SOME GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
THE NATURAL VOICE
Pupils are constantly urged to sing and speak naturally, because the
"natural" tone is correct. This is exceedingly indefinite. It is
natural for a child to imitate the first sound it hears, whether it be
correct or incorrect. In either case the child imitates it, and for
that child it becomes the natural tone. The child reared in the
wilderness, beyond the hearing of a human voice, will imitate the
notes of the whip-poor-will, the chatter of the monkey, and the hoot
of the owl, and for him they are natural tones.
To be natural is the hardest lesson to learn and it is only the result
of imitation or prolonged discipline. Untrained naturalness is the
perfection of awkwardness. The involuntary functions of organic life
are the only ones naturally performed correctly. Nature's method of
breathing, circulation, and digestion can be depended upon until
disarranged by subsequent conditions, but unless proper vocalization
is established by imitation and discipline this function is sure to be
corrupted by false examples.
AGE TO BEGIN
After the child begins to talk, the sooner his vocal education begins
the better. Even at that early age he can be made to understand the
merits of head vibrations and by simple exercises produce them, and
once taught will never forget them. Vocalizing, like every other art,
is most easily learned by imitation, and the advantage of the early
years, when that faculty is most active, should not be lost. In olden
times the importance of this was fully realized. More than three
centuries ago, old Roger Ascham wrote: "All languages, both learned
and mother tongues, are begotten and gotten solely by imitation. For
as ye used to hear so ye learn to speak. If ye hear no other, ye speak
not yourself; and of whom ye only hear, of them ye only learn."
Nineteen centuries ago Quintillian wrote: "Before all let the nurses
speak properly. The boy will hear them first and will try to shape his
words by imitating them."
If the right way of using the voice is early taught it will be a guard
against the contraction of bad habits which can only be corrected
later with infinite trouble. It certainly would be unwise to put a
young child under continued training; but even in the kindergarten the
right method of voice production can and should be taught. Teachers of
kindergarten and primary schools should be familiar with the
principles of voice training and be able to start the pupils at once
on the right road.
IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The sooner this branch of education is made a part of the curriculum
of our common schools, the sooner shall we produce a race of good
speakers and singers.
If, during the pupil's school life, proper attention is paid to these
primary principles and to _correct articulation_, a large majority of
students will graduate from our common schools prepared to advance in
the art of elocution or of singing without being obliged first to
unlearn a vast amount of error and to correct a long list of bad
habits.
If each day in the public schools a few minutes only are devoted to
the subject by a teacher who understands it and who will call the
attention of the pupils to the proper applications of the principles
in their daily recitations, it will be found amply sufficient to
develop and establish a good speaking and singing voice.
ARTISTRY
If artistry is to be attained, every organ must be individually well
trained. Yet, during performance, no one part should be given undue
prominence. The voice should be the product of all the organs equally
well developed. Continued practice will enable the performer to
correlate the whole--blend the strength of all in one.
It goes without saying that no one in singing or speaking should
appear to be governed by a "method." During the early stages of
education, pupils should be amenable to rules and methods, but they
must not expect to be acceptable performers until able to forget their
lessons and simply and unconsciously make use of all the advantages of
their training. Even when the education is finished, and the _prima
donna_ has made her successful debut, continued daily repetition of
primary exercises is necessary to maintain excellence and insure the
progress that every performer desires. Our best singers to-day are as
diligent students of the technique of the voice as are the tyros
struggling with the first elements.
LIFE'S PERIODS
Human life is divided into three periods: _first_, that of effort to
get an education; _second_, of effort to maintain it; and _third_, of
effort to resist the natural decline which comes with advancing years.
The singer and speaker must drill to develop the voice, must drill to
keep it in condition, and must drill to resist the encroachments of
senility. Eternal vigilance is the price of vocal success.
APPLICATION OF ESSENTIALS
The application of the principles here discussed will show that a
musical voice is not the product of mysterious systems, but a matter
of scientific certainty. The essentials are good breathing, good
focusing, good resonance, and good articulation. These four elements
are so interdependent that one cannot be perfected without the other.
With these attained, the intellect, the sentiment, and the emotion of
the performer will culminate in artistic excellence.
REPOSE AS A PREPARATION FOR VOCAL EXERCISE
The nervousness or fear which manifests itself in constraint and
rigidity of the muscles and sometimes in stage fright is a serious
hindrance to progress. The effectual offset to this painful condition
is repose.
The art of inducing a condition of repose can be readily acquired by
any one who will carefully and faithfully do as follows: Place
yourself in an easy lying or lounging position in a quiet place, with
fresh air. Physical repose prepares for and invites mental repose. Now
allow the mind to work care free at its own sweet will without any
attempt to control it. Close the eyes and _breathe slowly, gently, and
deeply, with steady rhythm_. In two or three minutes a sensation of
quiet restful repose will be experienced, which may be continued for
several minutes or may even lead to a natural sound sleep.
This result may not be attained at the first or the second trial, but
a few repetitions of the exercise will insure success in almost every
case. After the art is attained in this formal way, ability to induce
the same repose when sitting upright, or while standing, will be
quickly developed.
This repose is the fitting preparation for a lesson or a performance
and may be induced during the progress of either, to allay any
trepidation incident to the situation. A mastery of this simple art
will make progress in the work of voice development much more rapid,
and make attainable a degree of discipline that is impossible without
it. It will prove for the beginner a sure prevention of stage fright
and a great relief to the most chronic sufferer from this malady.
THE VIBRATO
The _vibrato_ is a rhythmic pulsation of the voice. It often appears
in untrained voices; in others it appears during the process of
cultivation. Some have thought it the perfection of sympathetic
quality; others esteem it a fault.
The vibrato is caused by an undulating variation of pitch or power,
often both. The voice does not hold steadily and strictly to the
pitch, and according to the amount of the variation a corresponding
vibrato, or tremolo, is produced.
The action of stringed instruments illustrates this statement. The
finger of the violinist vibrates on the string by rocking rapidly back
and forth and the vibrato is the result.
The same is true of the human instrument. By variation of the tension,
the vocal apparatus sends forth several tones in alternation, of a
slightly different pitch, which together produce the effect.
Three sources are ascribed for the vibrato; one is a rapid, spasmodic
vibration of the diaphragm, causing variation of breath pressure;
another is the alternate tension and relaxation of the larynx and
vocal cords; a third is that commonest of faults--throat stiffness.
Either cause is possible, and variation in the pitch or intensity of
the tone is the result. Sufficient investigations have not been made
to make the matter certain, but tremolo, trembling of the vocal
organs, and muscular stiffness, or unnatural tension, seem to go
together.
It is quite possible in the early stages of culture so to train the
voice as to use the vibrato or not at will, but if not early
controlled this, like other bad habits, gains the mastery. Excessive
vibrato has spoiled many good voices. It is not a fundamental quality
of the voice. A little vibrato may occasionally be desirable when
properly and skilfully used; more than this is to be shunned as a
dangerous vice.