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TRAINING THE SINGING VOICE |
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These opinions represent the general point of view of 19 authors, who find that railing the voice high and low at various pitch levels introduces an erroneous idea in the student's mind which Is ultimately detrimental to his voice. "Students must lose their feeling of singing high and low and must learn to think of It [pitch] in terms of more or less energy/' [Wilson 674, p. 7] To realize that the singing tone is "always produced on the same general level" prevents the singer from trying "to reach for tones of a high pitch frequency** and from "pressing down for tones of a low pitch frequency." [Austin-Ball $is p. 25] In other words, there should be no spedai preparation for high tones in singing, within the natural range of the individual voice. [Wharton 655, p. 61; also James 300, p. 42]
Bartholomew points out that the so-called head tone "is largely psychological rather than physiological.** [38] Waters suggests the following simple hut interesting remedy to offset the false concept which causes strained reaching for high or low notes: "Think ascent while singing down the scale and vice versa.*' [647, p. 26] Eight authors suggest the same psychological corrective, a device that is also quoted from Lam-perti's teachings as follows: **When rising to a note think of the movement as being downwards and vice versa." [Shakespeare 517, p. 31; Brown 78, p. 102; Christy 97, p. 42] Anxiety induces tension; hence high tones should not be prematurely anticipated as they are approached. Conklin's advice is pertinent: Don't think high when singing octaves but direct the tone mentally on a level that is "straight ahead and on the same level with the mouth." [121, p. 103]
TECHNICAL APPROACH
There are 98 concepts dealing with techniques of direct Instruction and practice in cultivating the range of the singing voice. These have been divided into three main categories: a) 32 statements that discuss the most favorable practice areas or sections of the vocal gamut, a sectional treatment of range; b) 29 statements that present directional methods of approach, i.e., upward and downward types of practice; c) 35 statements that discuss scale work and register blending.
Sectional treatment. Of the 32 concepts found in this area, all but 2 advocate use of a moderate portion of the vocal range when training the singing voice. Wilson and Samolloff, the two exceptions, both favor the use of the entire vocal range. "Sing to the high and low extremes of all voices/* Is Wilson's advice [674, p. 7], while Samoiloff declares that it is best to work on the entire voice always, neglecting no part of the range in favor of another. [484, p. 34] |
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