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dissenters are sufficiently strong to leave the Vocal science' of today in a most unscientific position." [Thompson 610] "The judgments of experts on points connected with vocal performance are most extraordinarily varied." [Mursell and Glenn 413, p. 278] Vocal authorities disagree on even "the most elementary and fundamental points." [Redfield 462, p. 280] There is a total lack of "doctrinal unity" and a lack of "uniform professional language'' among vocal technicians. [Roach 472] Vocal literature "reveals a surprising lack of unanimity of opinion." [Henley 261]
10. Basic teaching concepts are not clearly defined. Teaching theories are largely empirical, vague and without scientific explanation. [James 300, p. 7] The cause of confusion in teaching singing is the lack of "a sound theoretical basis." [Kwartin 325, p. 15] Very few teachers agree on basic vocal principles. [Campajani 91]
11. Conflicting and ambiguous terminologies exist. More than anything else, misleading terminology has served to confuse the vocal teaching profession. [Shaw 518, p. 11] "There is a vast verbiage of synonyms for tone quality in vogue, none of them satisfactorily differentiated or defined/' [Seashore 507] So-called differences of opinion are usually differences in terminology. [De Young 137; Hill 272, p. 53] "The terminology of the art is more than half figurative/' [Henderson 243, p. 54] One group literally "does not speak the other's language/' [Bartholomew 37] "One has but to look at the conglomeration of terminology. . . /' [Muyskens 415]
12. Prevalent use of imagery in place of explicit instructions. (E.g., "singing on the breath," "the voice always flows from diaphragm to head," "The voice is like a flower. Its roots are imbedded in the breathing organs, its stem is the flowing breath stream, its blossom is the resonance in the head cavities.") The Italians used "drink the tone" and "inhale the voice** as a means of freeing the throat. [Henley 256] In teaching voice, circumlocution is often necessary, even to the extent of using "what the scientist sometimes denounces as fantastic, false imagery/' [Bartholomew 38] Imagery is very useful in vocal pedagogy, [Ortmann 437] The use of metaphorical terms by singing teachers often causes misunderstandings. [Scholes 496]
13. Fancy holds sway over fact. Nonsensical generalizations about unknown factors often take the place of reasoned Investigations. Teachers are often guilty of arbitrary generalizations which attribute all good tone-production to the influence of the nose, diaphragm, uvula or other individual parts. [Drew 147, p. 113] "One could make a museum of freak ideas" pertaining to the teaching of voice. [Amelita Galli-Curci 197] The following mystifying statements are vague generalizations made by authors, pertaining to several unknown factors of voice production. To avoid offense, they are quoted here anonymously: |
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