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TRAINING THE SINGING VOICE |
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in the body," [Murseil and Glenn, op. at.] "There are also direct subcortical [neural] interconnections between the larynx and the diaphragm, the larynx and the ear and the larynx and the facial muscles/' indicating, according to Murseil, that "the entire organism comes to a focus in the act of song/* [411, p. 225 ff; also Curry 124, p. 7]
Orton reports that vocal tone is controlled from both hemispheres of the brain, indicating a somatic connection with bodily behavior. [439, p. 139] Acmrding £0 Negus, "movements of the vocal cords [phonation] are bilaterally represented [in the brain], but speech in man is controlled by a centre in the left hemisphere only" (Broca's area). [418, p. 468] It is also known that the vagus nerve serves both respiratory and phonatory functions. [White 658, p. 103] Hence, it is obvious from neurological evidence alone that the entire vocal musculature functions as one united system, governed only by psycho-neurological controls; and that the training of the voice involves deep-seated coordinations that can only be affected by a psychological teaching approach. [Garnetd-Forbes 198, p. 79] Henderson declares that the action of the vocal cords is entirely automatic and h governed entirely by the will to make a sound. [243, p. 35] Voluntary physical controls will obstruct the spontaneous mental processes which always govern tone production, according to Stanley. [577] "Nothing but naturally free [vocal] movements can suffice," says Hill. [272, p. 11]
Witherspoon believe that faults of phonation are usually not of local origin. They arise from faulty coordinations. Local effort of any kind is anathema to the vocal student. [677, p. 5] Therefore, the first law of voice teaching is "that no direction may be given the pupil which pertains to the direct control of any narrow group of muscles taking part in the act of phonation." [Stanley 578] In other words, the total coordination of all the vocal organs is far more important than the trained activity of any single part. {Everett 165]
Anticipation of tone controls phonation. This is a widely held concept
among singing teachers; 43 authors endorse it. Anticipation, in this sense, may be defined as a form of mental prevision or visualization of a sound in expectation of its actual production in the larynx. (W) It differs from self-listening (see Chapter VII). When tonal anticipation is strong
enough the tone may be "heard" mentally and a preparatory reaction of the vocal organs may take place before the tone is actually produced. The popular concept of anticipation as a psychological teaching device is
summed up in the following representative comments:
1. mlt is useless to expect the student to produce a good singing tone
unless it first exists in his mind." [Qippinger 114] |
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