority for each of

these rules, and indeed for several others. A similar diversity of

opinion is found regarding the rules given for the position of the

tongue and the soft palate.

Practices vary greatly as to the amount of time and attention devoted to

muscular drills of the parts under consideration, and also as to the

importance attached to the positions of these parts. Some teachers make

this a prominent feature of their methods. The majority, however, treat

the subject much more lightly. They now and then devote a part of the

lesson time to the muscular drills and exercises; for the rest, an

occasional hint or correction regarding the positions of the parts is

deemed sufficient.

All the movements of the tongue, lips, and jaw are directly under

voluntary control. Exercises for these parts are therefore given only

for acquiring suppleness and agility. The muscular movements of the

larynx and soft palate are readily brought under control. Each can

simply be raised and lowered. A few minutes' daily practice, extended

over three or four weeks, is generally sufficient for the student to

acquire satisfactory command of these actions. But to hold the tongue,

palate, and larynx in any prescribed position, while singing a tone, is

an extremely troublesome matter. Those teachers who adhere to precise

systems for the positions of these parts, frequently impose much arduous

practice on their pupils. As to the merits of any special system of the

kind, this question is reserved for future discussion.

_Attack_

It would be hard to determine when the term "attack" was first used to

describe the starting of a vocal tone. Nor is it easy to define the

precise position assigned to the subject of attack by vocal theorists.

No satisfactory statement of the theory of attack can be cited from any

published treatise on Vocal Science. It is commonly asserted, rather

loosely indeed, that the tone must be "started right." As Clara Kathleen

Rogers expresses it, "Attack the tone badly, and nothing can improve it

afterwards." (_The Philosophy of Singing_, New York, 1893.) This

statement is in the practical sense utterly unfounded. A tone may be

"attacked" with a nasal or throaty quality, and then be improved, by

simply eliminating the objectionable quality. Of this fact the reader

may readily convince himself. In short, all the accepted theories of

attack rest on an unscientific basis.

Vocal theorists generally treat the subject of attack as connected in

some way with registers and laryngeal action. But as no rule has ever

been formulated for the mechanical management of the laryngeal action,

it necessarily follows that no intelligible directions are ever given to

the student for preparing to start the laryngeal action correctly.

Three possible ways of attacking a tone are generally recognized. These

are described by Albert B. Bach, in _The Principles of Singing_, second

edition, London, 1897. They are, first, the stroke of the glottis. (This

is advocated by Garcia in most of his published works, although the

testimony of many of his pupils, notably Mme. Marchesi, is that Garcia

used the glottic stroke very little in actual instruction.) Second, the

aspirate (_h_ as in _have_), which is generally condemned. Third, the

approximation of the vocal cords at the precise instant the breath blast

strikes them. This latter mode of attack is advocated by Browne and

Behnke, who call it the "slide of the glottis." It must be observed

that neither the stroke nor the slide of the glottis can be shown to

have any influence in causing the laryngeal muscles to adopt any

particular mode of adjustment.

Turning to practical methods of instruction, little connection can be

traced between the theories of attack and the occasional directions

usually given for starting the tone. The subject of attack is seldom

assigned to any particular period in the course of study. Many teachers

ignore the matter altogether. Others devote a few minutes now and then

to drilling a pupil in the stroke of the glottis, without attaching much

importance to the subject. (The position assigned to this mode of attack

by the "breath-band" theorists has already been mentioned.) On the

whole, the matter of attack is usually treated rather loosely. The pupil

is occasionally interrupted in singing a phrase, and told to "attack the

tone better." Needless to say, this form of instruction is in no sense

scientific.

CHAPTER IV

RESONANCE

In order to understand fully the position in Vocal Science assigned to

the doctrine of resonance, it is necessary to trace the origin and the

development of this doctrine. The old Italian masters naturally knew

nothing whatever of resonance, nor of any other topic of acoustics. Yet

the accepted theories of resonance in its relation to the voice are

directly based on a set of empirical observations made by the old

masters. The facts which they noted are now a matter of common

knowledge. In singing low notes a sensation of trembling or vibration is

felt in the upper chest; high notes are accompanied by a similar

sensation in the head. How these sensations of vibration came to be made

the basis of the theories of vocal resonance, and of registers as well,

is an interesting bit of vocal history.

Although almost entirely ignorant of vocal mechanics in the scientific

sense, the old masters were eager students of the voice. They carefully

noted the characteristic sound of each tone of the voice, and worked out

what they believed to be a comprehensive theory of tone-production. One

of their observations was that in every voice the low notes have a

somewhat different quality from the high notes. To distinguish these two

qualities of tone the old masters adopted the word used for a similar

purpose by the organ builders,--_register_. Further, they noted the

sensation of vibration in the chest caused by singing low notes, and

concluded that these notes are actually produced in the chest. To the

lower notes of the voice they therefore gave the name "chest register."

As Tosi explains it, "_Voce di Petto_ is a full voice, which comes from

the breast by strength." For a precisely similar reason, viz., the

sensation of vibration in the head felt in singing the higher notes,

this portion of the voice was called by the old masters the "head

When the study of vocal mechanics along scientific lines was undertaken,

in the early decades of the nineteenth century, attention was at first

paid almost exclusively to the subject of registers. The questions then

most discussed were the number of registers, the number of notes which

each should include, and the precise point of production of each

with the registers, was noticed in the preceding chapter. He showed that

different adjustments of the tongue, palate, and larynx are concerned in

the production of the various registers. This _Mémoire_ opened up a new

line of observation, in which Garcia continued to take the lead. But the

extending of the scope of inquiry concerning the registers did not

result in any unanimity of opinion on the part of the vocal

investigators of that time.

For a few years following the invention of the laryngoscope (1855),

vocal theorists ceased their disputes about the registers, and awaited

the definite results of this new mode of observation. When this potent

little instrument was put within the reach of every investigator, it was

believed that the mystery surrounding the registers was about to be

dispelled.

One important consequence of the invention of the laryngoscope was the

turning of attention away from the sensations of vibration in the chest

and head. Each register was ascribed to a distinct mode of operation of

the vocal cords, and for several years the terms "chest voice" and "head

voice" were held to be scientifically unsound. But with the publication

of Helmholtz's _Die Lehre von den Tonempfindungen_ in 1863, the

sensations of vibration again received attention. These sensations were

then made the basis of a theory of vocal resonance, which has since been

adopted by the great majority of vocal scientists.

Until the publication of Helmholtz's work vocal theorists had known

practically nothing of acoustics. The fact that the tones produced by

the vocal cords are increased in power and modified in quality by the

resonance of the air in the mouth-pharynx cavity came as a distinct

revelation to the theoretical students of the voice. Helmholtz confined

his experiments and demonstrations to the mouth-pharynx cavity, and

investigated in particular the influence of this cavity in producing the

various vowel and consonant sounds. But vocal theorists at once extended

the idea of air resonance, and connected it with the well-known

sensations of vibration in the chest and head. It was assumed that these

sensations are caused by vibrations of the air in the chest and nasal

cavities.

This assumption has been accepted without question by the great majority

of vocal scientists. Both the chest voice and the head voice are now

believed to owe their distinctive qualities to the reinforcing

vibrations of the air in the chest and nasal cavities respectively. The

mere fact that these vibrations can be felt is held sufficient proof of

the statement. "In every true chest tone the resonance can be distinctly

felt as a vibration (fremitus pectoralis) by the hand laid flat on the

chest." (_Die Kunst der idealen Tonbildung_, Dr. W. Reinecke, Leipzig,

1906.) It must be observed that this is by no means a satisfactory

scientific proof of the doctrine of chest resonance. This feature of the

subject is reserved for discussion later.

The doctrine of resonance is now generally accepted as one of the basic

principles of Vocal Science. It is stated, in substance, by almost every

authority on the voice that "The tone produced by the vibration of the

vocal cords, even when the laryngeal action is correct in every way, is

weak, of poor quality, and without character. This tone must be

strengthened and made of musical quality by utilizing the influence of

resonance." The subject of resonance is always treated in theoretical

works on the voice under the three heads of chest, mouth-pharynx, and

nasal resonance. To these a fourth is sometimes added,--the

sounding-board resonance of the bones of the chest and head.

_Mouth-Pharynx Resonance_

Considered strictly in its bearing on tone-production, the resonance of

the mouth-pharynx cavity does not receive much attention from

theoretical observers of the voice. The form assumed by this cavity is

of necessity determined by the vowel to be sung. Aside from its function

in the pronunciation of words, the influence of mouth-pharynx resonance

on the tones of the voice is seldom discussed by vocal scientists.

As a rule, vocal teachers pay little attention to this form of

resonance. The subject of enunciation is generally treated as distinct

from tone-production strictly speaking. While the correct emission of

the tone, in its passage from the vocal cords to the lips, is considered

a very important topic, this feature of tone-production has no

reference to resonance.

One exception must be made to the statement that no attention is paid to

mouth-pharynx resonance. This is found in an interpretation of the

empirical precept, "Sing with open throat." Several vocal theorists take

this precept literally, and hold that it describes a function of

mouth-pharynx resonance. According to their idea the cavity must be

expanded to the largest size possible, on the theory that a large

resonance cavity secures a proportionately greater reinforcement of the

tone. "The greater the size of the pharynx, whether through practice or

natural gifts, the stronger in proportion is the tone." (_Die Kunst der

idealen Tonbildung_, Dr. W. Reinecke, Leipzig, 1906.) This theory is of

course rather loose and unscientific. Still this idea,--a literal

interpretation of the "open throat" precept,--receives much attention in

practical instruction.

Only one muscular action has ever been defined by which the throat might

be "opened." That is, the lowering of the larynx and the raising of the

soft palate. Many teachers therefore direct that the throat be "opened"

gradually in this way for the swelling of the tone. It is assumed that

the power of the voice is developed by singing with the larynx low in

the throat. This manner of instruction is, however, very loosely given.

The supposedly scientific interpretation of the "open throat" precept

shades off into a purely empirical application.

_Chest Resonance_

In no other topic of Vocal Science is the gap between theory and

practice more striking than in the doctrine of chest resonance. Vocal

teachers are in fair accord in believing the resonance of the air in the

chest to be the most important influence in imparting power and "color"

to the voice, and particularly to the lower notes of its compass.

Students of singing are in almost all cases urged to acquire a proper

command of chest resonance. But when it comes to telling the student how

to learn to govern the chest resonance, the teacher has practically

nothing to offer. No direct means has ever been found for causing the

air in the thorax to vibrate; this cannot be effected, so far as has yet

been determined, by any voluntary muscular action on the part of the

singer.

This being the case, intelligible instruction in the use and management

of chest resonance is hardly to be expected. Teachers of singing are

obliged to fall back on purely empirical instruction on this topic. This

usually takes the form of a description of the sensations experienced by

the singer when producing tones in the chest voice. How this description

of the singer's sensations is applied, is discussed in the following

chapter.

_Nasal Resonance_

The lack of connection between the theories of vocal scientists and the

practical methods of singing teachers is well illustrated in the subject

of nasal resonance. A striking feature of all the discussions concerning

the use or avoidance of nasal resonance is the fact that vocal theorists

base their opinions entirely on empirical observations. The use of nasal

resonance is condemned by almost every prominent authority on Vocal

Science. Yet the only reason ever advanced for condemning nasal

resonance is the fact that a tone of objectionable nasal quality seems

to "come through the nose." This fact cannot, of course, be questioned.

It is mentioned by Tosi, who speaks of the "defect of singing through

the nose," and is observed by everybody possessed of an ear keen enough

to detect the nasal quality of sound.

It is generally stated by vocal theorists that the nasal quality is

imparted to the tone by the influence of the resonance of the air in the

nasal cavities. In order to prove this assertion Browne and Behnke offer

the following experiment, (quoted in substance): "Hold a hand-mirror

flat, face up, just below the nostrils. Then sing a nasal tone; you will

note that the mirror is clouded, showing that part of the breath has

passed through the nasal cavities. Now sing another tone, free from the

fault of nasal quality; this time the mirror is not clouded, which

proves that no air has passed through the cavities in question."

(_Voice, Song and Speech._) This experiment is simplified by other

authorities, who direct that the nostrils be pinched by the fingers, and

then allowed to open by the removal of the pressure of the fingers. A

steady tone is meanwhile to be sung. It will be noted, according to

these theorists, that with the nostrils open the tone is nasal, and with

the nostrils closed the tone is not nasal. This proves to their

satisfaction that a tone passing in whole or in part through the nasal

cavities must be nasal in quality.

It must be noted here that these experiments are not in any sense

convincing. A tone of objectionable nasal quality can be sung equally

well with the nostrils either closed or open, and so can a tone free

from the nasal quality.

In theory, the mechanical prevention of nasal resonance is very simple.

It is necessary only to raise the soft palate in singing, and thus to

cut off the expired breath from passing into the nasal cavities. Most

vocal scientists advise that the singer hold the soft palate raised for

every tone.

Practical teachers of singing pay little attention to the theoretical

discussions concerning nasal resonance. The overwhelming majority of

teachers are firm believers in nasal resonance, and make it an important

feature of their methods. They believe that this resonance is the most

important factor in giving to the tone its "point," brilliance, and

carrying power.

So far as instruction in the use of nasal resonance is concerned,

teachers owe but little to the mechanical doctrines of Vocal Science.

No voluntary muscular operation has ever been found, by which the air in

the nasal cavities can be directly thrown into vibration, and so made to

reinforce the tones of the voice. Instruction in the management of nasal

resonance is therefore similar to that in chest resonance. The teacher

describes the sensations experienced by a singer who produces the exact

quality of tone desired. Use is also made of special vowels and

consonants, for (supposedly) acquiring command of nasal resonance. A

description of this form of instruction is given in the following

chapter.

_Sounding-Board Resonance_

The acoustic principle of sounding-board resonance, in its application

to the voice, is discussed by several vocal scientists. It is usually

treated under two heads: first, the entire body is looked upon as a

sounding board, capable of reinforcing the tones of the voice under

certain conditions. Second, the bones of the chest and of the head are

thought to be thrown into vibration, in sympathy with the vibrations of

the air in the chest and nasal cavities respectively.

The importance attached by Howard to the sounding-board resonance of the

entire body has already been noticed. Aside from the teachers of the

Howard system, very few masters pay any attention to this feature of

vocal reinforcement. Those who do so have no difficulty in dealing with

the subject. When the singer stands in the position generally considered

correct for singing, the body is said to be in the position most

favorable for securing the benefits of this form of resonance. For this

no special rules or exercises are needed.

Very little attention is paid, in practical instruction, to the

vibrations of the bones of the resonance cavities. Each cavity is

treated as a whole; the fact is only occasionally mentioned that the

bones inclosing the cavities may vibrate, as well as the inclosed air.

CHAPTER V

EMPIRICAL MATERIALS OF MODERN METHODS

A series of topics included in modern methods is now to be considered,

different in scope from the strictly mechanical features of

tone-production so far described. It must be apparent to the reader that

the present understanding of the muscular processes of singing is not

sufficient to furnish a complete method of instruction. This fact is

thoroughly appreciated by the teachers of singing. Almost without

exception they seek to supplement the mechanical doctrines by

instruction of an entirely different character. The subjects included in

this form of instruction are of several classes. They comprise the

manner of emission of the tone, the traditional precepts of the old

Italian school, the singer's sensations, and the use of certain vowels

and consonants for special purposes.

_Emission and Forward Placing_

Of all the traditional precepts, the one most frequently cited in

theoretical treatises on the voice is, "Place the tone forward." For

this precept it is generally believed that a satisfactory explanation

has been found in the accepted doctrine of tone emission.

The characteristic effect of perfect singing known as the "forward tone"

is thoroughly well known to every lover of singing. In some peculiar way

the tone, when perfectly produced, seems to issue directly from the

singer's mouth. When we listen to a poorly trained and faulty singer the

tones seem to be caught somewhere in the singer's throat. We feel

instinctively that if the singer could only lift the voice off the

throat, and bring it forward in the mouth, the tones would be greatly

improved in character. It is commonly believed that the old masters knew

some way in which this can be done. Just what means they used for this

purpose is not known. But the accepted scientific interpretation of the

"forward tone" precept is held by vocal theorists to render the subject

perfectly clear.

Sir Morell Mackenzie states the correct emission of the tone as one of

the three cardinal principles of the vocal action. "The regulation of

the force of the blast which strikes against the vocal cords, the

placing of these in the most favourable position for the effect which it

is desired to produce, and the direction of the vibrating column of air

which issues from the larynx are the three elements of artistic

production." (_The Hygiene of the Vocal Organs_, London, 1886.) His

analysis of the mechanical and acoustic processes involved in emission

may be cited as typical of the views of the great majority of vocal

scientists. "It (the column of sound) must be projected against the roof

of the cavity behind the upper front teeth, from which it rebounds

sharply and clearly to the outside." Mme. Seiler expresses the idea

somewhat differently, but the meaning is about the same. "A correct

disposition of the tones of the voice consists in causing the air,

brought into vibration by the vocal ligaments, to rebound from

immediately above the front teeth, where it must be concentrated as much

as possible, rebounding thence to form in the mouth continuous

vibrations." (_The Voice in Singing_, Phila., 1886.)

To the vocal theorists this is no doubt thoroughly convincing and

satisfactory. But as a topic of practical instruction in singing this

theory of tone emission is utterly valueless. How can the "column of

vocalized breath" be voluntarily directed in its passage through the

pharynx and mouth? No muscular process has ever been located, by which

the singer can influence the course of the expired breath, and direct it

to any specific point in the mouth. Even if the expired breath does, in

perfect singing, take the course described, knowledge of this fact

cannot enable the singer to bring this about. The accepted doctrine of

tone emission is of no benefit whatever to the teacher of singing. He

knows what the "forward tone" is, that is, what it sounds like, just as

well no doubt as did the old Italian master. But if the latter knew how

to enable his pupils to obtain the "forward" character of tone, the

modern teacher is to that extent not so well off.

In view of the prevailing ignorance of any means for securing the

(supposedly) correct emission of tone, intelligible instruction on this

topic is hardly to be expected. But the great majority of teachers lay

great stress on the need of acquiring the correct emission. The best

they can do is to explain the scientific doctrine to their pupils; the

students are generally left to find for themselves some way of applying

the explanation. In many cases the master tries to assist the student by

describing the singer's sensations, experienced when producing a

"forward" tone.

Certain vowels and consonants are usually held to be especially favored

by a "forward position," and exercises on these are very widely used for

securing a "forward" tone. These exercises are described in a later

paragraph. It will be noticed however that this use of vowels is not an

application of the theory of "forward emission." The vowel sounds are

believed to owe their "forward position" to resonance, while "emission"

is purely a matter of direction or focusing of the breath-blast. The

whole subject of emission and forward placing is in a very

unsatisfactory condition.

_The Traditional Precepts in Modern Instruction_

So much importance is attached by modern teachers to the traditional

precepts of the old school that this subject calls for somewhat lengthy

treatment. Before discussing the manner in which the precepts are

applied in practical instruction, it will be well to review first the

interpretations of the precepts offered by different vocal scientists.

It must be remarked, in the first place, that no single one of the

precepts has ever been satisfactorily explained; that is, no direct

means of performing the actions indicated by the precepts has ever been

found. If ever the precepts had a definite meaning, considered as

specific directions for performing certain actions in a special way,

that meaning has been lost. Mechanical analysis has not reduced the

precepts to a form in which they are of direct value to the modern

teacher.

That the "forward tone" is interpreted as a reference to the emission of

the voice was noted earlier in this chapter. The explanation of the

"open throat" precept as a function of mouth-pharynx resonance has also

been mentioned.

"Singing on the breath" is a very perplexing subject for vocal

theorists. Many authorities assert that this precept describes an

effect obtained by the "opposed muscular action" breath-control. (See

citation from Shakespeare in Chapter II.) But this explanation is hardly

satisfactory; if the precept had meant no more than breath-control, it

would have been forgotten long ago.

The "support of the tone" is mentioned by a large number of theoretical

writers on the voice. These writers generally state, in substance, that

"the tone must be supported by the breathing muscles of the chest, and

not by the throat muscles." (See _The Technics of Bel Canto_, by G. B.

Lamperti, New York, 1905.) But this explanation is hardly to be

considered as a scientific doctrine. Every one knows that a tone has no

weight, so in the physical sense it can need no support. In short,

scientific analysis has thrown no more light on this than any other of

the old precepts.

Notwithstanding the modern teacher's complete ignorance of the

mechanical operations which they seem to indicate, the old precepts form

a very important feature of instruction in singing. The great majority

of teachers cite these precepts constantly, and frequently direct their

pupils to "open the throat," to "bring the tone forward," etc. Is it to

be believed that an intelligent master would use these directions in any

occult or cabalistic sense? Such a statement is occasionally made by a

consistent upholder of the mechanical system of Voice Culture. Paulo

Guetta, for example, in a recent exhaustive work on the subject,

ridicules the use of the old precepts. Says this ardent advocate of

mechanical instruction in singing:

"Nowadays alchemy and necromancy awaken nothing but curiosity. How then

can one who thinks and reasons admit that an art can be cultivated and

sustained by theories extravagant, fantastic, enigmatic, explained and

condensed in abstruse phrases and sentences, which not only have no

meaning whatever, but even lead one to doubt whether the teacher himself

knows what result it is desired to obtain? Do you wish a little example?

Behold!

"'Press the whole voice against the mask.' 'Place the voice in the

head.' 'The voice is directed to the nasal cavities.' 'Place the voice

forward.'

"Others, with the most austere gravity, will tell you that your voice is

too far back, or that you send the voice to the lower teeth, and promise

in a few days to place the voice forward, at the upper teeth, or

wherever else it should be." (_Il Canto nel suo Mecanismo_, Milan,

1902.)

This statement is by no means justified. The precepts have a real and

definite meaning for the vocal teacher. Any one familiar with the

highest type of artistic singing must have observed that the singer's

"throat seems to be open"; the tones impress the hearer as being in some

way "forward in the singer's mouth," and not at the vocal cords; the

voice "seems to be supported" somewhere; the tones float out freely on

the breath. A harsh and badly produced voice seems to be held in the

singer's throat by main force. The critical hearer feels instinctively

that such a singer's voice would be greatly improved if the tones could

only be supported in a forward position in the mouth, and kept from

slipping back into the throat. It seems that this would relieve the

throat of the strain of holding the tone; the throat would then be open,

and the voice would float out freely on the breath.

In short, the traditional precepts describe accurately the most striking

points of difference between perfect singing and bad singing, so far as

the effect on the listener is concerned. Modern teachers are thoroughly

familiar with the highest standards of the vocal art; they fully

appreciate how well the precepts describe the perfection of singing.

Through long continued listening to voices, the precepts come to have a

very real meaning. It is inevitable therefore that the teacher should

try to impart to the pupil this intimate feeling for the voice. True,

this acquaintance with the voice is purely empirical; as has just been

remarked, no mechanical analysis of this empirical knowledge has ever

been successfully made. The modern teacher's apprehension of the meaning

of the precepts is only very vaguely connected with a supposed insight

into the mechanical processes of tone-production.

Yet there is nothing vague about the impression made on the teacher in

listening to his pupils. On the contrary, every faulty tone impresses

the teacher very keenly and definitely as being too far back, or as

caught in the throat, or as falling back for lack of support, etc. How

could it be expected then, that the teacher should refrain from telling

the pupil to correct the faulty production, in the manner so clearly and

directly indicated by the tones?

But this direct application of the precepts is of absolutely no value in

instruction, because of the teacher's ignorance of the mechanical

processes supposedly involved. There is after all some justification for

Guetta's criticism of empirical instruction. It is all very well for the

teacher to feel that the pupil's voice is gripped in the throat, and to

bid him "open your throat." The pupil may strive ever so earnestly to

open his throat, but he does not know how, and the teacher is utterly

unable to tell him.

All instruction based on the empirical precepts is thus seen to be

extremely unsatisfactory. While the precepts convey a very valuable

meaning to the teacher, no way has ever been found for translating this

meaning into rules for the mechanical management of the vocal organs.

Recourse is had, to some extent, to a description of the singer's

sensations; exercises on special vowels and consonants are also much

used, for imparting the ideas embodied in the precepts. Both of these

topics are now to be considered.

_The Singer's Sensations_

The correct use of the voice awakens in the singer a variety of

sensations generally held to be different from those accompanying any

incorrect vocal action.

One important fact must first be noted regarding the manner in which the

singer's sensations are described by various authorities. The use of the

voice awakens a wide variety of local sensations, which bear no

necessary relation to each other. A singer may, at will, pay entire

attention to any one, or to any particular set, of these sensations, and

for the time being completely ignore all the others.

Physiologically considered, the singer's sensations are of two

classes,--first, muscular sensations strictly speaking; and second, a

sense of tingling or vibration, definitely located usually about the

breast bone, and in the front and upper part of the head.

_Muscular Sensations of Singing_

It is very difficult to analyze and describe exactly the muscular

sensations which accompany any complex action. Swimming, diving,

dancing, skating,--each awakens a set of extremely vivid muscular

feelings; yet to describe these sensations so graphically that they

could be felt in imagination by one who had never experienced them

actually,--that would be almost impossible.

This peculiar aspect of muscular sensations is particularly true as

regards the action of singing. While every vocal teacher knows exactly

how it feels to sing properly, all descriptions of the singer's muscular

sensations are extremely vague. But the vividness of these sensations

keeps them constantly before the teacher's mind, and some application of

them, in the present state of Voice Culture, is almost inevitable.

The basic sensation of correct singing, as generally described, is a

feeling of perfect poise and harmony of the whole body; this is

accompanied by a sense of freedom about the throat and jaw, and firm

grasp and control of the expiratory muscles. Attempts are frequently

made to amplify this description, but the results are always very vague.

A feeling of "absence of local effort" at the throat is much spoken of,

or "perfect relaxation of the vocal muscles."

A few specially localized muscular sensations are also much discussed.

Descriptions of this class however are often so loosely given as to

render a definite statement almost impossible. Most frequently mentioned

are the feeling of "backward pressure in the throat," and of "drinking

in the tone," instead of sending it out. Then again, the "tone must be

felt at the upper front teeth." A feeling as of an "expanded and

flexible vocal tube, extending from the base of the lungs to the lips,"

is also much talked of. "Feel that you grow bigger as the tone swells"

is about as intelligible as the feeling of "floating jaw."

On the whole, the subject of the singer's muscular sensations is usually

rather mystifying to the student.

_Sensations of Tingling or Vibration_

Descriptions of sensations of this class are much more coherent than

those just considered. A definite location is given to the feelings, in

the chest and in the head.

A feeling of trembling in the upper chest is usually held to indicate

that the chest cavity is working properly as a resonator. This

sensation is therefore the chief reliance of most teachers in "placing"

the lower tones, especially for low voices. Sensations in the nasal

cavities and head are utilized for acquiring control of nasal resonance,

for placing the upper notes of the voice, and for "bringing the voice

forward." Exercises for control of both cavities, on special vowels and

consonants, combine the two topics, "vowel position" and sensation.

_Singing in the Mask_

In recent years a method of instruction has been developed in France,

which is commonly called by its advocates "singing in the mask." The

basic idea of this method is that the singer must imagine his face to be

covered by a mask, and must "sing into this mask." This idea may seem

rather vague at first; but a few trials will show how easy it is for the

singer to persuade himself that he projects his voice into his face.

This method goes to the extreme in utilizing the sensations of vibration

in the nose and forehead. These sensations are analyzed, localized, and

described, down to the most minute detail. While other topics of

instruction are included,--breathing, registers, position of tongue,

larynx, palate, etc., everything else is subordinated to nasal

resonance. "Singing in the mask" is of course a purely empirical method,

and little has been attempted in the way of justifying it on scientific

principles.

* * *

All instruction based on the singer's sensations is purely empirical, in

the meaning ordinarily attached to this word in treatises on Vocal

Science. Theoretical works on the voice seldom touch on the subject of

sensations, nor do the vocal teachers generally make this subject

prominent when speaking of their methods.[6]

[Note 6: An exception to this statement is seen in the recently

published book of Mme. Lilli Lehmann, _Meine Gesangskunst_, Berlin,

1902. This famous artist and teacher devotes by far the greater part of

her book to a minute analysis and description of the singer's

sensations.]

Sensations occupy a rather peculiar position in modern methods. They are

a distinctly subsidiary element of instruction and are seldom raised to

the dignity accorded to the mechanical doctrines of vocal management.

The use of the singer's sensations, as applied in practical instruction,

is almost exclusively interpretive. In the mechanical sense the

traditional precepts have no meaning whatever; this is also true of

several of the accepted doctrines of Vocal Science. For example, the

precept "Support the tone," is absolutely meaningless as a principle of

mechanical vocal action. But, when interpreted as referring to a set of

sensations experienced by the singer, this precept takes on a very

definite meaning. Nobody knows what the support of the tone is, but

every vocal teacher knows how it feels. In the same way, no means is

known for directly throwing the air in the nasal cavities into

vibration. But the sensation in the front of the head, which indicates,

presumably, the proper action of nasal resonance, is familiar to all

teachers. Most of the positive materials of modern methods are thus

interpreted in terms of sensations.

True, the accepted theory of Vocal Science does not directly countenance

this interpretation. The basic principle of modern Voice Culture is the

idea of mechanical vocal management. All instruction is supposed to aim

at direct, conscious, and voluntary control of the muscular operations

of singing. Teachers always impart to their pupils this idea of the

mechanical control of the voice. The vocal action is always considered

from the mechanical side. Even those expressions whose mechanical

meaning is vague or unscientific are yet used as referring definitely to

muscular actions. The conscious thought of the teacher is always turned

to the mechanical idea supposedly conveyed by scientific doctrine and

empirical precept. The translation of this idea into a description of

sensations is almost always the result of a sub-conscious mental

process.

It therefore follows that in practical instruction the appeal to

sensations is more often indirect than direct. For example, when a

student's tones are caught in the throat, the master says

explicitly,--"Free the tone by opening your throat." The master explains

the (supposed) wrong vocal action, and describes how the tone should be

produced. Incidentally, the master may also tell how and where the tone

should be felt.

There is also a great deal of instruction based frankly and directly on

the singer's sensations. Instruction of this type usually takes the form

of special exercises on certain vowels and consonants, which are

believed to be peculiarly suited for imparting command of particular

features of the correct vocal action. The topics generally covered are

chest resonance, nasal resonance, open throat, and forward placing of

the tone. This form of instruction is held to be referable in some way

to scientific principles. The laws of vowel and consonant formation

formulated by Helmholtz are often cited in proof of the efficacy of

exercises of this type. There is also much discussion of the "location"

of the tone. But there is little justification for the statement that

instruction based on the singer's sensations is scientific in character.

A misconception of acoustic principles is evidenced by most of the

statements made concerning the use of special vowels and consonants in

securing the correct vocal action. The exercises which aim to utilize

the singer's sensations in producing particular vowels and consonants

are now to be described.

_Exercises on Special Vowels and Consonants_

Of the rules concerning the use of special vowels, probably the most

important is that _a_ (as in _far_) is the most favorable vowel for the

general purposes of voice training. Teachers generally have their

pupils sing most of their exercises on this vowel. Much attention is

paid to the exact pronunciation of the vowel, and fine distinctions are

drawn between its various sounds in Italian, French, German, and

English. The preference for the Italian pronunciation is very general.

It is claimed for this sound that it helps materially in acquiring

command of the "open throat." Indeed, a peculiar virtue in this regard

is ascribed to the Italian vowels generally. No convincing reason has

ever been given for this belief. But the usual custom is to "place the

voice" on the Italian _a_, and then to take up, one at a time, the other

Italian vowels.

The labial consonants, _p_, _b_, _t_, _d_, are believed to have a

peculiar influence in securing the "forward position" of the tone. Much

the same influence is also ascribed to the vowel _oo_, although many

authorities consider _i_ (Italian) the "most forward" vowel. Exercises

combining these consonants and vowels are very widely used, on single

tones, and on groups of three, four, or five notes. The syllables _boo_,

_poo_, _too_, _doo_ are practised, or if the teacher hold to the other

"forward" vowel, _bee_, _pee_, _tee_, _dee_; the student is instructed

to hold the vowel in the "forward position" secured by the initial

consonant. Later on, the "forward" vowel is gradually widened into the

other vowels; exercises are sung on _boo-ah_, _doo-ah_, etc. This form

of instruction is capable of great elaboration. Many teachers use a wide

variety of combinations of these vowels and consonants; but as the basic

idea is always the same, this class of exercises calls for no further

description. The singer's sensations, notably those of "open throat,"

"expanded vocal tube," "forward tone," and vibration in the chest, are

generally brought to the pupil's attention in this form of exercise.

Another set of sounds are held to be specially adapted for securing the

use of nasal resonance. These are the letters _m_, _n_, and _ng_, when

used for starting a tone, and also the vowel _i_ (Italian). The

exercises used are similar in character to those just described. In

singing these exercises, the student is supposed to "start the tone high

up in the head on the initial _m_ or _n_, and to hold it there, while

gradually and smoothly opening the mouth for the vowel," etc. The

sensations specially noticed in this type of exercise are the feelings

of vibration in the nose and forehead. The "forward tone," as well as

the nasal resonance, is supposed to be favored by the practice of these

exercises.

_Enunciation_

Vocal teachers always recognize the importance of a clear delivery of

the text in singing. Correct enunciation is therefore considered in all

methods. A few teachers believe that a clear pronunciation helps greatly

to establish the correct vocal action. Some even go so far as to say

that a clear delivery of the words will of itself insure a correct

tone-production. But this theory calls for only passing comment. One has

but to turn to the vaudeville stage to see its falsity. For singers of

that class, the words are of the utmost importance, while the

tone-production is usually of the very worst.

A few teachers base their methods on the theory that correct

tone-production results necessarily from the singing of "pure vowels."

This is no doubt interesting, but still far from convincing. The problem

of tone-production is not solved quite so simply.

As a rule, vocal teachers consider the subject of pronunciation as quite

distinct from tone-production. Methods differ with regard to the use of

exercises in articulation, and to the stage of progress at which these

exercises are taken up. Some teachers insist on their pupils practising

singing for months on the vowels, before permitting them to sing even

the simplest songs with words. Others have the pupils sing words from

the beginning of instruction. As a rule, teachers begin to give songs,

and vocalises with words, very early in the course.

_Throat Stiffness and Relaxing Exercises_

Teachers of singing generally recognize that any stiffening of the

throat interferes with the correct action of the voice. Yet for some

strange reason vocal students are very much inclined to form habits of

throat stiffness. This constantly happens, in spite of the fact that

teachers continually warn their pupils against the tendency to stiffen.

On this account, exercises for relaxing the throat are an important

feature of modern instruction in singing.

Naturally, relaxing exercises are not thought to have any direct

bearing in bringing about the correct vocal action. They are purely

preparatory; their purpose is only to bring the vocal organs into the

right condition for constructive training. For this reason, the means

used for relaxing the throat are seldom mentioned among the materials of

instruction. But almost every vocal teacher is obliged to make frequent

use of throat relaxing exercises. Indeed, throat stiffness is one of the

most serious difficulties of modern Voice Culture. A student frequently

seems to be making good progress, and then without much warning falls

into a condition of throat stiffness so serious as to undo for a time

the good work of several months' study. In such a case there is nothing

for the teacher to do but to drop the progressive work, and devote a few

lessons to relaxing exercises.

Little difficulty is usually found in relaxing the throat, when once the

necessity becomes strikingly apparent. That is, provided progressive

study is dropped for a time, and attention paid solely to relaxing

exercises. But such cases are comparatively rare. A much more constant

source of trouble is found in the prevailing tendency of vocal students

to stiffen their throats, just enough to interfere with the (supposed)

application of the teacher's method.

The exercises used for relaxing the throat are fairly simple, both in

character and scope. They consist mainly of toneless yawning, of single

tones "yawned out" on a free exhalation, and of descending scale

passages of the same type. Although seldom recognized as a coördinate

topic of instruction, exercises of this character are usually

interspersed among the other materials of vocal methods.

CHAPTER VI

A GENERAL VIEW OF MODERN VOICE CULTURE

All the materials of modern methods have now been described. The subject

next to be considered is the manner in which these materials are

utilized in practical instruction. In other words, what is a method of

Voice Culture?

In the present state of Vocal Science, the subject of tone-production

overshadows everything else in difficulty. When once the correct vocal

action has been acquired, the student's progress is assured. Every other

feature of the singer's education is simply a matter of time and

application. But, under present conditions, the acquirement of the

correct vocal action is extremely uncertain. On account of its

fundamental importance, and more especially of its difficulty, the

subject of tone-production is the most prominent topic of instruction in

singing. The term "method" is therefore applied solely to the means used

for imparting the correct vocal action.

This use of the word is in accordance with the accepted theory of Voice

Culture. The general belief is that tone-production is entirely distinct

from vocal technique. Technical studies cannot profitably be undertaken,

according to the prevailing idea, until the correct management of the

vocal organs has been established. This idea is supposed to be followed

out in modern instruction. It is generally assumed that the voice is

brought under control through a definite series of exercises; these

exercises are supposed to follow, one after the other, according to a

well-defined system. The term "method" implies this systematic

arrangement of exercises. It indicates that vocal training is a matter

of precise knowledge and orderly progression.

This represents the accepted ideal of Voice Culture, rather than the

actual condition. The idea that the vocal management should be imparted

specially, as something preliminary to the technical training of the

voice, is not carried out in practice. Teachers generally are striving

to bring their systems into conformity with this ideal standard. They

use the expression, "placing the voice," to describe the preliminary

training in tone-production. But no successful system of this type has

ever been evolved. The correct management of the voice never is imparted

in the manner indicated by this ideal of instruction. Tone-production

continues, throughout the entire course of study, to be the most

important topic of instruction.

In order to understand the nature of a method of Voice Culture, it is

necessary first to consider the relation which exists, in modern

instruction, between training in tone-production, and the development of

vocal technique. According to the accepted theory, the voice must be

"placed" before the real study of singing is undertaken. After the voice

has been properly "placed," it is supposed to be in condition to be

developed by practice in singing technical exercises. But in actual

practice this distinction between "voice-placing" exercises and

technical studies is seldom drawn. The voice is trained, almost from the

beginning of the course of study, by practice in actual singing. The

earliest exercises used for "placing the voice" are in every respect

technical studies,--single tones and syllables, scale passages,

arpeggios, etc. It is impossible to produce even a single tone without

embodying some feature of technique. Practice therefore serves a double

purpose; it brings the voice gradually to the condition of perfect

action, and at the same time it develops the technique. The student

advances gradually toward the correct manner of tone-production, and

this progress is evidenced solely by the improved technical use of the

voice. Considerable technical facility is attained before the

tone-production becomes absolutely perfect.

A vocal student's practice in singing is not confined to technical

exercises, strictly speaking. Vocalises, songs, and arias are taken up,

usually very early in the course of study. Moreover, attention is nearly

always paid to musical expression and to artistic rendition, as well as

to the vocal action and the technical use of the voice. This is true,

whether the student sings an exercise, a vocalise, a song, or an aria.

For daily home practice, the student sings, usually, first some

exercises, then a few vocalises, and finally several songs and arias.

Every teacher has at command a wide range of compositions of all these

kinds, carefully graded as to technical and musical difficulty. As the

pupil advances, more and more difficult works are undertaken. For each

stage of advancement the teacher chooses the compositions best adapted

to carry the student's progress still further.

There is no point in this development at which instruction in

tone-production ceases, and the technical training of the voice is

begun. On the contrary, the means used for imparting the correct vocal

action are interspersed with the other materials of instruction, both

technical and artistic, throughout the entire course of study. Moreover,

the training in tone-production is carried on during the singing of the

compositions just described, as well as by practice on "voice-placing"

exercises strictly speaking.

A method of instruction in singing therefore consists primarily of a set

of mechanical rules and directions for managing the voice, and

secondarily of a series of exercises, both toneless and vocal, so

designed that the student may directly apply in practising them the

rules and directions for vocal management. It must not be understood

however that the mechanical rules are applied only to the exercises

specially designed for this purpose. These rules and directions are

also intended to be applied to everything the student sings,--exercises,

technical studies, and musical compositions.

It will be recalled that the review of the topics of modern vocal

instruction covered three distinct types of materials. First, the purely

mechanical doctrines, commonly regarded as the only strictly scientific

principles of Voice Culture. These are, the rules for the management of

the breath, of the registers, of laryngeal action, and of the resonance

cavities, and also the directions for attacking the tone, and for

forward emission. The second class of materials is held by strict

adherents of the scientific idea to be purely empirical; this class

includes the traditional precepts of the old Italian school, and also

all the topics of instruction based on the singer's sensations. A third

class of materials is found in the attempts to interpret the empirical

doctrines in the light of the scientific analysis of the vocal action.

To enumerate and classify all the methods of instruction in vogue would

be almost an impossibility. Absolutely no uniformity can be found on any

topic. Even among the accepted doctrines of Vocal Science there are

many controverted points. Five distinct schools of breathing are

represented, two of breath-control. Of well worked-out systems of

registers, at least twenty could be enumerated. Fully this number of

theories are offered regarding the correct positions of the larynx, soft

palate, and tongue. Two opposed theories are held as to nasal resonance.

Further, the empirical doctrines are always stated so loosely that no

real unanimity of view can be found on any one of them.

Every vocal teacher selects the materials of instruction from these

controverted doctrines, but neither rule nor reason determines what

materials shall be embodied in any one method. There is no coherence

whatever in the matter. Further, there is no agreement as to which

topics of instruction are most important. One teacher may emphasize

breath-control and support of tone as the foundations of the correct

vocal action, another may give this position to nasal resonance and

forward placing. Yet both these teachers may include in their methods

about the same topics. The methods seem entirely different, only because

each makes some one or two doctrines the most important. In short, it

might almost be said that there are as many methods as teachers.

Three fairly distinct types of method may be defined, depending on the

class of materials adopted. At one extreme are found those teachers who

attempt to follow strictly the scientific principles. These teachers

generally profess to employ only the purely mechanical doctrines of

Vocal Science, and to ignore all empirical interpretations of these

doctrines. They generally devote a portion of every lesson to toneless

muscular drills, and insist that their pupils practise every exercise in

singing, with special attention to the throat action. These teachers

attempt to follow a definite plan and order in the giving of exercises

and rules. This systematic arrangement of instruction is, however,

seldom followed out consistently with any one student. An important

reason for this is considered in Chapter I of Part II.

A very different type of method is taught by many teachers who pay

special attention to the empirical topics of instruction. Of course no

teacher professes to teach empirically; on the contrary, every method is

called scientific, no matter what materials it embodies. Indeed, a very

little attention paid to breathing, attack, registers, and nasal

resonance, is enough to relieve any teacher of the reproach of

empiricism. The teachers now being considered touch to some extent on

these topics; but most of their instruction is based on the traditional

precepts, the singer's sensations, and the special vowel and consonant

drills. In the first few lessons of the course they usually give some

special breathing exercises, but almost always ignore breath-control.

Not much is done for vocal control in the strictly muscular sense.

Special "voice-placing" exercises are not used to any such extent as in

the strictly scientific methods just described, the voice-placing work

being usually done on vocalises, songs, and arias. No system whatever is

followed, or even attempted, in the sequence of topics touched upon. The

directions, "Breathe deeper on that phrase," "Bring that tone more

forward," "Open your throat for that _ah_," "Feel that tone higher up in

the head," may follow one after the other within five minutes of

instruction.

Teachers of this type are frequently charged, by the strict advocates of

mechanical instruction, with a practice commonly known as "wearing the

voice into place." This expression is used to indicate the total

abandonment of system in imparting the correct vocal action. It means

that the teacher simply has the pupil sing at random, trusting to

chance, or to some vague intuitive process, to bring about the correct

use of the voice. To the vocal scientist, "wearing the voice into place"

represents the depth of empiricism.

The great majority of teachers occupy a middle ground between the two

types just described. Teachers of this class touch, more or less, on

every topic of instruction, mechanical, empirical, and interpretive.

Their application of most of the topics of instruction is not quite so

mechanical as in the first type of method considered. The student's

attention is always directed to the vocal organs, but the idea of direct

muscular control is not so consistently put forward. As a rule, the

attempt is made in the first stages of instruction to follow a

systematic plan. Breathing, and perhaps breath-control, are first taught

as muscular drills, and then applied on single tones. Attack is

generally taken up next, then simple exercises in the medium register.

Following this, the chest and head registers are placed, and the

attention is turned to emission and resonance. But in most cases, when

the pupil has covered three or four terms of twenty lessons each, all

system is abandoned. The method from that time on is about of the type

described as empirical.

It must be remembered that this classification of methods is at best

very crude. It would not be easy to pick out any one teacher who adheres

consistently to any of the three forms of instruction described. All

that can be said is that a teacher usually tends somewhat more to one

type than to another.

Further, the degree of prominence given to the idea of direct mechanical

control of the voice does not classify a method quite satisfactorily.

Without exception every teacher adheres to the prevailing idea, that the

voice must be controlled and guided in some direct way,--that the singer

"must do something" to cause the vocal organs to operate properly. All

the materials of instruction, mechanical and empirical, are utilized for

the sole purpose of enabling the student to learn how to "do this

something."

Several names are used by teachers to describe their methods. One

professes to teach a "natural method," another the "pure Italian school

of Bel Canto," a third the "old Italian method as illustrated by Vocal

Science," a fourth the "strict scientific system of Voice Culture." No

attention need be paid to these expressions, as they are seldom accurate

descriptions.

Vocal lessons are usually of thirty minutes' duration. Each student

generally takes two such lessons every week, although in some cases

three, four, or even more are taken. A description of a few typical

lessons will show how the materials of instruction are practically

utilized.

Example 1: The student takes a few preliminary toneless breaths. Then

follow, in the order given, a few short tones for practice on attack,

some sustained tones on the vowel _ah_, exercises on three, four, and

five notes, ascending and descending, a single tone followed by the

octave jump up and descending scale, this last rising by semitones

through several keys. In these exercises the student's attention is

directed at random to the correct use of the registers, to nasal

resonance, forward emission, etc. This consumes ten or twelve minutes of

the lesson time. More elaborate exercises on scale passages are then

sung, lasting another five minutes. These are followed by a vocalise or

two, and a couple of songs or arias, which fill out the thirty minutes.

Example 2: A few breathing exercises are practised, followed by single

tones and short scale passages, the whole lasting about five minutes.

Then the student is drilled for some ten minutes on "placing the head

tones," in the manner described in the section on special vowel and

consonant drills. These exercises are varied by swelling the high tone,

by changing the vowels, and by elaborating the descending scale

passages. The remaining fifteen minutes are devoted to vocalises and

songs.

Example 3: This is an advanced pupil, whose voice is supposed to be

fairly well "placed." Technical exercises of some difficulty are sung,

covering a range of an octave and a half, or a little more. The teacher

interrupts occasionally to say "Sing those lower notes more in the chest

voice," "Place the upper notes higher in the head," "Don't let your

vocal cords open on that ah," "Sing that again and make the tones

cleaner," etc. One or two arias are then sung, interspersed with

instructions of the same sort, and also with suggestions regarding

style, delivery, and expression.

For daily practice between lessons, the student sings usually the same

exercises and studies included in the previous lesson, and also commits

to memory compositions assigned for future study.

Examples of this kind might be multiplied indefinitely, but the main

points have been fairly well brought out. Most important to be noticed

is the fact that the voice is trained by practice in actual singing. In

the whole scheme of modern Voice Culture, toneless muscular drills

consume only an insignificant proportion of the time devoted to lessons.

Further, the number of exercises and musical compositions embraced in a

single half-hour lesson is very small. On the other hand, no limit can

be set to the number of topics of vocal control touched on in any one

lesson. These latter are used, throughout the whole range of

instruction, without any systematic sequence. Whatever fault of

production the pupil's tones indicate, the teacher calls attention to

the fault, and gives the supposedly appropriate rule for its

correction.

Part II

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF MODERN METHODS

CHAPTER I

MECHANICAL VOCAL MANAGEMENT AS THE BASIS OF VOICE CULTURE

Notwithstanding the wide diversity of opinion on most topics connected

with vocal training, there is one point on which all authorities agree.

This is, that the voice must be consciously controlled. In all the

conflict of methods, this basic mechanical idea has never been attacked.

On the contrary, it is everywhere accepted without question as the

foundation of all instruction in singing.

The idea of mechanical vocal control is also the starting-point of all

analysis of the vocal action. Every investigator of the voice approaches

the subject in the belief that an exact determination of the muscular

operations of correct singing would lead to an absolutely infallible

method of training voices. The problem of tone-production is identical,

in the common belief, with the problem of the vocal action. Three

sciences, anatomy, mechanics, and acoustics, are believed to hold

somewhere among them the secret of the voice. All investigation has

therefore been carried on along the lines of these three sciences. It is

on this account that modern methods are called scientific, and not

because they are in conformity with general scientific principles.

Before taking up the question whether the idea of mechanical vocal

control is well grounded in fact and reason, let us consider further the

influence of this idea on modern methods of instruction.

All instruction in singing is intended to teach the student to "do

something," in order that the vocal organs may be directly caused to act

properly. No matter how vague and indefinite the directions given, their

aim is always to inform the student what to do, how to guide the vocal

action. Even when used in a purely empirical way the directions for open

throat, etc., are always given in this spirit. That these directions are

utterly meaningless in the mechanical sense does not alter the fact;

nobody has ever found any other connection in which they would take on a

definite meaning.

In this regard the empirical directions are no more unsatisfactory than

the mechanical doctrines of the accepted Vocal Science. It was pointed

out that no means has ever been discovered for applying several of these

doctrines in practical instruction. The rules contained in the

theoretical works on Voice Culture for managing the registers and

vocal-cord action, for forward emission of tone, and for control of the

resonance cavities, are of no value whatever to the student of singing.

It will be asked, how does the conscientious teacher get over this

difficulty? How are the deficiencies of the scientific doctrines

supplied in instruction? In many cases the deficiency is absolutely

ignored. The student is simply told to "make the vocal cords act

properly," to "direct the tone against the roof of the mouth," to "bring

in the nasal resonance," etc., and no further help is given. That this

works severe hardship on the earnest student need hardly be mentioned.

Other teachers, as has been explained, rely on a description of the

singer's sensations, and on the use of several vowel and consonant

combinations, for imparting control of resonance and forward emission.

These means are purely empirical makeshifts, and as a rule they are not

sanctioned by the consistent advocates of scientific instruction. But

for acquiring control of the correct vocal-cord action, absolutely no

means has ever been found, scientific or empirical. On this, the

surpassingly important feature of the vocal action, Vocal Science has

thrown no light whatever.

It was also remarked that the strictly scientific idea of Voice Culture

is very seldom carried out, to its logical conclusion, in actual

instruction. One important reason for this is that a student seldom

remains long enough with a teacher to cover the entire ground of

mechanical instruction. Students move about from teacher to teacher. In

the class of any one master the proportion of pupils who have never had

any previous instruction does not average one in ten. To carry the idea

of averages further, the length of time a student takes lessons of one

instructor may be set down as seldom more than two years.

How long it would take to apply the complete system of mechanical vocal

training has never been precisely stated. Cases are on record of pupils

being kept on mechanical drills and elementary exercises for four

years, without being allowed to attempt a simple song. But these

instances are extremely rare. It seldom happens that a teacher can hold

a pupil long enough to carry out the complete course of mechanical

study.

There are however many teachers who try conscientiously to have their

pupils pay attention to all the mechanical features of the vocal action.

What it would mean to sing in this way can only be imagined. Before

starting a tone, the singer would prepare by taking a breath in some

prescribed way, and retaining this breath an instant by holding the

chest walls out. Meanwhile the lips, tongue, soft palate, and larynx

would each be placed in the correct position. The jaw would be held

relaxed, and the throat loose and open. The expected tone would be felt,

in imagination, high up in the head, to assure the proper influence of

nasal resonance. The vocal cords would be held in readiness to respond

instantly to the mental command, so as to assure the exact state of

tension necessary. Preparation would be made to direct the "column of

vocalized breath," through the pharynx and mouth, to the proper point

on the hard palate. Then, at the same precise instant, the breath would

be started, and the vocal cords would be brought together, but without

touching.

So the tone would be begun. And all this would have to be done, with due

attention to each operation, in the fraction of a second preceding the

starting of the tone! The downright absurdity of this idea of singing

must be apparent to any one who has ever listened to a great singer.

Under the influence of the idea of mechanical vocal management there is

little room for choice between voice culture along empirical lines, and

the accepted type of scientific instruction. Modern empirical voice

training has little practical value. Describing to the student the

sensations which ought to be felt, does not help in the least. Even if

the sensations felt by the singer, in producing tone correctly, are

entirely different from those accompanying any incorrect use of the

voice, nothing can be learned thereby. The sensations of correct singing

cannot be felt until the voice is correctly used. An effect cannot

produce its cause. Correct tone-production must be there to cause the

sensations, or the sensations are not awakened at all. Nothing else can

bring about the sensations of correct singing, but correct singing

itself.

Further, these sensations cannot be known until they are actually

experienced. No description is adequate to enable the student to feel

them in imagination. And, finally, even if the sensations could be

described with all vividness, imagining them would not influence the

vocal organs in any way. This is true, whether the description is given

empirically, or whether it is cited to explain a mechanical feature of

the vocal action. Instruction based on the singer's sensations is

absolutely valueless.

It would seem that modern methods contain very little of real worth. The

investigation of the mechanical operations of the voice can hardly be

said to have brought forth anything of definite value to the vocal

teacher. But this is not the worst that can be said about the mechanical

doctrines of tone-production. When critically examined, and submitted to

a rigid scientific analysis, several of these doctrines are found to be

erroneous in conception. These are the theories of breath-control, chest

resonance, nasal resonance, and emission of tone. It will be observed

that these doctrines comprise more than half of the materials of the

accepted Vocal Science. Yet notwithstanding the fact that they are

accepted without question by the great majority of vocal theorists as

important elements of instruction in singing, each of these doctrines

involves a distinct misconception of scientific principles. An

examination of these doctrines is therefore the next subject to be

undertaken.

CHAPTER II

THE FALLACY OF THE DOCTRINE OF BREATH-CONTROL

When Dr. Mandl advanced the statement that the laryngeal muscles are too

weak to withstand the pressure of a powerful expiratory blast, the

theory of the vocal action therein embodied met with immediate

acceptance. This idea is so plausible that it appeals to the thoughtful

investigator as self-evident, and seems to call for no proof. The

doctrine of breath-control was at once adopted, by the most influential

vocal scientists, as the basic principle of tone-production.

Curiously, neither Dr. Mandl, nor any other advocate of breath-control,

seems to have read an article by Sir Charles Bell dealing with this same

action, the closing of the glottis against a powerful exhalation. This

paper, "On the Organs of the Human Voice," was read before a meeting of

the London Philosophical Society on February 2, 1832.

Dr. Bell dispels all the mystery concerning the closure of the glottis,

and the holding of the breath against a powerful contraction of the

expiratory muscles. He points out that this action occurs in accordance

with the law of the distribution of pressure in a fluid body, commonly

known as Pascal's law of fluid pressures.

Pascal's law is stated as follows:--"Pressure exerted anywhere upon a

mass of fluid is transmitted undiminished in all directions, and acts

with equal force on all equal surfaces, and in a direction at right

angles to those surfaces." (Atkinson's _Ganot's Physics_, 4th ed., New

York, 1869.)

The hydraulic press furnishes the familiar illustration of this law. Two

vertical cylinders, one many times larger than the other, are connected

by a pipe. The cylinders are fitted with pistons. Both the cylinders,

and the pipe connecting them, are filled with water, oil, air, or any

other fluid; the fluid can pass freely from one cylinder to the other,

through the connecting pipe. Suppose a horizontal section of the smaller

cylinder to measure one square inch, that of the larger to be one

hundred square inches. A weight of one pound on the smaller piston will

balance a weight of one hundred pounds on the larger. If a downward

pressure of one pound be exerted on the smaller piston, the larger

piston will exert an upward pressure of one hundred pounds. Conversely,

a downward pressure of one hundred pounds, exerted on the larger piston,

will effect an upward pressure of only one pound on the smaller piston.

A type of the hydraulic press is presented by the chest cavity and the

larynx, considered as one apparatus. This fact is illustrated in the

following quotation: "If a bladder full of water be connected with a

narrow upright glass tube, heavy weights placed on the bladder will be

able to uphold only a very small quantity of liquid in the tube, this

arrangement being in fact a hydraulic press worked backwards. If the

tube be shortened down so as to form simply the neck of the bladder, the

total expulsive pressure exerted by the bladder upon the contents of the

neck may seem to be very small when compared with the total pressure

exerted over the walls of the bladder upon the whole contents." (_A Text

Book of the Principles of Physics_, Alfred Daniell, London, 1884.)

That the glottis-closing muscles are too weak to withstand a powerful

expiratory pressure is therefore an entirely erroneous statement. Owing

to the small area of the under surfaces of the vocal cords, the air

pressure against them is very small, in comparison with the total

pressure exerted on the contents of the thorax by the expiratory

contraction. The glottis-closing muscles are fully capable of

withstanding this comparatively slight pressure. The doctrine of

breath-control is therefore scientifically untenable. This doctrine has

no place in Vocal Science.

As the basic doctrine of breath-control is unsound, the singer does not

need any direct means for controlling the breath. The attempt to check

the flow of the breath in any mechanical way is entirely uncalled for.

This being the case, it is hardly to be expected that the systems

devised to meet this fancied need would stand the test of scientific

examination. Each of these systems of breath-control, opposed muscular

action and ventricular, is in fact found on analysis to embody a

misconception of scientific principles.

_Opposed-Action Breath-Control_

A curious misapprehension of mechanical processes is contained in the

doctrine of breath-control by opposed muscular action. This can best be

pointed out by a consideration of the forces brought to bear on a single

rib in the acts of inspiration and expiration. One set of muscles

contract to raise this rib in inspiration, an opposed set, by their

contraction, lower the rib for the act of expiration. In the

opposed-action system of breath-control, the action of the rib-raising

muscles is continued throughout the expiration, as a check upon the pull

in the opposite direction of the rib-lowering muscles. Theoretically,

the downward pull is "controlled" by the upward pull. To express this

idea in figures, let the expiratory or downward pull on the rib be said

to involve the expenditure of five units of strength. According to the

theory of opposed-action breath-control, this downward pull would have

to be opposed by a slightly less upward pull, say four units of

strength.

Thus graphically presented, the fallacy of the "opposed-muscular" theory

is clearly exposed. The rib is lowered with a degree of strength equal

to the excess of the downward over the upward pull. If the downward pull

equals five units of strength, and the upward pull four units, the rib

is lowered with a pull equivalent to one unit of strength. Exactly the

same effect would be obtained if the downward and upward pulls were

equal respectively to twenty and nineteen units, or to two and one

units. Further, the result would be the same if the downward pull

involved the exertion of one unit of strength, and there was no upward

pull whatever. In every case, the actual result is equivalent to the

excess of the downward over the upward pull.

In the case of the expiratory pressure of five units of strength being

"controlled" by an inspiratory contraction of four units, nine units of

strength are exerted, and the same result could be obtained by the

exertion of one unit. There is a clear waste of eight units of strength.

The power of the expiratory blast is just what it would be if one unit

of strength were exerted in an "uncontrolled" expiration. The singer

exerts just nine times as much strength as is necessary to effect the

same result. This is why the practice of breath-control exercises is so

extremely fatiguing.

So far as the effect of the expiratory blast on the vocal cords is

concerned, "controlling" the breath has no influence whatever. The vocal

cords respond to the effective air pressure; they are not affected in

any way by the opposed contractions of the breath muscles.

"Opposed-muscular" breath-control is a sheer waste of time and effort.

Probably no particular harm has ever resulted to any singer's throat

from the practice of breath-control exercises. But the attempt to hold

back the breath has a very bad effect on the singer's delivery. The

"breath-control" type of singer is never found in the ranks of the great

artists. There is something utterly unnatural about this holding back of

the breath, repugnant to every singer endowed with the right idea of

forceful and dramatic delivery. The vast majority of the successful

pupils of "breath-control" teachers abandon, very early in their

careers, the tiresome attempt to hold back the breath. These singers

yield, probably unconsciously, to the instinctive impulse to sing freely

and without constraint.

But in the ranks of the minor concert and church singers are many who

try conscientiously to obey the instructions of the "breath-control"

teachers. Singers of this type can always be recognized by a curious

impression of hesitancy, or even timidity, conveyed by their tones. They

seem afraid to deliver their phrases with vigor and energy; they do not

"let their voices out." Frequently their voices are of excellent

quality, and their singing is polished and refined. But these singers

never give to the listener that sense of satisfaction which is felt on

hearing a fine voice freely and generously delivered.

As for the particular fallacy contained in the theory of ventricular

breath-control, that must be reserved for a later chapter. Suffice it to

say here that this theory disregards the two basic mechanical principles

of tone-production,--Pascal's law, and the law of the conservation of

energy. The application of this latter physical law to the operations of

the vocal organs is considered in Chapter VI of Part III.

CHAPTER III

THE FALLACIES OF FORWARD EMISSION, CHEST RESONANCE, AND NASAL RESONANCE

Sir Morell Mackenzie's analysis of the acoustic principle supposedly

involved in "forward emission" has already been quoted. That this

analysis involves a complete misunderstanding of the laws of acoustics

need hardly be said. When stated in precise terms, the fallacy of the

"forward emission" theory is evident:

"On issuing from the vocal cords the tone is directed in a curved path,

around the back of the tongue. There the tone is straightened out, and

made to impinge on the roof of the mouth at a precisely defined point.

From this point the tone is reflected, not directly back, as it should

be, since the angles of incidence and reflection must be equal. Instead

of this, the tone is reflected forward, out of the mouth, necessarily

again taking a curved path, to avoid striking the front teeth."

Naturally, no muscular action has ever been defined for causing the

tone to perform this remarkable feat.

The "forward emission" theory assumes the existence of a current of air,

issuing from the vocal cords as a tone. In other words, the tone is

supposed to consist of a stream of air, which can be voluntarily

directed in the mouth, and aimed at some precise point on the roof of

the mouth. This is an utter mistake.

There is no "column of vibrating air," or "stream of vocalized breath,"

in the mouth during tone-production. In the acoustic sense, the air in

the mouth-pharynx is still air, not air in a current. The only motion

which takes place in the air in this cavity is the oscillatory swing of

the air particles. To imagine the directing of air vibrations in the

mouth, as we direct a stream of water out of a hose, is absurd.

What then is the "forward tone"? There must be some reason for this

well-known effect of a perfectly produced voice,--the impression made on

the hearer that the tones are formed in the front of the mouth. There

ought also to be some way for the singer to learn to produce tones of

this character. A consideration of this feature of the vocal action is

reserved for Chapter IV of part III.

_Chest Resonance_

Who was originally responsible for the doctrine of chest resonance, it

would be impossible now to determine. Were it not for the fact of this

doctrine having received the support of eminent scientists (Holmes,

Mackenzie, Curtis, and many others), it might be looked upon as a mere

figure of speech. That the tones of the voice are reinforced by the

resonance of the air in the chest cavity, is an utter absurdity. In the

acoustic sense, the thorax is not a cavity at all. The thorax is filled

with the spongy tissue of the lungs, not to mention the heart. It is no

better adapted for air resonance than an ordinary spherical resonator

would be, if filled with wet sponges.

_Nasal Resonance_

Enough was said of the theories of nasal resonance in Chapter IV of Part

I to show the unscientific character of all these theories. It remains

only to point out the misconception of acoustic principles, contained in

all the discussions of the subject. This is very much the same as in

the theory of "forward emission," viz., that the tones of the voice

consist physically of a "stream of vocalized breath." The mistaken idea

is, that nasal resonance results from part or all of the expired breath

passing through the nose.

What is nasal resonance? How is it caused? What is its effect on the

tones of the voice? These questions have never been answered. It can

however be proved that a satisfactory science of Voice Culture is not in

any way dependent on obtaining an answer to these questions. This much

is definitely known:

1. If the resonance of the air in the nasal cavities exerts any

influence on the tones of the voice, this influence cannot be increased,

diminished, or prevented by any direct action on the part of the singer.

Shutting off the entrance of the breath, by raising the soft palate, is

possible as a muscular exercise. But it is impossible to perform this

action, and to sing artistically, at the same time. To produce any kind

of tone, while holding the soft palate raised, is extremely difficult.

In a later chapter it will be seen that this action has no place

whatever in the correct use of the voice.

2. As the nasal cavities are fixed in size and shape, the singer cannot

control or vary any influence which they may exert as a resonator.

3. Independent of any thought or knowledge of how the nasal quality of

tone is caused, the singer has perfect voluntary control over this

quality by the simple, direct influence of the will. A singer may

produce nasal tones, or tones free from this faulty sound, at will, with

no thought of the mechanical processes involved. All that is required is

that the singer have an ear keen enough to recognize the nasal quality

in his own voice, as well as in the voice of any other singer.

CHAPTER IV

THE FUTILITY OF THE MATERIALS OF MODERN METHODS

Of the strictly scientific or mechanical materials of modern methods,

four have been seen to be utterly erroneous. The remaining topics of

instruction, mechanical and empirical, may with equal justice be

submitted to a similar examination.

Several of these topics have already been critically examined. The rules

for registers and laryngeal management were seen to be of no value to

the student of singing. So also was it observed that all instruction

which attempts to utilize the singer's sensations is futile. All that is

left of the materials of modern methods, in which any valuable idea

might be contained, are the rules for breathing.

Without undertaking to decide whether one system of breathing can be

right, to the exclusion of all other systems, one general remark can be

applied to the whole subject. It has never been scientifically proved

that the correct use of the voice depends in any way on the mastery of

an acquired system of breathing. True, this is the basic assumption of

all the discussions of the singer's breathing. As Frangçon-Davies justly

remarks,--"All combatants are agreed on one point, viz., that the

singer's breath is an acquired one of some kind." (_The Singing of the

Future_, David Frangçon-Davies, M.A., London, 1906.) This is purely an

assumption on the part of the vocal theorists. No one has ever so much

as attempted to offer scientific proof of the statement.

Further, it is frequently stated that the old Italian masters paid much

attention to the subject of breathing; the assumption is also made that

these masters approached the subject in the modern spirit. Neither this

statement, nor the assumption based on it, is susceptible of proof. Tosi

and Mancini do not even mention the subject of breathing.

Breathing has been made the subject of exhaustive mechanical and

muscular analysis, for one reason, and for only one reason. This is,

because the action of breathing is the only mechanical feature of

singing which can be exhaustively studied. The laryngeal action is

hidden; the influence of the resonance cavities cannot well be

determined. But the whole muscular operation of breathing can be readily

seen and studied; any investigator can personally experiment with every

conceivable system.

Furthermore, the adoption of any system of breathing has no influence

whatever on the operations of the voice. A student of singing may learn

to take breath in any way favored by the instructor; the manner of

tone-production is not in the least affected. Even if the correct use of

the voice has to be acquired, the mode of breathing does not contribute

in any way to this result.

All that need be said in criticism of the various doctrines of breathing

is, that the importance of this subject has been greatly overestimated.

Breath and life are practically synonymous. Nothing but the prevalence

of the mechanical idea has caused so much attention to be paid to the

singer's breathing. A tuba player will march for several hours in a

street parade, carrying his heavy instrument, and playing it fully half

the time; yet the vocal theorist does not consider him an object of

sympathy.

No doubt the acquirement of healthy habits of breathing is of great

benefit to the general health. But this does not prove that correct

singing demands some kind of breathing inherently different from

ordinary life. To inspire quickly and exhale the breath slowly is not an

acquired ability; it is the action of ordinary speech. Singing demands

that the lungs be filled more quickly than in ordinary speech, and

perhaps a fuller inspiration is also required. This is readily mastered

with very little practice. It does not call for the acquirement of any

new muscular movements, nor the formation of any new habits.

What is left of all the materials of modern vocal instruction? To sum

them up in the order in which they were considered in Part I:

Breathing does not need to be mastered in any such way as is stated in

the theoretical works on the voice. Breath-control is a complete

fallacy. The doctrines of registers and laryngeal action are utterly

valueless. Chest resonance, nasal resonance, and forward emission, are

scientifically erroneous. The traditional precepts are of no value,

because nobody knows how to follow or apply them. Empirical teaching

based on the singer's sensations is of no avail.

In other words, modern methods contain not one single topic of any value

whatever in the training of the voice. It will be objected that this

statement is utterly absurd, because many of the world's greatest

singers have been trained according to these methods. No doubt this is

in one sense true; modern methods can point to many brilliant successes.

But this does not prove anything in favor of the materials of modern

methods.

Singers are trained to-day exactly as they were trained two hundred

years ago, through a reliance on the imitative faculty. The only

difference is this: In the old days, the student was directly and

expressly told to listen and to imitate, while to-day the reliance on

the imitative faculty is purely instinctive. A fuller consideration of

the important function of imitation as an unrecognized element of modern

Voice Culture is contained in Chapter V of Part IV.

CHAPTER V

THE ERROR OF THE THEORY OF MECHANICAL VOCAL MANAGEMENT

A fundamental difference was pointed out, at the close of the preceding

chapter, between the old Italian method and modern systems of vocal

instruction. This is worthy of repetition. The old Italian method was

founded on the faculty of imitation. Modern methods have as their basis

the idea of conscious, direct, mechanical control of the vocal organs.

All the materials of instruction based on this idea of mechanical

control were seen to be absolutely valueless. It is now in order to

examine still further the structure of modern Voice Culture, and to test

this basic idea of mechanical control.

As a muscular operation, the actions of singing must be subject to the

same physiological and psychological laws which govern all other

voluntary muscular actions. What are these laws? How do we guide and

control our muscular movements? At first sight, this seems a simple

question. We know what we want to do, and we do it. But the important

point is, how are we able to do the things we want to do? You wish to

raise your hand, for example, therefore you raise it. How does your hand

know that you wish to raise it? Does the hand raise itself? Not at all;

it is raised by the contraction of certain muscles in the arm, shoulder,

and back. That is, when you wish to raise your hand, certain muscles

contract themselves. But these muscles are not part of the hand. What

leads these muscles in the shoulder and back to contract, when you will

to raise your hand? Normally you are not even aware of their

contraction. Yet in some way these muscles know that they are called on

to contract, in response to the wish to raise the hand. This takes

place, even though you know nothing whatever of the muscles in question.

The process is by no means so simple, when looked at in this light.

A complicated psychological process is involved in the simplest

voluntary movements. This is seen in the following analysis:

"To move any part of the body voluntarily requires the following

particulars: (1) The possession of an educated reflex-motor mechanism,

under the control of the higher cerebral centers which are most

immediately connected with the phenomena of consciousness; (2) certain

_motifs_ in the form of conscious feelings that have a tone of pleasure

or pain, and so impel the mind to secure such bodily conditions as will

continue or increase the one, and discontinue or diminish the other; (3)

ideas of motions and positions of the bodily members, which previous

experience has taught us answer more or less perfectly to the _motifs_

of conscious feeling; (4) a conscious fiat of will, settling the

question, as it were, which of these ideas shall be realized in the

motions achieved and positions attained by these members; (5) a central

nervous mechanism, which serves as the organ of relation between this

act of will and the discharge of the requisite motor impulses along

their nerve-tracts to the groups of muscles peripherally situated."

(_Elements of Physiological Psychology_, Geo. T. Ladd, New York, 1889.)

Let us again consider the action of raising the hand, and see how the

psychological analysis applies in this movement. We note in the first

place that we are concerned only with the third, fourth, and fifth

particulars of Prof. Ladd's analysis. These are:

The idea of the movement.

The fiat of will which directs that this movement be performed.

The discharge of the requisite motor impulses, along the nerve-tracts,

to the muscles whose contraction constitutes the movement.

It will be simpler, and will answer the purpose equally well, to combine

the third and fourth elements, and to consider as one element the idea

of the movement and the fiat of will to execute the movement.

_The Idea of a Movement_

The mental picture of a purposed movement is simple and direct. No

reference is involved to the muscles concerned in the performance of the

movement. When you will to raise your hand, the action is pictured to

your mind as the raising of the hand, and nothing more. Certain muscles

are to be contracted. But the mental picture of the movement does not

indicate what these muscles are, in what order they are to be brought

into play, nor the relative degrees of strength to be exerted by each

muscular fiber. You do not consciously direct the muscles in their

contractions.

_The Discharge to the Muscles of the Nerve Impulse_

How then are the muscles informed that their contraction is called for?

They have no independent volition; each muscular fiber obeys the impulse

transmitted to it by the nerve, from the nerve center governing its

action. These nerve centers are in their turn controlled by the central

nervous mechanism. And in complex voluntary movements the central

nervous mechanism is under the control of the higher cerebral centers.

The wish to raise the hand appears to the mind as an idea of the hand

being raised. This idea is translated by the central nervous mechanism

into a set of motor nerve impulses. Does consciousness or volition come

into play here? Not at all. On this point Prof. Ladd remarks: "As to the

definite nature of the physical basis which underlies the connection of

ideas of motion and the starting outward of the right motor impulses,

our ignorance is almost complete."

Is it necessary for the performance of a complex muscular action that

the individual know what muscles are involved and how and when to

contract them? No; this knowledge is not only unnecessary, it is even

impossible. Prof. Ladd says of this: "It would be a great mistake to

regard the mind as having before it the cerebral machinery, all nicely

laid out, together with the acquired art of selecting and touching the

right nervous elements in order to produce the desired motion, as a

skilful player of the piano handles his keyboard."

How then are the muscles informed of the service required of them? Or

more precisely, how does the central nervous mechanism know what

distribution of nerve impulses to make among the different nerve centers

governing the muscles? As Prof. Ladd says, our ignorance on this point

is almost complete. There resides in the central nervous mechanism

governing the muscles something which for lack of a better name may be

called an instinct. When a purposeful movement of any part of the body

is willed, the mental picture of the movement is translated by the

central nervous mechanism into a succession of nerve impulses; these

impulses are transmitted through the lower centers to the muscles. The

instinct informing the central nervous mechanism how to apportion the

discharges of nerve impulse among the various muscular centers is to a

high degree mysterious. The present purpose will not be served by

carrying the analysis of this instinct further.[7]

[Note 7: The evolutionary development of this instinct is not

altogether mysterious. Science can fairly well trace the successive

steps in the development of the central nervous mechanism, from the

amoeba to the highest type of vertebrate. "Nerve channels" are worn by

the repeated transmission of impulses over the same tracts.

Coördinations become in successive generations more complex and more

perfect. As consciousness develops further, in each succeeding type,

actions originally reflex tend to take on a more consciously purposeful

character. But all we are concerned with now is the problem of

tone-production. Our purpose is best served by accepting the faculty of

muscular adaptation as an instinct, pure and simple.]

There is therefore no direct conscious guidance of the muscles, in any

movement, simple or complex. So far as the command of voluntary muscular

actions is concerned, the first simple statement of the process sums up

all that for practical purposes need be determined;--we know what we

want to do, and we do it. The mind forms the idea of an action and the

muscles instinctively respond.

But the fact remains that the muscles need to be guided in some way. We

do not perform instinctively many complex actions,--writing, dancing,

rowing, swimming, etc. All these actions, and indeed most of the

activities of daily life, must be consciously learned by practice and

repeated effort. How are these efforts guided? To arrive at an answer to

this question let us consider how a schoolboy practises his writing

lesson.

The boy begins by having before him a copy of the letters he is to

write. Under the guidance of the eye the hand traces these letters. At

each instant the eye points out to the hand the direction in which to

move. As the hand occasionally wanders from the prescribed direction the

eye immediately notes the deviation and bids the hand to correct it. The

hand responds to the demands of the eye, immediately, without thought on

the boy's part of nerve impulse or of muscular contraction. By repeated

efforts the boy improves upon his first clumsy attempts; with each

repetition he approaches nearer to the model.

In the course of this progress the muscular sense gradually comes to the

assistance of the eye as a sort of supplementary guidance. But at no

time is the eye relieved of the responsibility of guiding the hand in

writing. To sum this up, the movements of the hand in writing are

guided, so far as the consciousness is aware, directly by the sense of

sight.

We have here the law of voluntary muscular guidance. In all voluntary

movements the muscles are guided in their contractions, through some

instinctive process, by the sense or senses which observe the movements

themselves, and more especially, the results of the movements. In most

actions the two senses concerned are sight and muscular sense. The more

an action becomes habitual the more it tends to be performed under the

guidance of muscular sense, and to be free from the necessity of the

guidance of the eye. But muscular sense does not usually rise so high

into consciousness as sight, in the guidance of muscular activities.

Many oft-repeated movements, especially those of walking, become

thoroughly habitual and even automatic; that is, the muscular

contractions are performed as purely reflex actions, without conscious

guidance of any kind. But even in walking, the necessity may at any

instant arise for conscious guidance. In such a case the sense of sight

immediately comes into service; from reflex the movements become

voluntary, and consciously guided. In the case of most complex actions

the sense of sight furnishes the most important guidance.

If the muscular operations of singing are subject to the general laws of

psychological control, the guidance of the vocal organs must be

furnished by the sense which observes the results of the movements

involved. This is the sense of hearing. Just as in writing the hand is

guided by the eye, so in singing the voice is guided by the ear. There

can be no other means of guiding the voice. Muscular sense may under

certain conditions supplement the sense of hearing, but under no

circumstances can muscular sense assume full command. The net result of

the application of psychological principles to the problem of

tone-production is simply this, that the voice is guided directly by the

ear.

It is thus seen that the idea of mechanical vocal management is utterly

erroneous. On pushing the analysis still further the fallacy of this

idea is found to be even more glaring.

Is a knowledge of anatomy of any assistance in the acquirement of skill

in performing complex muscular actions? Not in the least. An

understanding of muscular processes does not contribute in any way to

skilful execution. The anatomist does not play billiards or row a boat

one whit the better for all his knowledge of the muscular structure of

the body.

Even if the precise workings of the vocal mechanism could be determined,

the science of Voice Culture would not benefit thereby. Knowing how the

muscles should act does not help us to make them act properly. It is

utterly idle to tell the vocal student that as the pitch of the voice

rises the arytenoid cartilages rotate, bringing their forward surfaces

together, and so shortening the effective length of the vocal cords.

Whatever the vocal cords are required to do is performed through an

instinctive obedience to the demands of the mental ear.

And finally, a precise analysis of muscular contractions is impossible,

even in the case of comparatively simple actions. When, for example,

the hand describes a circle in the air, a number of muscles are

involved. True, it is known what these muscles are, and what effect the

combined contractions of any group would have on the position of the

hand. The direction of the hand's motion at any instant is determined by

the resultant of all the forces exerted on this member. But as this

direction constantly changes, so must the relative degrees of strength

exerted by the muscles also constantly change. At no two successive

instants are the muscular adjustments the same. This simple action,

performed without thought or knowledge of the muscular processes,

presents features too complex to be analyzed on the basis of mechanical

law and anatomic structure.

A complete analysis of the muscular operations of tone-production is

absolutely impossible. The adjustments of the laryngeal muscles involve

probably the most minute variations in degree of contraction performed

in the whole voluntary muscular system. What we do know of the

mechanical operations of the voice is exceedingly interesting, and a

further knowledge of the subject is greatly to be desired. But we can

never hope to clear up all the mystery of the vocal action.

This statement must not be construed to mean that the study of the vocal

mechanism has been devoid of valuable results. On the contrary, the

present understanding of the mechanical operations of the voice will be

found of very great value in erecting a true science of Voice Culture.

The only weakness of the present results of vocal investigation is due

to the fact that this investigation has always been carried on under the

influence of the idea of mechanical vocal management. This influence has

led all theoretical students of the subject to attempt to apply their

knowledge in formulating rules for direct mechanical guidance of the

voice. That these rules are valueless is due solely to the fundamental

error involved in the mechanical idea.

Voice Culture must be turned from the idea of mechanical vocal

management. The old Italian masters were right in that they relied, even

though empirically, on the imitative faculty. Modern teachers may do

better, for in the light of present knowledge reliance on the faculty of

vocal imitation can be shown to be in strict accord with sound

scientific principles.

Part III

THE BASIS OF A REAL SCIENCE OF VOICE

CHAPTER I

THE MEANS OF EMPIRICAL OBSERVATION OF THE VOICE

To all knowledge obtained through the observation of facts and

phenomena, the term empirical is properly applied. Empirical knowledge

must be the basis of every science. To be available in forming a

science, empirical knowledge of a subject must be so carefully gathered

that all probability of error is eliminated; the observations must be so

exhaustive as to embrace every possible source of information. From the

knowledge thus obtained a set of verified general rules must be worked

out with which all the observed facts and phenomena are shown to be in

accord. Then a science has been erected. There is no possibility of

conflict between empirical and scientific knowledge. The discovery of a

single fact, at variance with the supposed general laws bearing on any

subject, is sufficient to overthrow the entire structure which had been

accepted as a science.

In the accepted Vocal Science the terms empirical and scientific are

used in a sense entirely different from that which properly attaches to

these words. Present knowledge of the operations of the voice is called

scientific, solely because it is derived from the sciences of anatomy,

acoustics, and mechanics. The term "empirical knowledge of the voice" is

used as a name for knowledge of the subject drawn from any source other

than these sciences. Yet so far as the modern vocal world seems to be

aware, it possesses no knowledge of the voice other than that commonly

called scientific. It is supposed that the old Italian masters had some

"empirical understanding of the voice." But, if this was the case, their

empirical knowledge has apparently been utterly lost.

Thus far in the present work, the usage of the terms empirical and

scientific, accepted by vocal theorists generally, has been adopted. A

distinction has been drawn between knowledge of the voice obtained

through the study of the vocal mechanism and that obtained through

observation of any other kind. The purpose will best be served by

continuing this same usage.

It must be apparent to the reader, from the analysis of modern methods,

that no real Science of Voice has thus far been erected. This is due to

the fact that the general principles of scientific investigation have

not been applied to the study of the voice. Under the influence of the

idea of mechanical vocal management the attention of all investigators

has been turned exclusively to the mechanical features of

tone-production. Meanwhile the empirical knowledge of the old masters

seems to have been forgotten. As a matter of fact, as will now be seen,

this empirical knowledge has never been lost. Every modern teacher of

singing shares the empirical knowledge which formed the sole material of

the old method. But this knowledge is not applied effectually in modern

instruction for two reasons. First, modern teachers do not realize the

importance of this knowledge; indeed, they are practically unaware of

this valuable possession. Although in fact the basis of nearly all

modern instruction in singing, empirical knowledge is always

unconsciously used. Second, empirical knowledge is always applied in the

prevailing mechanical spirit. The attempt is always made to translate

the sub-conscious empirical understanding of the voice into rules for

direct mechanical management. Under the influence of the mechanical idea

the modern teacher's most valuable possession, empirical knowledge of

the voice, becomes utterly unserviceable.

Thus far, the whole result of this work has been destructive. The

accepted Vocal Science has been shown to be erroneous in its conception

and unsound in its conclusions. The work cannot halt here. Vocal Science

must be reconstructed. This can be done only by following the general

plan of all scientific investigation, beginning with the observation of

all ascertainable facts bearing on the voice.

How can any facts be observed about the voice other than by the study of

the vocal mechanism? An answer to this question is at once suggested so

soon as scientific principles are applied to the subject. Strictly

speaking, the voice is a set of sounds, produced by the action of the

vocal organs. The scientific method of inquiry is therefore to begin by

observing these sounds. Sounds as such can be observed only by the sense

of hearing. It follows then that the attentive listening to voices is

the first step to be taken.

Can any empirical knowledge of the voice be obtained by the mere

listening to voices? If so, we ought now to be in possession of any

facts which might be thus observed. Is it possible that information of

this character is already a common possession of the vocal world, and

yet that this information has never been applied in the investigation of

the voice? This is exactly the case. Many facts regarding the voice have

been observed so continually that they are a matter of common knowledge,

and yet these facts have never been recorded in a scientific manner.

Consider, for example, this remark about a famous singer, made by one of

the foremost musical critics of the United States: "Mme. T---- 's lower

medium notes were all sung with a pinched glottis." How did this critic

know that the singer had pinched her glottis? He had no opportunity of

examining her throat with the laryngoscope, nor of observing her throat

action in any other way. In fact, the critic was seated probably

seventy-five feet from the artist at the time the tones in question were

sung. The critic had only one means of knowing anything about the

singer's throat action, and that was contained in the sound of the

tones. There must therefore have been something in the sound of the

tones which conveyed this information to the critical listener. For many

years this gentleman had been in the habit of listening closely to

singers, and he had found some way of estimating the singer's throat

action by the character of the tones produced.

This same means of judging the manner of production from the sound of

the tones seems to have been utilized nearly two hundred years ago.

Speaking of the most frequent faults of tone-production, Tosi remarks:

"The voice of the scholar should always come forth neat and clear,

without passing through the nose or being choked in the throat." Mancini

also speaks of the faults of nasal and throaty voice: "Un cantare di

gola e di naso." A throaty tone, therefore, impressed these writers as

being in some way formed or caught in the singer's throat. It may be set

down as certain that no pupil ever explained to either of these masters

how the objectionable sounds were produced. How then did Tosi and

Mancini know the manner in which a throaty tone is produced?

We need not go back to the early writers to find out what is meant by a

throaty tone. Fully as many throaty singers are heard nowadays as the

old masters ever listened to. What do we mean when we say that a

singer's voice is throaty? The answer to this question seems at first

sight simple enough: The tones impress us as being formed in the

singer's throat. But what conveys this impression? Something in the

sound of the tone, of course. Yet even that is not enough. How can a

tone, merely a sound to which we listen, tell us anything about the

condition of the singer's throat during the production of the tone? Here

again the answer seems simple: The listener knows that, in order to

produce a tone of like character, he would have to contract his own

throat in some way.

Here we have a highly significant fact about the voice. On hearing a

throaty tone, the listener can tell how this tone is produced; he feels

that he would have to contract his own throat in order to produce a

similar tone. Let us carry this discussion a little further. How does

the listener know this? Certainly not by actually singing a throaty

tone. When seated in a concert hall, for example, and listening to a

throaty singer, the hearer cannot rise from his seat, sing a few throaty

tones himself, and then note how his throat feels. The critic just

mentioned did not sing some notes with "pinched glottis" in order to

learn how Mme. T---- sang her low tones. Evidently it is not necessary

actually to imitate the singer; the hearer gets the same result by

imitating the sounds mentally. In other words, when we hear throaty

tones we mentally imitate these tones; thus we know that we should have

to contract our own throats in order to produce similar tones.

But even here we cannot stop. To imitate the singer actually is one

thing; mental imitation is something entirely different. In the first

case, actual imitation, our muscular sense would inform us of the state

of throat tightening. But in the case of mental imitation there is no

actual tightening of the throat, nothing, at any rate, comparable to

what takes place in actual imitation. There is then a dual function of

the imagination; first, the mental imitation of the sound; second, the

imaginary tightening of the throat. The analysis of the mental process

must therefore be modified, and stated as follows: When we listen to a

throaty tone we mentally imitate the tone; an imaginative function of

the muscular sense informs us what condition the singer's throat assumes

for the production of the tone.

A similar operation takes place in listening to nasal voices. An

impression is conveyed by a nasal tone, through which the hearer is

informed of a condition of tightness or contraction somewhere in the

singer's nose.

The terms applied to the two most marked forms of faulty

tone-production, nasal and throaty, are derived from impressions

conveyed by the sounds of the tones. These names, nasal and throaty,

refer to a feeling of tightness or contraction experienced in

imagination by the hearer; in one case this feeling is located in the

nose, in the other, in the throat. But the terms nasal and throaty are

general descriptions of faulty tones. Each one covers a wide range of

tone qualities. There is an almost infinite variety of throaty tones,

and of nasal sounds as well. The knowledge of the voice obtained by

listening to vocal tones is of equally wide extent. Every throaty tone,

whatever its precise character, informs the hearer of the exact

condition of the singer's throat in producing the tone. In short, every

vocal tone is thus analyzed by the critical listener, and referred in

imagination to his own throat. An insight into the singer's vocal action

is imparted to the hearer through an imaginative process which always,

of necessity, accompanies the attentive listening to vocal tones.

Every vocal tone awakens in the hearer a set of imagined muscular

sensations. These sensations furnish the means for an exhaustive

analysis of the operations of the voice. The production of tone

therefore awakens two sets of muscular sensations, one actually felt by

the singer, the other felt in imagination by the listener. The former

are commonly known as the "singer's sensations"; but, as will be

explained later, this expression is often very loosely applied. It is

advisable on this account to give a new name to the singer's sensations,

and also to give a name to the muscular sensations awakened in the

hearer. Let us therefore call the sensations experienced by the singer

in the production of tone the "direct sensations of tone." To the

imaginary sensations of the hearer let us give the name, the

"sympathetic sensations of tone."

These two terms will be used throughout the remainder of this work in

the meanings here given to them.

Direct sensations of tone are the sensations actually felt by the singer

as a result of the exercise of the vocal organs.

Sympathetic sensations of tone are the muscular sensations experienced

in imagination by the hearer as a result of the listening to the tones

of voices other than his own.

CHAPTER II

SYMPATHETIC SENSATIONS OF VOCAL TONE

A peculiar relation of sympathy exists between the human voice and the

human ear. So intimate is this relation that the two might almost be

considered as forming one complete organ. One aspect of this relation

has already been noted, the guidance of the vocal organs by the sense of

hearing. There is now to be considered another feature of this relation

between voice and ear,--the assistance rendered by the vocal organs to

the sense of hearing.

That a sub-conscious adjustment of the vocal organs may supplement the

sense of hearing in the estimation of pitch is mentioned by Prof. Ladd.

Speaking of the ability, by no means uncommon, to tell the pitch of any

musical note heard, Prof. Ladd says: "Such judgment, however, may be,

and ordinarily is, much assisted by auxiliary discriminations of other

sensations which blend with those of the musical tone. Among such

secondary helps the most important are the muscular sensations which

accompany the innervation of the larynx and other organs used in

producing musical tones. For we ordinarily innervate these organs (at

least in an inchoate and partial way)--that is, we sound the note to

ourselves--when trying carefully to judge of its pitch." (_Elements of

Physiological Psychology._)

Much more important in the study of the problem of tone-production are

the adjustments of the hearer's vocal organs which were named the

sympathetic sensations of tone. This peculiar auxiliary to the sense of

hearing calls for the closest attention.

Sympathetic sensations of tone are awakened in the hearer through the

mere listening to the sounds of the human voice. Vocal tones impress the

listener's ear in a manner entirely different from any other sounds. Not

only are the tones of the voice heard, just as other sounds are heard;

in addition to this, every vocal tone heard is mentally imitated, and

this mental reproduction of the tone is referred in imagination to the

hearer's own vocal organs. Besides hearing the vocal tone as a sound

pure and simple, the listener is also informed of the manner of throat

action by which the tone is produced.

This mental imitation and judgment of vocal tones is not a voluntary

operation. On the contrary it cannot even be inhibited. It is impossible

for us to listen to the voices of those about us, even in ordinary

conversation, without being to some extent aware of the various modes of

tone-production.

This idea of the mental imitation of voices may impress us at first as

highly mysterious. Sympathetic sensations of tone have been felt and

noted, probably ever since the human voice and the human ear were

developed. Yet the process is purely sub-conscious. It is performed

involuntarily, without thought on the part of the hearer, even without

any consciousness of the process. The hearer simply knows how the voices

to which he listens are produced. A throaty voice simply sounds throaty;

the hearer feels this, and pays no attention to the source of the

information. We take it as a matter of course that a nasal voice seems

to come through the speaker's nose. Why a certain quality of sound gives

this impression we never stop to inquire. The impressions of throat

action conveyed by other people's voices seem so simple and direct that

nobody appears to have thought to analyze the psychological process

involved.

This psychological process is found on analysis to be highly complex. In

addition to the actual physical exercise of the sense of hearing, three

distinct operations are performed in imagination. These are the mental

imitation of the tone, the imagined adjustments of the vocal organs, and

the imaginative exercise of the muscular sense. Although simultaneously

performed, each of these four operations may be considered separately.

_Hearing_

As the judgment of vocal tones by sympathetic sensations is purely a

function of the sense of hearing, the keenness of these sensations

varies in each individual in proportion to the keenness of the ear. It

would be a great mistake to assert that we all feel these sympathetic

sensations with equal vividness. On the contrary, many people are so

inattentive to the qualities of sounds that they hardly know the meaning

of the term "nasal tone."

One trait in particular distinguishes the musician and the music lover;

this is, the possession of a keen sense of hearing. The ear is trained

by exercise in its own function,--hearing. The more attentively we

listen to music the higher do we develop our ability to discriminate

between musical sounds. Moreover, natural endowments vary in different

individuals, with regard to the ear, as with all other human faculties.

To appreciate fully the wonderful insight into vocal operations conveyed

by the sympathetic sensations of tone, a naturally keen musical ear is

required; further, this natural gift of a good ear must be developed by

attentive listening to music, vocal and instrumental, carried on through

several years.

_Mental Imitation of Vocal Tones_

That every sense has its counterpart in the imagination need hardly be

said. We know what it means to feel warm or cold, hungry or thirsty; we

know the taste of an apple, the scent of a rose. We can at will create

pictures before the mind's eye. In the same way we can hear in

imagination any sound we choose to produce mentally.

An inseparable function of the sense of hearing is the impulse to

imitate mentally the tones of speakers and singers. The imitation of

sounds is an instinctive operation. "Talking proper does not set in till

the instinct to _imitate sounds_ ripens in the nervous system." (_The

Principles of Psychology_, Wm. James, N. Y., 1890.) Little can be said

about the impulse to imitate voices mentally, further than that it is an

exercise of this same instinct.

_Imagined Adjustments of the Vocal Organs_

It has already been seen that the vocal organs have the ability to

adjust themselves, through instinctive guidance, for the production of

any tone demanded by the ear. This same ability is invoked in the mental

imitation of tones. In one case the muscular contractions are actually

performed; in the other the muscular adjustments are wholly or in part

imaginary.

It is highly probable that actual contractions of the laryngeal muscles

take place, under certain conditions, as an accompaniment to the

listening to voices. This is evident in the case of extremely aggravated

throaty and forced voices. In listening to the harsh, raucous cries of

many street vendors, when calling out their wares, the hearer

frequently feels a sense of actual pain in his own throat.

Involuntary and unconscious contractions of the laryngeal muscles,

somewhat similar to those under consideration, are well known to

experimental psychologists. Prof. Ladd's statement that these

contractions assist the ear in the judgment of absolute pitch has

already been cited. Another example of unconscious laryngeal movements

has been investigated by Hansen and Lehmann ("Ueber unwillkuerliches

Fluestern," _Philos. Studien_, 1895, Vol. XI, p. 47), and by H. S.

Curtis ("Automatic Movements of the Larynx," _Amer. Jour. Psych._, 1900,

Vol. XI, p. 237). The laboratory experiments of these investigators show

that when words, or ideas definitely expressed in words, are strongly

thought but not uttered, the vocal organs unconsciously adjust

themselves to the positions necessary for uttering the words. Curtis

says of these unconscious laryngeal contractions: "Such movements are

very common with normal people, and are comparatively easy of

demonstration."

The apparatus used by Hansen and Lehmann in their experiments consists

of two large concave reflectors. These are placed at a convenient

distance, one facing the other, so that two experimenters may be seated,

the first having his mouth at the focal point of one reflector, the

second with his ear at the focal point of the other. As the first

experimenter repeats mentally any words or phrases, these are found to

be unconsciously whispered. These sounds of whispering, inaudible under

ordinary conditions, are so magnified by the two reflectors as to be

distinctly heard by the second experimenter.

Curtis proved that actual movements of the larynx unconsciously

accompany intense thought. His demonstrations were conducted along lines

familiar to all students of experimental psychology. Similar experiments

would probably show that unconscious movements of the larynx also occur

during the listening to vocal tones.

A peculiarity of the laryngeal adjustments accompanying the listening to

voices is seen in the fact that the possession of a fine or well-trained

voice is not required in this process. It does not matter whether the

physical organs are capable of producing fine musical tones. The

nervous equipment alone is involved; this is frequently highly

developed, even though the physical voice is very poor. A keen and

highly-trained ear is the only requisite. Players in the opera

orchestras often develop this faculty to a high degree, even though they

may never attempt to sing a note.

_Muscular Sense_

An exhaustive analysis of the various classes of sensations, commonly

grouped under the general heading of muscular sense, would involve a

mass of technicalities not necessary to the present purpose. It is

sufficient to bear in mind the limitations of this sense, and to notice

what it tells us, and what it does not tell.

Through the exercise of the muscular sense we are informed of the

movements, positions, and conditions of the different parts of the body.

Of specific muscular contractions very little information is conveyed.

Thus, when the arm is bent at the elbow the muscular sensations of the

movement are clear and definite; but, under normal conditions, these

sensations do not inform us that the movement results from the

contraction of the biceps muscle. Knowledge of the muscular structure

of the body is not involved in muscular sense. The muscular sensations

of bending the arm are felt in precisely the same way by the professor

of anatomy and the ignorant child.

Further, no amount of attention paid to muscular sensations will inform

us exactly what muscles are contracted in any complex action. A single

stroke in the game of tennis, returning a swift service for example, may

involve some contraction of every muscle of the entire body. A skilful

player may observe with the utmost care the muscular sensations

accompanying this stroke; he would never be able to learn from these

sensations whether the number of muscles in his forearm is ten or one

hundred.

For the same reason the sympathetic sensations of tone tell us nothing

whatever of the muscular structure of the vocal organs. When listening

to a throaty voice, we feel that the singer's throat is tightened,

stiffened, or contracted. But no matter how keen and vivid this

sensation may be, it leaves us in complete ignorance of the names and

locations of the muscles wrongly contracted. This is true, however

thoroughly we may know the anatomy of the vocal organs.

Much of the prevailing confusion about the voice is due to a

misunderstanding of this point. When, for example, the musical critic

asserted that Mme. T---- sang certain tones with "pinched glottis," he

fell into this error. His sympathetic sensations informed him of some

unnecessary tightening of the singer's throat. From these sensations he

seems to have inferred that the glottis-closing muscles were too

strongly contracted. This assumption was not warranted by any

information conveyed in the sympathetic sensations.

It is not necessary now to determine to what extent the muscular

sensations accompanying the listening to voices are purely imaginative,

and to what extent they result from actual, though unconscious,

contractions of the listener's throat muscles. The psychological process

is the same in either case.

Sympathetic sensations of tone always accompany the listening to voices.

While the psychological process is complex, this process is performed

unconsciously and involuntarily. Even though the attention may be

definitely turned to the sympathetic sensations themselves, the mental

imitation and the laryngeal adjustments seldom rise into consciousness.

As a rule, the entire operation is purely sub-conscious. The listener

simply knows how the voices to which he listens are produced. This

knowledge has always been accepted as intuitive; but this is merely

another way of saying that the process of its acquirement is

sub-conscious.

_Direct Sensations of Tone_

In addition to the source of misunderstanding of the vocal action just

mentioned,--the attempt to define the precise muscular contractions

indicated in the sympathetic sensations, another common

misinterpretation of these sensations must be noted. As a consequence of

the sub-conscious character of the sympathetic sensations, the two

classes of muscular sensation of vocal tone, direct and sympathetic, are

frequently confounded and classed together as the "singer's sensations."

A third source of confusion is seen in the attempt to apply the

sympathetic sensations, by formulating rules for the guidance of the

student, in performing specific actions for the management of the vocal

organs. All three of these topics will be considered in a later chapter.

Before approaching this subject let us see just what information may be

derived from the observation of the direct sensations of tone.

The direct sensations of tone are never so vivid, so precise, nor so

reliable as the sympathetic sensations. In other words, the hearer is

better able to judge of the singer's throat action than the singer

himself. This may seem a paradoxical statement, but a brief

consideration will show it to be fully justified.

In the case of teacher and pupil, it will hardly be questioned that the

master hears the pupil's voice to better advantage than the pupil. This

is also true when a trained singer's tones are observed by a competent

hearer. The singer's direct sensations are highly complex. They include

the muscular sensations accompanying the exertion of the breathing

muscles, and these are usually so intense as to overshadow the

sensations due to the laryngeal adjustments. On the other hand, the

hearer is free to pay close attention to the sensations of throat

action, and therefore feels these much more keenly than does the singer.

On this account the direct sensations of tone are of vastly less value

in the study of the vocal action than are the sympathetic sensations.

CHAPTER III

EMPIRICAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE VOICE

Through attention paid to the sympathetic sensations of tone, the

listener may carry on mentally a running commentary on the throat

actions of all those whose voices are heard. Continuing to use the word

empirical in the sense thus far adopted, it may be said that the summary

of the impressions conveyed in the sympathetic sensations of tone

constitutes empirical knowledge of the voice. In other words, empirical

knowledge of the voice is an understanding of the operations of the

vocal mechanism, obtained through the attentive listening to voices.

Let us consider first the running commentary on the throat action,

mentally carried on by the listener. This mental commentary is an

inseparable accompaniment of the listening to the voices of others,

whether in speech or song. As we are concerned now only with the problem

of tone-production in artistic singing, our consideration will be

limited to the critical hearer's observation of the tones of singers.

Let us imagine two friends to be seated side by side in the concert

hall, listening to the performance of a violin sonata by an artist of

about mediocre ability. Suppose one of the friends to be a highly

trained musical critic, the other to be almost unacquainted with music

of this class. Let us now inquire how the tones of the violin will

impress these two hearers; and further, let the inquiry be limited

strictly to the matter of tone, leaving out of consideration all

questions of composition and rendition.

As a matter of course, the tones of the violin will impress these two

listeners in widely different ways. The untrained observer will greatly

enjoy the beautiful tones,--supposing of course that he be gifted with a

natural fondness for music. But so far as musical value is concerned,

all the tones will sound to him practically alike.

For the trained hearer, on the other hand, every note drawn by the

performer from his instrument will have a distinct value. Some of the

tones will be true in pitch and perfect in quality. Some will vary

slightly from the correct pitch; others will perhaps be in perfect

tune, and yet be marred in quality by faults of scratching, thinness,

roughness, etc.

When the two come to compare notes at the end of the performance the

trained critic will be utterly unable to convey to his friend his

impressions of the player's technique. Vividly clear as it is to the

critic, his understanding of tonal values is lodged solely in his

cultivated ear. This understanding cannot be imparted in words; it must

be acquired by experience in actual listening to music.

Let us now imagine this same critic to be listening to a singer, not an

artist of the first rank, but one whose voice is marred by some slight

faults of production. In this case the critic will note exactly the same

sort of differences in tonal value as in the case of the violinist. Some

of the singer's notes will be perfect musical tones, others will be

marred by faults of intonation or of quality. But a great difference

will be noted between faulty tones played on the violin, and faulty

tones sung by the human voice. In addition to their blemishes as musical

tones, the faulty notes of the voice also convey to the critical

listener an idea of the state of the singer's throat in producing them.

Every blemish on the beauty of a vocal tone, every fine shade of quality

which detracts from its perfection, indicates to the critical hearer

some faulty action of the singer's vocal organs. The more faulty the

musical character of the singer's tones the more pronounced is this

impression of faulty production. On the other hand, just so nearly as

the singer's tones approach perfection as musical sounds, so do they

also impress the ear of the critical listener as indicating the approach

to the perfect vocal action.

The critic could not impart to his untrained friend the impressions made

by the violinist's tones. Somewhat the same is true of the impressions

made by the tones of the voice on the critical ear. In voices of

extremely nasal or throaty sound these blemishes can, of course, be

detected by the ordinary hearer. But the fine shades of difference in

vocal tone quality, heard by the trained critic, cannot be noted by the

inexperienced listener.

This fine ability to discriminate between musical sounds comes only

through experience in listening to music, better still, when this has

been combined with the actual study of music. But the ability to judge

the vocal actions of singers, through the sympathetic sensations of

tone, does not depend on any actual exercise of the listener's own

voice. For the developing of this ability the exercise of the ear

suffices. The mere exercise of the ear, in listening to singers, entails

also the training of what may be called the "mental voice." Attentive

listening to voices, involving as a natural consequence the

sub-conscious impressions of sympathetic sensations, results in the

development of a faculty to which this name, the mental voice, very

aptly applies.

A music-lover whose experience of hearing singing and instrumental music

has been wide enough to develop the mental voice in a fair degree,

possesses in this faculty a valuable means for judging singers. The

mental voice carries on a running commentary on the manner of production

of all the voices to which this music-lover listens. At every instant he

is informed of the exact condition of the singer's throat. For him there

is an almost infinite variety of throaty tones, each one indicating some

degree and form of throat tension or stiffening. A perfect vocal tone,

on the other hand, is _felt_ to be perfectly produced, as well as

_heard_ to be musically perfect.

Equipped with a highly trained sense of hearing, and the resulting

faculty of mental voice, the lover of singing has an unfailing insight

into the operations of the vocal mechanism. This understanding of the

workings of the vocal organs is the empirical knowledge of the voice.

This empirical knowledge of the voice can be possessed only by one who

is equipped with a highly cultivated ear. The keener the ear the more

precise and definite is this understanding of the voice. Season after

season, as the music-lover continues to attend concerts, operas, and

recitals, his feeling for the voice becomes gradually more keen and

discerning.

Further, empirical knowledge of the voice can be acquired in no other

way than by actual experience in listening to voices. No matter how keen

and definite are the impressions of throat action felt by the

experienced hearer, these impressions cannot be described to the

uninitiated. In fact, these impressions are to a great extent of a

character not capable of being recorded in precise terms. The general

nature of a throaty tone, for example, is thoroughly understood. But of

the thousands of varieties of the throaty tone no adequate description

can be given. Each observer must learn for himself to hear these fine

shades of difference in tone quality.

Every experienced music lover has his own mental standard of tonal

perfection. The trained ear knows how a perfect musical tone should

sound, independent of the precise quality of the tone. The tone quality

is determined, of course, by the instrument on which it is sounded. But

along with the individual characteristics of the sound, the tones drawn

from every instrument, to be available in the artistic performance of

music, must conform to the correct standard. Knowing the general musical

character of the tones of all instruments, the cultured hearer can at

once detect any variation from this character. Further, he knows how the

tones of a badly-played instrument would sound if the instrument were

correctly handled. An unskilled trumpeter in an orchestra, for example,

may draw from his instrument tones that are too brassy, blatant, or

harsh. An observant hearer knows exactly what these tones would be if

the instrument were skilfully played.

In just the same way the mental voice has its own standard of vocal

perfection. Every voice which falls below this standard is felt by the

critical hearer to be imperfectly used. When listening to a nasal singer

we know that the voice would be greatly improved in quality if the nasal

sound of the tones were eliminated. We feel that the correction of the

faults of production indicated by a throaty voice would add greatly to

the beauty of the voice. More than this, we can also form some idea how

an imperfectly produced voice would sound if all the faults of vocal

action were to be corrected.

A perfectly produced voice affects the ear in a peculiar and distinct

way. Not only is such a voice free from faults; it has also, on the

positive side, a peculiar character which renders it entirely different

from any wrongly used voice. The cultured hearer is impressed with a

sense of incompleteness and insufficiency in listening to a voice which

does not "come out" in a thoroughly satisfactory manner. This is true,

even though the voice is not marred by any distinct fault.

A voice absolutely perfect in its production awakens a peculiar set of

sympathetic sensations. In addition to its musical beauty such a voice

satisfies an instinctive demand for the perfect vocal action. An

indescribable sensation of physical satisfaction is experienced in

listening to a perfectly managed voice.

On further consideration of this feeling of physical satisfaction

awakened by a perfectly produced voice, it seems a mistake to call it

indescribable. A beautiful description of this set of sympathetic

sensations has been handed down to us by the masters of the old Italian

school. This description is embodied in two of the traditional precepts,

those dealing with the open throat and the support of the tone.

Mention of the traditional precepts leads at once to the consideration

of another aspect of the empirical knowledge of the voice. Vocalists

have been attentively listening to voices since the beginning of the

modern art of singing. Although many of the impressions made by the

voice on the ear cannot be expressed in words, one set of impressions

has been clearly recorded. A marked difference was evidently noticed by

the old Italian masters between the feelings awakened in the hearer by

a voice properly managed and those awakened by an incorrectly produced

voice. These impressions were embodied in a set of precepts for the

guidance of the singer, which are none other than the much-discussed

traditional precepts.

In other words, the traditional precepts embody the results of the old

masters' empirical study of the voice. Considered in this light, the old

precepts lose at once all air of mystery and become perfectly

intelligible and coherent. To a consideration of this record of the

empirical knowledge of the voice the following chapter is devoted.

CHAPTER IV

THE TRADITIONAL PRECEPTS OF THE OLD ITALIAN SCHOOL

There should be nothing mysterious, nothing hard to understand, about

the empirical precepts. It was pointed out in Chapter V of Part I that

these precepts contain a perfect description of correctly produced vocal

tone, so far as the impression on the listener is concerned. This means

nothing else than that the old precepts summarize the results of

empirical observation of correct singing. There is nothing new in this

statement; considered as empirical knowledge, the modern vocal teacher

understands the meaning of the old masters' precepts perfectly well. The

misunderstanding of the subject begins with the attempt to apply the

precepts as specific rules for the direct mechanical management of the

voice. In this connection they were seen to be valueless. Let us now see

if the old precepts are found to contain any meaning of value to the

vocal teacher when considered as purely empirical formulæ.

Each one of the precepts may be said to describe some special

characteristic of the perfect vocal tone, considered solely as a sound.

These characteristics may each be considered separately, that is, the

hearer may voluntarily pay close attention to any special aspect of the

vocal tone. The best plan for arriving at the exact meaning of the

precepts is therefore to consider each one in turn.

_The Forward Tone_

Every lover of singing is familiar with this characteristic of the

perfectly produced voice; the sound seems to come directly from the

singer's mouth, and gives no indication of being formed at the back of

the throat. This characteristic of the perfect tone is simply heard. It

is not distinguished by any sympathetic sensations, but is purely a

matter of sound. On the other hand, a wrongly produced voice seems to be

formed or held in the back of the singer's throat. The tones of such a

voice do not come out satisfactorily; they seem to be lodged in the

throat instead of at the front of the mouth.

In the badly used voice the impression of throat is conveyed by the

sympathetic sensations awakened in the hearer. A striking difference

between correct and incorrect singing is thus noted. A wrongly produced

voice is felt by the hearer to be held in the singer's throat. When

properly used the voice gives no impression of throat; it seems to have

no relation to the throat, but to be formed in the front of the mouth.

So much has been written about "forward emission" that the forward

characteristic of vocal tones seems to be enshrouded in mystery. As a

matter of fact, the forward tone is easily explained. The perfectly

produced voice issues directly from the mouth for the same reason that

the tones of the trombone issue from the bell of the instrument. It is

all a matter of resonance. This is well illustrated by a simple

experiment with a tuning fork and a spherical resonator reinforcing the

tone of the fork.

When the fork is struck, the ear hears the sound issuing from the

resonator, not that coming direct from the fork. This is brought out

distinctly by placing the fork at a little distance from the resonator.

The listener can then definitely locate the source of the sound which

impresses the ear. Under these circumstances the sound coming from the

resonator is found to be many times more powerful than that coming

direct from the tuning fork. If left to its own judgment the ear takes

the resonator to be the original source of the sound.

In the voice the exciting cause of the air vibrations is located at the

back of the resonator,--the mouth-pharynx cavity. The sound waves in

this case can issue only from the front of the resonator,--the singer's

mouth. No matter how the voice is produced, correctly or badly, this

acoustic principle must apply.

Why then does not the incorrectly used voice impress the hearer as

issuing directly from the mouth, the same as the correctly produced

tone? This is purely a matter of sympathetic sensations of throat

tightness, awakened by the faulty tone. Every wrongly used voice arouses

in the listener sympathetic sensations of throat contraction. This

impression of throat, noted by the hearer, consists of muscular, not of

strictly auditory sensations.

As a statement of scientific fact, the forward-tone precept is

erroneous. It does not describe scientifically the difference between

correct and incorrect tone-production. Correctly sung tones are not

produced at the lips. Every vocal tone, good or bad, is produced by the

motion of the vocal cords and reinforced by the resonance of the

mouth-pharynx cavity. Only when considered as an empirical description

is the forward-tone precept of value. In this sense the precept

describes accurately the difference in the impressions made on the

hearer by correct and incorrect singing. A badly produced tone seems to

be caught in the singer's throat; the correctly used voice is free from

this fault, and is therefore heard to issue directly from the singer's

mouth.

This marked difference between correct and incorrect tone throws a

valuable light on the meaning of the correct vocal action. Every badly

used voice gives the impression of wrong or unnecessary tightness,

stiffening, and contraction of the throat. When perfectly used, the

voice does not convey any such impression of throat stiffness.

_The Open Throat_

Just as with the forward tone, the meaning of the open throat is best

brought out by contrasting the impressions made on the hearer by a

perfect and a badly used voice. A badly produced tone seems to be

caught, or as Tosi expressed it, "choaked in the throat." The singer's

throat seems to be tightened and narrowed so that the sound has not

sufficient passageway to come out properly. On the other hand, the

perfectly used voice comes out freely, without interference or hindrance

at any point in the singer's throat. There seems to be plenty of room

for the tone to come forth; in other words, the singer's throat seems to

be open.

All these impressions are purely a matter of sympathetic sensations. In

listening to a faulty singer the hearer feels a sensation of tightness

and contraction of the throat. A well used voice awakens exactly the

opposite sensation, that of looseness and freedom of the throat.

Here again is seen the difference between correct and incorrect singing,

empirically considered. Judging from the impressions made by rightly and

wrongly used voices, any incorrect vocal action involves a condition of

tightness and contraction of the throat. Perfect singing gives the

impression that the throat is loose and supple, and free from all

unnecessary tension.

_The Support of the Tone_

Following the plan of contrasting correct and incorrect singing, the

meaning of this precept is readily found. The perfect voice is felt by

the hearer to be firmly and confidently held by the singer in a secure

grasp of the throat muscles. Such a voice awakens the sympathetic

sensations of perfectly balanced muscular effect, similar to the

muscular sensations of the hand and forearm when an object is firmly

grasped in the hand.

A badly used voice seems to be convulsively gripped in the singer's

throat. The tones seem to fall back into the throat for want of some

secure base on which to rest. This impression is conveyed by a peculiar

set of sympathetic sensations of highly unpleasant muscular tension far

back in the throat.

This precept, "Support the tone," points to the difference already noted

between the right and the wrong vocal action. Badly produced tones

indicate a state of excessive tension of the throat muscles. Correct

singing gives the impression that the throat muscles exert exactly the

requisite degree of strength, and no more.

Taken together, the open-throat and the forward-tone precepts embody an

admirable description of the sympathetic sensations awakened by perfect

singing. The singer's entire vocal mechanism is felt to be in a

condition of lithe and supple freedom. There is no straining, no

constraint, no forcing, no unnecessary tension. Each muscle of the vocal

mechanism, and indeed of the entire body, exerts just the necessary

degree of strength.

Similar muscular sensations always accompany the expert performance of

any action requiring a high degree of dexterity. Whatever be the form of

exertion, skilful physical activity awakens muscular sensations of

perfectly balanced and harmonized contractions. This feeling of muscular

poise and adjustment is pleasurable in a high degree.

A keen enjoyment is experienced in the skilful performance of many

complex muscular activities. Much of the pleasure of skating, dancing,

rowing, tennis, etc., is dependent on this feeling of muscular poise

and harmonious contraction. Healthy exercise is always normally

enjoyable; but skilful performance greatly enhances the pleasure. A

beginner learning to skate, for example, exerts himself fully as much as

the accomplished skater. Yet the beginner does not by any means derive

the same degree of pleasure from his exertions.

Precisely this feeling of balanced and harmonious muscular exertion is

experienced by the perfect singer. More than this, the hearer also,

through sympathetic sensations, shares the same pleasurable feeling.

This is the sensation described as the feeling of soaring, of poise, and

of floating, in many descriptions of the "singer's sensations."

_Singing on the Breath_

When the voice is perfectly used the tones seem to detach themselves

from the singer, and to float off on the breath. Nothing in the sound of

the tones, nor in the sympathetic sensations awakened, gives any

indication that the breath is checked or impeded in its flow. The

current of tone seems to be poured out on the breath just as freely as

a quiet expiration in ordinary breathing.

This is a purely empirical description of perfect singing. As we know

very well, the vocal action is quite different from this description.

But the important point is that the phrase "singing on the breath" does

very accurately describe the impression made on the hearer by perfect

singing.

Singing on the breath represents the highest possible degree of purely

vocal perfection. One may attend operas and concerts for a whole season

and listen to a score of famous singers, and count oneself fortunate to

have heard even one artist who attains this standard of tonal

excellence. Singing on the breath is an effect of wondrous tonal beauty;

it is simply this, pure beauty, pristine and naïve.

With the slightest degree of throat stiffness or muscular tension,

singing on the breath is utterly impossible. So soon as the tones

indicate the merest trace of throat contraction, the free outflow of the

stream of sound is felt to be checked.

Coloratura singing, to be absolutely perfect, demands this degree of

tonal excellence. Singing on the breath and coloratura are indeed very

closely allied. The modern school of musical criticism does not hold

coloratura singing in very high esteem. We demand nowadays expression,

passion, and emotion; we want vocal music to portray definite

sentiments, to express concrete feelings. Florid singing is not adapted

to this form of expressiveness. It is only sensuously beautiful; it

speaks to the ear, but does not appeal to the intellect.

Yet it may well be asked whether the highest type of coloratura singing,

pure tonal beauty, does not appeal to a deeper, more elemental set of

emotions than are reached by dramatically expressive singing. This

question would call for a profound psychological discussion, hardly in

place in a work devoted to the technical problem of tone-production. But

this much is certain: Coloratura singing still has a strong hold on the

affections of the music loving public. Even to-day audiences are moved

by the vocal feats of some famous queen of song fully as profoundly as

by the performance of a modern dramatic or realistic opera.

To describe a sound is an extremely difficult task. The tone of the

muted horn, for example, is perfectly familiar to the average musician.

Yet who would undertake to describe in words the tone of the muted horn?

A description of the sounds produced by a perfectly managed voice is

almost as difficult to frame in words. Still the old Italian masters

succeeded in finding words to describe perfect singing. These few simple

phrases--open the throat, support the tone, sing the tones forward, sing

on the breath--embody a most beautiful and complete description of vocal

perfection. The empirical study of the voice can hardly be expected to

go further than this. From the old masters we have received a complete

record of all that need be known empirically about the voice.

CHAPTER V

EMPIRICAL KNOWLEDGE IN MODERN VOICE CULTURE

It was pointed out in Chapter I of Part III that there is no possibility

of conflict between empirical and scientific knowledge. Modern Voice

Culture seems to present a direct contradiction of this statement. The

vocal teacher's empirical understanding of the voice conflicts at every

step with his supposedly scientific knowledge. No doubt the reader is

already aware of the real meaning of this apparent contradiction. It

only bears out the philosophic rule; an accepted science must be

abandoned so soon as its deductions are found to be not in accord with

observed facts.

Modern methods of instruction in singing can be understood only by

following out this idea of conflict between known facts and accepted,

though erroneous, scientific doctrines. As we have seen, the only

universally accepted theory of supposedly scientific Voice Culture is

the idea of direct mechanical guidance of the voice. Every vocal

teacher attempts to make his empirical knowledge conform to this

mechanical idea. As the empirical knowledge is correct, and the

mechanical idea a complete mistake, conflict between the two is

inevitable.

Every modern teacher of singing possesses in full measure the empirical

understanding of the voice. To this statement hardly an exception need

be made. Probably the most startling fact concerning the wide diffusion

of this knowledge is that the nature of this knowledge is so thoroughly

ignored. Because the psychological process is purely sub-conscious,

empirical knowledge is always indirectly and generally unconsciously

applied. In the teacher's mind the most prominent idea is that of

mechanical vocal guidance. His attention is always directly turned to

this idea. Empirical knowledge, consisting merely of a succession of

auditory and muscular sensations, lurks in the background of

consciousness.

To the intelligent vocal teacher there is something peculiarly

fascinating about the study of tone-production. In listening to any

faulty singer we feel with the utmost precision what is wrong with the

voice. Each imperfect tone informs us clearly and definitely just where

the wrong muscular contraction is located. It seems so easy to tell the

singer what to do in order to bring the tone out perfectly. Under the

influence of the mechanical idea we try to express this feeling in the

terms of muscular action. This attempt is never successful; the singer

cannot be brought to understand our meaning. Yet it is so clear in our

own minds that our inability to express it is extremely tantalizing. We

go on, constantly hoping to find a way to define the mechanical

processes so clearly indicated to the ear. We always feel that we are

just on the verge of the great discovery. The solution of the problem of

tone-production is almost within our grasp, yet it always eludes us.

It was stated in Chapter V of Part I that empirical knowledge of the

voice, based on the singer's sensations, is used to supplement and

interpret the doctrines of mechanical vocal guidance. This is in the

main true, so far as the vocal teacher is aware. But here again the

result of the sub-conscious character of empirical knowledge of the

voice is seen. As a matter of fact the real situation is the direct

reverse of that described in the chapter mentioned. The mechanical

doctrines are used in the attempt to interpret the empirical knowledge.

This fact is well brought out in the following passage from Kofler: "The

teacher must imitate the wrong muscle-action and tone of his pupil as an

illustration of the negative side." (_The Art of Breathing_, N. Y.,

1889.) Kofler does not touch on the question, how the teacher is able to

locate the wrong muscle-action of the pupil. He takes this ability for

granted; it is so purely an intuitive process that he does not stop to

inquire into the source of this information of the pupil's vocal action.

Through his sense of hearing he sub-consciously locates the faults in

the pupil's tone-production. His only conscious application of this

knowledge is the attempt to explain to the pupil the wrong

muscle-action. This he naturally tries to do in the terms of mechanical

action and muscular operation. Thus the mechanical doctrine is used in

the attempt to explain the empirical knowledge. Yet the teacher is

conscious only of citing the mechanical rule, and believes this to cover

the entire instruction.

In the preceding chapter it was seen that the perfectly produced vocal

tone may be considered in a variety of aspects. Each one of these

aspects is characterized by a fairly distinct set of sympathetic

sensations. Of faulty modes of throat action, as revealed by sympathetic

sensations, there is an almost infinite variety. Of this wide variety of

forms of throat tension the most prominent are those indicated by sets

of sympathetic sensations, the direct opposites of those characterizing

the perfect vocal action. Thus the open throat is indicated by one set

of sympathetic sensations, the lack of this characteristic of tone by an

opposite set, etc.

Whatever distinct fault of production the pupil's tone indicates, the

master immediately notes the character of the faulty throat action. The

master feels, simply and directly, what is wrong with the student's

tone-production. Whence this knowledge comes he does not stop to

inquire. Suppose the pupil to sing an exercise, and to produce tones

which stick in the throat, instead of coming out freely. The master

simply hears that the pupil's voice is caught in the throat; he does not

observe that he is informed of this condition by muscular as well as

auditory sensations.

This ignoring of the psychological nature of the impressions of tone is

not necessarily detrimental to successful instruction. On the contrary,

the master's empirical insight into the vocal operations of the pupil

would probably not be advanced by an understanding of the psychological

process. It is sufficient for the teacher's purpose to hear that the

pupil's voice is caught in the throat. What robs this hearing, or

feeling, of all value is this: the master attempts to interpret the

sensation as an indication of the need of some specific muscular action,

to be directly performed by the pupil. To this end he cites the

mechanical rule, assumed to be indicated by the pupil's faulty vocal

action. This may be, for example, the opening of the throat to give room

for the tone to expand. It seems so perfectly simple to the

teacher;--the pupil narrows his throat, and so holds in the tone; let

him expand his throat and the tone will come out freely. This conclusion

seems so clearly indicated by the sound of the tones that the master

almost inevitably gives the precise instruction: "Open your throat and

let your voice come out." This sums up, to the master's satisfaction,

everything the pupil need do to correct this particular fault of

tone-production.

Other sets of sympathetic sensations, awakened by badly produced tones,

are interpreted in the same manner. A tone heard to be held in the back

of the throat is believed to indicate the need of bringing the voice

forward in the mouth. Other forms of throaty production are taken to

show a lack of support, a wrong management of the breath, a need of

breath-control, a misuse of nasal resonance, or an improper action of

the vocal cords. In all these attempts to interpret sympathetic

sensations by means of mechanical doctrines the teacher naturally relies

on those doctrines in which he believes most firmly. Sympathetic

sensations are indeed sometimes cited in proof of certain theories of

breath-control, and also of nasal resonance. Both these topics are

worthy of separate attention.

_Sympathetic Sensations and Nasal Resonance_

One of the most widely accepted theories of the vocal action is that the

higher notes of the voice are influenced by reinforcing vibrations

located in the nose and forehead. Whether this idea was derived more

from direct than from sympathetic sensations need not be determined now.

It is at any rate certain that a perfectly sung tone gives to the hearer

the impression of nasal influence of some kind. The exact nature of this

influence has never been determined. It may be air resonance, or

sounding-board resonance, or both combined. Satisfactory proof on this

point is lacking. In the belief of the practical teacher, however, this

impression of nasal influence is the strongest argument in favor of

nasal resonance.

Turning now to the question of nasal quality, strictly speaking, tones

of this objectionable character always awaken the sympathetic sensations

of contraction somewhere in the nose. Why such a contraction should

cause this unpleasant sound of the voice is a profound mystery. Perhaps

wrong tension of the soft palate exerts an influence on the actions of

the vocal cords; or it may be that the form of the nasal cavities is

altered by the muscular contraction. This aspect of the vocal action has

never been scientifically investigated. The sympathetic sensation of

nasal contraction or pinching is at any rate very pronounced.

Curiously, this sympathetic sensation is cited as an argument in favor

of their respective theories, by both the advocates and the opponents of

nasal resonance.

_Sympathetic Sensations and Breath-Control_

Certain forms of exaggerated throat stiffness are frequently held to

indicate the need of breath-control. The faulty vocal action in question

is analyzed by the breath-control advocates substantially as follows:

"Owing to the outflow of the breath not being checked at the proper

point, the entire vocal mechanism is thrown out of adjustment. The

singer exerts most of his efforts in the endeavor to prevent the escape

of the breath; to this end he contracts his throat and stiffens his

tongue and jaw. His tones are forced, harsh, and breathy; they lack

musical quality. His voice runs away with him and he cannot control or

manage it. In the attempt to obtain some hold on his voice he 'reaches'

for his tones with his throat muscles. The more he tries to regain

control of the runaway breath the worse does his state become."

This extreme condition of throat stiffness is unfortunately by no means

rare. So far as concerns the sympathetic sensations awakened by this

kind of singing the condition is graphically described by the

breath-control advocates. But the conclusion is entirely unjustified

that this condition indicates the lack of breath-control. Only the

preconceived notion of breath-control leads to this inference. The

sympathetic sensations indicate a state of extreme muscular tension of

the throat; this is about the only possible analysis of the condition.

* * *

Empirical impressions of vocal tones determine the character of most

present-day instruction in singing. This means no more than to say that

throughout all vocal training the teacher listens to the pupil's voice.

The impressions of tone received by the teacher's ear cannot fail to

inform the teacher of the condition of the pupil's throat in producing

the voice. For the teacher to seek to apply this information in

imparting the correct vocal action to the pupil is inevitable.

Almost every teacher begins a course of instruction by having the pupil

run through the prescribed series of mechanical exercises and rules.

Breathing is always taken up first. Breath-control, laryngeal action,

registers, and resonance follow usually in this order. The time devoted

to this course of training may vary from a few weeks to several months.

This mechanical instruction is almost always interspersed with songs and

arias. The usual procedure is to devote about half of each lesson to

mechanical doctrines and the remainder to real singing.

Blind faith in the efficacy of this mechanical training is the teacher's

only motive in giving it. Very little attention is paid to the sound of

the pupil's voice during the study of mechanical rules and doctrines. It

is simply taken for granted that the voice must be put through this

course. Once the mechanical course has been covered, the pupil's voice

is supposed, in a vague way, to be "placed." From that time on, whether

it be at the end of two months of study or of two years, the instruction

is based solely on empirical impressions of tone.

Little remains to be said of the nature of this empirical instruction.

It always retains the mechanical aspect. Whatever fault of production

is noted, the teacher seeks to correct the fault by applying some

mechanical rule. The futility of this form of instruction has already

been pointed out.

Only two ways of applying empirical knowledge of the voice are known to

the modern vocal teacher. These are, first, to tell the pupil to "open

the throat," or to "support the tone," or to perform whatever other

mechanical operation seems to be indicated as necessary by the sound of

the tone; second, to bid the student to "feel that the tone is

supported," to "feel that the throat is open," etc. Under these

circumstances the little advantage derived from empirical knowledge in

modern Voice Culture is readily understood.

CHAPTER VI

SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE OF THE VOICE

So far as any definite record can be made, the knowledge of the voice

obtained by attentive listening to voices has now been set down. The

next step in the scientific study of tone-production is the

consideration of all knowledge of the voice obtained from sources other

than empirical. In other words, the knowledge of the voice usually

classed as scientific is now to be examined.

Three sciences are generally held to contribute all that can possibly be

known about the vocal action. These are anatomy, acoustics, and

mechanics. Of these anatomy has received by far the most attention from

vocal scientists. The laws of acoustics, bearing on the voice, have also

been carefully considered. Beyond the theory of breath-control, little

attempt has been made to apply the principles of mechanics in Vocal

Science. Psychology, the science most intimately concerned with the

management of the voice, has received almost no attention in this

connection.

A complete record of the teachings of the established sciences with

regard to the voice demands the separate consideration of the four

sciences mentioned. Each will therefore be treated in turn. In the case

of each of these sciences it is seen that the most essential facts of

the vocal action have been definitely established. Many questions still

remain to be satisfactorily answered which are of great interest to the

theoretical student of the voice. Yet in spite of the lack of exact

knowledge on these points, enough is now known to furnish the basis for

a practical science of Voice Culture.

_The Anatomy of the Vocal Mechanism_

This subject has been so exhaustively studied that nothing new can well

be discovered regarding the muscular structure of the vocal organs. In

all probability the reader is sufficiently acquainted with the anatomy

of the larynx and its connections. Only a very brief outline of the

subject is therefore demanded. The muscles concerned with breathing

call for no special notice in this connection.

The special organ of voice is the larynx. This consists of four

cartilages, with their connecting ligaments,--the thyroid, the cricoid,

and the two arytenoids, and of nine so-called intrinsic muscles,--two

crico-thyroid, right and left, two thyro-arytenoid, two posterior

crico-arytenoid, two lateral crico-arytenoid, and one arytenoideus. The

inner edges of the thyro-arytenoid muscles form the vocal cords. The

hyoid bone, serving as a medium of attachment for the tongue, may also

be considered a portion of the larynx. By means of the extrinsic muscles

the larynx is connected with the bones of the chest, neck, and head.

While the muscular structure of the vocal organs is thoroughly known,

the actions of the laryngeal muscles in tone-production have never been

absolutely determined. This much is definitely established: Vocal tone

is produced when the vocal cords are brought together and held on

tension, and the air in the lungs is expired with sufficient force to

set the vocal cords in motion. The tension of the vocal cords can be

increased by the contraction of their muscular tissues, the two

thyro-arytenoid muscles; further, increased tension of the cords can

also result from the tilting of the thyroid cartilage on the cricoid, by

the contraction of the crico-thyroid muscles.

It is also definitely proved that the pitch of the vocal tone varies

with the state of tension of the vocal cords; increasing the degree of

tension raises the pitch, decreasing the tension lowers it. As to the

relative importance of the different groups of muscles in varying the

tension of the vocal cords, nothing has been definitely proved.

In addition to the variations in pitch resulting from variations in the

tension of the vocal cords, there is also much ground for believing that

the pitch may be raised by shortening the effective length of the vocal

cords. This is apparently accomplished by the rotation of the arytenoid

cartilages; but the specific muscular contractions concerned in the

rotation of the arytenoids have not been located.

It is generally asserted by vocal theorists that the quality of the

vocal tone, on any one note, is determined mainly by the influence of

the resonance cavities. Dr. Mills says on this point: "When it is borne

in mind that the vocal bands have little or nothing to do with the

quality of the tone, the importance of those parts of the vocal

apparatus which determine quality... becomes apparent." (_Voice

Production in Singing and Speaking_, 1906.) This theory that the quality

of the tone is determined solely by the resonance cavities is directly

contradicted by Prof. Scripture. He proves that changes in tone quality

result from changes in vocal cord adjustment. This subject is more fully

treated in the following section. Even before this matter had been

definitely settled by Prof. Scripture, there was a strong presumption in

favor of the vocal cord adjustment theory. Howard advanced this idea in

1883. Several empirical observations support this theory. Most important

of these is the fact that a single tone, swelled from _piano_ to

_forte_, goes through a wide variety of changes in quality.

Stockhausen's mention of this fact has already been noted.

This fact tends to cast some doubt on the value of laryngoscopic

observation as a means of determining the laryngeal action. Under the

conditions necessary for examination with the laryngoscope it is

impossible for the singer to produce any but soft tones in the head

quality of voice. Most of these tones, if swelled to _forte_, would

change from the head to the chest quality. It is probable that this

change in quality is effected by a corresponding change in the vocal

cord adjustment, as the conditions of the resonance cavities remain the

same. But this cannot be determined by laryngoscopic observation.

So far as the actions of the laryngeal muscles are concerned, no

difference can be defined between the correct vocal action and any

improper mode of operation. Sir Morell Mackenzie examined a large number

of people with the aid of the laryngoscope; of these, some were trained

singers, others, while possessed of good natural voices, had had no

vocal training whatever. Many variations were noted in the notes on

which changes of register occurred. But it could not be determined by

this mode of examination whether the subject was a trained singer or

not.

If there is one specifically correct mode of operation for the vocal

cords, this correct action has never been determined from the anatomy of

the organs. No doubt there is some difference between the muscular

actions of correct tone-production and those of any incorrect operation

of the voice. But the nature of this difference in muscular action has

never been discovered by means of dissections of the larynx, nor by

laryngoscopic observation.

_The Acoustic Principles of Tone-Production_

An outline of the existing state of knowledge regarding the acoustic

principles of tone-production must be drawn mainly from one source. This

is the latest authoritative work on the subject, _The Study of Speech

Curves_, by E. W. Scripture (Washington, 1906). In this work Prof.

Scripture overthrows several of the conclusions of Helmholtz which had

hitherto furnished the basis of all the accepted theories of vocal

acoustics. Considering the eminently scientific character of all Prof.

Scripture's research work, his thorough acquaintance with every detail

of the subject, and the exhaustive attention devoted to this series of

experiments, we are fully justified in accepting his present statements

as conclusively proved.

A first impression received from a careful reading of _The Study of

Speech Curves_ is that the subject is vastly more intricate than had

formerly been believed. Helmholtz's theory of vocal acoustics was fairly

simple: The vocal cords vibrate after the manner of membranous reeds; a

tone thus produced consists of a fundamental and a series of overtones;

vowel and tone quality are determined by the influence of the resonance

cavities, which reinforce certain of the overtones with special

prominence. This theory is discarded by Prof. Scripture. "The overtone

theory of the vowels cannot be correct." In place of this simple theory,

Prof. Scripture reaches conclusions too complicated to be given in

detail here. A brief outline of the subject must suffice for the needs

of the present work.

Prof. Scripture found that the nature of the walls of a resonating

cavity is of more importance than either its size, shape, or opening. A

flesh-lined cavity is capable of reinforcing tones covering a range of

several notes. Further, the vowel sound, and presumably also the tone

quality, are determined more by the action of the vocal cords than by

the adjustment of the resonance cavities. "The glottal lips vibrate

differently for the different vowels." This adjustment of the glottal

lips "presumably occurs by nervously aroused contractions of the fibers

of the muscles in the glottal lips." Continuing, Prof. Scripture says:

"Physiologically stated, the action for a vowel is as follows: Each

glottal lip consists mainly of a mass of muscles supported at the ends

and along the lateral side. It bears no resemblance to a membrane or a

string. The two lips come together at their front ends, but diverge to

the rear. The rear ends are attached to the arytenoid cartilages. When

the ends are brought together by rotation of these arytenoid cartilages,

the medial surfaces touch. At the same time they are stretched by the

action of the crico-thyroid muscles, which pull apart the points of

support at the ends.

"In this way the two masses of muscle close the air passage. To produce

a vowel such a relation of air pressure and glottal tension is arranged

that the air from the trachea bursts the muscles apart for a moment,

after which they close again; the release of the puff of air reduces the

pressure in the trachea and they remain closed until the pressure is

again sufficient to burst them apart. With appropriate adjustments of

the laryngeal muscles and air pressure this is kept up indefinitely,

and a series of puffs from the larynx is produced. The glottal lips open

partly by yielding sidewise,--that is, they are compressed,--and partly

by being shoved upward and outward. The form of the puff, sharp or

smooth, is determined by the way in which the glottal lips yield; the

mode of yielding depends on the way in which the separate fibers of the

muscles are contracted.

"These puffs act on the vocal cavity, that is, on a complicated system

of cavities (trachea, larynx, pharynx, mouth, nose) with variable

shapes, sizes, and openings. The effect of the puffs on each element of

the vocal cavity is double: first, to arouse in it a vibration with a

period depending on the cavity; second, to force on it a vibration of

the same period as that of the set of puffs. The prevalence of one of

the factors over the other depends on the form of the puff, the walls of

the cavities, etc."

Prof. Scripture does not undertake to point out a difference between the

correct vocal action in tone-production, and any incorrect action. This

difference in action does not seem capable of definition by any

analysis of the acoustic principles involved.

_Mechanical Principles of the Vocal Action_

In Part II, Chapter II, it was seen that the outflow of the breath in

tone-production is checked by the vocal cords, in accordance with

Pascal's law of fluid pressures. Another law of mechanics bearing on

this operation is now to be considered, viz., the law of the

transformation and conservation of energy.

The application of the law of the transformation and conservation of

energy to the operations of the voice is nicely illustrated by the

well-known candle-flame test of (supposedly) breath-control. To perform

this test the singer is instructed to practise the exercises for

breath-control while holding a lighted candle with the flame an inch or

two in front of the lips. According to the idea of the breath-control

advocates, the expired breath should escape so slowly, and with so

little force, that no current of air can be detected at the lips, the

expiration therefore does not cause the candle flame to flicker.

Describing the toneless breathing exercises to be practised with the

candle flame, Browne and Behnke say, "Let it be observed that the above

exercise is quite distinct from the well-known practice of _singing_

before a lighted candle, which is, comparatively speaking, an easy

matter." (_Voice, Song, and Speech_.) A very striking fact is stated

correctly by Browne and Behnke,--there is no current of air created at

the lips during tone-production. Of the truth of this statement the

reader may readily convince himself by trying this same experiment with

a candle flame, or even with a lighted match. Hold a lighted match just

in front of the lips and sing a powerful tone. The quality of the tone

is of no consequence so long as it be powerful. Just sing, shout, yell,

the louder the better. You will find that the flame is less affected

under these circumstances than by the quiet expiration of ordinary

breathing.

Considerable practice and close attention are required in order to hold

back the breath in toneless breathing exercises. Whereas in producing

any kind of powerful tone the breath normally creates no current of air

at the lips.

There is no reason for considering this experiment a test of correct

tone-production. It is impossible to produce a powerful tone of any

kind, good, bad, or indifferent, and at the same time to create an

appreciable current of air at the lips.

Needless to say, the breath-control theorists have entirely failed to

grasp the significance of the candle-flame experiment. Yet we have here

a demonstration of the mechanical law of tone-production.

Considered as a mechanical process, tone-production occurs when the

energy exerted by the expiratory muscles, in their contraction, is

converted into energy of motion of the vocal cords.[8] In other words,

tone-production is an example of the transformation of energy. The law

of the transformation and conservation of energy must therefore apply to

this operation. This law is stated as follows: "Energy may be

transformed from any of its forms to any other form. When energy is thus

transformed the quantity of energy in the resulting form or forms is

equal to the quantity of energy in the original form."

[Note 8: This exposition of the mechanical principle of

tone-production is intended to be graphic, rather than strictly

technical. For the sake of simplicity, that portion of the expiratory

energy expended in friction against the throat walls, tongue, cheeks,

etc., is disregarded, as well as that expended in propelling the air out

of the mouth, in displacing the same quantity of external air, etc.]

The mechanical operation of tone-production comprises the following

transformations of energy: First, the energy exerted in the contraction

of the expiratory muscles is converted into energy of condensation or

elasticity of the air in the lungs and trachea. Second, this energy of

condensation of the air is converted into energy of motion of the vocal

cords. In other words, the expiratory energy is transformed into energy

of motion.

One objection, at first sight very serious, may be offered against this

statement: the amount of strength exerted in the contractions of the

breath muscles seems many times greater than is accounted for in the

motion of the vocal cords. The movements of the vocal cords are so

slight as to be observable only with the aid of a specially devised

apparatus, the stroboscope. Can all the expiratory force expended in

tone-production show such a small result? This apparent objection is

found to be groundless in view of the application in this operation of

Pascal's law. As this topic was fully treated in Chapter II of Part II,

no further explanation is required here.

The erroneous idea of vocal mechanics involved in the doctrine of

breath-control is now fully exposed. Tone can be produced only when the

expired air exerts a pressure on the vocal cords. There is no necessity

for any conscious or voluntary check on the expiration. The energy of

the expiration is expended in setting the vocal cords in motion. No

energy of condensation is left in the expired air the instant it has

passed the vocal cords. Beyond that point there is no expiratory

pressure.

In one sense it is true that the expiration is "controlled" in

tone-production. But this control is strictly an automatic action. The

vocal cords are adjusted, by the appropriate muscular contractions, to

move in response to the air pressure exerted against them. This action

involves, as a necessary consequence, the holding back by the vocal

cords of the out-rushing air. So long as the vocal cords remain in the

position for producing tone, they also control the expiration. In this

sense breath-control is an inseparable feature of tone-production.

All that need be known of the mechanics of the voice is therefore

perfectly plain. The vocal cords are set in motion by the pressure

against them of the expired breath. This operation is in accordance with

Pascal's law and the law of the conservation of energy.

But this analysis throws no light on the nature of the correct vocal

action. It is impossible for the voice to produce a sound in any way

other than that just described. In speaking or in singing, in laughing

or in crying, in every sound produced by the action of the vocal cords,

the mechanical principle is always the same. Nor is the bearing of this

law limited to the human voice. Every singing bird, every animal whose

vocal mechanism consists of lungs and larynx, illustrates the same

mechanical principle of vocal action.

Only passing mention is required of the fallacy of the breath-band

theory. The idea of any necessity of relieving the vocal cords of the

expiratory pressure is purely fanciful. How any one with even a slight

understanding of mechanics could imagine the checking of the breath by

the inflation of the ventricles of Morgagni, is hard to conceive.

_The Psychology of Tone-Production_

This subject was treated, in some detail, in Chapter V of Part II. In

that chapter however we were concerned more with a destructive criticism

of the idea of mechanical tone-production than with the positive

features of vocal psychology. At the risk of some repetition it is

therefore advisable here to sum up the laws of psychology bearing on the

vocal action.

Considered as a psychological process, tone-production in singing

involves three distinct operations. First, the mental ear conceives a

tone of definite pitch, quality, vowel sound, and power. Second, the

vocal organs prepare to adjust themselves, by the appropriate muscular

contractions, for the production of the tone mentally conceived. Third,

the fiat of will is issued, causing the muscular contractions to be

performed. These three operations are executed as one conscious,

voluntary act. Let us inquire to what extent consciousness is concerned

with each operation.

As conscious volitional impulses, the mental conception of the tone, and

the fiat of will to produce the tone, are well enough understood. These

two operations call for no extended consideration. We are at present

concerned only with the psychological laws bearing on the muscular

adjustments of the vocal organs.

Muscular contractions result from the transmission to the muscular

fibers of motor nerve impulses. These nerve impulses originate in the

motor nerve centers. They can never, under any circumstances, rise into

consciousness. Contractions of the voluntary muscles occur either as

reflex or as voluntary actions. In both cases the motor nerve impulses

originate in the same nerve centers. In the case of reflex actions these

lower muscular centers alone are involved; in voluntary actions the

originating of the motor impulses is "controlled" by consciousness. In

deciding that an action shall be performed, and in what way it is to be

performed, consciousness directs that each motor center involved shall

send out the appropriate discharges of nerve impulse.

Complex muscular activities require the sending out of nerve impulses

from various motor centers. Such activities are usually not performed

instantaneously, but require a longer or shorter time. Thus we may

consider it as one action for the writer to rise from his chair, to

lower the window and adjust the shade, and then to return to his seat.

In this case a large number of motor centers are successively involved;

at the proper instant each center discharges its impulse. To this end

the motor centers must be instructed when to come into activity.

This distribution of nerve impulse is effected by the power of

coördination. In voluntary actions coördination is accompanied by

conscious control.[9] But coördination is not a function of the higher

cerebral centers, that is, of consciousness. How the connection is made

between the higher cerebral centers and the lower motor centers is a

complete mystery. All that can be said is that the ideas of movements

are transmitted to the motor centers, and that these send out the

appropriate motor impulses.

[Note 9: In this connection it is advisable to point out a

difference between the meanings attached to the word "control" in

psychology and in Vocal Science. The psychologist classes habitual

movements as either automatic or controlled. Automatic movements are

purely reflex; the individual does not consciously decide whether they

shall be performed or not. Psychologically considered, the _control_ of

a movement is simply the conscious volitional decision whether the

movement shall be performed. To adopt the language of Psychology, we

should speak of _voice management_, and of _breath regulation_, instead

of vocal control, breath control, etc. In the following chapters the

accepted psychological usage of the word "control" will so far as

possible be adopted.]

Turning now to the muscular adjustments of the vocal organs, these

adjustments are seen to be independent of conscious guidance. When a

tone is mentally conceived the vocal organs adjust themselves, in

response to some mysterious guidance, for the production of the tone.

The vocal cords assume the appropriate degree of tension according to

the pitch of the tone to be sung. Both the quality of the tone and the

vowel are determined by the combined adjustments of the laryngeal

muscles and of the muscles which fix the shape and size of the resonance

cavities. The power of the tone is regulated by the force of the breath

blast; for each degree of power some special adjustment of the vocal

cords is required.

All these adjustments are executed as one concrete and individual act in

response to the volitional impulse contained in the mental conception of

the tone. The tone is conceived as a concrete whole. It is not normally

broken up mentally into its four aspects of pitch, quality, vowel, and

power. True, each one of these four characteristics of the tone may be

separately considered by the singer. So also, to a certain extent, may

the adjustments of the vocal organs be performed with special reference

to one or the other characteristic of the tone. But in every case the

muscular contractions are performed without direct conscious guidance.

Whatever be the character of the tone mentally demanded, the vocal

organs instantly adjust themselves to produce the tone.

What is meant by saying that the muscular contractions are performed

without conscious guidance? Does this mean that the singer is

unconscious of the muscular contractions? Not at all. Muscular sense

informs the singer, more or less distinctly, of the state of contraction

or relaxation of the various muscles of the vocal organs. The singer

always knows fairly well the condition of the various parts of the vocal

mechanism. What is meant is this: The singer does not consciously direct

the vocal organs to assume certain positions and conditions, and does

not instruct the various muscles to contract in certain ways. The singer

does not need to know, and in fact cannot know, what muscular

contractions are required to produce any desired tone.

Some connection exists between the organs of hearing and the vocal

mechanism. That this connection has a physical basis in the nervous

structure is fairly well established. "The centers for sight and for arm

movements, for instance, or those of hearing and of vocal movements,

have connecting pathways between them." (_Feeling and Will_, Jas. M.

Baldwin, 1894.) The psychological law of tone-production is that the

vocal organs adjust themselves, without conscious guidance, to produce

the tones mentally conceived. In actual singing the practical

application of this law is that the voice is guided by the ear.

This guidance of the voice by the ear is incessant. It must not be

understood that the mental ear simply conceives a single tone, and that

the vocal machinery then operates without further guidance. All the

characteristics of the vocal tones,--pitch, quality, and power,--are

constantly changing. These changes require corresponding changes in the

muscular adjustments. The muscular contractions in turn are guided by

the demands of the mental ear. As a psychological process, singing may

therefore be analyzed as follows: The singer mentally sings the

composition. In response to the ever varying demands of the ear the

vocal organs adjust themselves to produce actually the sounds thus

mentally conceived. The singer listens to these sounds and at every

instant compares them to the mental conception. If the tones actually

produced fail to correspond exactly to those mentally conceived, the

singer instantly notes this variation and bids the vocal organs to

correct it. The ear has therefore a dual function in singing. First, the

mental ear directs the voice in its operations. Second, the physical ear

acts as a check or corrective on the voice.

To sum up the psychology of tone-production, the singer guides or

manages the voice by attentively listening to the tones of the voice.

This is the only possible means of vocal guidance. The voice and the ear

together form one complete organ.

But we are still apparently as far as ever from the specific meaning of

the correct vocal action. That the voice instinctively obeys the

commands of the ear may be true theoretically. In actual practice we

know that this does not by any means always occur. Singers are often

unable to get the desired results from their voices, even when they

believe themselves to rely on the sense of hearing. There must therefore

be some influence which under certain conditions interferes with the

operations of the vocal organs. The problem of tone-production is thus

seen to be one of psychology. It narrows down to this: What can

interfere with the normal action of the voice and prevent the vocal

organs from instinctively responding to the demands of the ear? A

satisfactory answer to this problem will be found only by a

consideration of all available knowledge of the voice, both empirical

and scientific. This forms the material of the final division of the

present work.

Part IV

VOCAL SCIENCE AND PRACTICAL VOICE CULTURE

CHAPTER I

THE CORRECT VOCAL ACTION

Two distinct lines of approach were laid down for studying the

operations of the voice. First, the manner of investigation usually

accepted as scientific. This is, to study the vocal mechanism; to

determine, as far as possible, the laws of its operation, in accordance

with the principles of anatomy, acoustics, mechanics, and psychology.

Second, the manner of investigation generally called empirical. This

begins with the observing of the tones of the voice, considered simply

as sounds. From the tones we work back to the vocal organs and apply to

them the information obtained by attentive listening. Both of these

means of investigation have been utilized; we are now in possession of

the most salient facts obtainable regarding the vocal action.

Separately considered, neither the scientific nor the empirical study of

the voice is alone sufficient to inform us of the exact nature of the

correct vocal action. The next step is therefore to combine the

information obtained from the two sources, scientific analysis and

empirical observation. Let us begin by summing up all the facts so far

ascertained.

Tone-production in singing is a conscious and voluntary muscular

operation. The vocal organs consist of a number of sets of voluntary

muscles, of the bones and cartilages to which these muscles are

attached, and of the nerves and nerve centers governing their actions.

The precise nature of the muscular contractions of tone-production,

whether correct or incorrect, is not known. These contractions occur in

accordance with established laws of acoustics and mechanics. Under

normal conditions the vocal organs instinctively respond to the demands

of the singer, through the guidance of the sense of hearing. The ability

of the vocal organs to adjust themselves properly may be upset by some

influence apparently outside the singer's voluntary control. Study of

the vocal mechanism does not inform us of the meaning of the correct

vocal action, nor of the difference between this action and any other

mode of operation of the voice.

Empirically considered, there is a striking difference between the

correct vocal action and any other manner of tone-production. A perfect

vocal tone awakens in the hearer a distinct set of auditory and muscular

sensations. Attentively observed, the muscular sensations of the hearer

indicate that the perfect vocal tone is produced by the balanced and

harmonious action of all the muscles of the singer's vocal mechanism. In

listening to perfect singing the hearer feels that every muscle of the

singer's vocal organs is contracted with exactly the appropriate degree

of strength. Any vocal tone of unsatisfactory sound awakens in the

hearer a set of muscular sensations, the direct opposite of those

indicating the correct vocal action. An incorrectly produced tone

imparts to the hearer a sensation of stiffness and undue muscular

tension, located more or less definitely in the throat. This sensation

indicates that the singer's throat is stiffened by excessive muscular

contraction. Further, this feeling of throat stiffness indicates to the

hearer that the singer's vocal action would become correct if the undue

muscular tension were relaxed.

Combining now the results of empirical and scientific investigation of

the voice, throat stiffness is seen to be the interfering influence

which disturbs the instinctive connection between voice and ear. Let us

now consider the meaning of throat stiffness as a feature of incorrect

tone-production. First, what is muscular stiffness?

All the voluntary muscles of the body are arranged in opposed pairs,

sets, or groups. A typical pair of opposed muscles are the biceps and

triceps of the upper arm. Contraction of the biceps flexes the forearm

at the elbow; the contrary movement, extending the forearm, results from

the contraction of the triceps. This principle of opposition applies to

the entire muscular system. One set of muscles raises the ribs in

inspiration, another set lowers them in expiration; one group flexes the

fingers and clenches the fist, an opposed set extends the fingers and

opens the hand. Muscular opposition does not imply that the entire

structure is made up of parallel pairs of muscles, like the biceps and

triceps, located on opposite sides of the same bone. It means only that

the opposed sets pull in contrary directions.

Each opposed set consists of muscles of about equal strength. Under

normal conditions of relaxation the entire muscular system exerts a

slight degree of contraction. To this normal state of oppositional

contraction the name "muscular tonicity" is given. The present purpose

does not call for a discussion of the subject of muscular tonicity. This

form of contraction has no direct bearing on the performance of

voluntary movements.

What effect has the voluntary contraction of all the muscles of any

member, each opposed set exerting the same degree of strength? No motion

of the member results, but the member is brought on tension and

stiffened. This is well illustrated in the case of the arm. Extend the

arm and clench the fist; then contract all the muscles of the arm, about

as the athlete does to display his muscular development. You will notice

that the arm becomes stiff and tense.

This state of tension is commonly called "muscular stiffness," but the

term is open to objection. It is really the joints which are stiffened,

not the muscles. We are, however, so accustomed to speak of muscular

stiffness, and particularly of throat stiffness, that little is to be

gained by substituting a more accurate expression.

A condition of muscular stiffness results from the contraction of all

the muscles of a member, whether this contraction be voluntary or

involuntary. This condition does not prevent the normal movements of the

member; it only renders the movements more difficult and fatiguing and

less effective. It is readily seen why this is the case. More than the

necessary strength is exerted by the muscles. Suppose the biceps and

triceps, for example, each to be contracted with five units of strength;

then let some work be performed by the flexing of the forearm, requiring

the exertion of two units of strength. In this case the biceps must

exert two units of strength more than the triceps, that is, seven units.

In all, the two muscles together exert twelve units of strength to

accomplish the effective result of two units. Six times the needed

strength is exerted. Activity of this kind is naturally fatiguing.

Muscular stiffness increases the difficulty of complex movements. Not

only is unnecessary strength exerted; the stiffness of the joints also

interferes with the freedom and facility of motion. But this unfavorable

condition does not upset the power of coördination. The instinctive

connection between the nerve centers of consciousness and the motor

centers is not broken. Although hampered in their efforts, the muscles

are still able to execute the demands of consciousness.

As an illustration of this analysis of muscular stiffness let us

consider the actions of writing, when performed under the conditions

just described. It is possible to write with the hand and arm in a state

of muscular stiffness. But one does not write so easily, so rapidly, nor

so well with the arm stiff as with the arm normally relaxed. Closer

attention must be paid to the forming of the letters, and more effort

must be put forth to write with the muscles stiffened; yet the result is

not equal to that obtained with less care and labor under normal

muscular conditions.

All that has been said of muscular stiffness applies with especial force

to the vocal organs. Like the rest of the muscular system, the muscles

of the vocal organs are arranged in opposed pairs and sets. The

contraction of all the muscles of the throat, each opposed set or pair

exerting about the same degree of strength, causes a condition of

throat stiffness. Singing is possible in this condition. But the

singer's command of the voice is not so complete and satisfactory as

under normal conditions.

Throat stiffness does not altogether deprive the vocal organs of their

faculty of instinctive adjustment in obedience to the demands of the

ear. To a fair extent the voice is under the command of the singer. The

vocal cords adjust themselves readily enough for the desired pitch;

tones of the various degrees of loudness and softness can be sung in a

fairly satisfactory manner. But the muscles are somewhat hampered in

their contractions, and the response to the demands of the ear is not

quite perfect. This lack of perfect command is evidenced specially in

the quality of the tones. Some form of throaty quality always mars the

voice when the throat is in a stiffened condition. In this regard the

voice refuses to fulfill the demands of the ear. Even though the singer

hears, and indeed feels, the effects of the muscular tension, and

strives to remedy the fault of production, the voice still refuses to

respond.

This incomplete command of the voice is frequently observed, even among

singers of very high standing. At first sight the condition here

described seems to disprove the statement that the voice normally obeys

the ear. But there is no real contradiction of the psychological law of

vocal command in the case of a stiff-throated singer. For one thing,

whatever degree of command the singer possesses is obtained in

accordance with the law of guidance by the ear. Moreover, the failure to

secure perfect response is due solely to the interference with the

normal workings of the voice, occasioned by the state of throat

stiffness. Far from this form of muscular contraction being a

contradiction of psychological principles, it will be found on

examination to be in perfect accord with well-established laws of

physiological psychology.

It is hardly to be supposed that the singer consciously and voluntarily

contracts the muscles of the entire vocal mechanism and so deliberately

brings about the stiffening of the throat. True, this can readily be

done. We can at will sing throaty and nasal tones. But this form of

voluntary throat tension is not, properly speaking, an incorrect vocal

action. So long as the vocal organs respond to the demands of the ear,

the vocal action is correct. Only when the voice refuses to obey can

the action be described as incorrect.

A satisfactory definition of the various modes of vocal action can now

be given. The correct vocal action is the natural operation of the vocal

organs; the voice normally obeys the commands of the ear. An incorrect

vocal action occurs when the throat is stiffened by the involuntary

contraction of the muscles of the vocal mechanism.

This definition of the vocal action does not solve the problem of

tone-production. It is still to be determined how the involuntary

contraction of the throat muscles is caused.

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