Voice Production in Singing and Speaking | Page 7

may be useful to a large class, and, so far as I know, that is my
reason for writing this book.
For myself music is indispensable. The one instrument we all possess is
a voice-mechanism. I am one of those who regret that so little attention
is paid, especially in America, to pleasing and expressive use of the
voice in ordinary conversation. Yet how much pleasure cannot a
beautiful speaking voice convey! The college undergraduate rarely
finds vocal study among the requirements, in spite of the fact that the
voice is an instrument that he will use much more than the pen. The
truth is, the home methods of voice-production are those we are most
likely to carry with us through life, and, unfortunately, little attention is
given to the subject.
Sometimes a love of sweet sounds may be a hidden cause for much that
would otherwise be inexplicable in an entire career, as in my own case.
It led to an early study of singers and actors and their performances; it
gave rise to an effort to form a voice that would meet the requirements
of an unusually sensitive ear; it led to the practice and teaching of
elocution, and, later, to much communion with voice-users, both

singers and speakers. In the meantime came medical practice, with
speedy specialization as a laryngologist, when there were daily
consultations with singers and speakers who had employed wrong
methods of voice-production; this again led on to the scientific
investigation of voice problems, with a view of settling certain disputed
points; then came renewed and deeper study of music, both as an art
and as a science, with a profound interest in the study of the philosophy
of musical art and the psychological study of the musical artist, all
culminating in this attempt to help those who will listen to me without
prejudice. I do not think I know all that is to be known, but I believe I
do know how to form and preserve the voice according to physiological
principles; I at least ask the reader to give my teachings and
recommendations a fair trial. He shall have reasons for what is
presented and recommended to him.
Once more let it be said that I do not deny that good practical results
may follow teaching that is not put before the pupil as physiology; but
what is claimed for physiological teaching is that--
1. It is more rational. The student sees that things must be thus and so,
and not otherwise.
2. Faults can be the better recognized and explained.
3. The student can the more surely guide his own development, and
meet the stress and storm that sooner or later come to every
professional voice-user.
4. Injured voices can be the more effectively restored.
5. The physical welfare of the student is advanced--a matter which I
find is often neglected by teachers of music, though more so in the case
of instrumental than vocal teachers.
6. The student can much more effectively learn from the performances
of others, because he sees that singing and speaking are physical
processes leading to artistic ends. This is perhaps one of the most
valuable results, and I can testify to the greater readiness with which

analysis of a performance can be made after even moderate
advancement. The teacher who is wise will encourage the student to
hear those who excel, and to analyze the methods which successful
artists employ. The student can much more readily accomplish this than
detect the mental movements of the artist, though the two really go
hand in hand to a large extent.
The above are some of the advantages, but by no means all, of a
method of study of voice-production which I must claim is the only
rational one--certainly, the only one that rests on a scientific
foundation.
It does not follow that such study, to be scientific, shall be made
repellent by the use of technical terms the significance of which the
reader is left to guess at, but finds unexplained. I fear such treatment of
vocal physiology has brought it into disrepute. The aim of the writer
will be to give a clear scientific treatment of the subject, which shall
not be obscured by unexplained technical terms, and which shall be
practical--capable of immediate use by student and teacher. If he did
not believe the latter possible he would not think it worth while to
attempt the former, especially as this has often been done before, he
regrets to say, badly enough.
Although the author has not now the tune to give regular lessons in
voice-production, he is frequently consulted, especially when abroad,
during his vacations, by speakers and especially singers who are
anxious to learn how they may increase their efficiency in the
profession by which they