Resonance in Singing and Speaking | Page 8

shortcoming of the Italian school
of singing, as of composition, has been too exclusive devotion to
sensuous beauty of tone as an end in itself. The singer must never
forget that his mission is to =vitalize text with tone=. The songs of
Schubert, Schumann, Franz, Brahms, Grieg, Strauss, and Wolf, as well

as the Wagnerian drama, are significant in their inseparable union of
text and music. The singer is therefore an interpreter, not of music
alone, but of text made potent by music.
Pronunciation, moreover, concerns not only the listener, but the singer
and speaker, for pure tone and pure pronunciation cannot be divorced,
one cannot exist without the other. In his interesting work, The Singing
of the Future, Mr. Ffrangcon-Davies insists that, "the quickest way to
fine tone is through fine pronunciation."
We cannot think except in words, nor voice our thought without speech.
Vocal utterance is thought articulate. Therefore, instead of prolonged
attention to tone itself, training should be concentrated upon the uttered
word. The student should aim "to sing a word rather than a tone."
Correct pronunciation and beautiful tone are so interdependent as to be
inseparable.
The singer and speaker require all sounds in their purity. To seek to
develop the voice along the narrow limits of any single vowel or
syllable, as for instance the syllable ah, is harmful. Not only is this
vowel sound, as Lilli Lehmann says, "the most difficult," but the proper
pronunciation of all words within the whole range of the voice is
thereby impeded. Diction and tone work should therefore go hand in
hand. "The way in which vowel melts into vowel and consonants float
into their places largely determines the character of the tone itself."
Without finished pronunciation speech and song of emotional power
are impossible. Gounod, the composer, says, "Pronunciation creates
eloquence." Mr. Forbes-Robertson, the English master of dramatic
diction, speaking for his own profession says: "The trouble with
contemporary stage elocution springs from the actor's very desire to act
well. In his effort to be natural he mumbles his words as too many
people do in everyday life. Much of this can be corrected by constantly
bearing in mind the true value of vowels, the percussive value of
consonants, and the importance of keeping up the voice until the last
word is spoken. There must be, so to speak, plenty of wind in the
bellows. The great thing is to have the sound come from the front of the
mouth.... The actor must learn to breathe deeply from the diaphragm

and to take his breath at the proper time. Too often the last word is not
held up, and that is very often the important word.... Schools for acting
are valuable, ... but, after all, the actors, like other folk, must be taught
how to speak as children in the home, at school, and in society."
In pronunciation the words should seem to be formed by the upper lip
and to come out through it. By this method it will be found easy to
pronounce distinctly. The words will thus be formed outside the mouth
and be readily heard, as is a person talking in front of, instead of behind,
a screen. A single, intelligent trial will be sufficient to show the
correctness of the statement. Thinking of the upper lip as the fashioner
of the words makes speaking easy and singing a delight.
To smile while talking gives to the words a flat, silly sound, hence the
corners of the mouth should be kept well forward.
THE SINGER'S SCALE OF VOWEL SOUNDS
[Illustration:
1 nee 2 nit 3 net 4 nay 5 nair 6 nat 7 nigh 8 Nah 7' not 6' naw 5' ner 4'
nut 3' no 2' nook 1' noo.]
It may fasten this in mind to remember that at one end of the vowel
scale is--me, at the other--you.
The teeth and lips are most closed at the extremes of this scale, and
gradually open toward ah, with which vowel they are widest apart.
In the series 1-8 the tongue is highest in the centre for ee and gradually
descends until it lies flat in the mouth for ah.
The upper pharynx is most closed in 1, most open in 8, and closes more
and more in the descending series 7'-1'.
The lower pharynx gradually opens in the descending series 7'-1'.
The researches of Helmholtz, Koenig, Willis, Wheatstone, Appunn,
Bell, and others have shown that each vowel sound has its own

characteristic pitch. The Scale of Vowel Sounds given above
corresponds closely to the order of resonance pitch from the highest ee
to the lowest oo. In the natural resonance of the vowels ee is highest in
the head, ah is midway in the scale, and oo is lowest in resonance.
LIP POSITION
Figure 2