lectured and wrote, are only just beginning to receive the attention
which their important functions deserve. Over some of the resonating
cavities we can obtain no voluntary control; but over the whole of the
mouth, of the buccal cavity, and over part of the pharyngeal we may, by
education, gain as much influence as over the fingers of the hand, and
the results obtained by such training are frequently astonishing. A
student at one of our colleges came to me recently whose first question
was "Can you teach me how not to sing with a 'squeezed' throat?"
"Nothing easier," was my reply. On his singing a few notes to me, the
tone of the voice revealed that owing to want of knowledge of the action
of the resonators, he was closing his throat in such a manner that the
voice sounded as if he were singing through the teeth of a comb. Without
looking in his mouth, I drew on a piece of paper the position in which
were his soft palate, the pillars of the fauces, the uvula, and the
tongue, telling him that was the picture he would see on looking at his
throat while singing. This proved on examination to be the case; and
great was his wonderment to find that, after a little practice he could
voluntarily remedy this squeezed position until it gradually disappeared
altogether, and with it the unpleasant quality of voice which had caused
him so much trouble.
The inherent quality of tone is reinforced by the co-vibrations of the
air in the resonance cavities, the greater fulness of the sound being
caused by the increased quantity of air which is set into vibration. The
slightest alteration in the shape of these cavities affects the quality
of vocal tone by altering the direction and size of the air columns.
There is for every tone an air column of a certain size which most
powerfully reinforces that tone; and every resonance cavity answers to
some particular note better than to others. Timbre in the voice depends
largely upon the echoing and re-echoing of these resonance chambers; and
it needs but little reflection to see that the shape given to the mouth
in pronouncing speech sounds--more especially vowel sounds, with all
their various shades--interferes more or less with the purity and
quality of tone. Hence the necessity in singing for modifying vowel
pronunciation to suit the various tones and pitches of the voice. Every
shade of vowel has a certain pitch of its own which is best produced by
certain positions of the mouth, tongue, and soft palate. It is,
therefore, necessary, carefully to shape the mouth so that, on notes of
different pitches, the configuration of the mould may be that which
gives the best quality of the particular vowel tone. There must be an
unimpeded passage for the voice from the larnyx to the lips, and this
cannot be obtained if the same vowel shades are maintained in song as in
speech. The vowels which require the greatest alteration in position of
the mouth are A, E, and U; E being quite the most difficult, because,
contrary to the opinion of some teachers who consider it the best for
forward production of tone, it keeps the sound farther back in the
throat than any other vowel, shutting it up and making the sound thin
and poor. Diligent practice before a mirror is necessary in order to
acquire the best position of the buccal resonance chamber; its
attainment will well repay the trouble taken, for not only will the
voice gain in timbre, in resonance, and in ease, but pronunciation will
become pure and clear.
The vowel "ah" is frequently chosen as the best one for vocalising,
because in its pronunciation it is easy to put the mouth in a good
position; and voices are trained on it exclusively, with the result that
no other vowel, or vowel shade, is perfectly produced. Actual false
intonation often arises from want of practice in adjusting the cavity of
the mouth to that shape required for producing the best tone and
resonance on the different notes; the absence of co-ordination between
the fundamental tone and the overtones preventing perfect tune.
The absolute truth of the foregoing remarks may easily be proved by
singing the vowels at either extreme of the "vowel scale of nature,"
viz., "oo and ee," over the whole compass of the voice, having regard to
the beauty of tone. Although the singer may be quite unaware of the
science underlying the fact, it will be found that the quality of the
voice at the bottom of its range as these vowels are sung is very
different from that at the top of the range, the alterations taking
place in almost imperceptible gradations. By reference to the foregoing
pages of this book it will be seen that the late Emil Behnke attached
great importance to vowel training, and exemplifications of his methods
are to be found in "Voice Training Exercises" and "Voice Training
Studies" written in conjunction with C. W. Pearce, Mus.Doc. The subject
is also fully explained in "Voice, Song, and Speech," by Lennox Browne,
F.R.C.S., and Emil Behnke; and the whole matter is most ably discussed
in "Pronunciation for Singers," by the late Dr. A. J. Ellis, F.R.S.,
published by Messrs Curwen & Sons.
In thus strongly advocating education of the resonator in the production
of vowel sounds in singing, let me not be supposed to ignore the
necessity for also cultivating pronunciation of consonants, which have
been termed the checks and stops of sound.
Clearness of enunciation and purity of pronunciation, which are great
aids to the voice, and possess a charm all their own, depend upon both
vowels and consonants being accurately rendered.
The English are the worst enunciators of all European peoples, and their
custom is to lay the blame on the language, than which none other is
deemed by them so unvocal. There is, however, a vast amount of sonority
and musical charm in our grand and noble language, second only to the
Italian, when properly spoken.
The cultivation of pure, accurate, and refined pronunciation in speech
will greatly facilitate good enunciation in singing, and should he
sedulously acquired; for there are numbers of vocalists who leave us in
doubt as to whether the words they sing are English, French, Italian, or
German; while the number of those who mispronounce words in a deplorable
manner is legion.
FORCING THE REGISTERS.
The next factor which has much to do with voice failure is forcing the
registers beyond their proper point of change. The erroneous belief
appears to exist that, by carrying up the registers a few notes beyond
their natural limits, the tones thus produced are fuller and richer. But
if in training a voice this practice be followed the result will be
serious injury to the vocal organ.
This is not a theoretical statement; we can easily see with the
laryngoscope the great amount of congestion of the vocal ligaments
immediately caused by thus forcing up a register; and not only are these
affected by the strain put upon them, but the whole interior of the
throat becomes blood-red, and looks irritated and inflamed. As soon as
the change to the right register is made the vocal apparatus returns to
its normal state.
Now we all know the effects of undue strain on muscles in other parts of
the body, and have felt the pain and weakness arising therefrom; but far
worse results follow the damage to the throat caused by the strain of
forcing up the registers, by both speakers and singers. The quality of
the voice becomes impaired, and actual loss of notes follows. In some
extreme cases which I have had under my care, there has been entire
absence of voice both in speaking and in singing, and much suffering has
been experienced from granular inflammation of the throat brought on by
this faulty voice use.
Another method of forcing the voice is the almost universal endeavour to
acquire "top notes" which do not belong to the singer's compass. Because
of the high notes in some voices exceptionally endowed by nature, it
seems as though all singers, no matter what their natural range, have
made it the one object of their training to strive after a vocal
attainment whose rarity appears to be almost its only justification to
be considered as an artistic merit. Why should these ever vanishing
"top notes" be so much craved and striven for? Can it be said that, as
regards each individual voice, these notes are higher in a scale of
excellence than the rest? What merit does their acquisition promise as a
set-off to the deterioration of the voice and its inevitable ultimate
failure? A high note, _per se_, is not necessarily "a thing of beauty"
to the listener, while the result of its attainment is often the
converse of a "joy for ever" to the singer; for in those cases of
forcing up the voice above its natural compass, violence is done to the
throat, which in time results in some of the many ailments peculiar to
singers who use faulty methods. The middle range of the voice becomes
proportionately weaker and thinner as the cult of the extra "top notes"
becomes greater, until the anomalous position is reached of a voice with
two ends and no middle; while these superadded, artificial, high notes
are wanting in timbre, in purity, in strength, and in ease. It is easily
demonstrable by the laryngoscope that the forced and strained action of
the vocal ligaments, and of other laryngeal and throatal muscular
action, exercises an injurious influence upon the voice. The endeavour
to sing notes beyond the extreme of the compass, or notes which do not
naturally lie within any one register--particularly the chest
register--causes great fatigue of the tensor muscles of the vocal
ligaments, and serious congestion, extending to the windpipe and pharynx
has, in many cases, followed this practice.
More time and energy are devoted to the acquirement of what the late
Emil Behnke called "mere acrobatic skill" than is given to the purely
artistic side of voice use, and it follows that we get "the survival
_not_ of the fittest" but rather of those with exceptionally strong
physical organisations, instead of refined artists.
The deterioration throughout the whole compass of the voice is often
painfully noticeable during an entire song, but the forcible shouting of
a full, high-pitched note at its close seems to be intended to
compensate for all the misery previously endured by the sensitive
listener.
Now the maintenance of a healthy condition of the vocal muscles depends
to a great degree upon the right use of those muscles in the formation
of tone. There should never be any feeling of fatigue, strain, pricking,
tightness, aching, or of pain in the throat, nor yet of huskiness after
vocal practice. The method of voice use which produces such results, or
any one of them, is wrong. Nature is pointing out as forcibly as
possible the injury which is being done. Her warning should be heeded
before conditions, getting worse, lead up to the sad ailments from which
so many suffer, and which are disastrous to both voice and health.
The foregoing facts and illustrations force upon us the conclusion that
the large majority of throat affections from which both speakers and
singers suffer might be entirely prevented by correct methods of voice
use. As prevention is proverbially better than cure, it must be
infinitely more advantageous to acquire correct methods than to unlearn
bad ones which exercise a deleterious influence, always recognisable
even when entire voice failure has not followed their practice.
_APPENDIX TO THE TENTH EDITION_
DOES DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING APPLY EQUALLY TO WOMEN AS TO MEN?
In a kind notice of the first edition of this brochure, which appeared
in _The Medical Press_, the editor raises the above question. He says:
"The evils attending faulty methods of voice-production are pointed out
both from an anatomical and from an artistic point of view,
diaphragmatic breathing being especially insisted on in opposition to
mere clavicular breathing. This is undoubtedly correct; but we think the
advice here embodied would have been even more valuable had the
authoress mentioned if from her experience she thought it applied in an
equal extent to both sexes, as it is well known that nature, or we may
perhaps more correctly say, the art of dress, causes women to breathe in
a far more 'clavicular manner' than men."
This is a valuable criticism, and as the point indicated is likely to be
of interest to many persons, I append my reply, which appeared in the
next number of _The Medical Press_:--
"To the Editor of the _Medical Press and Circular_.
"SIR,--I intended the advice on breathing to apply to both sexes,
diaphragmatic breathing with perfect control being the foundation of all
good voice-production, whether in speaking or in singing, in men and
women alike, while clavicular breathing is a potent factor in
voice-failure accompanied by throat ailments. From the examination of a
large number of cases, I find it exceptional for a woman, when dressed,
to breathe diaphragmatically, but when the garments are unfastened, and
a few simple directions followed, Nature's mode of breathing commences
to re-assert itself, feebly at first, but vigorously after a little
practice. Very many men also breathe clavicularly, to the great
detriment of their voices, whether in speaking or in singing. I have
noticed, however that whereas the majority of women _always_ breathe
clavicularly, comparatively few men adopt this pernicious habit unless
when using the voice, which is, of course, the worst time for them to
employ it. As a rule, men re-acquire the natural manner of breathing
more easily and quickly than women; this may be partly accounted for by
their greater freedom from constricting garments. After a few weeks'
training of the respiratory muscles, the lung capacity frequently
exceeds, in women especially, the average given in Hutchinson's tables.
"Thanking you in anticipation for your courtesy in publishing this
letter,--I am, sir, yours &c.,
"K. BEHNKE
"18, Earl's Court Square, S.W."
INDEX.
Artificial female voice, Roman teachers, 2
Back ring pyramid muscles, 46, 48
Bands uniting shield and tongue-bone, 34
Belts _v._ braces for men, 25
Breast bone, 11
Breathing, Collar-bone, 17
----, Curing defective, 23
---- during sleep, 28
---- exercises, 106
----, midriff and rib combined, 17
----, Mouth _v._ nostril, 26
---- neglected by teachers, 19
----, View of larynx, 84
Breath, Singers' half-, 26
Browne, Lennox, on breathing, 18, 22
Carpenter, Dr., How tone is produced, 39
Cartilages of Santorini, 51, 54, 80
---- of Wrisberg, 51, 54, 81
Catlin on American Indian breathing, 28
Chest described, 12
---- voice used for pay, 4
Chink, Vocal, 45, 81
Clergymen's sore throat, 22
Collar-bones, 11
Composers disregarding voices, 3
----' ignorance of harp, 3
----, Modern, wed music and words, 3
---- to blame for vocal decline, 4
Cords, Vocal, a misleading term, 38
----, ----, False, 60
----, ----, origin of term, 8
Corsets for gentlemen, 26
Curwen's names for registers, 87
Czermak's test in vowel formation, 59
---- use of the laryngoscope, 75
Duprez' Chest C, 5
Eberth's case, voice-box without lid, 35
Elsberg on nose-breathing, 28
---- on wedges (posterior nodules), 55
Eustachian tubes, 58
Exercises, Ah, legato, scala, 117
----, Breathing, 106
----, Controlling tongue, 124
----, glottis, check and glide, 112
---- for tone quality, 119, 121
---- in changing registers, 118
----, Mixed-voice, 119
---- on koo, 124
---- on vowels, 116
----, Opening mouth, 125
----, Resonator, 119
----, Soft palate, 121
---- to govern pitch, 115
----, Voice production, 110
Experiment, calf's lungs, 12
----, Czermak on vowels, 59
----, defects in breathing, 23
----, feeling ring-shield aperture, 72, 100
---- in telling male and female registers, 90
Experiments, Marshall on animals, 39
----, Mueller on dissected larynges, 7, 96
----, pressing shield to test pitch, 71
----, Spirometer, 20
----, Violin tone, 57
----, whisper and feel voice-box, 70
---- with laryngoscope, 76, 92
---- with mirror, for nasal tone, 60
Falsetto register neglected, 4, 6
Female and male minstrels, 15
---- voice spoilt by tenor pattern, 2
Foulis' laryngoscope, 78
French singers subject to tremolo, 20
Garcia and the laryngoscope, 74
---- on forced registers, 96
Garrett, error in describing glottis, 45
---- on a blackbird's larynx, 40
---- on differences in larynges, 64
Glogg-ner-Castelli on chest voice, 5
Glottis, Chink of the, 45, 81
----, Defects to avoid, 112
---- in producing sound, 46
---- in repose, 46
---- in respiration, 46
----, Shock of the, 83
----, sphincter muscle, 44
Heart, 11
Helmholtz on whispered vowels, 70
Horns, Upper and lower, 34, 37, 42
Human voice, four parts, 9
---- voice, incomparable, 9
Huxley's description of respiration, 14
Illingworth, Rumney, on falsetto, 39, 52
Inspiration and expiration, 14
---- of men and women, 15
----, Three ways of, 14
---- through the mouth, 26
Isenschmid's throat apparatus, 77
Italian composers studying voices, 3
Lacing, Tight, 25
Laryngo-Phantom, Isenschmid's, 77
Laryngoscope described, 73
----, Errors in using, 79
----, How to use, 73
----, What is seen, 80
Laryngoscopic images, 84, 85
Larynx generally described, 31
---- (see Voice-box)
Levers of the Pyramids, 36
Lid and its function, 32, 35, 80
Ligaments, Pocket, 50, 81
----, ----, not tone producers, 52
----, ----, their functions, 53, 83
----, Vocal, described, 36, 81, 94
----, ----, how produce tone, 32, 81
----, ----, how stretched, 47
----, ----, in S.C.T.B. voices, 66
----, ----, size, movement, 41
----, ----, Three actions of, 83
----, ----, View of, 37
Lung gymnastics, 21
Lungs described, 9
----, Experiment with calf's, 12
----, their function, 12
Lunn on "Coup de glotte", 83
---- on differences in larynges, 64, 89
---- on laryngoscopic views, 82
Luschka, and term "vocal chink", 45
----, how tone is produced, 40
Luschka's measurements of larynges, 64
Male contralti, 2
---- soprani, 1
Malrespiration, 28
Marshall, experiments on animals, 39
Merkel on male and female larynges, 90
---- on pyramids and registers, 99
---- on tension of ligaments, 67
Merkel's terms for registers, 90
Meyerbeer and the falsetto, 5
Midriff, 11
---- described, 12
Mixed voice, defined, 119
Mouth, its part in singing, 59
----, when to keep it shut, 29
Mozart studied voice before composing, 4
Mucous membrane, 61, 80
Mueller's experiments on larynges 7, 96
Muscles, back ring pyramid, 46, 48
---- governing pitch, 113
----, How to strengthen, 113
----, ligament tension theory, 67
----, Pyramid, 49
Muscles, Ring-shield, 41
----, ----, how change registers, 97
----, Shield-pyramid, 41
----, Shield-pyramid, how change registers, 97
----, Side ring-pyramid, 48
----, Summary of uses of, 49
Nasal tone, various theories, 60
Nose cavities, 59
Nostrils best adapted for breathing, 27
Nourrit and Duprez, 5
Novello, Sabilla, how tone is produced, 39
Palate, Soft, exercising, 121
----, ----, its movements, 59
Paris Conservatoire method of inspiration, 20
Pharynx, 58
Pitch, Mechanism affecting, 72
----, Rise of, strains voice, 4
Pronunciation for Singers, Ellis's, 120
Pyramids, how act in registers, 99
----, Levers of the, 36, 46
----, side view, 37
----, their shape and motion, 36, 82, 94
Register, Mechanism of thick, 94
----, Thick, described, 94
----, Thin, ", 98
Registers, Compass of the, 93
----, Teachers' Manual on, 87
----, definition, 86
----, described by Mme. Seiler, 94
----, distinguishing sex, 90
----, Evil of straining, 101
----, How ligaments act in, 86
----, how small is formed, 101
----, how upper thick formed, 95, 97
----, Images of, 84, 85
----, Laryngoscope and sub-division of, 91
----, "Mixed voice", 118
----, optional tones, 118
----, places of break, 87, 96
----, Straining of, 95
----, Three female voice, 88
----, to equalise, not expose, 116
----, Two male voice, 138
----, Upper and lower thick, 96
----, ---- ---- ---- thin, 100
----, what laryngoscope teaches, 104
Resonator changes by vowel, 70
----, effect of formation, 58
----, its parts, 9, 56
Respiration described, 13
Ribs, 11
Ring cartilage, 31, 32
Ring-shield muscles, 41, 70
Roger, the French tenor's style, 4, 6
Rossini on decline of vocal art, 2
Seiler, description of the registers, 92
----, Madame, on "wedges", 54
---- on action of vocal ligaments, 100
Shield and ring, Motion of, 34, 71
Shield cartilage, 34
Shield plates, 33, 71
Shield-pyramid muscles, 41
Singable music, 3
Singing _v._ speaking, 18
Snoring and keeping mouth open, 30
Sphincter muscle of the glottis, 44
Spirometer tests recommended, 19
Teaching, Hints on, 106
Tenors as teachers of female voice, 2
----, Short vocal life of, 1
---- sing octave lower than written, 87
Tobold, how tone is produced, 40
Tone, how produced, 56
----, loudness, 56
----, pitch, 56
----, quality, 56
----, Three ways of producing, 83
Tongue-bone, 34
----, Exercises to control, 124
Tonic Sol-fa College, Experiments, 20
Tremolo, Controlled artistic, 22
----, Involuntary, 21
---- mars fine voices, 20
----, Origin of, 21
Violin, Experiments for tone on a, 57
Vocal gymnastics, 114
Voce mista, 118
Voice-box, Attempts to see the, 74
---- compared with instruments, 8
----, differences in size, 62
----, dissecting, 7, 44, 57
----, its parts specified, 31
---- measurements, 64
---- movements, teaching of, 70, 72
----, visible movements, 69
Voice-breaking, Cause of, 63
Voice, Cause of high or low, 65
---- cultivation exercises, 110
----, female, Wrong use of, 95
Voice, period of change in youth, 63
----, quality of, exercises, 119
----, poverty of the age, 1
---- sufferers, Cure of, 24
Vowel scale, Order of the, 116
----, Use of palate in forming, 59
Wedges, Action in small register, 103
----, or cuneiform cartilages, 51, 54, 81
Whispering, Voice-box movements in, 70
When to keep the mouth shut, 29
Wilson, Erasmus, on cuneiform cartilages, 54
Windpipe described, 31, 81
Witkowski on "the wedges", 55
---- on views of specialists, 8
Women in church music, 2
Words ignored by composers, 3
INDEX TO "VOICE FAILURE."
Breathing, Evils of clavicular, 128
Breathing, Lamperti on, 129
Breathing, Wrong, 127, 128
Forcing, 128
Forcing, Acquiring top notes, 137
Intonation affected by resonance, 134
Laryngoscope, Its lessons, 137, 138
Lung capacity, 128
Pronunciation, 136
Registers, Forcing, 128, 136
Resonators, Neglect, 128, 132
Shouting, 128
Singing, Loud, 128,, 131
Stammering, 130
Symptoms of faulty voice use, 139
Throat, Inflammation of, 137
Timbre, 133
Tone, Squeezing, 132
Vowels, Shaping mouth for, 134
Vowels, Scale of nature, 135
Opinions of the Press and the Medical and the Musical Professions on the
Author's Book, Lectures, and Teaching.
SIGNOR GARCIA writes to the Author:--
DEAR SIR,--Very many thanks for the copy forwarded to me of your most
interesting work. It will prove of an inestimable advantage to students,
being, in my humble estimation, one of the clearest and most practical
treatises on the subject which contemporary literature has produced.
Accept also my sincere thanks for the description contained in your work
of the origin of the laryngoscope, and believe me, dear sir, yours most
sincerely, M. GARCIA.
THE ATHENAEUM.
Interesting, compared with those previously published, as being written
by a musician and not by a medical man. Hence we are not surprised to
find purely musical questions discussed here with great ability.
NATURE.
The object of this little book is to give singers a plain and
comprehensible view of the musical instrument on which they perform. The
author seems to have succeeded in this attempt remarkably well. He has
evidently had much practical work himself, and has especially set
himself the task of examining the action of the vocal organs during
singing by means of the laryngoscope; and his record of his own
experience in acquiring the use of that beautiful instrument is not only
interesting, but of much practical value. The last section of the book
is devoted to the teachings of the laryngoscope as to the action of the
vocal ligaments in producing voice, with especial reference to the
so-called registers. "A register consists of a series of tones which are
produced by the same mechanism," is his definition (p. 86), which is new
and complete, and he proceeds to explain the different mechanism of each
kind of register as actually observed on singers. There are some good
remarks on breathing (pp. 17-22). All information is given throughout in
clear, intelligible language, and illustrated by fourteen woodcuts....
The book may be safely recommended to all singers, and others who are
desirous of knowing how vocal tones are produced.
SATURDAY REVIEW.
On the important question of the different registers of the voice and
their proper use, Mr. Behnke practically breaks new ground. He has
carefully gone over the whole subject of the production of the voice as
far as the larynx is concerned, and worked it out anew by a long and
careful series of experiments and observations with the laryngoscope....
Mr. Behnke's book is clearly written, and the plates well drawn and
printed; while the anatomical details are made clear to the general
reader by the use of English names for the different parts.... It is a
very valuable book, and ought to be read and thought over by all who
have the training of young singers, and indeed by all musicians.
MEDICAL PRESS AND CIRCULAR.