The Psychology of Singing

Part I of This Work Contains a Review of Modern Methods. in Part Ii a

critical analysis is offered of certain theories of the vocal action which receive much attention in practical instruction. Several of the accepted doctrines of Vocal Science, notably those of breath-control, chest and nasal resonance, and forward placing of the tone, are found on examination to contain serious fallacies. More important even than the specific errors involved in these doctrines, the basic principle of modern Voice Culture is also found to be false. All methods are based on the theory that the voice requires to be directly and consciously managed in the performance of its muscular operations. When tested by the psychological laws of muscular guidance, this theory of mechanical tone-production is found to be a complete error.

Part Iii Contains a Summary of All Present Knowledge of the Voice.

First, the insight into the singer's vocal operations is considered, which the hearer obtains by attentive listening to the tones produced. This empirical knowledge, as it is generally called, indicates a state of unnecessary throat tension as the cause, or at any rate the accompaniment, of every faulty tone. Further, an outline is given of all scientific knowledge of the voice. The anatomy of the vocal organs, and the acoustic and mechanical principles of the vocal action, are briefly described. Finally, the psychological laws of tone-production are considered. It is seen that under normal conditions the voice instinctively obeys the commands of the ear.

In Part IV the information about the vocal action obtained from the two sources is combined,--the scientific knowledge of mechanical processes, and the empirical knowledge derived from attentive listening to voices. Throat stiffness is then seen to be the one influence which can interfere with the instinctively correct action of the voice. The most important cause of throat stiffness is found in the attempt consciously to manage the mechanical operations of the voice. In place of the erroneous principles of mechanical instruction, imitation is seen to be the rational foundation of a method of Voice Culture. The mystery surrounding the old Italian method is dispelled so soon as the possibility is recognized of teaching singing by imitation. Practical rules are outlined for imparting and acquiring the correct use of the voice, through the guidance of the sense of hearing. The singer's education is considered in its broadest sense, and training in tone-production is assigned to its proper place in the complex scheme of Voice Culture.

During the past twenty years the author has found opportunity to hear most of the famous singers who have visited America, as well as a host of artists of somewhat lesser fame. In his early student days the conviction grew that the voice cannot reach its fullest development when mechanically used. Siegfried does not forge his sword, and at the same time think of his diaphragm or soft palate. Lucia cannot attend to the movements of her arytenoid cartilages while pouring out the trills and runs of her Mad Scene. A study of the theoretical works on Vocal Science, dealing always with mechanical action and never with tone, served only to strengthen this conviction. Finally the laws of physiological psychology were found to confirm this early belief.

Every obtainable work on Voice Culture has been included in the author's reading. No desire must be understood to make a display of the results of this study. One citation from a recognized authority, or in some cases two or three, is held sufficient to verify each statement regarding the accepted doctrines of Vocal Science. As for the practical features of modern methods, the facts alleged cannot in every case be substantiated by references to published works. It is, however, believed that the reader's acquaintance with the subject will bear out the author's statements.

This work is of necessity academic in conception and in substance. Its only purpose is to demonstrate the falsity of the idea of mechanical vocal management, and to prove the scientific soundness of instruction by imitation. There is no possibility of a practical manual of instruction in singing being accepted, based on the training of the ear and the musical education of the singer, until the vocal world has been convinced of the error of the mechanical idea. When that has been accomplished this work will have served its purpose. All of the controversial materials, together with much of the theoretical subject matter, will then be superfluous. A concise practical treatise can then be offered, containing all that the vocal teacher and the student of singing need to know about the training and management of the voice.

It is in great measure due to the cooperation of my dear friend, Charles Leonard-Stuart, that my theory of voice production is brought into literary form, and presented in this book. To his thorough musicianship, his skill and experience as a writer of English, and especially to his mastery of the bookman's art, I am deeply indebted. True as I know Leonard-Stuart's love to be for the art of pure singing, I yet prefer to ascribe his unselfish interest in this work to his friendship for the author.

CONTENTS

PART I. Modern Methods of Instruction in Singing

MODERN METHODS OF INSTRUCTION IN SINGING

CHAPTER I

Tone-Production and Voice Culture

CHAPTER II

Breathing and Breath-Control

CHAPTER III

Registers and Laryngeal Action

CHAPTER IV

Resonance

CHAPTER V

Empirical Materials of Modern Methods

CHAPTER VI

A General View of Modern Voice Culture

PART II

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF MODERN METHODS

CHAPTER I

Mechanical Vocal Management as the Basis of Voice Culture

CHAPTER II

The Fallacy of the Doctrine of Breath-Control

CHAPTER III

The Fallacies of Forward Emission, Chest Resonance, and Nasal Resonance

CHAPTER IV

The Futility of the Materials of Modern Methods

CHAPTER V

The Error of the Theory of Mechanical Vocal Management

PART III

THE BASIS OF A REAL SCIENCE OF VOICE

CHAPTER I

The Means of Empirical Observation of the Voice

CHAPTER II

Sympathetic Sensations of Vocal Tone

CHAPTER III

Empirical Knowledge of the Voice

CHAPTER IV

The Empirical Precepts of the Old Italian School

CHAPTER V

Empirical Knowledge in Modern Voice Culture

CHAPTER VI

Scientific Knowledge of the Voice

PART IV

VOCAL SCIENCE AND PRACTICAL VOICE CULTURE

CHAPTER I

The Correct Vocal Action

CHAPTER II

The Causes of Throat Stiffness and of Incorrect Vocal Action

CHAPTER III

Throat Stiffness and Incorrect Singing

CHAPTER IV

The True Meaning of Vocal Training

CHAPTER V

Imitation the Rational Basis of Voice Culture

CHAPTER VI

The Old Italian Method

CHAPTER VII

The Disappearance of the Old Italian Method and the Development of Mechanical Instruction

CHAPTER VIII

The Materials of Rational Instruction in Singing

CHAPTER IX

Outlines of a Practical Method of Voice Culture

Bibliography

CHAPTER I

TONE-PRODUCTION AND VOICE CULTURE

In no other form of expression do art and nature seem so closely identified as in the art of singing. A perfect voice speaks so directly to the soul of the hearer that all appearance of artfully prepared effect is absent. Every tone sung by a consummate vocal artist seems to be poured forth freely and spontaneously. There is no evidence of calculation, of carefully directed effort, of attention to the workings of the voice, in the tones of a perfect singer. Yet if the accepted idea of Voice Culture is correct, this semblance of spontaneity in the use of the voice can result only from careful and incessant attention to mechanical rules. That the voice must be managed or handled in some way neither spontaneous nor instinctive, is the settled conviction of almost every authority on the subject. All authorities believe also that this manner of handling the voice must be acquired by every student of singing, in the course of carefully directed study.

This training in the use of the voice is the most important feature of education in singing. Voice Culture embraces a peculiar and distinct problem, that of the correct management of the vocal organs. Vocal training has indeed come to be considered synonymous with training in the correct use of the voice. Every method of instruction in singing must contain as its most important element some means for dealing with the problem of tone-production.

No complete and satisfactory solution of this problem has ever been found. Of this fact every one acquainted with the practical side of Voice Culture must be well aware. As the present work is designed solely to suggest a new manner of dealing with this question, it is advisable to define precisely what is meant by the problem of tone-production.

In theory the question may be stated very simply. It is generally believed throughout the vocal profession that the voice has one correct mode of action, different from a wide variety of incorrect actions of which it is capable;--that this mode of action, though ordained by Nature, is not in the usual sense natural or instinctive;--that the correct vocal action must be acquired, through a definite understanding and conscious management of the muscular movements involved. The theoretical problem therefore is: What is the correct vocal action, and how can it be acquired?

On the practical side, the nature of the problem is by no means so simple. In actual instruction in singing, the subject of vocal management cannot readily be dissociated from the wide range of other topics comprised in the singer's education. In much that pertains to the art of music, the singer's training must include the same subjects that form the training of every musician. In addition to this general musical training, about the same for all students of music, each student must acquire technical command of the chosen instrument. This is necessarily acquired by practice on the instrument, whether it be piano, violin, oboe, or whatever else. In the same way, vocal technique is acquired by practice in actual singing. Practice makes perfect, with the voice as with everything else.

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