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gg TRAINING THE SINGING VOICE
other instrument as a crutch to lean upon and to determine the pitch of the notes he must produce." [Redfield 462, p. 125] ]os£ Mojica claims that "one can hear himself much better without the interference of an accompaniment" [401] Wilson prefers to have the student "practice all exercises [and songs] standing, without attempting to play the piano accompaniment at the same time." [674, p. 5] Father Finn would allow instrumental accompaniments to vocal exercises, providing they are unobtrusive and scarcely audible. [181, p. 248] Hill suggests that a given passage be played "before and after singing it, but not while singing it." [272, p. 17] In an experimental study entitled "The first vocal vibrations in the attack in singing," described in Psychological Monographs, Stevens and Miles conclude that "so far as evenness of tone is concerned, the [vocalist's] attack is not made more certain by having just listened to an instrument," such as a tuning fork. The results of this experiment introduce an interesting question as to whether the use of an accompanying instrument during vocal practice actually improves the student's pitch attack or heips him to deliver a steady and unwavering tone. [583]
Various factors in practicing. Various hints and suggestions are offered
as to the best general manner of conducting the practice period. These
factors are summarized in the following typical statements:
1. Four necessary aids to learning are: repetition, exaggeration, concentration and relaxation. Vocal practice methods should always em-phasife these factors. [Novello-Davies 430, p. 34]
t. The intrinsic value of any exercise lies only in the manner of per-focming it (Judd 309, p. io]
3. Vary the mood when singing vocal exercises such as scales, arpeggios, etc. "It is perfectly useless to practice technique in a mechanical fashion without any expression." [Bushell 83; Witherspoon 676]
4. Repetitive practice tends to prevent spontaneity of vocal action.
Vocalises and exercises should be sung "with the idea of spontaneous expression" and should therefore never be repeated except after a lapse of time. [Barbareux-Parry 34, p. 272; Shaw 537]
5. Perfection k preferable to speed. Even florid exercises should be practiced slowly with gradual increase of speed as the technique improves. This was TosTs (ca. 1723) advice. [Klingstedt 320, p. 21]
6. "The coordinations which we use in soft or in low work differ from those used in loud or in rapid work, even if the passage [of music] itself remains the same. Thus the value of all slow practice is psychological and only indirectly physiological." These conclusions are the results of experimental findings. [Ortmann 437] |
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