Voice production in singing and speaking, based on scientific principlesMills, Wesley
Philosophy
Voice production in singing and speaking, based on scientific principles
Mills, Wesley
Singing; Voice culture
Holding these views, not only can the author not agree with those who
believe that the change in a register occurs in different persons of
the same voice (_e.g._, soprano) at appreciably different levels in
the scale, and even varies naturally from day to day, but he holds
that to believe this in theory and embody it in practice is to pursue
a course not only detrimental to the best artistic results, but
contrary to the plain teachings of physiology in general and that of
the vocal organs in particular.
The change in a register should be placed _low_ enough in the scale to
suit all of the same sex. _It is safe to carry a higher register down,
but it is always risky, and may be injurious to the throat, to carry a
lower up beyond a certain point._ The latter leads not only to a
limitation of resources in tone coloring, but also to straining, to
which we have before alluded. Though this process may not be at once
obviously injurious, it _invariably_ becomes so as time passes, and no
vocalist who hopes to sing much and to last can ignore registers, much
less make the change at a point to any appreciable extent removed from
those that scientific investigation and equally sound practice teach
us are the correct ones at which to make the changes.
Why is it that some artists of world-wide reputation sing as well
to-day as twenty years ago, while others have broken down or have
become hopelessly defective in their vocal results in a few years?
There is but one answer in a large proportion of these cases: correct
methods in the former and wrong methods in the latter class of
singers--and "correct" in no small degree refers to a strict
observance of registers.
The author has known a professional soprano to sing every tone in the
trying "Hear, O Israel" (_Elijah_) in the chest register. How can such
a singer hope to retain either voice or a sound throat? But so long as
audiences will applaud exhibitions of mere lung-power and brute force
the teachings of physiology and healthy art will be violated. But,
surely, all artists themselves and all enlightened teachers should
unite in condemning such violations of Nature's plain teachings!
The question of the registers is generally considered now a somewhat
simpler one for males than for females. Basses and barytones sing in
the chest register only; tenors are usually taught to sing in the
chest register; but few teachers believe that the high falsetto is
worth the expenditure of the time and energy necessary to attain
facility in its use.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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