The Psychology of Singing Part 10

A perfectly produced voice affects the ear in a peculiar and distinct way. Not only is such a voice free from faults; it has also, on the positive side, a peculiar character which renders it entirely different from any wrongly used voice. The cultured hearer is impressed with a sense of incompleteness and insufficiency in listening to a voice which does not "come out" in a thoroughly satisfactory manner. This is true, even though the voice is not marred by any distinct fault.

A voice absolutely perfect in its production awakens a peculiar set of sympathetic sensations. In addition to its musical beauty such a voice satisfies an instinctive demand for the perfect vocal action. An indescribable sensation of physical satisfaction is experienced in listening to a perfectly managed voice.

On further consideration of this feeling of physical satisfaction awakened by a perfectly produced voice, it seems a mistake to call it indescribable. A beautiful description of this set of sympathetic sensations has been handed down to us by the masters of the old Italian school. This description is embodied in two of the traditional precepts, those dealing with the open throat and the support of the tone.

Mention of the traditional precepts leads at once to the consideration of another aspect of the empirical knowledge of the voice. Vocalists have been attentively listening to voices since the beginning of the modern art of singing. Although many of the impressions made by the voice on the ear cannot be expressed in words, one set of impressions has been clearly recorded. A marked difference was evidently noticed by the old Italian masters between the feelings awakened in the hearer by a voice properly managed and those awakened by an incorrectly produced voice. These impressions were embodied in a set of precepts for the guidance of the singer, which are none other than the much-discussed traditional precepts.

In other words, the traditional precepts embody the results of the old masters' empirical study of the voice. Considered in this light, the old precepts lose at once all air of mystery and become perfectly intelligible and coherent. To a consideration of this record of the empirical knowledge of the voice the following chapter is devoted.

CHAPTER IV

THE TRADITIONAL PRECEPTS OF THE OLD ITALIAN SCHOOL

There should be nothing mysterious, nothing hard to understand, about the empirical precepts. It was pointed out in Chapter V of Part I that these precepts contain a perfect description of correctly produced vocal tone, so far as the impression on the listener is concerned. This means nothing else than that the old precepts summarize the results of empirical observation of correct singing. There is nothing new in this statement; considered as empirical knowledge, the modern vocal teacher understands the meaning of the old masters' precepts perfectly well. The misunderstanding of the subject begins with the attempt to apply the precepts as specific rules for the direct mechanical management of the voice. In this connection they were seen to be valueless. Let us now see if the old precepts are found to contain any meaning of value to the vocal teacher when considered as purely empirical formulae.

Each one of the precepts may be said to describe some special characteristic of the perfect vocal tone, considered solely as a sound.

These characteristics may each be considered separately, that is, the hearer may voluntarily pay close attention to any special aspect of the vocal tone. The best plan for arriving at the exact meaning of the precepts is therefore to consider each one in turn.

_The Forward Tone_

Every lover of singing is familiar with this characteristic of the perfectly produced voice; the sound seems to come directly from the singer's mouth, and gives no indication of being formed at the back of the throat. This characteristic of the perfect tone is simply heard. It is not distinguished by any sympathetic sensations, but is purely a matter of sound. On the other hand, a wrongly produced voice seems to be formed or held in the back of the singer's throat. The tones of such a voice do not come out satisfactorily; they seem to be lodged in the throat instead of at the front of the mouth.

In the badly used voice the impression of throat is conveyed by the sympathetic sensations awakened in the hearer. A striking difference between correct and incorrect singing is thus noted. A wrongly produced voice is felt by the hearer to be held in the singer's throat. When properly used the voice gives no impression of throat; it seems to have no relation to the throat, but to be formed in the front of the mouth.

So much has been written about "forward emission" that the forward characteristic of vocal tones seems to be enshrouded in mystery. As a matter of fact, the forward tone is easily explained. The perfectly produced voice issues directly from the mouth for the same reason that the tones of the trombone issue from the bell of the instrument. It is all a matter of resonance. This is well ill.u.s.trated by a simple experiment with a tuning fork and a spherical resonator reinforcing the tone of the fork.

When the fork is struck, the ear hears the sound issuing from the resonator, not that coming direct from the fork. This is brought out distinctly by placing the fork at a little distance from the resonator.

The listener can then definitely locate the source of the sound which impresses the ear. Under these circ.u.mstances the sound coming from the resonator is found to be many times more powerful than that coming direct from the tuning fork. If left to its own judgment the ear takes the resonator to be the original source of the sound.

In the voice the exciting cause of the air vibrations is located at the back of the resonator,--the mouth-pharynx cavity. The sound waves in this case can issue only from the front of the resonator,--the singer's mouth. No matter how the voice is produced, correctly or badly, this acoustic principle must apply.

Why then does not the incorrectly used voice impress the hearer as issuing directly from the mouth, the same as the correctly produced tone? This is purely a matter of sympathetic sensations of throat tightness, awakened by the faulty tone. Every wrongly used voice arouses in the listener sympathetic sensations of throat contraction. This impression of throat, noted by the hearer, consists of muscular, not of strictly auditory sensations.

As a statement of scientific fact, the forward-tone precept is erroneous. It does not describe scientifically the difference between correct and incorrect tone-production. Correctly sung tones are not produced at the lips. Every vocal tone, good or bad, is produced by the motion of the vocal cords and reinforced by the resonance of the mouth-pharynx cavity. Only when considered as an empirical description is the forward-tone precept of value. In this sense the precept describes accurately the difference in the impressions made on the hearer by correct and incorrect singing. A badly produced tone seems to be caught in the singer's throat; the correctly used voice is free from this fault, and is therefore heard to issue directly from the singer's mouth.

This marked difference between correct and incorrect tone throws a valuable light on the meaning of the correct vocal action. Every badly used voice gives the impression of wrong or unnecessary tightness, stiffening, and contraction of the throat. When perfectly used, the voice does not convey any such impression of throat stiffness.

_The Open Throat_

Just as with the forward tone, the meaning of the open throat is best brought out by contrasting the impressions made on the hearer by a perfect and a badly used voice. A badly produced tone seems to be caught, or as Tosi expressed it, "choaked in the throat." The singer's throat seems to be tightened and narrowed so that the sound has not sufficient pa.s.sageway to come out properly. On the other hand, the perfectly used voice comes out freely, without interference or hindrance at any point in the singer's throat. There seems to be plenty of room for the tone to come forth; in other words, the singer's throat seems to be open.

All these impressions are purely a matter of sympathetic sensations. In listening to a faulty singer the hearer feels a sensation of tightness and contraction of the throat. A well used voice awakens exactly the opposite sensation, that of looseness and freedom of the throat.

Here again is seen the difference between correct and incorrect singing, empirically considered. Judging from the impressions made by rightly and wrongly used voices, any incorrect vocal action involves a condition of tightness and contraction of the throat. Perfect singing gives the impression that the throat is loose and supple, and free from all unnecessary tension.

_The Support of the Tone_

Following the plan of contrasting correct and incorrect singing, the meaning of this precept is readily found. The perfect voice is felt by the hearer to be firmly and confidently held by the singer in a secure grasp of the throat muscles. Such a voice awakens the sympathetic sensations of perfectly balanced muscular effect, similar to the muscular sensations of the hand and forearm when an object is firmly grasped in the hand.

A badly used voice seems to be convulsively gripped in the singer's throat. The tones seem to fall back into the throat for want of some secure base on which to rest. This impression is conveyed by a peculiar set of sympathetic sensations of highly unpleasant muscular tension far back in the throat.

This precept, "Support the tone," points to the difference already noted between the right and the wrong vocal action. Badly produced tones indicate a state of excessive tension of the throat muscles. Correct singing gives the impression that the throat muscles exert exactly the requisite degree of strength, and no more.

Taken together, the open-throat and the forward-tone precepts embody an admirable description of the sympathetic sensations awakened by perfect singing. The singer's entire vocal mechanism is felt to be in a condition of lithe and supple freedom. There is no straining, no constraint, no forcing, no unnecessary tension. Each muscle of the vocal mechanism, and indeed of the entire body, exerts just the necessary degree of strength.

Similar muscular sensations always accompany the expert performance of any action requiring a high degree of dexterity. Whatever be the form of exertion, skilful physical activity awakens muscular sensations of perfectly balanced and harmonized contractions. This feeling of muscular poise and adjustment is pleasurable in a high degree.

A keen enjoyment is experienced in the skilful performance of many complex muscular activities. Much of the pleasure of skating, dancing, rowing, tennis, etc., is dependent on this feeling of muscular poise and harmonious contraction. Healthy exercise is always normally enjoyable; but skilful performance greatly enhances the pleasure. A beginner learning to skate, for example, exerts himself fully as much as the accomplished skater. Yet the beginner does not by any means derive the same degree of pleasure from his exertions.

Precisely this feeling of balanced and harmonious muscular exertion is experienced by the perfect singer. More than this, the hearer also, through sympathetic sensations, shares the same pleasurable feeling.

This is the sensation described as the feeling of soaring, of poise, and of floating, in many descriptions of the "singer's sensations."

_Singing on the Breath_

When the voice is perfectly used the tones seem to detach themselves from the singer, and to float off on the breath. Nothing in the sound of the tones, nor in the sympathetic sensations awakened, gives any indication that the breath is checked or impeded in its flow. The current of tone seems to be poured out on the breath just as freely as a quiet expiration in ordinary breathing.

This is a purely empirical description of perfect singing. As we know very well, the vocal action is quite different from this description.

But the important point is that the phrase "singing on the breath" does very accurately describe the impression made on the hearer by perfect singing.

Singing on the breath represents the highest possible degree of purely vocal perfection. One may attend operas and concerts for a whole season and listen to a score of famous singers, and count oneself fortunate to have heard even one artist who attains this standard of tonal excellence. Singing on the breath is an effect of wondrous tonal beauty; it is simply this, pure beauty, pristine and nave.

With the slightest degree of throat stiffness or muscular tension, singing on the breath is utterly impossible. So soon as the tones indicate the merest trace of throat contraction, the free outflow of the stream of sound is felt to be checked.

Coloratura singing, to be absolutely perfect, demands this degree of tonal excellence. Singing on the breath and coloratura are indeed very closely allied. The modern school of musical criticism does not hold coloratura singing in very high esteem. We demand nowadays expression, pa.s.sion, and emotion; we want vocal music to portray definite sentiments, to express concrete feelings. Florid singing is not adapted to this form of expressiveness. It is only sensuously beautiful; it speaks to the ear, but does not appeal to the intellect.

Yet it may well be asked whether the highest type of coloratura singing, pure tonal beauty, does not appeal to a deeper, more elemental set of emotions than are reached by dramatically expressive singing. This question would call for a profound psychological discussion, hardly in place in a work devoted to the technical problem of tone-production. But this much is certain: Coloratura singing still has a strong hold on the affections of the music loving public. Even to-day audiences are moved by the vocal feats of some famous queen of song fully as profoundly as by the performance of a modern dramatic or realistic opera.

To describe a sound is an extremely difficult task. The tone of the muted horn, for example, is perfectly familiar to the average musician.

Yet who would undertake to describe in words the tone of the muted horn?

A description of the sounds produced by a perfectly managed voice is almost as difficult to frame in words. Still the old Italian masters succeeded in finding words to describe perfect singing. These few simple phrases--open the throat, support the tone, sing the tones forward, sing on the breath--embody a most beautiful and complete description of vocal perfection. The empirical study of the voice can hardly be expected to go further than this. From the old masters we have received a complete record of all that need be known empirically about the voice.

CHAPTER V

EMPIRICAL KNOWLEDGE IN MODERN VOICE CULTURE

It was pointed out in Chapter I of Part III that there is no possibility of conflict between empirical and scientific knowledge. Modern Voice Culture seems to present a direct contradiction of this statement. The vocal teacher's empirical understanding of the voice conflicts at every step with his supposedly scientific knowledge. No doubt the reader is already aware of the real meaning of this apparent contradiction. It only bears out the philosophic rule; an accepted science must be abandoned so soon as its deductions are found to be not in accord with observed facts.

Modern methods of instruction in singing can be understood only by following out this idea of conflict between known facts and accepted, though erroneous, scientific doctrines. As we have seen, the only universally accepted theory of supposedly scientific Voice Culture is the idea of direct mechanical guidance of the voice. Every vocal teacher attempts to make his empirical knowledge conform to this mechanical idea. As the empirical knowledge is correct, and the mechanical idea a complete mistake, conflict between the two is inevitable.

Every modern teacher of singing possesses in full measure the empirical understanding of the voice. To this statement hardly an exception need be made. Probably the most startling fact concerning the wide diffusion of this knowledge is that the nature of this knowledge is so thoroughly ignored. Because the psychological process is purely sub-conscious, empirical knowledge is always indirectly and generally unconsciously applied. In the teacher's mind the most prominent idea is that of mechanical vocal guidance. His attention is always directly turned to this idea. Empirical knowledge, consisting merely of a succession of auditory and muscular sensations, lurks in the background of consciousness.