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thepitch impressions in themind arelikethekeys ofthepiano key-

board.

Pleasingquality depends primarily upon accurateintonation.

M

MasqueSingingin theMasqueisactually a grandiloquent namefor a

throaty,nasal technic.When the voiceis really well-produced no

tangiblesensation is experienced,becauseit is perfectly "free."When

thevoiceis impaired,becauseoftechnical faults,sensations arise,and

as thevoicedeteriorates,thesesensations becomeprogressively more

clearly defined.Sensation can be"felt"in thenose,between theeyes

or "in themasque"ifthejaw is set and tensed in themiddleposition.

This tension is directed to thefront ofthefaced uringphonation.This

sensation is greatly abetted when theneck muscles arein a high degree

oftension,and this can beengendered by droppingt he head and by

developingtension on themuscles ofthechest and shoulders.

Thesensation ofsomethinghappening"in the masque"is associated

with thetransmission ofsound through constrictor tension.Itserves

only to destroy thequality and power ofthetoneand eliminatethe

voice.It has nothingto do with resonance.

Mellow Toneis a toneofvery finequality.It can bepr oduced only when

thetechnic has reached a high stageofdevelopment and it is the

result ofa very highly developed resonancesystem.Thus,thegenio-

hyo-glossus muscles must bedeveloped very highly and theregisters

developed and co-ordinated completely,or almost so.Thetoneis not

white,but it is not overly dark and tends to bewhitish.Theresonance

adjustment involves theuseofa large,widely opened laryngeal

pharynx.Beforethe stageofdevelopment has been reached at which

legitimate,mellow tones can beproduced,thepupil has to singwith

a somewhat overly dark quality, especially in themiddlepart ofhis

range.The lateEnrico Caruso was theperfect exampleofmellow

singing.

Any attempt to producemellow tones at too early a stagein the

technical development leads to a dropped tongue,hyoid boneand

larynx and to throatinesseven activethroatiness.Therefore, it is dan-

gerous.

N

Nasal Resonanceis patently absurd becausethenasal cavity is a non-

adjustable,highly damped cavity which could not,under any circum-

stances,function as a resonator.

Thenasal pharynx does form part ofthepharyngeal resonance

system,but this is notthenoseit is behind thenose.

Thefeelingofsomething happeningin thenoseis experienced when

thejaw is locked in themiddleposition and this lockingtension is

directed into thefront oftheface(thenose),and when theneck

muscles plus themuscles ofthechest and shoulders arein a high degree

oftension.

^

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sung.Both registers should becarried uprelatively slowly,onesemi-

toneat thetime.However,the octavereflection must,at all stages,

bemeticulously adhered to,or mixed registration and throatiness

will result with theaccompanyingloss ofvoice.

Theoctavereflection does not apply to men's voices,becausethey

cannot put forth sufficient energy to produceloud enough tones at

such high pitches.Physiologically, however,it is truefor both sexes.

UnbalancedRegistration is unbalanced when both registers have

been isolated and established,with onemoredevelopedstronger

than theother. It is absolutely essential that this condition becor-

rected immediately.No further development ofthestronger register

should bepermitted,until equalized development between thetwo

registers has been established.This is not co-ordination.It is a con-

dition which must persist through all stages ofthetrainingprocess,

onceit has been established.

RelaxingtheThroatIfthe throat werereally relaxed,a singer could

not producesound.SeeForward VoiceProduction and Focussingthe

Voice.

Ifproponents ofthis notion mean "relax themuscles oftheneck"

it would bemuch better to say so,becausethesemuscles come into a

high degreeoftension when themuscles ofthethroat,i.e.,genio-hyo-

glossus muscles,relax.

When thetongueis relaxed thetoneis throaty.Thethroat is the

resonator ofthetone in good technic.It is only out of action in phona-

tion,when thetechnic is bad (throaty).

Resonance Adjustment indicates theshapingoftheresonancecavities

for thepickingout,or resonation,ofthebands offrequencies which

determinethevowel.Resonanceadjustment is possibleonly when the

cavities can assumea widevariety ofshapes and sizes.

For thehuman voice,resonanceadjustmentis madewith thepharyn-

geal cavities when thetechnic is correct and with themouth when it

is throatyincorrect.

Resonanceadjustment implies the"tuning"ofcavitiespharynx or

mouthfor theresonation ofthevowel bands offrequencies ofthe

particular fundamental and its overtones which aregenerated at the

larynx.

Open

Major OpeningMost voices areconstricted,or throaty,at the

start ofthetrainingprocess.A first major changefrom constrictor

to openingtension must,then,beengendered. Thetonguemuscles

(genio-hyo-glossus muscles) must bebroughtinto tension,and

when this action is establishedfor thefirst time,thevoicesudd enly

"opens up"to a very marked degree.Theincreasein power,which

results when a constricted voiceopens up,may bevery startling.

This openingoften occurs suddenly.It may betermed a "major

opening,"andit must bemet with a very pronounced increasein

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theenergy or "drive"which thesinger must put into theproduc-

tion oftone.

Open Toneoccurs when thetonguehas pulled away from thepos-

terior wall ofthelaryngeal pharynx and has thus opened the

throat,i.e.,when pharyngeal resonanceadjustment has been estab-

lished.

Unfortunately,somepeoplebelieveopen tones areproduced

only in themiddlerangeofthevoice.By "open tones,"these

peoplemean relatively loud,white,shouty,throaty tonesand not

tones produced with thebaseofthetongue drawn away from the

posterior wall ofthelaryngeal pharynx.

When thevoiceis produced properly themiddletones are

slightly darker than thehigh tones.However,thescalecan be

ascended without any transition,or sudden changeofadjustment,

and with an evenly-risingintensity.

Opened Up"Opened up"indicates a tonesungwith thethroat

opened;when the baseofthetongueis held forward,away from

theposterior wall ofthelaryngeal pharynx,becauseoftension

on thegenio-glossus muscle;and thehyoid boneis held in posi-

tion becauseoftension on thegenio-hyoid muscle.When the

toneis opened up,theresonanceadjustment is pharyngeal and the

mouth cavity is out ofaction in phonation.

Openingoccurs when thegenio-hyo-glossus muscles developand

thetongueis pulled away from theposterior wall ofthelaryngeal

pharynx.Thestrengthening ofthesemuscles occurs in stages and

should besynchronized with thelaryngeal development.Thus,

periodic "openings"takeplace.Each timean openingoccurs a

larger resonancecavity is employed.Thefirst "opening,"in the

early stageofthetraining, is very pronounced and major vocal

changes occur.Such openings virtually never cease,but they

becomeless and less pronounced as technical perfection is more

nearly approximated.

Every timean openingoccurs,the power ofthevoiceincreases

and thequality is improved to a marked degree.At first thepower

increaseis most pronounced,but this effect becomes less as the

voiceprogresses.Later openings serveto improvethequality,i.e.,

themellowness ofthetone, rather than to increasethepower

which only augments slightly after real openinghasbeen attained.

Pharyngeal resonanceadjustment is employed when the t echnic is

good.Thepharyngeal cavitieslaryngeal,oral and nasalare

shaped,or "tuned,"to resonatethetone.The positioning,or

shaping,ofthesecavities alters with each changeofpitch,vowel

or vowel color.For thelowest tones,thet rachea and bronchi take

part in theresonanceadjustment.

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oftension on thegenio-hyo-glossus muscles.Theposition ofthe

soft palateand theopeningbetween thetongueand theuvula

also influencethe resonanceadjustment.When thepharyngeal

cavities areproperly "tuned"for theresonation ofthetone,

acoustic couplingoccurs between thevocal cords and the

resonator.

PositioningoftheResonance Cavities indicates that theresonance

cavities havebeen shaped or "tuned"for theresonation ofthetone,

i.e.,that they havetaken on theposture,or shape,necessary in order

that thevowel may beresonated.

"Set"oftheResonanceCavities indicates thepositioningor "tuning"

oftheresonancecavities for theresonation ofthetone.When the

technic is correct,thepharyngeal cavities are"set"and when it is

incorrect(throaty), themouth cavity is "set."

ShapingtheResonanceCavities indicates that theresonancecavities

haveassumed a certain posturefor theresonation ofthetone.In

correct technic thepharyngeal cavities are"shaped"and in throaty

technic the mouth is "shaped."

Throaty

ActiveThroatiness designates any very intenseformof throatiness.

It sounds throaty and actively unpleasant.

Activethroatiness may be"dark"or "white"but in each case

thedegreeofcon striction is very great.Thegenio-hyo-glossus

muscles arerelaxed and their antagonists arein a high stateof

tension.At thesametime,themu scles oftheneck and jaw are

very strongly tensed and mouth resonanceadjustment is much in

evidence.Generally,thechest andshoulders aretensed and the

head is forced into an unnatural posture(thenatureoft heposture

varies with theindividual).

Thebreath is, ofcourse,"blown"out as it is with all forms of

throatiness.Thebreath expulsion is generally rather low because

oftheintenseconst riction.Theconstriction ofthethroat is ex-

tremely great,and thetongueis drawn back in a high degreeof

tension.

Constricted Toneis a throaty tone.Constricted refers to the tension

which occurs duringtheproduction ofa throaty toneon the

muscles oftheneck,chest,shoulders,jaw and thosetongue

muscles which areantagonistic to thegenio-hyo-glossus muscles.

A constricted toneis produced under conditions ofstrain and

effort.

Diction Singer is onewho concentrates on thewords with complete

disregard for themusic or import ofthecomposition.Each and

every syllableis carefully and deliberately articulated and one

syllableis sungat a time.Theconsonants areover-articulated,and

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the"m's,""n's"and "l's"aresustained and over-accentuated,be-

causetheadded vowel,or hum,with which they are associated is

over-sustained to a ridiculous degree.Thevowels aremouth

resonated with careful and exaggerated mouth and lipgesturing.

Theintensity level employed is generally that ofspeech,and even

below that ofproperly produced speech.Thetechn ic is always

throaty.

Jaw Lock occurs when a mouth resonanceadjustment is employed.

Most jaw locks areestablished when the jaw has been dropped

into themiddlelockposition.This middle,locked position is

determined by theposturewhich the jaw assumes when it is

opened easily,in a relaxed manner,i.e.,without effort, as an idiot

drops his jaw.

When themouth is opened,thejaw drops down a certain dis-

tanceand then can bepulled further down and back.Thelock

position is established when thejaw is dropped d own and the

"further down and back"gesturehas not been accomplished.

No toneshould ever besungwith thejaw in themiddlelock

position.Thejaw is always either nearly closed or completely

opened,when the technic is correct.

LipPositionNo matter which vowel is beingsung(there are

about 83),thelips should beopened slightly,raised off theteeth

and neither spread nor pouted when the technic is correct.When

it is faulty (throaty) a mouth resonanceadjustment is employed.

Thelips takepart in this adjustment,and assumedefinitepostures

for thediversevowels as essential factors in "tuning"themouth

for themouth resonanceadjustment.All such lippositions must

bebroken down and eliminated ifthetechnic is to becorr ected

and a pharyngeal ("open") resonanceadjustment is to be attained.

MouthWhen thethroat is closed (constricted) thevowel must

perforcebe mouth resonated.Under theseconditions theshaping

ofthemouth cavity is brought about by means ofthe position of

thejaw,lips, cheeks,thefront ofthetongue and,possibly,the

soft palate.Whenever mouth resonanceadjustment occurs the

toneis throaty and thejaw is locked.

Mouth resonanceadjustment must bebroken down and elimi-

nated in theprocess oftrainingthevoice.

Mouth Position indicates theshaping,or positioning,ofthecheeks

and lips plus thejaw lock for a mouth vowel,resonanceadjust-

ment.