THE TRUE MEANING OF VOCAL TRAINING
In all scientific treatises on the voice it is assumed that the voice
has some specifically correct mode of operation. Training the voice is
supposed to involve the leading of the vocal organs to abandon their
natural and instinctive manner of operating, and to adopt some other
form of activity. Further, the assumption is made that the student of
singing must cause the vocal organs to adopt a supposedly correct manner
of operating by paying direct attention to the mechanical movements of
tone-production. Both these assumptions are utterly mistaken. On
scientific analysis no difference is seen between the right and the
wrong vocal action, such as is assumed in the accepted Vocal Science.
Psychological principles do not countenance the idea of mechanical vocal
management.
Yet the fact remains, as a matter of empirical observation, that there
is a marked difference between the natural voice and the correctly
trained voice. What change takes place in the voice as a result of
correct training?
Singing is a natural function of the vocal organs. Learning to sing
artistically does not involve a departure from natural and instinctive
processes. The training of the voice consists of the acquirement of
skill in the use of the vocal organs, and of nothing more.
Under normal conditions the vocal organs instinctively adjust
themselves, by performing the necessary muscular contractions, to
fulfill the demands of the ear. In order that a perfect musical tone be
produced it is necessary in the first place that the ear be keen and
well trained; only such an ear can know the exact sound of a perfect
tone, and so demand it of the voice. Second, the vocal organs must make
repeated efforts to produce the perfect tone, each response approaching
nearer to the mentally-conceived tone. Two elements are therefore
involved in the training of the voice; first, the cultivation of the
sense of hearing; second, the acquirement of skill in the use of the
voice by the actual practice of singing.
Practical vocal teachers generally recognize the importance of both
these elements of Voice Culture. Only in one way do they fall short of
fully realizing the value of ear training and of practice guided by the
ear;--they do not see that these two topics sum up the whole material of
vocal training. Unfortunately, the search after some imaginary means of
direct vocal management destroys, in all modern methods, most of the
value of the real elements of voice culture.
A few citations from standard writers on the voice will show the
estimation in which ear-training is held. To begin with, the old Italian
masters were fully alive to the necessity of cultivating the sense of
hearing, as witness Tosi: "One who has not a good ear should not
undertake either to instruct or to sing." This writer also says in the
chapter headed "Observations for a student": "Let him hear as much as he
can the most celebrated singers, and likewise the most excellent
instrumental performers; because from the attention in hearing them one
reaps more advantage than from any instruction whatsoever."
Another early writer on the voice, the celebrated Adolph Bernhard Marx,
speaks of the advantage derived from the attentive listening to voices:
"An important influence is exerted by the frequent attentive hearing of
good voices. Through this an idea of good tone is strengthened, which
gains an influence on the use and also on the training of the organs,
not perhaps immediate, but clearly seen in its results." (_Die Kunst des
Gesanges_, Berlin, 1826.)
Among modern writers only a few need be mentioned. D. Frangçon-Davies
remarks: "The training of the ear is one half of the training of the
voice." (_The Singing of the Future._) Clara Kathleen Rogers is even
more emphatic in her statement: "Not to exercise our sense of hearing is
to rob it gradually of the habit of acting at all; whereas, if we keep
it in exercise, it will daily grow readier, finer, more acute, more
analytical, and the ear will serve as an ever more effective medium of
reaction on the will." The following remark of the same writer points
unmistakably to an understanding of the evil results of the attempt to
sing mechanically: "If the singer's attention is directed to any part of
the vocal instrument, or even to its motor, the breath, his sense of
sound, and his perception of either the beautiful or the bad elements
in sound, will grow fainter and fainter." (_The Physiology of Singing._)
As for the purpose of cultivating the sense of hearing, this is also
pointed out by several prominent vocal theorists. One of the latest
exponents of the traditional method of instruction was Stéphen de la
Madelaine, who remarks: "The first need of the voice is to be guided in
its exercise by an ear capable of appreciating naturally its least
deviation." (_Théorie complète du Chant_, Paris, 1852.)
One of the most recent authoritative writers on voice culture, Dr.
Mills, speaks at length of the necessity of guiding the voice by the
sense of hearing. "We cannot too much insist on both speaker and singer
attending to forming a connection between his ear and his mouth cavity.
He is to hear that he may produce good tones, and the tones cannot be
correctly formed if they be not well observed. To listen to one's self
carefully and constantly is a most valuable but little practised art.
The student should listen as an inexorable critic, accepting only the
best from himself." Dr. Mills touches on the psychological features of
the connection between voice and ear. "There can be no doubt that the
nervous impulses that pass from the ear to the brain are of all sensory
messages the most important guides for the outgoing ones that determine
the necessary movements." Summing up the matter of ear-training and
vocal guidance Dr. Mills says: "The author would impress on all students
of music, and of the voice as used in both singing and speaking, the
paramount importance of learning early to listen most attentively to
others when executing music; and above all to listen with the greatest
care to themselves, and never to accept any musical tone that does not
fully satisfy the ear." (_Voice Production in Singing and Speaking_,
1906.)
One more citation from Mrs. Rogers must suffice. "And now, in
conclusion, let me once more remind the singer that in practising these
and all other vocal exercises the ear is the only safe guide."
Given a fine natural voice and a trained musical ear, skill is acquired
in the use of the voice by the repetition of effort. The only necessity
is for the singer to have a clear mental conception of the effects to
be obtained, and to listen attentively to the voice. With each
repetition of an exercise, whether on sustained tones, scale passages,
crescendo and diminuendo, or whatever else, the voice responds more
smoothly and accurately to the mental demand. Each time the student
practises the exercise he listens to the tones and notes how they differ
from the desired effect; he strives the next time to correct this
departure.
Psychological principles verify the proverb that practice makes perfect.
This is true of all complex activities. Through repeated performance the
muscles, or rather the motor-nerve centers, become habituated to complex
activities. Coördinations gradually become perfect and automatic because
the nerve impulses naturally tend to take the well-worn paths. To this
rule the voice is no exception. Practice makes perfect, with the voice,
as with every other muscular activity.
In practical Voice Culture the ear and the voice are normally trained
together. The proper function of the teacher is to guide the student in
developing along the two lines. Listening to his own voice is a valuable
means for the student to develop his sense of hearing. It is for the
master to point out the salient qualities and faults in the pupil's
tones in order that the pupil may know what to listen for. As the ear
gradually becomes keener and better acquainted with the characteristics
of perfect singing, it also becomes more exacting in its demands on the
voice. In its turn the voice steadily improves in its responsiveness to
the ear.
Skill in using the voice involves something more than has thus far been
considered under the head of tone-production. Skill in singing is
synonymous with finished vocal technique, and the basis of technique is
the correctly produced single tone. It is seen that a single tone can be
sung correctly when, first, the singer knows the sound of the perfect
musical tone, and second, the vocal organs are not hampered by muscular
stiffness. When these conditions are fulfilled nothing but practice is
needed for the acquirement of technical skill.
Coloratura singing presents the highest development of vocal technique.
Dazzling as the effects of coloratura are, they are obtained by the
combination of a few simple elements. Perfect command of the single tone
throughout the entire compass of the voice, with accurately graded
crescendo and diminuendo, the clear, rapid, and accurate transition from
one note to another in the varying degrees of staccato and
legato,--these elements include the whole physical material of vocal
technique.
Training the voice is one concrete process. Its component features may
be considered separately; the cultivation of the sense of hearing, the
acquirement of command of the single tone, and the development of
technical skill,--each may be considered apart from its companion
processes. But in actual practice the three elements of Voice Culture
cannot be dissociated. The student of singing progresses simultaneously
along all three lines. Intelligently directed practice in singing
results in this simultaneous progress. As the voice depends for guidance
on the ear, so the ear benefits by the improvement of the voice. Each
advance made by the voice toward the perfect production of tone is
marked by a greater facility in the technical use of the voice. Correct
tone-production cannot be directly acquired by the singing of single
tones. This practice would tend to stiffen the throat. Technique and
tone-production must be developed together.
There is a difference between the natural and the properly trained
voice. As to the nature of this difference the facts of empirical
observation are borne out by the results of scientific analysis. The
natural voice is crude because it is unskilfully used. A lack of
facility is revealed in the untrained singer's handling of the voice.
Intonations are imperfect; transitions from note to note are rough; the
whole effect indicates that the voice is not completely under the
command of the singer. Further, the sound of the individual tones
betrays faults of production. The tones are more or less throaty or
nasal, or indicative of some degree of muscular tension.
A perfectly used voice, on the other hand, convinces the hearer that the
singer has full command of all the resources of the vocal organs. Each
tone is a perfect musical sound, free from fault or blemish. The voice
moves from one note to another with ease and with purity of intonation.
All the gradations of loud and soft, all the lights and shades of
sentiment or passion, seem to respond directly to the singer's
instinctive desire for musical expression. On the physical side the
singer's voice is felt by the hearer to be in a condition of balanced
and harmonious muscular activity.
When the possessor of a good natural voice goes through a proper course
of vocal training, the faults of production native to the untrained
voice are gradually corrected. Wrong muscular tension is imperceptibly
relaxed. Little by little the student acquires facility in handling the
voice. Coincident with this progress is the advance toward the correct
vocal action. The transition from the natural to the perfect use of the
voice is gradual and imperceptible. There is no stage of progress at
which the operations of the voice radically change in character. At no
time does the student change the manner of managing the voice. Effects
difficult at first gradually become easier, simply as the result of
practice. This is the only change that the voice undergoes in training.
One influence, and only one, can interfere with this normal development
of the voice. This is the involuntary and unconscious stiffening of the
throat. In the normal practice of singing nothing is involved which
could cause the throat to stiffen. True, the first stages of study are
usually marked by a slight degree of stiffness, due solely to the lack
of practice and experience. This initial stiffness does not tend to
become habitual; it disappears before the student becomes aware of it,
and leaves no permanent trace on the voice. That is, provided mechanical
instruction does not intervene, to introduce the tendency directly to
stiffen the throat.
As the initial stiffness disappears, and the vocal action gradually
becomes smooth and automatic, the voice begins to take on the
characteristics of perfect tone-production. The voice rounds out, the
tones become free and true, and in perfect tune. No excessive throat
tension being present, the voice conforms to the correct empirical
standard of tone-production. It gives evidence to the ear of correct
support and of open throat. The tones issue freely from the mouth and
convey no impression of throat or nose.
As a matter of experience it is known that vocal students generally make
satisfactory progress in the first few months of study. This is
perfectly natural. It requires several months for the normally
constituted student to grasp the idea of mechanical vocal management.
Gifted with a fine voice, the natural impulse of any one is to sing. By
singing naturally the voice is bound to improve.
Just so soon as the student begins to understand the meaning of
attempted mechanical guidance of the voice, the evil effects of throat
stiffness begin to be manifest. The more earnest and intelligent
students are often the worst sufferers from throat stiffness. They more
readily grasp the mechanical doctrines of modern methods and apply the
mechanical idea more thoroughly.
There is in reality no problem of tone-production such as the accepted
theory of Voice Culture propounds. The voice does not require to be
taught how to act. Tone-production was never thought to involve any
mechanical problem until the attention of vocalists was turned to the
mechanical operations of the voice. This dates, roughly speaking, from
about 1800. Since that time the whole tendency of Voice Culture has been
mechanical. Nowadays the entire musical world is acquainted with the
idea that the voice must be directly guided; hardly any one has ever
heard this belief contradicted. To say that the voice needs no guidance
other than the ear would seem utterly preposterous to the average lover
of singing. It is even highly probable that this statement would not be
understood. Yet there is strong evidence that the old Italian masters
would have had equal difficulty in grasping the idea of mechanical vocal
management. How long it will take for the vocal profession to be
persuaded of the error of the mechanical idea only the future can
determine.
Probably the most important fact about vocal training is the following:
The voice is benefited by producing beautiful tones, and is injured by
producing harsh sounds. A tone of perfect beauty can be sung only when
the vocal organs are free from unnecessary tension. The nearer the tones
approach to the perfection of beauty, the closer does the voice come to
the correct action. Healthy exercise of the voice, with the throat free
from strain, strengthens and develops the throat muscles. Harsh and
unmusical sounds, produced by the voice, indicate that the throat is in
a condition of injurious tension. Singing under these circumstances
strains and weakens the muscles of the throat and injures the voice.
The harsher the tones the worse they are for the voice.
Beauty of tone is the only criterion of the correct vocal action. By
listening to himself the singer may know whether his tone-production is
correct. If the tones are beautiful the tone-production cannot be wrong.
The ear must always decide. A normally constituted ear instinctively
delights in hearing beautiful sounds. While attentive listening renders
the ear more keen and discriminating, no vocal student of average gifts
need be told the meaning of tonal beauty.
Instinct prompts the possessor of a fine natural voice and a musical ear
to sing, and to sing beautiful tones. No normally constituted student
can take pleasure in the practice of mechanical exercises. This form of
study is repugnant to the musical sensibility. Vocal students want to
sing; they feel instinctively that the practice of mechanical exercises
is not singing. A prominent exponent of mechanical instruction
complains: "I tell them to take breathing exercises three times a
day--but they all want to go right to singing songs." (_Werner's
Magazine_, April, 1899.) These students are perfectly right. They know
instinctively that the voice can be trained only by singing. There is no
connection between artistic singing and the practice of toneless
breathing exercises. "Five finger drills" and studies in broken scales
of the types generally used are also utterly unmusical. Mechanical
drills, whether toneless or vocal, have little effect other than to
induce throat stiffness.