Advice to Singers Part 4

Remember that the voice is of all instruments the most difficult one to study, and to bring perfectly under control, especially for the first year or two. Do not attempt to cultivate it with the view to professional remuneration, unless you can set apart at least two hours daily for most careful study, and can also afford to wait at least eight or ten years for any _substantial_ pecuniary reward for your labours.

=Individuality.=--It is of great importance to bear in mind that no two voices are exactly alike. To some singers is given quality of voice, to others quant.i.ty. And for each alike, steady, well-aimed, and well-ordered practice is indispensable. But, whatever you sing ought, like your voice, to have some touch of individuality: the song should seem to come naturally from you, and to be the spontaneous expression of your thoughts. At the same time you must not lose sight of the all-important guide which you have in the composer's intentions and wishes. Remember that a small and delicate voice may be made to go as far as, if not farther than, a voice of large volume and long compa.s.s.

By judicious management, by touching expression of the softer feelings, by careful selection of music to be performed, the obstacles which are placed in a singer's way by want of power may be effectually removed, because the audience will irresistibly feel the influence of the singer's individuality. The difficulties of the singer who has the gift of quant.i.ty rather than quality of voice, are in some respects greater, because the necessity for thus impressing on his audience a sense of his own individuality is not so strongly forced on him by circ.u.mstances. Not only has he to labour to attain a good quality of tone, but he must also resist the temptation to fancy that "might is right," and that the "sensation" caused by a powerful voice is all that he need aim at. And here let me say, the way to get quality is to listen as often as possible to some leading singer of your own kind of voice. Try and imitate his tone; but above all practise with a medium tone--a _mezzo-voce_--listen for the beauty in your tone, and think of what you are doing when practising.

=Perseverance.=--The surest means of improving and strengthening the voice is by constantly exercising and practising it. Just as the muscles and fibres of the legs of a pedestrian are increased and made capable of great exertion by careful training, so is it with the nerves and muscles of the throat. With judicious training, the compa.s.s of the voice is extended, its quality is improved, its tones grow rounder and firmer; and, if the master is a good one, and the pupil is willing to study patiently for some time, never resting content, but always aiming at further progress as year succeeds year, he may not unreasonably hope to attain a well-earned place in his profession, and its attendant reward.

=Facial Expression.=--A looking-gla.s.s should form a part of the furniture of a singing student's study, for it is most important to watch the face--its features and expressions--when singing; and it is none the less useful for insuring the constant right position of the mouth. In respect to the facial expression when singing, there is a very great tendency to look too serious, too severe, and too hard when earnestly studying. Now, a cheerful and good-humoured expression does not necessarily imply carelessness, and it is far more agreeable to the audience than an anxious and troubled look. Some people look quite savage when singing; and when rendering pa.s.sages of love and tenderness, their features are far more indicative of rage, revenge, and murder!

And this very common fault is generally quite an unconscious habit. It is only to be remedied by constant care, and to this end practice before a looking-gla.s.s will be found very helpful.

=Position of the Body.=--How to stand when singing has been explained by a great number of writers on the subject, and most of the explanations given have been chiefly remarkable as being entirely erroneous and false. The body should not be kept in a perfectly upright position, as it is (too popularly) believed that it should. The best position is when the body is well collected, with its chief weight upon the right leg and foot, with the head gently leaning forward, and the arms and, indeed, the whole carriage disposed in that manner which would indicate to the audience a sort of desire on your part to _persuade_ them and bring them over to your feelings and sentiments. When the right leg begins to tire with the weight of the body, the left leg can take its duty, when the right may be gracefully drawn back as in dancing. The best lesson on this subject, however, can be gleaned by carefully watching the _pose_ of a good Italian singer during singing.

=Self-Accompaniment.=--A sitting position is a very bad one in which to practise. All singing should be done in a standing position, and the student is strongly urged to adhere to this rule. Instead of sitting at the pianoforte, and accompanying an exercise or "solfeggio," it is far better to sound the first note of each pa.s.sage therein, and master the same without any accompaniment. The advantages of this mode of practising must be obvious; but one of the most important is, that the attention is not divided between the pianoforte and the voice, while it leaves the singer free to give all his attention and care to the _production_ of the notes which he is endeavouring to sing artistically.

=Position of the Arms.=--I would urge upon the student to hold a piece of music in his hands while he practises. There is a place for the hands when singing in public; but this place is neither the trouser-pockets, nor on the hips, nor behind the back, nor across the chest, but rather that position which is secured by _leisurely_ holding the music-sheet, not as if actually singing therefrom, but as though it were merely intended for reference, if required. This easy att.i.tude not only gives the hands and arms their legitimate position, but also lends a grace and freedom to other parts of the body, all which points must be attended to in singing. Remember to keep the arms well away from the body. Some singers stick the elbows into the waist, as though to give support; instead of doing which, they hinder the free action of the lungs, besides giving an awkward look to the whole figure.

=Position of the Hands.=--Do not let your hands hang down, but keep them well before you, in some position which allows of your turning the palms uppermost. In this way you (as it were) lock the joints of the shoulders, and put a check on the tendency to raise the shoulders, which is an invariable consequence of taking breath wrongly. Keep your shoulders well back, your elbows depressed, and your hands with the palms uppermost, and you will find it difficult, if not impossible, to indulge in the vice of heaving the chest and shoulders up and down, like the piston of a steam-engine!

=Position of the Throat.=--One of the first conditions of singing well is to keep the throat open. To have the throat in its proper position the tongue must be kept down, and hollowed like the bowl of a spoon, its root being well depressed. Nor must the throat ever be allowed to screw itself up small, a common failing of many singers whenever they approach a high note. Most of my readers have yawned once or twice in their lives: if they will do it once more, in front of their looking-gla.s.s, and watch the inside of the mouth as they yawn, they will see and feel the exact position in which the throat should be during good singing. It will be useful to repeat this proceeding until the mind is thoroughly impressed and the memory familiarized with the feeling of the mouth and throat in this, the correct position for singing.

=Position of the Throat, &c., in Soft Singing.=--When singing softly, or _piano_, as it is called, take great pains to keep your throat as open as you would for singing loudly, leaving it entirely to the mouth and lips to keep the tone soft, yet steady and firm. Do not forget, too, that in soft singing it is a great advantage to keep the mouth in a smiling position.

=Position of the Tongue.=--The tongue, while being so useful, is nevertheless a very unruly member in singing. It has so great a tendency to get out of its place. Its legitimate office is to rest quite flat, or even hollow, in the bottom of the mouth, with its root well down, as this keeps the throat-pa.s.sage clear, and with the tip of it just touching the lower teeth. Get a looking-gla.s.s, and continually watch the position of the tongue. Never allow it to roll up or turn about when singing, or the effect produced will be scarcely worth repeating. The tongue should occupy the least possible s.p.a.ce in the mouth, and this is the case when the directions here given are carried out.

=Position of the Larynx.=--The larynx, or upper part of the wind-pipe, plays a most important part in singing. Upon it depends all the beauty, and quality, and richness of the voice. The singer will do well to constantly think about the larynx, to watch it, to feel that it is well down below the mouth before commencing the first note of a song, which note must, under such circ.u.mstances, be rich, round, and penetrating.

Then the larynx must never be allowed to rise above this fixed point. It may be deepened, and must be, for the higher notes, but it must never ascend, or nearly approach the roof of the mouth, or the sound-pa.s.sage is closed, and the sounds become at once impure, vitiated, and without body or foundation.

Try and guard against the bad habit of pushing forward the chin when singing, otherwise the tone cannot fail to be faulty. The chin should be well down on the chest, and the larynx quite low, to lead to an easy and pure production of tone. To be constantly moving both the jaws for every note, continually displaces the larynx, impairs the purity of the tone, spoils the articulation of the words, and, what is worse than all, produces a hideous expression of the features, which latter fault would alone be sufficient to prejudice seriously the chances of any singing artists. The lower parts of the jaws, not the upper ones, should do the work; and when a high pa.s.sage or note is before the singer, the lower parts of the jaws should be exercised to drop as the notes increase in height. The singer's face should be controlled, if no other member can be so regulated.

=Singing in the Head.=--There is, in all beginners, a tendency to sing too much in the head, that is, to have the foundation of the tones too high up in the throat. This fault is due to the difficulty experienced by beginners in keeping the larynx sufficiently below the mouth. The fulness of tone, the rich, round, and mellow quality which is so much admired in all good singers, is almost entirely owing to the voice being pitched low down, and not high up in the throat, towards the back of the head (as it _appears_ to be).

A few trials of this will soon convince the student of the vast difference in the character and _timbre_ of the tones of these two ways, and also of the economy of the plan here recommended, so far as regards the wear and tear of the voice in practice.

=Throatiness.=--Throatiness, or singing in the throat, is the common enemy of all English singers. Our language is the chief cause of this disagreeable habit, which we begin to acquire as soon as we learn to talk. Still, by diligence, the evil can be cured, and no better plan can be followed than to constantly practise singing the vowel-sounds Ah, A, E, O, throughout the compa.s.s of the voice, taking every possible care--and this is the point--never to allow the _tone_ to vary, nor to leave the teeth, and not to screw up the throat, especially in high notes. It is impossible to produce a "throaty" quality of voice if the throat is well open, and the tone is firmly directed, and kept on the upper teeth and front of the mouth. On the other hand, if the student screws up the throat, rolls the tongue, or practises singing without being constantly on the look-out for the "voice on the teeth," the result must be a "throatiness," which is most disagreeable to all people who have any real knowledge of what singing should be.

=Clearing the Throat.=--Singers, good and bad, are often troubled with an apparent stoppage in the throat, and this inconvenience seems to be at its worst just at that moment when they wish to sing. To displace or to cure this stoppage, they begin hacking and coughing ("clearing the throat" as it is called), which proceeding, however, only makes bad worse for the time being, and finally grows into a habit, till at last such people cannot venture to open their mouths without first subjecting the throat to a series of these irritating "hacks." A good master will soon cure this complaint by refusing to continue the lesson whenever the pupil gives way to the bad habit. It is in many cases simply a nervous trick, and if the singer will accustom himself to _swallow_ instead of coughing, whenever he feels the sensation of which we are speaking, he will soon get rid of it. If it results in any case from real weakness of the throat, it may be beneficial to gargle three or four times a day with moderately strong salt and water, especially before singing. This does no harm to the voice, and by bracing and strengthening the muscles of the throat renders them more obedient to the singer's will.

=High Notes.=--Many people find great difficulty in counting, with any degree of certainty, upon the top notes of their register. I know of no greater a.s.sistance towards bringing these out than that of well contracting the mouth and lips at the beginning of the pa.s.sage in which these high notes occur, dropping the lower jaws, and securing a good play of the mouth as the highest note is reached, at the same time keeping the throat as open as possible, ejecting the sound to the audience with as much "lip-force" as can be secured, being careful that the tone is safe "on the teeth" before the note is "opened."

=The Scale.=--There can be no doubt whatever that the grand groundwork of all singing is the diatonic scale. On it is built all the graceful forms and figures which belong to the great artist. Yet how few seem to know and to appreciate this fact! To excel, the diatonic scale must be practised most seriously and a.s.siduously in its plain and simple form; nor must it be left until the student can sing every note therein purely, without wavering or flutter, and with precision, in the soft, medium, and loud voices.

=Forte, Mezzo-Voce, and Piano.=--The singer will derive much advantage by bearing in mind that the voice has three main gradations which the Italians cla.s.s as the _forte_, the _mezzo di voce_, and the _piano_. The management of these three is of vital importance, and the singer should certainly practise the scales in all three voices, and have each at command for every exercise and pa.s.sage which he studies.

=Tone.=--The tone of the voice must never be vitiated or rendered impure from any cause whatever. There is always a danger of this in pa.s.sages of great energy and pa.s.sion, but it should be remembered that whatever be the effect aimed at, it cannot be attained by any means which involves a change in the tone of the voice. The first and chief consideration must always be to produce a good tone in the right manner. If the tone be not good, the singing cannot be agreeable; and if it be not produced in the right manner, you have no security that it will be equally good throughout the voice, or in pa.s.sages of all kinds.

=Chest, Falsetto, and Head Voice.=--I have already said that there is a good deal of confusion existing as to the use of the terms "chest,"

"falsetto," and "head voice." And this is scarcely to be wondered at, seeing that n.o.body has yet decided _how_ the three qualities of sound are produced, while everybody knows that the names are so far misleading, in that no sound whatever is really made in the _chest_ or in the _head_, but that all are due to the pa.s.sage of air through the larynx, in which are placed the vocal cords upon which the air plays.

The changes of sound which are spoken of as "chest," "falsetto," and "head" voices are due to changes in the position of the larynx and its surroundings, and in the action of the vocal cords. What those changes are, and how or why they cause the results which we hear, has yet to be discovered: there are several theories, but no one has yet ventured to claim the certainty of truth for any one of them. There is an excellent article on "The Larynx" in Stainer and Barrett's "Dictionary of Musical Terms," to which I would refer those who wish to understand these various theories. For my present purpose it is sufficient to point out that each of the names is an utter misnomer. The "chest" voice is probably so called because the vibrations of the notes in that register may be distinctly felt in the chest; and because the breath pa.s.ses directly from the chest, as it seems, without any opposition in the throat, producing the sound on its way. The "falsetto," or range of notes above the chest, is so called (and rightly so) because in that register of voice the tone _feigns_, or imitates, the tone of the "chest" notes below, although it is certain that the sounds are not produced in the same way, for the position of the vocal cords and their attendant parts is different, and changes suddenly on the pa.s.sage of the voice from the chest to the upper register. A falsetto, rightly trained and used, is one, therefore, which is true to its name, and so well imitates the "chest," that the hearer cannot distinguish the "false"

from the real "chest tone." The "head voice," which many people persist in confusing with the falsetto, is so called because to the singer it feels as though the notes so produced came from the head. This is due to the larynx itself rising up in the throat and approaching the back of the head. It comprises, in reality, _all_ that part of the voice which lies above the "chest" register, all the lower part of it being shared by the "falsetto," exactly as the falsetto shares the greater part of the chest register. The falsetto, therefore, belongs to both, and its use is to carry, by its power of imitation, the tone of the lower or chest register into the upper or head register, so combining them that no audible change of quality, or "break," is perceptible.

=Scale Practice.=--It cannot be too strongly impressed upon, or too frequently pointed out to, the singer (no matter what may be the stage of his or her artistic development) how desirable and advantageous it is to be constantly singing exercises and solfeggi in preference to songs.

It is a popular fallacy, especially among amateurs, that the practice of scales and intervals should be left behind as soon as possible. Pray do not be mistaken. The never-failing daily practice of singing open chords in solfeggi, scales, and exercises, is fraught with advantages which cannot be gained by the study of yards, or even miles, of song tunes. As an instance of how much may be done in the study of scale practice, the writer would point out that this particular exercise should not be left until the student can sing the diatonic scales throughout the whole extent of the voice in one unbroken breath, and with one quality, character, and volume of voice. When this point has been reached, its peculiar efficacy will be so apparent as not to require any recommendation or advice for its daily continuance.

=First Exercises.=--This is a book of advice, not of exercises, nor do I profess to teach you, but only to point out to you, how you must prepare to be taught. I cannot too often repeat that no book by itself can teach you singing, and my object is not to supersede a master, but to induce you to place yourself under a good one. However, it may happen that circ.u.mstances of time, place, or pocket prevent your doing so as soon as you would wish, and it is far better even to learn from a book what you can in the way of rules and exercises, than to go on singing by the light of nature, or under a cheap and inefficient master, or working at exercises too advanced for a beginner (which is as bad as not working at any at all). I therefore give here a few simple but most important exercises, which you may work at until you are able to place yourself under the care of a good master. Bear in mind, first, all that has already been said here about taking your breath, the position of standing, the form of your mouth, and place of throat, tongue, teeth, &c., and study the following exercises daily say to the extent of thirty minutes three times a day, with full attention to all the above points:

[Music: C major scale, beginning at C4, in semibreves]

Sing this fully and firmly. It should be begun and ended with the same quality and "thickness" of sound, as suggested by the even line over each note. You should be able to hold each note out in one breath for twenty seconds without the slightest alteration being perceptible in the tone, any more than there would be if it was a note proceeding from an organ-pipe. Practise it on each of the following sounds consecutively: "A" in "Bard," "A" in "Fate," "E" in "Steel," "I" in "Life," "O" in "Pole," "U" in "Rule," prefixing each sound by L, and so singing Lah, Lay, Lee, Li, Lo, Loo. In singing this first exercise, which for ba.s.ses and barytones will be, of course, an octave lower, be careful not to force the lower notes, and do not seek to get a powerful tone thereupon.

The tone does not need to be full and heavy on these notes, but rather should be a WELL-PRODUCED, light, and thin quality of note. The way to proceed is: (1) To inspire the breath from the bottom of the lungs as it were--not raising the shoulders. (2) Steady the breath for a second or so in the chest while you THINK the note you are about to sing, and while you prepare your throat and mouth for singing by lowering the larynx and opening the throat. (3) Then begin to sound the note--not from the back of the mouth, but from the tip of the tongue and the front teeth--thus taking the whole of the tone out of the mouth, which is what is required to be done. Sustain the note till you have only a little breath left--then finish off in a clean manner, and allow the remaining breath to leave the lungs and body in an orderly way.--Repeat the same operation for _every_ note, and if you desire to make progress, give a minute's attention of this kind to every single note.

[Music: 2--Broken C major triad in semibreves beginning and ending on C4, then raising a semitone to continue the pattern.]

and so on, rising by semitones until you come to this:

[Music: Broken G major triad in semibreves beginning and ending on G4.]

which is certainly the highest that you ought to attempt at present.

Exercise No. 2 is a first step towards joining notes, and is another difficulty in the matter of _production_. The object to be aimed at is to sing the two notes which are bound (or tied) together with the same breath, and the same body and quality of tone. To step from C to E, the first movement in the exercise is to raise the voice a major third; but the student must pa.s.s from his mind any notion of raising the throat in order to sound the higher third. As the note E is higher than the C, the tone of the former must be generated lower in the chest than had been the case with the C. The higher the note to be sung, the lower must be its generating-point in the chest. This is the only way to OPEN the voice, and I need scarcely say that it produces an entirely different tone and method than are secured by the common habit of s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g and tightening the throat, in proportion as the notes ascend in pitch.

Another good exercise which may be combined with the last-given is the following:

[Music: 3--Broken C Major Triad in semibreve beginning and ending on C4, followed by a broken F Major Triad in semibreves beginning and ending on C4. Broken G minor triad in semibreves beginning and ending on C4, followed by a broken A minor triad in semibreves beginning and ending on C4.]

This exercise (3) must be sung in the same manner as indicated with No.

2, care being taken as each note gets higher to pa.s.s _under_ the preceding note, and not as it were to generate a high note over a lower one.

After which you may take this: