The Mechanism of the Human Voice Part 9

The large and ever increasing number of professional voice users of all cla.s.ses and of all grades who break down in voice is matter for serious and earnest consideration. Innumerable students of singing of both s.e.xes, in England and abroad, suffer shipwreck of their hopes and ambitions in the loss of their voices during the process of training, long before the period arrives for professional and public voice use. In some of these cases general delicacy of const.i.tution has been the princ.i.p.al factor in the failure; in others weakness of throat or lungs may have been a cause. But after making ample allowance for such physical contributories, we are still face to face with the fact that voice failure, accompanied by throat ailments, more or less serious, occurs with startling frequency, and no other reason is a.s.signed for it than the irresponsible, indefinite one that the voice broke down under training. Of the infinitesimal number of successful students--that is to say, of those who, having completed their studies, come before the public as professional singers--so few escape the common lot that it would almost appear as if a fatality attended the following of the vocal art; yet from a health point of view, singing is an admirable exercise, and abundant medical testimony has been adduced in proof of this statement.

There are, of course, other causes of non-success in vocal students besides break-down of voice. A fine voice and good musical knowledge are but parts of the equipment of the singer; if he have not the soul of an artist he will never rise above mediocrity. With musical and artistic failures this chapter has nothing to do, but only with preventible causes of break-down, such as have come under my personal observation from close a.s.sociation with the work of my late husband, and also in my own and my daughter's work since his lamented decease.

In the establishment of a rule or law founded upon general truths, a number of examples bearing upon the subject under consideration are relied on as conclusive evidence, and by their use we are enabled to a.n.a.lyse reasons and deduce conclusions.

From the examination of a large number of cases of vocal failure in singers and in speakers who have placed themselves under my tuition for recovery of voice, I have found that among the most frequent and most injurious mistakes are:--

1st. Wrong methods of breathing and of breath management.

2nd. Loud singing and shouting.

3rd. Neglecting to cultivate the resonators.

4th. Forcing: (_a_) the registers; (_b_) the top notes.

INCORRECT BREATHING.

As regards methods of breathing, the descriptions and instructions given in this volume require no addition, and if carefully followed will prove of inestimable advantage both hygienically and vocally. It is, however, a fact that, not only in England, but also on the Continent, pupils are taught to breathe clavicularly, in opposition to Nature's method, which is diaphragmatic--_i.e._, the combined forms of rib and diaphragm breathing. The following is a striking example of the evil of clavicular breathing.

During last summer an American lady, who had been studying singing in Milan for three years, came to me in great distress. She had expected to appear in Grand Opera in London, but, alas! her voice broke down, and serious throat troubles manifested themselves. She had lost all the upper notes of her voice from C in alt. down to D in the stave, and what was left of it was thin, reedy, and tremulous, like that of an old woman instead of a girl of 24. Her master had insisted on clavicular breathing, the result being that when her lung capacity was tested it registered only 80 cubic inches instead of 240. In addition to faulty breathing, she had been allowed to force up the registers of the voice to such an extent as to bring on serious congestion, with varicose veins in the vocal ligaments and in the pharynx. After several lessons the breathing capacity increased to 200 cubic inches, the voice regained some of the upper notes, and lost the "cracked," tremulous sound. In time, with great care, the majority of the notes will come back, but probably C in alt. will never be reached again, and the general deterioration of voice may never be fully overcome.

Numerous similar instances, in men's voices as well as in women's, could be adduced, but the foregoing suffices; the results of incorrect breathing and of forcing being much the same in all cases, differing princ.i.p.ally in degree.

In the "Treatise on the Art of Singing" by the late Signor Lamperti, occurs the following pa.s.sage, which fully bears out the necessity for diligent acquirement of correct methods of breathing:--"Masters of the present day, instead of obliging pupils to make a severe study of the art of respiration, as a rule, omit it altogether, and take them through the greater part of a modern opera at every lesson, to the certain ruin of their voices, and often at the expense of their bodily health. How many young singers come to Milan or to Paris with beautiful voices, musical talent, and every other natural gift, who, after putting themselves under the guidance of a master for two years, study modern operas; how many of these unfortunately find at the time of their _debut_ that their voices, instead of being fresh and improved by education, are already worn and tremulous, and that, through the ignorance of their master, they have no longer any hope of success in their artistic career, which was finished before it was begun." A sad but an "ower true" description, applicable to other centres of voice-training besides Milan and Paris.

It is scarcely possible to over-estimate the importance of correct methods of breathing and of breath management to all voice users, whether they are singers or speakers. As breath is the motive power of all voice it needs but little consideration to arrive at the conclusion that the best method of supply and control of this motor power is of vital necessity to those who depend upon their voices for success in their vocation, whether it be that of singer, clergyman, lecturer, or actor.

Some of the worst descriptions of stammering owe their origin to improper breath management, and numbers of such cases which have been under my care have been perfectly cured by specially designed breathing exercises, adapted to the requirements of each individual case, combined with training of the various muscles employed in articulation. As no two persons stammer alike there can be no universal panacea for the cure of this terrible affliction; it is, therefore, necessary to study the peculiar idiosyncrasies of each case before formulating a plan of treatment; and this makes it impossible to write rules for self-cure suited to every case.

LOUD SINGING.

The practice of always singing loudly is greatly to be deprecated, leading as it does to undue strain, to coa.r.s.eness of the voice, and to utter inability to modulate it into softness and purity of tone. Anyone can shout and bawl, but not every one can sing softly--therefore always practise softly until the voice be well formed, when it will be easy to increase the volume of sound. Constant shouting causes the muscles of the larynx to lose their contractile power, and a condition is brought about which is a.n.a.logous to writer's cramp. Sometimes no voice can be produced, while at others it is given forth in a series of uncontrollable jerks. Singers deficient in resonance, and who have not acquired the best use and control of the various parts of the resonator, resort to the objectionable practice of forcing their voices, relying upon power of blast and vigour of shout instead of cultivating resonance. A loud, big voice, produced with effort, is a manifestation of a certain amount of physical power; but such voice-production is not singing, it is mere shouting. Tones so produced will ultimately show their bad origin by the effect left behind on the misused muscles.

CULTIVATION OF THE RESONATORS.

The resonators of the human voice, about which years ago Emil Behnke lectured and wrote, are only just beginning to receive the attention which their important functions deserve. Over some of the resonating cavities we can obtain no voluntary control; but over the whole of the mouth, of the buccal cavity, and over part of the pharyngeal we may, by education, gain as much influence as over the fingers of the hand, and the results obtained by such training are frequently astonishing. A student at one of our colleges came to me recently whose first question was "Can you teach me how not to sing with a 'squeezed' throat?"

"Nothing easier," was my reply. On his singing a few notes to me, the tone of the voice revealed that owing to want of knowledge of the action of the resonators, he was closing his throat in such a manner that the voice sounded as if he were singing through the teeth of a comb. Without looking in his mouth, I drew on a piece of paper the position in which were his soft palate, the pillars of the fauces, the uvula, and the tongue, telling him that was the picture he would see on looking at his throat while singing. This proved on examination to be the case; and great was his wonderment to find that, after a little practice he could voluntarily remedy this squeezed position until it gradually disappeared altogether, and with it the unpleasant quality of voice which had caused him so much trouble.

The inherent quality of tone is reinforced by the co-vibrations of the air in the resonance cavities, the greater fulness of the sound being caused by the increased quant.i.ty of air which is set into vibration. The slightest alteration in the shape of these cavities affects the quality of vocal tone by altering the direction and size of the air columns.

There is for every tone an air column of a certain size which most powerfully reinforces that tone; and every resonance cavity answers to some particular note better than to others. Timbre in the voice depends largely upon the echoing and re-echoing of these resonance chambers; and it needs but little reflection to see that the shape given to the mouth in p.r.o.nouncing speech sounds--more especially vowel sounds, with all their various shades--interferes more or less with the purity and quality of tone. Hence the necessity in singing for modifying vowel p.r.o.nunciation to suit the various tones and pitches of the voice. Every shade of vowel has a certain pitch of its own which is best produced by certain positions of the mouth, tongue, and soft palate. It is, therefore, necessary, carefully to shape the mouth so that, on notes of different pitches, the configuration of the mould may be that which gives the best quality of the particular vowel tone. There must be an unimpeded pa.s.sage for the voice from the larnyx to the lips, and this cannot be obtained if the same vowel shades are maintained in song as in speech. The vowels which require the greatest alteration in position of the mouth are A, E, and U; E being quite the most difficult, because, contrary to the opinion of some teachers who consider it the best for forward production of tone, it keeps the sound farther back in the throat than any other vowel, shutting it up and making the sound thin and poor. Diligent practice before a mirror is necessary in order to acquire the best position of the buccal resonance chamber; its attainment will well repay the trouble taken, for not only will the voice gain in timbre, in resonance, and in ease, but p.r.o.nunciation will become pure and clear.

The vowel "ah" is frequently chosen as the best one for vocalising, because in its p.r.o.nunciation it is easy to put the mouth in a good position; and voices are trained on it exclusively, with the result that no other vowel, or vowel shade, is perfectly produced. Actual false intonation often arises from want of practice in adjusting the cavity of the mouth to that shape required for producing the best tone and resonance on the different notes; the absence of co-ordination between the fundamental tone and the overtones preventing perfect tune.

The absolute truth of the foregoing remarks may easily be proved by singing the vowels at either extreme of the "vowel scale of nature,"

viz., "oo and ee," over the whole compa.s.s of the voice, having regard to the beauty of tone. Although the singer may be quite unaware of the science underlying the fact, it will be found that the quality of the voice at the bottom of its range as these vowels are sung is very different from that at the top of the range, the alterations taking place in almost imperceptible gradations. By reference to the foregoing pages of this book it will be seen that the late Emil Behnke attached great importance to vowel training, and exemplifications of his methods are to be found in "Voice Training Exercises" and "Voice Training Studies" written in conjunction with C. W. Pearce, Mus.Doc. The subject is also fully explained in "Voice, Song, and Speech," by Lennox Browne, F.R.C.S., and Emil Behnke; and the whole matter is most ably discussed in "p.r.o.nunciation for Singers," by the late Dr. A. J. Ellis, F.R.S., published by Messrs Curwen & Sons.

In thus strongly advocating education of the resonator in the production of vowel sounds in singing, let me not be supposed to ignore the necessity for also cultivating p.r.o.nunciation of consonants, which have been termed the checks and stops of sound.

Clearness of enunciation and purity of p.r.o.nunciation, which are great aids to the voice, and possess a charm all their own, depend upon both vowels and consonants being accurately rendered.

The English are the worst enunciators of all European peoples, and their custom is to lay the blame on the language, than which none other is deemed by them so unvocal. There is, however, a vast amount of sonority and musical charm in our grand and n.o.ble language, second only to the Italian, when properly spoken.

The cultivation of pure, accurate, and refined p.r.o.nunciation in speech will greatly facilitate good enunciation in singing, and should he sedulously acquired; for there are numbers of vocalists who leave us in doubt as to whether the words they sing are English, French, Italian, or German; while the number of those who misp.r.o.nounce words in a deplorable manner is legion.

FORCING THE REGISTERS.

The next factor which has much to do with voice failure is forcing the registers beyond their proper point of change. The erroneous belief appears to exist that, by carrying up the registers a few notes beyond their natural limits, the tones thus produced are fuller and richer. But if in training a voice this practice be followed the result will be serious injury to the vocal organ.

This is not a theoretical statement; we can easily see with the laryngoscope the great amount of congestion of the vocal ligaments immediately caused by thus forcing up a register; and not only are these affected by the strain put upon them, but the whole interior of the throat becomes blood-red, and looks irritated and inflamed. As soon as the change to the right register is made the vocal apparatus returns to its normal state.

Now we all know the effects of undue strain on muscles in other parts of the body, and have felt the pain and weakness arising therefrom; but far worse results follow the damage to the throat caused by the strain of forcing up the registers, by both speakers and singers. The quality of the voice becomes impaired, and actual loss of notes follows. In some extreme cases which I have had under my care, there has been entire absence of voice both in speaking and in singing, and much suffering has been experienced from granular inflammation of the throat brought on by this faulty voice use.

Another method of forcing the voice is the almost universal endeavour to acquire "top notes" which do not belong to the singer's compa.s.s. Because of the high notes in some voices exceptionally endowed by nature, it seems as though all singers, no matter what their natural range, have made it the one object of their training to strive after a vocal attainment whose rarity appears to be almost its only justification to be considered as an artistic merit. Why should these ever vanishing "top notes" be so much craved and striven for? Can it be said that, as regards each individual voice, these notes are higher in a scale of excellence than the rest? What merit does their acquisition promise as a set-off to the deterioration of the voice and its inevitable ultimate failure? A high note, _per se_, is not necessarily "a thing of beauty"

to the listener, while the result of its attainment is often the converse of a "joy for ever" to the singer; for in those cases of forcing up the voice above its natural compa.s.s, violence is done to the throat, which in time results in some of the many ailments peculiar to singers who use faulty methods. The middle range of the voice becomes proportionately weaker and thinner as the cult of the extra "top notes"

becomes greater, until the anomalous position is reached of a voice with two ends and no middle; while these superadded, artificial, high notes are wanting in timbre, in purity, in strength, and in ease. It is easily demonstrable by the laryngoscope that the forced and strained action of the vocal ligaments, and of other laryngeal and throatal muscular action, exercises an injurious influence upon the voice. The endeavour to sing notes beyond the extreme of the compa.s.s, or notes which do not naturally lie within any one register--particularly the chest register--causes great fatigue of the tensor muscles of the vocal ligaments, and serious congestion, extending to the windpipe and pharynx has, in many cases, followed this practice.

More time and energy are devoted to the acquirement of what the late Emil Behnke called "mere acrobatic skill" than is given to the purely artistic side of voice use, and it follows that we get "the survival _not_ of the fittest" but rather of those with exceptionally strong physical organisations, instead of refined artists.

The deterioration throughout the whole compa.s.s of the voice is often painfully noticeable during an entire song, but the forcible shouting of a full, high-pitched note at its close seems to be intended to compensate for all the misery previously endured by the sensitive listener.

Now the maintenance of a healthy condition of the vocal muscles depends to a great degree upon the right use of those muscles in the formation of tone. There should never be any feeling of fatigue, strain, p.r.i.c.king, tightness, aching, or of pain in the throat, nor yet of huskiness after vocal practice. The method of voice use which produces such results, or any one of them, is wrong. Nature is pointing out as forcibly as possible the injury which is being done. Her warning should be heeded before conditions, getting worse, lead up to the sad ailments from which so many suffer, and which are disastrous to both voice and health.

The foregoing facts and ill.u.s.trations force upon us the conclusion that the large majority of throat affections from which both speakers and singers suffer might be entirely prevented by correct methods of voice use. As prevention is proverbially better than cure, it must be infinitely more advantageous to acquire correct methods than to unlearn bad ones which exercise a deleterious influence, always recognisable even when entire voice failure has not followed their practice.

_APPENDIX TO THE TENTH EDITION_

DOES DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING APPLY EQUALLY TO WOMEN AS TO MEN?

In a kind notice of the first edition of this brochure, which appeared in _The Medical Press_, the editor raises the above question. He says: "The evils attending faulty methods of voice-production are pointed out both from an anatomical and from an artistic point of view, diaphragmatic breathing being especially insisted on in opposition to mere clavicular breathing. This is undoubtedly correct; but we think the advice here embodied would have been even more valuable had the auth.o.r.ess mentioned if from her experience she thought it applied in an equal extent to both s.e.xes, as it is well known that nature, or we may perhaps more correctly say, the art of dress, causes women to breathe in a far more 'clavicular manner' than men."

This is a valuable criticism, and as the point indicated is likely to be of interest to many persons, I append my reply, which appeared in the next number of _The Medical Press_:--

"To the Editor of the _Medical Press and Circular_.

"SIR,--I intended the advice on breathing to apply to both s.e.xes, diaphragmatic breathing with perfect control being the foundation of all good voice-production, whether in speaking or in singing, in men and women alike, while clavicular breathing is a potent factor in voice-failure accompanied by throat ailments. From the examination of a large number of cases, I find it exceptional for a woman, when dressed, to breathe diaphragmatically, but when the garments are unfastened, and a few simple directions followed, Nature's mode of breathing commences to re-a.s.sert itself, feebly at first, but vigorously after a little practice. Very many men also breathe clavicularly, to the great detriment of their voices, whether in speaking or in singing. I have noticed, however that whereas the majority of women _always_ breathe clavicularly, comparatively few men adopt this pernicious habit unless when using the voice, which is, of course, the worst time for them to employ it. As a rule, men re-acquire the natural manner of breathing more easily and quickly than women; this may be partly accounted for by their greater freedom from constricting garments. After a few weeks'

training of the respiratory muscles, the lung capacity frequently exceeds, in women especially, the average given in Hutchinson's tables.

"Thanking you in antic.i.p.ation for your courtesy in publishing this letter,--I am, sir, yours &c.,