How to Sing by Lilli Lehmann (best books to read for knowledge .TXT) 📕

On its incurving back it holds firmly the vowels; with its tip, many of the consonants. With all its elasticity, it must be trained to great strength and endurance.

I, for instance, after every syllable, at once jerk my tongue with tremendous power back to its normal position in singing; that is, with its tip below the front teeth and the base raised tongue That goes on constantly, as quick as a flash. At the same time my larynx takes such a position that the tongue cannot interfere with it, that is, press upon it. By quickly raising the tongue toward the back, it is taken out of the way of the larynx, and the mass of the tongue is cleared from the throat. In the middle range, where the tongue or the larynx might be too high or too low, the furrow, which is of so much importance, is formed, in order to lead the vocalized breath first against the front of the palate beneath the nose, then slowly along the nose and behind it. Then when the highest point (the peak, which is extremely extensible) is reached, the pillars of the fauces are lowered, in order to leave the way for the head tones to the head cavities entirely free. In doing this, the sides of the tongue are raised high. Every tongue should occupy only so much space as it can occupy without being a hindrance to the tone.

The bad, bad tongue! one is too thick, another too thin, a third too long, a fourth much too short.

Ladies and gentlemen, these are nothing but the excuses of the lazy!

breath

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No one can sing properly without first preparing for it, mentally and physically, with all the organs concerned in the production of the voice.

We have in this to perform three functions, simultaneously:—

First, to draw breath quietly, not too deeply; to force the breath against the chest and hold it there firmly till the upward and outward streaming—that is, singing—begins. (See plate, The Path of the Breath.)

Second, to raise the soft palate at the same time toward the nose, so that the breath remains stationary until the singing begins.

Third, to jerk the tongue backward at the same time, its back being thus raised, and elastic, ready to meet all the wishes of the singer,—that is, the needs of the larynx. The larynx must not be pressed either too low or too high, but must work freely. The breath is enabled to stream forth from it like a column, whose form is moulded above the larynx by the base of the tongue.

When these three functions have been performed, all is ready. Now the pitch of the tone is to be considered, as the singing begins.

The consummation (Höhepunkt) of the tone, above the palate, gives the point of attack itself, under the palate.

Now further care must be given that the point of attack on the palate—that is, the focal point of the breath—be not subjected to pressure, and that the entire supply of breath be not expended upon the palatal resonance.

For this the palate must remain elastic, for it has a twofold duty to perform. It must not only furnish resistance for the focal point of the breath,—except in the very highest head tones,—around which it can be diffused; the same resistance, which stands against the stream of breath from below, must also afford a firm, pliant, and elastic floor for the overtones, which, soaring above the palate, shift, as is needed, to or above the hard and soft palate, or are divided in the nose, forehead, and head cavities. It can easily be seen how any pressure in singing can be dangerous everywhere, and how careful the singer is forced to be to avoid such mistakes.

What must my sensations be with the muscles of speech? How shall I control them?

The best position of the mouth, the means of securing the proper use of the muscles of speech and of the vocal organs, is established by pronouncing the vowel ā, not too sharply, in the middle range of the voice, and trying to retain the position of the muscles after the sound has ceased.

This cannot be done without a smiling position of the mouth, consequently with a strong contraction of the muscles of the mouth, tongue, and throat, which can be felt to be drawn up as far as the ears.

In doing so the tongue—as far as the tip—lies of a pretty nearly even height to the back tongue the soft palate soars without arching, but rather somewhat depressed over it.

In pronouncing the vowels ā and ē, the bright vowels, the full stream of the breath, in the given position, can only partly pass between the tongue and the palate. The other part is forced—unless the larynx stands too high and can choke it off—above the palate into the nasal cavities, to seek its opportunity for resonance.

The path for ā and ē above the palate is worthy of all attention as a place for the overtones of the middle voice. If the soft palate, in the lower middle tones, is forced too far toward the hard palate, the covered tones are without vibrancy. One must needs secure the help of the nose especially, when the palate is sunk beneath the nose, by inflating the nostrils and letting air stream in and out of them.

I repeat the warning, not to force several tones upon the same resonating point, but to see that upon each tone the form necessary for succeeding tones is prepared. Neglect of this will sooner or later be paid for dearly.

Notwithstanding the strong muscular contraction that the vocal organs must undergo in pronouncing the vowel ā, the breath must be able to flow gently and without hindrance through its form, in order completely to fill up its resonance chambers. Again, and always, attention must be given that in singing, and in speaking as well, nothing shall be cramped or held tense, except the pressure of the breath against the chest. It is of the utmost importance to maintain this position for all vowels, with the least possible perceptible modifications.

How can this be done? A and e are bright vowels, must be sung with a pleasant, almost smiling, position of the mouth. U and o, on the contrary, are dark vowels, for which the lips must be drawn into a sort of spout. Look at the position of the throat in these vowels: (1) as they are usually sung and spoken; (2) as I feel it, in singing, as I sing them, and as they must be sung and felt.

How do I connect them with each other? If I wish to connect closely together two vowels that lie near to or far from each other, I must first establish the muscular contractions for ā, and introduce between the two vowels, whether they lie near together or far apart, a very well-defined y. Then (supposing, for instance, that I want to connect ā and ē) I must join the ā closely to the y, and the y closely to the ē, so that there is not the least resonating space between the two that is not filled during the changes in the position of the organs, however carefully this is undertaken. There must be no empty space, no useless escape of breath, between any two of the sounds.

vowels

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Bad. Good.

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Wrong. Right.

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At first only two, then three and four, and then all the vowels in succession must be so practised:—

A-ye, a-ye-yu, a-ye-yoo-yü, a-ye-yo-yü-yu-ye-yah.

But there must be never more than so much breath at hand as is needed to make the vowel and the tone perfect. The more closely the vowels are connected with the help of the y, the less breath is emitted from the mouth unused, the more intimate is the connection of tone, and the less noticeable are the changes of the position of the organs in relation to each other.

When I pass from yā-yē to yoo, I am compelled to develop very strongly the muscular contraction of the lips, which are formed into a long projecting spout; and this movement cannot be sufficiently exaggerated. With every new y I must produce renewed muscular contractions of the vocal organs, which gradually, through continuous practice, are trained to become almost like the finest, most pliable steel, upon which the fullest reliance may be placed. From yoo it is best to go to yü, that lies still farther forward and requires of the lips an iron firmness; then to yo, touching slightly on the e that lies above the o; then return to yā, and not till then going to ye-ah, which must then feel thus:—

The y is taken under the ah, that the word may not slide under; for usually the thought of ah relaxes all the organs: the tongue lies flat, the larynx becomes unsteady, is without definite position, and the palate is not arched and is without firmness. In this way ah becomes the most colorless and empty vowel of the whole list.

With every change of vowel, or of any other letter, there are changes in the position of the organs, since tongue, palate, and larynx must take different positions for different sounds.

With ā and ē the larynx stands higher, the palate is sunk, or in its normal position.

With oo, o, and ah the larynx stands low, the palate is arched.

With a, e, and ah the lips are drawn back.

With oo, o, ü, and ö they are extended far forward.

The auxiliary sound y connects them all with each other, so that the transitions are made quite imperceptibly. Since it is pronounced with the tongue drawn high against the palate, it prevents the base of the tongue from falling down again.

This should be practised very slowly, that the sensations may be clearly discerned, and that no vibration that gives the vowel its pitch and duration may escape attention.

The muscular contraction described comprises the chief functions of the vocal organs, and is as necessary for singing as the breath is for the tone. Year in and year out every singer and pupil must practise it in daily exercises as much as possible, on every tone of the vocal compass.

In the lowest as well as in the highest range the sharpness of the a is lost, as well as the clear definition of all single vowels. A should be mingled with oo, ah, and e. In the highest range, the vowels are merged in each other, because then the principal thing is not the vowel, but the high sound.

Even the thought of ā and ē, the latter especially, raises the pitch of the tone. The explanation of this is that ā and ē possess sympathetic sounds above the palate that lead the breath to the resonance of the head cavities.

For this reason tenors often, in high notes, resort to the device of changing words with dark vowels to words with the bright vowel e. They could attain the same end, without changing the whole word, by simply thinking of an e.

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Without over-exertion, the singer can practise the exercises given above twenty times a day, in periods of ten