How to Sing Part 3

The proper position of the tongue: the tip rests on the lower front teeth--mine even as low as the roots of the teeth.

The back of the tongue must stand high and free from the throat, ready for any movement. A furrow must be formed in the tongue, which is least prominent in the lowest tones, and in direct head tones may even completely disappear. As soon as the tone demands the palatal resonance, the furrow must be made prominent and kept so. In my case it can always be seen. This is one of the most important matters, upon which too much emphasis can hardly be laid. As soon as the furrow in the tongue shows itself, the tone must sound right; for then the ma.s.s of the tongue is kept away from the throat, and, since its sides are raised, it is kept out of the way of the tone.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Side of the tongue kept high.

Furrow.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Red line denotes:

Sensation in raising the soft palate for high notes.

Sensation of the form in rapid upward pa.s.sages.

Division of the breath favors the resonance of head cavities.]

It lies flattest in the lowest tones because the larynx then is in a very low position, and thus is out of its way.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Red line denotes sensation of the form in slow progression of tones.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Red line denotes sensation for the propagation form.]

Furthermore, there is the unconstrained position of the larynx, which must be maintained without pressure of the throat muscles. From it the breath must stream forth evenly and uninterruptedly, to fill the form prepared for it by the tongue and palate and supported by the throat muscles.

This support must not, however, depend in the least upon _pressure_,--for the vibrating breath must float above,--but upon the greatest elasticity. One must play with the muscles, and be able to contract and relax them at pleasure, having thus perfect mastery over them. For this incessant practice is required, increasing control of the breath through the sense of hearing and the breath pressure.

At first a very strong will power is needed to hold the muscles tense without pressure; that is, to let the tone, as it were, soar through the throat, mouth, or cavities of the head.

The stronger the improper pressure in the production of the tone, the more difficult it is to get rid of. The result is simply, in other words, a strain. The contraction of the muscles must go only so far that they can be slowly relaxed; that is, can return to their normal position _easily_. Never must the neck be swelled up, or the veins in it stand out. Every convulsive or painful feeling is wrong.

SECTION VI

THE ATTACK

To attack a tone, the breath must be directed to a focal point on the palate, which lies under the critical point for each different tone; this must be done with a certain decisiveness. There must, however, be no pressure on this place; for the overtones must be able to soar above, and sound with, the tone. The palate has to furnish, besides, the top cover against which the breath strikes, also an extremely elastic floor for the breath sounding above it against the hard palate or in the nose.

This breath, by forming the overtones, makes certain the connection with the resonance of the head cavities.

In order to bring out the color of the tone the whirling currents must vivify all the vowel sounds that enter into it, and draw them into their circles with an ever-increasing, soaring tide of sound.

The duration of the tone must be a.s.sured by the gentle but uninterrupted outpouring of the breath behind it. Its strength must be gained by the breath pressure and the focal point on the palate, by the complete utilization of the palatal resonance; without, however, injuring the resonance of the head cavities. (See plate, representing the attack.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Sensation of pitch.

Red line denotes sensation in the attack.]

SECTION VII

NASAL. NASAL SINGING

By raising the back of the tongue toward the soft palate and lowering the soft palate toward the tongue, we produce nasal sound, such as is heard in the p.r.o.nunciation of the word "hanger," for instance. The air is then expelled chiefly through the nose. The nasal sound can be much exaggerated--something that very rarely happens; it can be much neglected--something that very often happens. Certain it is that it is not nearly enough availed of. That is my own everyday experience.

We Germans have only small opportunity to make the acquaintance of the nasal sound; we know it in only a few words: "E_ng_el," "la_ng_e,"

"ma_ng_el," etc.,--always where _ng_ occurs before or after a vowel.

The French, on the contrary, always sing and speak nasally, with the pillar of the fauces raised high, and not seldom exaggerate it. On account of the rounding up of the whole soft palate, which, through the power of habit, is cultivated especially by the French to an extraordinary degree, and which affords the breath an enormous s.p.a.ce as a resonating surface to act upon, their voices often sound tremendous. The tenor Silva is a good example of this. Such voices have only the one drawback of easily becoming monotonous. At first the power of the organ astonishes us; the next time we are disappointed--the tone color remains always the same. The tone often even degenerates into a hollow quality.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Red lines denote movement of the tongue and palate for the nasal tone.]

On the other hand, voices that are not sufficiently nasal sound clear and expressionless. Madame Melba, for instance, whose voice is cultivated to favor the head tones, and sounds equally well in all its ranges, apparently lowers the pillars of the fauces too much, and has her chief resonance in the head cavities; she cannot draw upon the palatal resonance for single accents of expression. Consequently she loses in vocal color. This procedure, as soon as it becomes a habit, results in monotony.

In the first case somewhat less, in the second somewhat more, nasal resonance would help to a greater variety of effect.

There are singers, too, who pursue the middle path with consummate art. Thus Madame Sembrich, in recent years, appears to have devoted very special study to nasal tones, whereby her voice, especially in the middle register, has gained greatly in warmth.

To fix the pupil's attention on the nasal tone and the elasticity of the palate, he should often be given exercises with French words.

SECTION VIII

SINGING TOWARD THE NOSE. HEAD VOICE

When the peak of the softest part of the palate is placed forward toward the nose, instead of being drawn up high behind the nose, as in the head voice (see plate, head voice and nasal tone), it forms a kind of nasal production which, as I have already said, cannot be studied enough, because it produces very n.o.ble tonal effects and extraordinary connections. It ought always to be employed. By it is effected the connection of tones with each other, from the front teeth back to a point under the nose; from the lower middle tones to the head tones.

In truth, all the benefit of tonal connection depends upon this portion of the soft palate; that is, upon its conscious employment.

This is all that singers mean when they speak of "nasal singing"--really only singing toward the nose. The soft palate placed toward the nose offers a resonating surface for the tone.

The reason why teachers tell their pupils so little of this is that many singers are quite ignorant of what nasal singing means, and are tormented by the idea of "singing toward the nose," when by chance they hear something about it. They generally regard the voice as one complete organ acting by itself, which is once for all what it is.

What can be made of it through knowledge of the functions of all the cooperating organs they know nothing of.

Blind voices are often caused by the exaggerated practice of closing off the throat too tightly from the head cavities; that is, drawing the pillars of the fauces too far toward the wall of the throat. The large resonating chamber thus formed yields tones that are powerful close at hand, but they do not carry, because they are poor in overtones. The mistake consists in the practice of stretching the pillars too widely in the higher vocal ranges, also. In proportion as the pillars are extended, the breath spreads over the entire palate, instead of being concentrated on only one point of it, and bringing at the same time the resonance of the head cavities into play. The soft palate must first be drawn up to, then behind, the nose, and the attack of the higher tones be transferred thither. The pillars of the fauces must necessarily be relaxed by this action of the soft palate.

Thereby breath is introduced into the cavities of the head to form the overtones, which contribute brilliancy and freshness to the voice.

Many singers persist in the bad habit here described, as long as nature can endure it; in the course of time, however, even with the most powerful physiques, they will begin to sing noticeably flat; with less powerful, the fatal tremolo will make its appearance, which results in the ruin of so many singers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Red lines denote vocal sensations of soprano and tenor singers.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: The singer's nasal tone.