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7S TRAINING THE SINGING VOICE
therefore Invites attention as a preliminary approach to all problems of training the singer's voice. The first thing the singer has to do is to leam to breathe properly. [Mackenzie 364, p. 95] He must be able to fill his Jungs and empty them quickly or slowly, gently or with force, to meet the artistic requirements of his song. So varied and exacting are these requirements that, in a sense, "the singer must be a professional breather." fClark 102] "Respiration is the power behind the tone." [Jacobus 298] According to Allen, breath is the life giving force of all vocal tone. [7, p. 23] Witherspoon believes that correct breathing is important in that it prepares the way for free vocal action. [677, p. 60] Pressman and Brown boch claim that incorrect breathing is one of the chief causes of vocal failure because faults of breathing induce tensions in the throat. [452 and 78, p. 13] Henderson is of the opinion that singing always demands a special type of breathing. "All teachers are agreed that it is absolutely essential for every vocal pupil to acquire a correct method of breathing/* he states. "Keep the outgoing column of air under perfect control. That is the foundation of all singing technique." [243, p. 17 and 25]
It k well to remember that singing is but "a constant coming and going of breath." [Marchesi 369, p. 3] The nervous mechanism that controls the breathing muscles works automatically. But these muscular movements are also subject to voluntary control. Therefore breathing "is subject to educational influences." [Owsley 441, p. 24] Witherspoon feels that breathing should never be forced. .It will take care of itself if it is free enough. Indeed, there is a definite physiological law, as he puts it, that governs breathing. This law may be stated as follows: In singing, as in any physical exertion, breathing effort is always directly proportionate to the intensity of the action desired. Hence, in singing, breathing effort is proportionate to the pitch and volume of the vocal utterance desired. [675] Shaw empirically observes that the singer artist never takes a breath consciously. He merely extends his body ever so slightly at the beginning of a phrase and there is an immediate proportionate expansion of the torso, unnoticeable but sufficient for the needs of the phrase about to be sung. [529] The nature of this bodily extension is not explained.
Pre-vocal training in breathing advised. In order to sing well, it is first necessary to develop the breathing muscles beyond the normal requirements for living. [Wodell 679] In other words, training in breathing must take precedence over other forms of training for actual tone production. The first step in learning to sing is to acquire a method of managing the breath. [Clark and Leland 101, p. 5] Voice production should not be at-tempted until the pupil has already acquired good breath control, according m Philip. {446, p. 145] Mme. Shoen-RenǤ is also definite in her opinion r^arding the separation of breath training from vocal training. |
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