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14 TRAINING THE SINGING VOICE
ii. When at their best, all vocal actions are involuntary. [Stock 585]
12. The complex vocal mechanism is "never entirely under conscious control" [Bartholomew 38; Shaw 521; Negus 418, p. 436]
13. Conscious control leads to constriction. [Skiles 560]
14. The only thing to do is to let the physical instrument alone. [Savage 490, p. 9* and p. 112; Conrad Thibault 605]
Because of the involuntary nature of vocal action it is not necesary for the singer to have a knowledge of the structure of his vocal organs in order to govern their action properly. Shakespeare believes that muscular awareness, however slight, can inhibit freedom of action. Therefore, even mentioning the names of muscles should be avoided as much as possible-[51% p. 63; Negus, op* cit.] Greene finds that anatomical discussions tend tc» confuse the vocal student by making him self-conscious about organs that should function automatically. [209, p. 6] Henderson likewise claims that preoccupation with physical factors crowds out the fundamental aim of singing—to sing well. [240, p. 79; Philip 446, p. 26] "We cannot be conscious of the muscles involved in singing," says Ortmann. "We cannot even see them." Vocal physiology is for the teacher, not the student. [437] The best artistic results may be obtained "without the knowledge of the location of a single nerve or muscle." [Austin-Ball 31, p. 15 and p. 28; Whktaker 662, p. 70]
In conclusion, Wilson recommends a modified form of vocal control involving only those muscles "for which the student has conscious control; namely, the jaw, the lips and the tip of the tongue." [674, p. 7] Herbert-Gaesari, while admitting that phonation is a subconscious act, also insists that by constant vigilance toward external physical sensations "there must be conscious, intelligent control of every tone emitted." [269, p. 28]
II. Spontaneity and naturalness ate the chief characteristics of the vocal act in singing. Nineteen statements support this assumption. Among: than are those of 5 professional singers who maintain that "obedience to natural law" is the singer's only guide, since violations are always penalized. fWitherspoon 677, p. 3] Paul Althouse believes that "most people have voices that are correctly placed to begin with." [9] Galli-Giirci claims that "the old Italian [singing] teachers were the simplest of men. . . . Their idea was to get as dose to nature as possible." [197] In Marian Anderson's opinion, the singer's tone must be as spontaneous and natural as a baby's tone. [12] Frances Alda adds an interesting observation: Watch a canary sing. It can outlast a good singer on a single trill. This is a lesson in spontaneous tone production, without effort or strain. [6, p. 198] |
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