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CONCEPTS OF RANGE |
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less." [197] In this she is upheld by Wilson who also writes that male voices especially should learn to sing softly on the high notes. [674, p. 6] This point of view is contradicted by Seashore [506, p. 89], Stanley [577, p. 358] and Huey [291], who believe that "higher-pitched tones are usually sung with greater intensity," and that "breath pressure should be increased as the tone ascends." Stanley adds that higher pitches require more exertion than lower ones. Conversely loud volume tends to raise vocal pitch. Whitfield takes a middle course. He would not force the voice up or down, but would allow only "the least breath and tension to each tone" so that complete relaxation could be maintained to let the voice function properly at all times. [660] The controversy rests at this point.
The notes immediately preceding the highest ones sung are also important and require special treatment, according to Stella Roman, noted Rumanian soprano. This prima donna believes that "the note before the high one is actually of greater importance because it serves as a tonal base. ... A high tone should never be attacked without vocal preparation from a note of lower range." [475] According to Ryan, it is the lower tone following the highest one that holds up the higher tone. Caruso once said, "I always carry my high tone over to the next note below, in the same volume, unless otherwise marked." [480, p. 81] Marafioti, who is reputed to be an authority on Caruso's technique of singing, quotes the great tenor as saying:. "In the matter of taking high notes one should remember that their purity and ease of production depend very much on the way the preceding notes leading up to them are sung." [368, p. 158] It is Maurice-Jacquet's belief that a lower note sung directly following a high one, "if not reduced in volume, will crash from the sheer force of the higher vibrations." [377] One more opinion is quoted concerning the special treatment of high notes. It is a physiological observation made by Haywood, that "each time the voice rises to the top tone, there is a slight elevation of the base of the tongue." [237, vol. Ill, p. 14]
VARIOUS TECHNICAL DEVICES
Importance of scale work. A scale is a ladder, a series of steps, a means of ascending. In music, it is "a graduated series of tones, ascending or descending in order of pitch according to a specified scheme of their intervals." (W) Redfield's definition is also useful: "A scale is a division of the octave into intervals suitable for musical purposes." [462, p. 68] As on any musical instrument, the entire range of the singing voice is divided into conventional step intervals or scale tones for purposes of musical orientation and study. The singer thus has a means of identifying various |
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