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CONCEPTS OF EAR TRAINING 181 |
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not be used effectively until the "inner hearing" is first developed. [647, p. 105] Glenn Woods refers to this inner hearing as the awakening of "tonal consciousness." [687] Hathaway calls it "voice consciousness." [231, p. 13] Stanley refers to mental concepts as "memory pictures" of sound. [577* P* 324] Lewis declares that vocal tone is not merely sound or pitch; "it is an idea." [344, p. iii] Clippinger believes that training the singing voice is a matter of developing "concepts," not muscles. When correct tone concepts have been formed, the vocal training program is immeasurably expedited. [108] "Tonal imagery is very important in guiding song," according to Mursell and Glenn. [Op. dt.] Ideal vocal tones "are reproduced by reflex action, only after they have been mentally imaged." [Brouillet 64, p. 43] Drew describes the act of phonation as an involuntary auditory reflex governed entirely by "thinking of a sound" rather than by thinking of an action. [147, p. 158] According to De Bruyn, a true "bel cantist" always patterns the quality of his voice after his own concept of tonal beauty, rather than by means of conscious muscular adjustments. [132] (See also Chapter IV)
Self-listening as a vocal aid. Listening is defined as the act of giving close or undivided attention with the purpose of hearing. (W) Self-listening, therefore, requires "concentration on what you are doing"; on how you sound, while singing. [Whitfield 661] In all, 21 opinions on this subject were gathered; 17 of them endorse self-listening as a teaching method and 4 are opposed to it. Those who are opposed to this device claim that no singer can hear his own voice accurately until he has been trained to do so. Hence he must rely entirely upon his teacher's judgment and hearing while he is studying singing. [Taylor 602, p. 31] Henley claims that the singer cannot accurately check on his own vocal reflexes by listening to himself, since he is likely to obtain a distorted picture of his own voice. [246] "Don't talk of ear tests," says Benedict. "What is one man's meat is often another's poison." If self-listening were resorted to, there would be as many standards of vocal excellence as there are people. [44] Stanley is also emphatic in his disapproval of self-listening because, as he claims, the student cannot listen impartially to his own voice during the act of singing. It is inevitable that he win either feel conceited or discontented, depending upon whether he approves or disapproves of his tone. Therefore it is far better that the singer should never listen to his own voice. [578]
The arguments in favor of self-listening as a teaching device are summed up in the following representative opinions:
1. Learn to hear yourself. Perfect tone involves a complex coordination which can only be controlled by the ear. [Lilli Lehmann 337, p. 91] |
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