The Psychology of Singing Part 11

To the intelligent vocal teacher there is something peculiarly fascinating about the study of tone-production. In listening to any faulty singer we feel with the utmost precision what is wrong with the voice. Each imperfect tone informs us clearly and definitely just where the wrong muscular contraction is located. It seems so easy to tell the singer what to do in order to bring the tone out perfectly. Under the influence of the mechanical idea we try to express this feeling in the terms of muscular action. This attempt is never successful; the singer cannot be brought to understand our meaning. Yet it is so clear in our own minds that our inability to express it is extremely tantalizing. We go on, constantly hoping to find a way to define the mechanical processes so clearly indicated to the ear. We always feel that we are just on the verge of the great discovery. The solution of the problem of tone-production is almost within our grasp, yet it always eludes us.

It was stated in Chapter V of Part I that empirical knowledge of the voice, based on the singer's sensations, is used to supplement and interpret the doctrines of mechanical vocal guidance. This is in the main true, so far as the vocal teacher is aware. But here again the result of the sub-conscious character of empirical knowledge of the voice is seen. As a matter of fact the real situation is the direct reverse of that described in the chapter mentioned. The mechanical doctrines are used in the attempt to interpret the empirical knowledge.

This fact is well brought out in the following pa.s.sage from Kofler: "The teacher must imitate the wrong muscle-action and tone of his pupil as an ill.u.s.tration of the negative side." (_The Art of Breathing_, N. Y., 1889.) Kofler does not touch on the question, how the teacher is able to locate the wrong muscle-action of the pupil. He takes this ability for granted; it is so purely an intuitive process that he does not stop to inquire into the source of this information of the pupil's vocal action.

Through his sense of hearing he sub-consciously locates the faults in the pupil's tone-production. His only conscious application of this knowledge is the attempt to explain to the pupil the wrong muscle-action. This he naturally tries to do in the terms of mechanical action and muscular operation. Thus the mechanical doctrine is used in the attempt to explain the empirical knowledge. Yet the teacher is conscious only of citing the mechanical rule, and believes this to cover the entire instruction.

In the preceding chapter it was seen that the perfectly produced vocal tone may be considered in a variety of aspects. Each one of these aspects is characterized by a fairly distinct set of sympathetic sensations. Of faulty modes of throat action, as revealed by sympathetic sensations, there is an almost infinite variety. Of this wide variety of forms of throat tension the most prominent are those indicated by sets of sympathetic sensations, the direct opposites of those characterizing the perfect vocal action. Thus the open throat is indicated by one set of sympathetic sensations, the lack of this characteristic of tone by an opposite set, etc.

Whatever distinct fault of production the pupil's tone indicates, the master immediately notes the character of the faulty throat action. The master feels, simply and directly, what is wrong with the student's tone-production. Whence this knowledge comes he does not stop to inquire. Suppose the pupil to sing an exercise, and to produce tones which stick in the throat, instead of coming out freely. The master simply hears that the pupil's voice is caught in the throat; he does not observe that he is informed of this condition by muscular as well as auditory sensations.

This ignoring of the psychological nature of the impressions of tone is not necessarily detrimental to successful instruction. On the contrary, the master's empirical insight into the vocal operations of the pupil would probably not be advanced by an understanding of the psychological process. It is sufficient for the teacher's purpose to hear that the pupil's voice is caught in the throat. What robs this hearing, or feeling, of all value is this: the master attempts to interpret the sensation as an indication of the need of some specific muscular action, to be directly performed by the pupil. To this end he cites the mechanical rule, a.s.sumed to be indicated by the pupil's faulty vocal action. This may be, for example, the opening of the throat to give room for the tone to expand. It seems so perfectly simple to the teacher;--the pupil narrows his throat, and so holds in the tone; let him expand his throat and the tone will come out freely. This conclusion seems so clearly indicated by the sound of the tones that the master almost inevitably gives the precise instruction: "Open your throat and let your voice come out." This sums up, to the master's satisfaction, everything the pupil need do to correct this particular fault of tone-production.

Other sets of sympathetic sensations, awakened by badly produced tones, are interpreted in the same manner. A tone heard to be held in the back of the throat is believed to indicate the need of bringing the voice forward in the mouth. Other forms of throaty production are taken to show a lack of support, a wrong management of the breath, a need of breath-control, a misuse of nasal resonance, or an improper action of the vocal cords. In all these attempts to interpret sympathetic sensations by means of mechanical doctrines the teacher naturally relies on those doctrines in which he believes most firmly. Sympathetic sensations are indeed sometimes cited in proof of certain theories of breath-control, and also of nasal resonance. Both these topics are worthy of separate attention.

_Sympathetic Sensations and Nasal Resonance_

One of the most widely accepted theories of the vocal action is that the higher notes of the voice are influenced by reinforcing vibrations located in the nose and forehead. Whether this idea was derived more from direct than from sympathetic sensations need not be determined now.

It is at any rate certain that a perfectly sung tone gives to the hearer the impression of nasal influence of some kind. The exact nature of this influence has never been determined. It may be air resonance, or sounding-board resonance, or both combined. Satisfactory proof on this point is lacking. In the belief of the practical teacher, however, this impression of nasal influence is the strongest argument in favor of nasal resonance.

Turning now to the question of nasal quality, strictly speaking, tones of this objectionable character always awaken the sympathetic sensations of contraction somewhere in the nose. Why such a contraction should cause this unpleasant sound of the voice is a profound mystery. Perhaps wrong tension of the soft palate exerts an influence on the actions of the vocal cords; or it may be that the form of the nasal cavities is altered by the muscular contraction. This aspect of the vocal action has never been scientifically investigated. The sympathetic sensation of nasal contraction or pinching is at any rate very p.r.o.nounced.

Curiously, this sympathetic sensation is cited as an argument in favor of their respective theories, by both the advocates and the opponents of nasal resonance.

_Sympathetic Sensations and Breath-Control_

Certain forms of exaggerated throat stiffness are frequently held to indicate the need of breath-control. The faulty vocal action in question is a.n.a.lyzed by the breath-control advocates substantially as follows: "Owing to the outflow of the breath not being checked at the proper point, the entire vocal mechanism is thrown out of adjustment. The singer exerts most of his efforts in the endeavor to prevent the escape of the breath; to this end he contracts his throat and stiffens his tongue and jaw. His tones are forced, harsh, and breathy; they lack musical quality. His voice runs away with him and he cannot control or manage it. In the attempt to obtain some hold on his voice he 'reaches'

for his tones with his throat muscles. The more he tries to regain control of the runaway breath the worse does his state become."

This extreme condition of throat stiffness is unfortunately by no means rare. So far as concerns the sympathetic sensations awakened by this kind of singing the condition is graphically described by the breath-control advocates. But the conclusion is entirely unjustified that this condition indicates the lack of breath-control. Only the preconceived notion of breath-control leads to this inference. The sympathetic sensations indicate a state of extreme muscular tension of the throat; this is about the only possible a.n.a.lysis of the condition.

Empirical impressions of vocal tones determine the character of most present-day instruction in singing. This means no more than to say that throughout all vocal training the teacher listens to the pupil's voice.

The impressions of tone received by the teacher's ear cannot fail to inform the teacher of the condition of the pupil's throat in producing the voice. For the teacher to seek to apply this information in imparting the correct vocal action to the pupil is inevitable.

Almost every teacher begins a course of instruction by having the pupil run through the prescribed series of mechanical exercises and rules.

Breathing is always taken up first. Breath-control, laryngeal action, registers, and resonance follow usually in this order. The time devoted to this course of training may vary from a few weeks to several months.

This mechanical instruction is almost always interspersed with songs and arias. The usual procedure is to devote about half of each lesson to mechanical doctrines and the remainder to real singing.

Blind faith in the efficacy of this mechanical training is the teacher's only motive in giving it. Very little attention is paid to the sound of the pupil's voice during the study of mechanical rules and doctrines. It is simply taken for granted that the voice must be put through this course. Once the mechanical course has been covered, the pupil's voice is supposed, in a vague way, to be "placed." From that time on, whether it be at the end of two months of study or of two years, the instruction is based solely on empirical impressions of tone.

Little remains to be said of the nature of this empirical instruction.

It always retains the mechanical aspect. Whatever fault of production is noted, the teacher seeks to correct the fault by applying some mechanical rule. The futility of this form of instruction has already been pointed out.

Only two ways of applying empirical knowledge of the voice are known to the modern vocal teacher. These are, first, to tell the pupil to "open the throat," or to "support the tone," or to perform whatever other mechanical operation seems to be indicated as necessary by the sound of the tone; second, to bid the student to "feel that the tone is supported," to "feel that the throat is open," etc. Under these circ.u.mstances the little advantage derived from empirical knowledge in modern Voice Culture is readily understood.

CHAPTER VI

SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE OF THE VOICE

So far as any definite record can be made, the knowledge of the voice obtained by attentive listening to voices has now been set down. The next step in the scientific study of tone-production is the consideration of all knowledge of the voice obtained from sources other than empirical. In other words, the knowledge of the voice usually cla.s.sed as scientific is now to be examined.

Three sciences are generally held to contribute all that can possibly be known about the vocal action. These are anatomy, acoustics, and mechanics. Of these anatomy has received by far the most attention from vocal scientists. The laws of acoustics, bearing on the voice, have also been carefully considered. Beyond the theory of breath-control, little attempt has been made to apply the principles of mechanics in Vocal Science. Psychology, the science most intimately concerned with the management of the voice, has received almost no attention in this connection.

A complete record of the teachings of the established sciences with regard to the voice demands the separate consideration of the four sciences mentioned. Each will therefore be treated in turn. In the case of each of these sciences it is seen that the most essential facts of the vocal action have been definitely established. Many questions still remain to be satisfactorily answered which are of great interest to the theoretical student of the voice. Yet in spite of the lack of exact knowledge on these points, enough is now known to furnish the basis for a practical science of Voice Culture.

_The Anatomy of the Vocal Mechanism_

This subject has been so exhaustively studied that nothing new can well be discovered regarding the muscular structure of the vocal organs. In all probability the reader is sufficiently acquainted with the anatomy of the larynx and its connections. Only a very brief outline of the subject is therefore demanded. The muscles concerned with breathing call for no special notice in this connection.

The special organ of voice is the larynx. This consists of four cartilages, with their connecting ligaments,--the thyroid, the cricoid, and the two arytenoids, and of nine so-called intrinsic muscles,--two crico-thyroid, right and left, two thyro-arytenoid, two posterior crico-arytenoid, two lateral crico-arytenoid, and one arytenoideus. The inner edges of the thyro-arytenoid muscles form the vocal cords. The hyoid bone, serving as a medium of attachment for the tongue, may also be considered a portion of the larynx. By means of the extrinsic muscles the larynx is connected with the bones of the chest, neck, and head.

While the muscular structure of the vocal organs is thoroughly known, the actions of the laryngeal muscles in tone-production have never been absolutely determined. This much is definitely established: Vocal tone is produced when the vocal cords are brought together and held on tension, and the air in the lungs is expired with sufficient force to set the vocal cords in motion. The tension of the vocal cords can be increased by the contraction of their muscular tissues, the two thyro-arytenoid muscles; further, increased tension of the cords can also result from the tilting of the thyroid cartilage on the cricoid, by the contraction of the crico-thyroid muscles.

It is also definitely proved that the pitch of the vocal tone varies with the state of tension of the vocal cords; increasing the degree of tension raises the pitch, decreasing the tension lowers it. As to the relative importance of the different groups of muscles in varying the tension of the vocal cords, nothing has been definitely proved.

In addition to the variations in pitch resulting from variations in the tension of the vocal cords, there is also much ground for believing that the pitch may be raised by shortening the effective length of the vocal cords. This is apparently accomplished by the rotation of the arytenoid cartilages; but the specific muscular contractions concerned in the rotation of the arytenoids have not been located.

It is generally a.s.serted by vocal theorists that the quality of the vocal tone, on any one note, is determined mainly by the influence of the resonance cavities. Dr. Mills says on this point: "When it is borne in mind that the vocal bands have little or nothing to do with the quality of the tone, the importance of those parts of the vocal apparatus which determine quality... becomes apparent." (_Voice Production in Singing and Speaking_, 1906.) This theory that the quality of the tone is determined solely by the resonance cavities is directly contradicted by Prof. Scripture. He proves that changes in tone quality result from changes in vocal cord adjustment. This subject is more fully treated in the following section. Even before this matter had been definitely settled by Prof. Scripture, there was a strong presumption in favor of the vocal cord adjustment theory. Howard advanced this idea in 1883. Several empirical observations support this theory. Most important of these is the fact that a single tone, swelled from _piano_ to _forte_, goes through a wide variety of changes in quality.

Stockhausen's mention of this fact has already been noted.

This fact tends to cast some doubt on the value of laryngoscopic observation as a means of determining the laryngeal action. Under the conditions necessary for examination with the laryngoscope it is impossible for the singer to produce any but soft tones in the head quality of voice. Most of these tones, if swelled to _forte_, would change from the head to the chest quality. It is probable that this change in quality is effected by a corresponding change in the vocal cord adjustment, as the conditions of the resonance cavities remain the same. But this cannot be determined by laryngoscopic observation.

So far as the actions of the laryngeal muscles are concerned, no difference can be defined between the correct vocal action and any improper mode of operation. Sir Morell Mackenzie examined a large number of people with the aid of the laryngoscope; of these, some were trained singers, others, while possessed of good natural voices, had had no vocal training whatever. Many variations were noted in the notes on which changes of register occurred. But it could not be determined by this mode of examination whether the subject was a trained singer or not.

If there is one specifically correct mode of operation for the vocal cords, this correct action has never been determined from the anatomy of the organs. No doubt there is some difference between the muscular actions of correct tone-production and those of any incorrect operation of the voice. But the nature of this difference in muscular action has never been discovered by means of dissections of the larynx, nor by laryngoscopic observation.

_The Acoustic Principles of Tone-Production_

An outline of the existing state of knowledge regarding the acoustic principles of tone-production must be drawn mainly from one source. This is the latest authoritative work on the subject, _The Study of Speech Curves_, by E. W. Scripture (Washington, 1906). In this work Prof.

Scripture overthrows several of the conclusions of Helmholtz which had hitherto furnished the basis of all the accepted theories of vocal acoustics. Considering the eminently scientific character of all Prof.

Scripture's research work, his thorough acquaintance with every detail of the subject, and the exhaustive attention devoted to this series of experiments, we are fully justified in accepting his present statements as conclusively proved.

A first impression received from a careful reading of _The Study of Speech Curves_ is that the subject is vastly more intricate than had formerly been believed. Helmholtz's theory of vocal acoustics was fairly simple: The vocal cords vibrate after the manner of membranous reeds; a tone thus produced consists of a fundamental and a series of overtones; vowel and tone quality are determined by the influence of the resonance cavities, which reinforce certain of the overtones with special prominence. This theory is discarded by Prof. Scripture. "The overtone theory of the vowels cannot be correct." In place of this simple theory, Prof. Scripture reaches conclusions too complicated to be given in detail here. A brief outline of the subject must suffice for the needs of the present work.

Prof. Scripture found that the nature of the walls of a resonating cavity is of more importance than either its size, shape, or opening. A flesh-lined cavity is capable of reinforcing tones covering a range of several notes. Further, the vowel sound, and presumably also the tone quality, are determined more by the action of the vocal cords than by the adjustment of the resonance cavities. "The glottal lips vibrate differently for the different vowels." This adjustment of the glottal lips "presumably occurs by nervously aroused contractions of the fibers of the muscles in the glottal lips." Continuing, Prof. Scripture says:

"Physiologically stated, the action for a vowel is as follows: Each glottal lip consists mainly of a ma.s.s of muscles supported at the ends and along the lateral side. It bears no resemblance to a membrane or a string. The two lips come together at their front ends, but diverge to the rear. The rear ends are attached to the arytenoid cartilages. When the ends are brought together by rotation of these arytenoid cartilages, the medial surfaces touch. At the same time they are stretched by the action of the crico-thyroid muscles, which pull apart the points of support at the ends.

"In this way the two ma.s.ses of muscle close the air pa.s.sage. To produce a vowel such a relation of air pressure and glottal tension is arranged that the air from the trachea bursts the muscles apart for a moment, after which they close again; the release of the puff of air reduces the pressure in the trachea and they remain closed until the pressure is again sufficient to burst them apart. With appropriate adjustments of the laryngeal muscles and air pressure this is kept up indefinitely, and a series of puffs from the larynx is produced. The glottal lips open partly by yielding sidewise,--that is, they are compressed,--and partly by being shoved upward and outward. The form of the puff, sharp or smooth, is determined by the way in which the glottal lips yield; the mode of yielding depends on the way in which the separate fibers of the muscles are contracted.

"These puffs act on the vocal cavity, that is, on a complicated system of cavities (trachea, larynx, pharynx, mouth, nose) with variable shapes, sizes, and openings. The effect of the puffs on each element of the vocal cavity is double: first, to arouse in it a vibration with a period depending on the cavity; second, to force on it a vibration of the same period as that of the set of puffs. The prevalence of one of the factors over the other depends on the form of the puff, the walls of the cavities, etc."

Prof. Scripture does not undertake to point out a difference between the correct vocal action in tone-production, and any incorrect action. This difference in action does not seem capable of definition by any a.n.a.lysis of the acoustic principles involved.

_Mechanical Principles of the Vocal Action_