The question, "How is it done?" as applied to the art of singing brings
up so many different points that it is difficult to know where to begin
or how to give the layman in any kind of limited space a concise idea of
the principles controlling the production of the voice and their
application to vocal art.
Every singer or singing master is popularly supposed to have a method by
following out which he has come to fame. Yet if asked to describe this
method many an artist would be at a loss to do so, or else deny that he
had any specific method at all, such a subtle and peculiarly individual
matter it is that constitutes the technical part of singing. Most
singers--in fact, all of them--do many things in singing habitually, yet
so inconspicuously that they could not describe how or why they did
them. Yet this little set of "artistic" habits all arise from most
logical causes and have become habits from their fitness to the
personality of their owner and their special value in enabling that
singer to do his best work by their aid. For instance, a singer will
know from trials and experience just the proper position of the tongue
and larynx to produce most effectively a certain note on the scale, yet
he will have come by this knowledge not by theory and reasoning, but
simply oft repeated attempts, and the knowledge he has come by will be
valuable to him only, for somebody else would produce the same note
equally well, but in quite a different way.
So one may see that there are actually as many methods as there are
singers, and any particular method, even if accurately set forth, might
be useless to the person who tried it. This is what I really would reply
to anyone putting this question to me--that my own particular way of
singing, if I have any, is, after all, peculiarly suited to me only, as
I have above described.
However, there are many interesting and valuable things to be said about
the voice in a general way.
Speaking first of the classification of voices, many young singers are
put much in doubt and dilemma because they are unable to determine what
sort of voice they really possess, whether soprano, mezzo or contralto.
Of course, it is easy enough to distinguish between the extremes of
these, between a "real" tenor and a low bass, but the difference between
a high baritone and tenor is rather more difficult to discern, and a
young man studying has often been at great disadvantage by imagining,
for instance, that he had a tenor voice and trying constantly to sing
music too high for him, since he in reality had only a high baritone.
In the course of development a voice very often increases its range and
changes its quality sufficiently to pass from a baritone to a tenor, and
it is sometimes a problem to place it during the transition process.
Perhaps the surest way to determine the real character of a voice is to
see on what notes words can be most easily pronounced. For the average
tenor the notes up to A above middle C, for the baritone, D above middle
C, and for the bass up to middle C itself, can be pronounced on the
best.
One should never try to change the tessitura, or natural character of
the voice. A voice will become higher just when it should by the
development due to rational work and never by forcing it. Nothing is
easier than to force a voice upward or downward, but to cause it to
"recede," as it were, in either direction, is another matter. A
baritone who tries to increase his upper range by main strength will
surely in time lose his best lower notes, and a light tenor who attempts
to force out notes lower than his range will never be able to sing
legitimate tenor rôles, and after two or three years may not be able to
sing at all.
It may be well to speak now of a very important point in singing--what
is called the "attack" of the tone. In general this may be described as
the relative position of the throat and tongue and the quality of voice
as the tone is begun. The most serious fault of many singers is that
they attack the tone either from the chest or the throat. Even with
robust health the finest voice cannot resist this. This is the reason
one sees so many artists who have made a brilliant debut disappear from
sight very soon or wind up later on a mediocre career. Singers who use
their voices properly should be at the height of their talents at
forty-five and keep their voices in full strength and virility up to at
least fifty. At this latter age, or close after it, it would seem well
to have earned the right to close one's career.
A great artist ought to have the dignity to say farewell to his public
when still in full possession of his powers and never let the world
apprise him of his falling off.
To have the attack true and pure one must consciously try to open the
throat not only in front, but from behind, for the throat is the door
through which the voice must pass, and if it is not sufficiently open it
is useless to attempt to get out a full, round one; also the throat is
the outlet and inlet for the breath, and if it is closed the voice will
seek other channels or return quenched within.
It must not be imagined that to open the mouth wide will do the same
for the throat. If one is well versed in the art, one can open the
throat perfectly without a perceptible opening of the mouth, merely by
the power of respiration.
It is necessary to open the sides of the mouth, at the same time
dropping the chin well, to obtain good throat opening. In taking higher
notes, of course, one must open the mouth a little wider, but for the
most part the position of the mouth is that assumed when smiling. It is
a good idea to practice opening the throat before a mirror and try to
see the palate, as when you show your throat to a doctor.
In pronouncing the sound "ah" one must always attack it in the back part
of the throat, taking care, however, before uttering the syllable, to
have the throat well open; otherwise what is called "stroke of the
glottis" occurs and the tone formed is hard and disagreeable. If you
ever hear this stroke of glottis on the attack, you may know that the
singer did not attack far enough back in the throat.
The tone once launched, one must think how it may be properly sustained,
and this is where the art of breathing is most concerned. The lungs, in
the first place, should be thoroughly filled. A tone begun with only
half filled lungs loses half its authority and is very apt to be false
in pitch. To take a full breath properly, the chest must be raised at
the same moment the abdomen sinks in. Then with the gradual expulsion of
the breath a contrary movement takes place. The diaphragm and elastic
tissue surrounding and containing the stomach and vital organs and the
muscles surrounding, by practice acquire great strength and assist
considerably in this process of respiration and are vital factors in
the matter of controlling the supply which supports the tone. The
diaphragm is really like a pair of bellows and serves exactly the same
purpose. It is this ability to take in an adequate supply of breath and
to retain it until required that makes or, by contrary, mars all
singing. A singer with a perfect sense of pitch and all the good
intentions possible will often sing off the key and bring forth a tone
with no vitality to it, distressing to hear, simply for lack of breath
control.
This art of respiration once acquired, the student has gone a
considerable step on the road to Parnassus.
To practice deep breathing effectively it is an excellent plan to
breathe through the nose, which aids in keeping the confined breath from
escaping too soon. The nose also warms and filters the air, making it
much more agreeable to the lungs than if taken directly through the
mouth. In the practice of slow breathing make sure that the lungs are as
nearly emptied as possible on the expulsion of the breath before
beginning a new inspiration, as this gives extra impetus to the fresh
supply of air and strengthens all the breathing muscles.
If this is not done, moreover, the effect is like two people trying to
get in and out of the same narrow door at the same time.
The voice is naturally divided into three registers--the chest, medium
and head. In a man's voice of lower quality this last is known as
"falsetto," but in the case of a tenor he may use a tone which in sound
is almost falsetto, but is really a mezza voce, or half voice. This
latter legitimately belongs to a man's compass; a falsetto does not. The
most important register is the medium, particularly of tenors, for this
includes the greater part of the tenor's voice and can be utilized even
to the top of his range if rightly produced.
In the matter of taking high notes one should remember that their purity
and ease of production depend very much on the way the preceding notes
leading up to them are sung. Beginning in the lower register and
attacking the ascending notes well back, a balance must be maintained
all the way up, so that the highest note receives the benefit and
support of the original position of the throat, and there is no danger,
consequently, of the throat closing and pinching the quality of the top
notes.
Singers, especially tenors, are very apt to throw the head forward in
producing the high notes, and consequently get that throaty, strained
voice which is so disagreeable. To avoid this one should try to keep the
supply of breath down as far toward the abdomen as possible, thus
maintaining the upper passages to the head quite free for the emission
of the voice. Remember also to sing within yourself, as it were--to feel
the tones all through your being; otherwise your singing will possess no
sentiment, emotion or authority. It is the failure to accomplish this
which has produced so many soulless artists--singers endowed with
magnificent voices, capable of surmounting every technical difficulty,
but devoid of that charm of intonation which is so vital to success on
the operatic stage.