Elementary Lessons.
After this brief discussion of the principles involved in this method of
practice, we will proceed to give some essential exercises for practice.
EXERCISE FOR SECURING FREEDOM OF TONE
This is the foundation of all voice culture.
1. Take position in accordance with directions given in Chapter I.
2. Take humming tone as indicated in the preceding chapter,--_m, n,
ng,_--idealized and pure. The mouth should be opened and closed without
changing the tone.
3. Endeavor to concentrate all consciousness upon the conception of a tone
emanating from the _nares anteri_ and floating in ideal forms of
vibration in the surrounding air. Those forms may vary in their definite
nature, but must always obey the principle of curves and radiation. One
should never reach up to a tone, but should seem to alight upon it from
above, as a bird alights on the branch of a tree. The mind must never lose
sight of the result--the ideal aimed at. The knowledge of processes leads
us to a right conception of aims, and enables us to judge of their
correctness. We should know what processes are normal (natural and
healthful) and what objects of thought will induce them.
While taking the above exercise no effort should be made in the throat.
The voice should seem to find its way without effort. The tone should not
be loud or sharp.
If the student finds it difficult to produce the tone alone, some word
ending in _ing_ should be practised, as _ring-ring-ring-ng_.
FORMING OF ELEMENTS
_First Exercise_. Start the humming tone as indicated in the first
lesson, and maintain the same focus while forming certain elements. Take
the syllable _n-ö-m_, allowing no break while going from _n_, the nares
sound, to the vowel sound of _o_, and returning to the nares sound of
_m_. This is perhaps the best element to begin upon, because of its
definiteness, but the same principle can be applied to other elements
of speech, as _Most-men-want-poise-and-more-royal-margin_. Form each
syllable with the utmost care. Concentrate the mind upon the ideal sound.
First be sure that the pronunciation is accurately conceived. Then
enunciate clearly and try each time to make the form more perfect. The
principle of thinking is the same as that involved in striving to make a
perfect circle, or to execute any figure with more and more beauty. The
effort of the mind will bring the result, if the conception of the element
to be formed be correct. The sentence given--"_Most men want poise, and
more royal margin"_--is composed of such alternation of elements as will
tend to bring forward those that might be formed too far back by their
association with those elements that are necessarily brought to the front.
For example, the word_poise._ The first and last elements are
distinctively front. That helps to bring out what is between.
The constant recurrence of the nares tone, as in _m, n,_ etc., may
serve as a regulator of tone. The object of this step in practice is to
form elements with beauty, and to form them with the same focus as that
secured by the humming tone. In this stage of practice each element should
be dwelt upon separately, but not in such a way as to mar its expression.
For example, unaccented syllables should be lightly pronounced and the
right shading carefully observed. Otherwise, when the elements are put
together their harmony and smoothness will be wanting and the effect
labored and mechanical, as is often the case where attention has been
given to the practice of articulation. To make the effort of articulation
a vital impulse in response to a mental concept,--this is the object
sought. The principle is that the will should be directed toward the ideal
to be reached, while the mind comprehends the means incidentally. The
means may be considered as a matter of knowledge, useful in guiding the
judgment but a hindrance when used as a trap to catch the conscious
attention of the practising student.
The whole difference between the artist who is spontaneous and the artisan
who is artificial is that the one recognizes the fact that the very
existence of human expression proves that the mind awakens the instinctive
response of the physical organism, while the other thinks that he can
calculate that infinite harmony which makes unity of action, without
reverting to the first cause of expression--the thought that created it.
To reproduce the impulse born of the thought--this is the aim of a
psychological method. This is secured only by right objects of thought; it
is impossible to reach it by voluntary mechanics.
SMOOTHNESS AND HARMONY OF UTTERANCE
Having obtained the results sought in our last division, we should learn
to manipulate the elements of speech fluently without breaking their
relation to (harmony with) the primary focus, or direction of tone.
Practise the same sentence, "_Most men_" etc., striving to make every
tone and the form of every element perfect, without dwelling upon them
separately; practise this (as also the preceding exercises) upon various
degrees of pitch in the musical scale, generally beginning on a "medium
high" pitch, then lower, and afterwards higher. Strive to speak or sing
fluently without breaking the quality of tone used. A break in quality
signifies loss of focus.
The object of this practise is to attain facility in manipulating the
elements while maintaining the smooth quality of the tone. After this
sentence other sentences may be used in reference to the same idea. The
primary exercise given should always be reverted to as a working center,
in order to secure, through repetition, a deepening of the tendency
involved. Variety is admissible only in addition to the original exercise,
but should not be substituted for it.
FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSICAL EXPRESSIVENESS OF TONES
This opens the way to expression in tone,--dramatic expression,--but the
technical preparation for expressive responsiveness in the voice is the
development of its musical possibilities, for all artistic expression in
tones is musical whether the person be a singer or a speaker. Inflections
are variations in pitch, and are "the tune of the thought."
_Exercise_. Practise the syllables _mä, zä, skä, ä._ The sound
of the Italian _a,_ as in ah, gives the freest position of the organs
for the production of tone, and perhaps the most difficult form in which
to direct a tone with certainty. It is combined with these consonant
elements in order to invite it forward and bring it to a point
(figuratively speaking). The _m_ relates it to the nares or humming
tone (which is the basis of all resonance in the voice). The _z_
sharpens the consciousness at the front, and the _sk_ furnishes a
good start for a positive stroke in the voice, while the _a_ alone
leaves us to venture upon the free tone unassisted by these guides to
direction. The exercise should be practised with such musical variations
as the student can learn to execute--the scale, arpeggios, etc., both
sustained tone and light touches, broad tones and shaded tones. Other
vowels may also be practised thus.
The practice of rhythm, or the practice of rhythmical accent, should be
introduced, as the sense of rhythm is an important element in the
development of expressiveness.
The object now is to secure sensibility and responsiveness in the voice.
This opens the possibilities of vocal expression. When we speak of the
_nares anteri_ (or front head resonant cavity) as the dominant center
of physical consciousness nothing mechanical is meant. One is conscious
that the eye is fixed upon an object, but not therefore conscious of the
action of the muscles used in turning it upon the object. One thinks not
of the eye, but through the eye toward the object.
Finally, technique has as its object the training of the instrument to
freedom and responsiveness; but the true art of vocal expression begins
when the instrument is used in obedience to such objects of thought as
should cause its strings to vibrate loudly or softly, all together or in
partial harmony, in obedience to that vital impulse which the instrument
itself was created to obey.