In taking up this subject, it is not my purpose to give lessons in
voice culture on paper. There is, of course, but one way to sing and
that is the right way. Every teacher thinks his is the right one. This
can be proven only by the result upon the pupil. Does every teacher
understand the training of the voice and can he impart his knowledge
to the pupil and enable him to acquire a perfect mastery over the tone
production and management of sound in singing with this invisible
instrument? Can he surmount the technical difficulties and the
mechanism of the vocal organs? The inner consciousness is the only
safe guide for teacher and student.
The strictest attention should be directed in the beginning by all
students to the exercise of forethought, deliberation and mental
energy, attributes which are of the greatest importance, more so
perhaps than physical strength. A conscientious singer is rewarded
after arduous work by gaining the power of emotional expression which
the human voice possesses beyond any other musical medium. There are
two distinct branches used in the study of the voice--the technical
and esthetic. The mechanism and healthy production of the voice and
its development belong to the first work. Taste and feeling and a
sympathetic and sensitive nature, combined with a cultivated musical
organization, a poetic temperament and a pleasing personality, with
magnetic fire capable of holding listeners enthralled, are of the
other work.
In my long career in song I have especially noted the appearance of a
singer. My first impressions have usually remained. In justice to the
fine contralto, Schumann-Heink, I will relate my first impressions of
her in song. Mr. L. Sherman of Sherman & Clay sent me, to my great
delight, two tickets for the opera of "Lohengrin." I had never heard
the opera nor the singer. When I heard her sing her role, her first
notes so astonished me I just held my breath, I could not realize the
voice of a woman, she sang like a baritone. The opera was given in
German, and I thought I never heard such a masculine voice in my life,
and the whole opera was spoiled by her number for me, and the
impression was so lasting that nothing could induce me to hear her
again after that opera. I could not bear to think of such a man's
voice in a woman. This was when Mapelson was here in 1884. I never
heard her again until 1908 at Ye Liberty. Everybody had lauded her all
these years, and I never expressed my opinion but held to my
impressions on my first hearing of her work. At last I asked myself,
why should all these musical people call her great and praise her tone
productions as being so perfect, and I stand alone in my opinion. I
resolved, if she ever came again, to hear and see if the fault lay
with me. The opportunity was granted me in 1908 and, engaging a box in
the gallery, I took two pupils with me to hear the great singer and
accord her justice if I had erred. I beheld a wholesome looking woman,
but not beautiful. She was gowned in a stylish robe of rich material,
and on her head a white lace hat with soft white plumes which lent a
charm and softened her otherwise angular features. If I had received a
shock at her first appearance, I certainly was the most surprised
woman in the audience when she began her group of songs. Her first
notes convinced me that she had changed her methods completely since
singing in opera. She had found that singing in concert and singing
the heavy work of Wagner were two distinct methods, and to succeed she
had chosen the Bel Canto and forsaken Wagner. I never heard a more
beautiful lullaby than she sang, with all tenderness and mother love
running throughout her lines. Her German songs were also charming and
well phrased and the interpretation perfect. Knowing the German
language myself, I was able to appreciate and understand her rendering
of them. It was only once she gave one or two of those former
bellowing notes, and as quickly as she had uttered them she changed to
the touchful notes that were more pleasing. I fully enjoyed the
concert as much as I had disliked the opera which I heard in 1884 and
which had left such an ugly impression. It is with the greatest
pleasure that I also add my best appreciation of Schumann-Heink's
singing, for she now sings just as an artist should who understands
the art of singing, correctly, naturally, easily and comfortably.
To gain the height of vocal art is to have no apparent method, but to
sing with perfect facility from one end of the voice to the other,
emitting all the notes clearly and yet with power; to have each note
of the scale sound the same in quality and tonal beauty as the ones
before and after. This is the highest art and a lifetime of work and
study are necessary to acquire an easy emission of tone. One must have
a complete understanding of anatomical structure of the throat, mouth
and face, with their resonant cavities which are most necessary for
the proper production of voice. The whole breathing apparatus must be
understood because the whole foundation of singing is breathing and
control of all the functions which compose the musical instrument. A
singer's reliance depends upon the breath, as on the stability to
economize the air during its emission from the lungs. Steadiness,
strength, flexibility and sustaining power of the voice depend upon
this knowledge and intelligent use of it. I hold the art of singing in
such reverence that I feel I am walking upon sacred ground when I am
employed in the teaching of the human voice. It is notoriously
difficult to give rules for singing to every one alike. I have found
out in my long experience of development of different voices under my
guidance that no two persons can be taught alike. As faces and people
differ, so do also the voices. There are general rules to be observed
that all can understand, but outside of that, teaching of the voice
becomes an individual study of every conscientious and capable
teacher. No one should attempt it unless he understands perfectly the
anatomy of the muscles that are used and compose the vocal apparatus,
their placement and uses. Instructors should be perfect singers
themselves and able to give an example of every tone as accurately as
it can be produced by the human voice. A teacher who cannot produce a
perfect tone has not the right to teach. Why should the proper
training of the voice continue to be the least progressive of all
professions, and why should there be less care and work used in the
development of the most beautiful gift that has been given to mankind,
the human voice? While this gift has not been equally bestowed on
every one, yet there is not a being who could not sing if he were
properly taught. It is not the great-voiced singer that gives the most
beautiful song. While he is to be admired for his grand tones and
magnificent work, it has taken years of technique to produce those
tones through perfect knowledge of breath control.
Teachers of the eighteenth century required many years of hard study
from the pupils before they were considered competent to illustrate
the art of tone production and before the masters considered them
singers or sent them forth as exponents of their art. Why all this
work to acquire the art of producing beautiful tones? We must use
intelligent understanding in the use of this instrument which is such
a rare gift to us. Thrice happy are those who are able to give to
listening humanity the full comprehensive and soulful touch of song
which the individual instrument is capable of producing. There is so
much more in singing than the mere possession of a beautiful voice.
The singer must be able to supplement the beauty of the voice with
intelligence in the exposition of the song. But few realize how much
skill this demands. No amount of intelligence will enable a person
rightly to interpret a song if he has not learned the elements of
singing or has not a complete command of the technique of his art. The
most important element of beautiful song is the lung capacity, and
thereon hangs the whole success; control of the breathing muscles. One
has infinite gradations of the power of this column of air to produce
the result in exquisite variations over the power and the coloring of
his tones. Attack and management of the air column is an art in
itself--a correct poise of the larynx. Upon the art of directing this
column of air the quality of the tones depends. The greatest marvel is
that those whom I have had to instruct do not know the first elements
of breathing. To breathe to live and to breathe to be a singer are as
far apart as the poles. Not one in twenty knows what lung capacity
they have. The general rule is to breathe through the nose. That is
all right if he is a gymnast or a ball player, but singing is just the
opposite of this sort of breathing. Everything is relaxed and natural,
the breath is inhaled through partly opened lips, slowly, evenly and
quietly and allows not a particle to go through the nostrils until the
lungs are completely filled and inflated. The large cells are in the
lower part of the lungs, and when they are inflated and the diaphragm
properly used so as to direct and control this column, one can sing as
long as there is a particle of air to use. For seventy years I have
used this method of breathing, and I am a perfect example of the
preservation of the voice now in my seventy-sixth year, and have every
note I ever used and can sing with as much power and breath control as
I ever could. I feel no weakness or lack of strength in any part of my
tone production.
I taught every pupil in this way and cured many of the tremolo habit
by showing them how to breathe properly and then use this art
intelligently. The art of breathing is not alone the thing to
understand. There are many other points of importance to remember,
but the art of breathing is the fundamental stone that has to be well
grounded to secure the lasting success of the conscientious and
intelligent student. Each person must feel the action of the different
parts that go to make up the vocal instrument, which strengthens my
assertion that each individual must have his own separate instruction
as he possesses the charm of his own personality and musical
temperament. Many students may have complete knowledge of how it
should be done, and yet in the performance they do just the opposite,
from a feeling of self-consciousness and the fear of being ridiculed
in their efforts to sing. The mind must first recognize, then control,
until automatic action is established and there is no danger of
self-consciousness. One must learn the elements of singing--no amount
of intelligence will enable a person rightly to interpret a song if he
has not first learned that department thoroughly. For in order to
offer an interpretation to an audience, the singer must have a
complete command of the technique of his art. The singers of today are
not so skillful as they were in the eighteenth century, because they
are not patient enough to study the essential tone production which
must be produced to make tones that are satisfying to themselves and
also to the sensitive and cultivated ears of the listeners. A singer
must reject any unmusical sound and, above all things, rule out any
departure from the pitch. Singing out of tune is not singing at all.
They can never be relied upon and are therefore unsatisfactory for any
use at all. It seems simple enough to sing, yet to get the correct,
pure tone one must work daily to accomplish perfection. There are many
singers who attain a certain amount of distinction on the operatic
stage that cannot produce a full, round, sympathetic tone. They may
have powerful tones and astonish the public, yet in a short season the
tones become dull or heavy or sharp, ear-splitting and their
victorious career is finished and oblivion mercifully covers them.