"His tongue was framed to music,And his hand was armed to skill;His face was the mould of beauty,And his heart the throne of will."Emerson."Slow, indeed, at times, is the will of the gods, but in the end not weak." sEuripedes.
"Slow, indeed, at times, is the will of the gods, but in the end not weak." sEuripedes.
The culture of the voice has come to be looked upon as a great and serious undertaking, and of such magnitude that but few have time for it, and those only should attempt it who have exceptionally fine voices. This is a mistake. Nearly everyone can sing, and if all would attempt to improve the voices they have by observing a few common-sense rules, it would soon be apparent that there are many more good singers among the masses than it is supposed exist, and these singers will learn how much can be done to add to their own comfort, by a little outlay of thought. Culture of the voice has been made a mystery by charlatan teachers and for a purpose. Think out how the conversational voice works and then consider what difference there should be between that and the singing voice. Nature planned the speaking voice and in doing it, gave us the line of developmentto follow in bringing into use the singing voice. The change from speaking to singing voice is where the quack enters with his mystery. There is no mystery. Use the voice as in speaking but pitch it at higher and lower points than are used in speaking. This is the foundation of the singing voice. Only one caution is needed. Never strain the throat. If, after a little practice, fatigue is felt or the tone is husky, stop practice. Do not try to do it all at once. A little each day added, will, in a few months, do all that is wanted. Do not expect, however, that any amount of study by one's self will make an artist. One can sing, by self-study, so as to get much pleasure, and so as to give pleasure to friends; but something more serious and extended is needed to make the artist.
Sustain Perfectly.
Sustaining perfectly the reservoir of air is the greatestdesideratumin using the voice. Acquiring ability to do so is a puzzle often to students. The reason is in the fact that no muscles which are directly under the control of the will can be caused to act upon the air column. The chief organ of respiration is the diaphragm, and as years of teaching bring experience which is definite in results, we find that the diaphragm isthe only muscle which holds the air column in check. That muscle situated within the body cannot be held by any visible power. Thethoughtof holding it still will make us hold our breath. Trying to assist such holding by muscles of the chest, abdomen or throat, only defeats our purpose and makes the diaphragm give way. That large muscle will do the whole work if we will let it. The thought, as said above, is what will make it remain quiet. That thought may take various forms. What assists one does not appeal to another. But here is an assisting thought which does much good to the majority of students. Of course when the breath is taken the diaphragm is down and the waist is spread. Then the chest, bronchial tubes, windpipe and mouth are full of air. Now allow that air to be as still as the air of the room. Practise sustaining tone with any vowel, preceding each effort by taking position suggested above, and with the thought of keeping the air in the body just the same as, and a part of, the outer air. Then allow tone to float in the air, permitting no force whatever.
Care of the Body.
Singers seem to think but little of the tools with which they carry on their life work. Thatis the rule. Now and then a singer takes the opposite course and becomes unreasonably careful of his tools. In that case he is worse off than the careless. The "happy medium" is in all things the desirable state.
Our tools as singers are enclosed within the body and are the body. To have the body ready to respond to the musical demands it must be well and strong. To keep it well should be our first care. Happily we are so made that by following a few simple rules of living the body goes on through a long term of years without getting seriously out of order. Some persons can boast that they are never ill while many report but one sickness during a decade. The needed attention to the bodily wants, has, in these cases, been properly given. If all were as careful to do the same and not overdo the matter, perfect health would be the rule and not the exception.
The body needs nourishing food, clothing to preserve nearly uniform temperature, sufficient sleep, generous exercise, and thorough cleansing. Nothing more. Neglect of these, or as is more often the case, overdoing some of the first, is cause of disorder and disease. A singer cannot afford to have the tools of his employment other than in first-rate condition. If he does he enters his work, unnecessarily handicapped.
General advice regarding the eating and drinking is often given. Making it more specific, wewould say, eat only such food as is easily digested and insist that it shall be thoroughly cooked. Supply the body with enough such for its maintenance only. The singer, again, cannot afford to eat what is not needed, be that of kind or amount. Most persons in running a furnace will feed fuel twice a day, at night and morning. In specially cold weather giving the fire a little extra fuel at noon. This is a good rule for feeding the body. Avoid over-feeding. The object of eating is to nourish the body and not to gratify appetite. It makes little difference whether the palate is pleased or not. The body could be nourished on food which does not taste so good as some other. Eating, to most people, is more palate gratification than anything else. In doing so, the body is overfed and clogged. Singers cannot afford that.
Sleep. To recover the waste of body at each days' work, quiet restful sleep is needed. Eight hours, or better nine, out of each twenty-four. In a cool room where possible and with plenty of fresh air. People who eat rationally need not fear taking cold by sleeping in a room with a draught of air through it. Fresh air, fresh, good food and cleanliness are necessary to the best results in singing study.
No rule can be given about bathing. Some students can stand a thorough bath every day. Others, only once in ten days. A sponge bath,if no other, should be had daily, that the pores of the body may be kept open and clear.
Clothing should be sufficient to keep the temperature of the body even. No need of wrapping the throat even when going into the open air, if the temperature of the body generally is even. We do pamper our bodies and think we are uncomfortable. In one sweeping sentence, be vigorous and good-natured and the body will the better serve us. A long walk each day in the fresh air adds to that vigor, and also to our good-nature.
Friends Can Help.
Advice of friends is a source of value or injury to the singing student. Advice has its influence. Every word spoken about one's voice and singing helps or injures. If placed in a circle which condemns every effort we make we are held back by that very influence from doing our best. Every judicious word of praise helps us upward. A pupil who is struggling by himself, without a word of cheer in his own home circle has a hard fight of it. For that reason it is very necessary that pupils whose desires are similar, and whose aims are toward the highest, should be gathered together. They help by their words, and often by their looks, the anxious student. "Forsake notthe assembling of yourselves together," applies. After a pupil's recital, a judicious teacher will tell his pupils the kind things which the others have said. If unkind things should be said (but a teacher who is himself kind will not hear unkind things) he will keep those to himself, guiding himself, however, by those comments in the future treatment of that criticized pupil. In this connection, a word to the members of the family of the student. A mother, who steps into the practice-room occasionally when she hears good singing and says, "That was good. I see you are improving," aids the student as much as a half-dozen lessons will aid. A brother who banters his sister about her singing when he really enjoys it, knows not, oftentimes, that his banter hurts and harms. To be sure, the partiality of the home circle may foster false hopes, but since nearly every one can learn to sing well if rightly trained, that will do less harm than cold indifference and cruel banter.
Renew Thought.
The teacher who does not live in high thought, and who does not attempt to attain a high ideal, does poorer work than he thinks he does. It is an easy matter to settle into a rut and to follow certain lines. These wear themselves out.New ways of imparting time-honored teaching, although they may not change the principles of teaching, must be constantly sought. They will only come to mind by keeping the thought in the highest realm of intellectual possibility to that teacher. One who contemplates with restful care, in that higher realm, the beautiful in music, the way of influencing mind, and the most direct way of causing students to attain that which they need, will ever renew his method of teaching. Such renewal will contain something better than he had before. Unless constant renewal, or at least frequent renewal, takes place, the rut will be entered upon. The longer one follows it, the deeper he becomes settled in it, and the harder is it to get out from it.
Speaking and Singing.
The basis of good singing is good speaking. The speaking voice in common use during conversation covers a range of five or six notes. Frequently lower and higher notes are called into use, but the high and low notes of the singing voice are seldom used in conversation. The organs which produce voice, from their constant use respond involuntarily to the will. They also do correct work. It is seldom that a person, unless he has deformity, has trouble to pronounceany word or syllable, while talking. Would this were true of singers. The student would greatly lessen the amount of his labor and also reduce the cost of his musical education if he were able to speak the words as correctly and as easily while singing as while speaking. It is toward this imitation of the speaking voice that one must constantly strive if he would make rapid progress in voice development. When he has reached the point where he can sing every vowel and consonant perfectly, and with as little effort as when speaking, on every tone of his singing voice, and then have that voice loud enough to be well heard in any hall, the voice is completely and well cultivated.
Associates.
Singers cannot afford to miss the chance to be among great men. As a class, musicians are narrow and that arises from the necessity of giving so much time to technical study. When the chance to meet and associate with men of broad minds comes, take advantage of it. Even if the contact be not close some of the light shining from the great mind will illumine us, and will make us brighter. The great mind is drawing from inspired source, maybe, and the light which comes from that mind drives outdarkness from whatever it covers. Light and darkness cannot remain together. Let the mind be thrown open to receptivity when one is in the presence of the acknowledged leader and good clear light, it may be from heaven, will flood the mind and illumine it.
Purity of Method.
Purity of vocal method must not be departed from by teachers. The introduction of new ideas is at best a hazardous undertaking. In the routine of teaching week after week and month after month the teacher finds himself casting about for a new idea. He finds something which pleases him and tries it on his pupils. Most teachers can look back at experiments which have failed. Better decide on a few basic principles and cling to them. The desire to try something new is very liable to be the result of fatigue from overwork. Better take a holiday; go away from the classroom and rest. Come back to first principles again and go to work. The result at the end of the year will be better. Every teacher as he grows older resolves his ways of cultivating the voice into something very simple but which, as it condenses, becomes more powerful. There is only one right way and deep thinkers settle on that alike in time.
Mental Recovery.
A teacher cannot do better for himself and his work than to occasionally close the office door and sit quietly by himself for a half-hour. At such time crowd out the thought of all work, all planning, all worries, and all demands. Bring the mind as nearly as can be into inactivity. One will find in the hour when work is resumed that more of value will flood into the mind, he knows not from whence, than he can catch and apply in a great many hours. How many of us have times of refreshing. It is work, work, hour after hour and the wonder is that we do so much and yet do so little. Leave out some of the work and call activity of mind to our aid and we will do more work with much less effort.
Profession or Trade.
An item recently seen reads, "we would rather be a music teacher in an obscure town than be a prosperous tradesman in a large city." That has the sound of enthusiasm, and is the feeling of one who has the good of his fellowmen at heart. Every man who enters a profession gives up his life to do good. But few men in any professional life ever make more than a good living. Some can, indeed, save enough to make occasional investments, and these (if judgment has beengood) secure a moderate fortune. But no man ever became wealthy from his profession alone. A professional man, however, gratifies his better nature and satisfies cultivated tastes. A man in trade becomes so engrossed in business that his better nature (his refined taste) is dwarfed. That comfort of mind which the professional man has is more to him than the bags of gold of the merchant would be. Probably the writer who made the remark quoted, had in mind the opportunity which the music teacher has to do good. It is a grand field of work, and one who has been engaged in it for several years wants no other. To lead the public by teaching and by public performance into the knowledge of the highest art, is a privilege which should be prized. The music teacher, (even if not so placed by common opinion) stands with the minister and the physician in the good which he does the community.
Heart and Intellect.
Let not the heart be the ruling power all the time. If it is, art sinks into sentimentality. Allow the head to rule alternately with the heart. Intellect must be applied if any satisfying musical result is to be obtained. Emotion is good, but it needs curbing, shaping and restraining.Emotion, long sustained and unbridled, becomes nauseating. Emotion in itself is beautiful, but like fire and water, if it once becomes the master, wastes and destroys. Emotion, aroused by imagination and directed by intelligence, serves to give taste to all musical rendition. One without heart is non-satisfying as a singer. Be he ever so intellectual, his singing is cold. Intellect alone, unaided by heart, is like polished steel—cold, brilliant and dazzling. Intellect and heart combined are like the same surface engraved and enamelled in artistic design—chaste, delicate and finished.
Time Ends Not.
We may say with Emerson that "Time has his own work to do and we have ours," and with Wood, "Labor is normal; idleness, abnormal," but in music there must be times of cessation from labor. Call it change of work, if you choose rather than admit that labor has ceased, but experience shows that no musician can safely follow his calling year in and year out, with no regular period of rest, and save his mind and body. Sooner or later comes a collapse. The human machine breaks down. Then we shall think of Emerson and Wood as unsafe leaders. Time has his work, but he works in such deliberationand in such ever-changing form that were he one who could feel fatigue, he need not feel it. Time is from eternity to eternity. Time does not occupy a human machine. The music teacher does. Many a teacher has toiled beyond his strength this year. Many will next year. Who will take thought for himself and break loose, if but for a few weeks, and postpone the time of breaking down? One might say, that with Time, the human soul is from eternity to eternity and there is no breakdown. True, but the residence of that soul while it is in this period of existence, demands much of its attention. That cannot properly be given when the exacting duties of the class-room drag on week after week, till they number fifty-two, and then begin at once another weary round. Admit that there are limitations, and, in cordial co-operation with existing laws, select and use the days of idleness, even if one has said that idleness is abnormal.
Power of Thought.
The power of thought to exert influence is only in our day being understood. How to utilize it is not yet in such degree of comprehension that it can be told so that all are able to use the force which they contain. Thought is atangible essence passing from the human mind and lodging upon the object toward which it is sent. Definite thought is more powerful than is illy defined thought. Speech enables us to crystalize thought and to empower it with added force. The time given to framing sentences enables us to put thought into definite form. A step beyond speech is obtained in singing. When learning our songs we revolve the thought to be expressed in mind. The measure of the music gives time to concentrate the thought contained into its most powerful form. The rhythm and vibration which accompany music and singing, enhance the power of thought. Whenever we sing in the true spirit of the sentiment uttered we send out shafts, so to speak, of pure thought. Not one of those is lost. It lodges somewhere, and as all good can never do harm, our good thought, sent in song, must do good to those who come within our influence to receive our good shafts. A singer who uses music for vain display loses the opportunity for good. There is no good thought in such singing. If there is any thought at all it is of the lower order. It lodges also, but it appeals to that which is vain and low in our hearers. What wonder is it, then, that ofttimes our hearers make unkind remarks about us and our singing! It is our fault that we have stirred up in them the spirit of vanity and criticism. Our thoughthas often challenged such spirit in them. Let our thought be changed, and only the good which is contained in poetic art sent out to them and their attitude toward us will change. There is no unpleasant thing which comes to us but that we stimulated it and created it. We can make our musical surroundings by sending out powerful shafts of pure thought.
Nature Seldom Jumps.
Nature seldom moves by jumps, and a student who reaches the best use of his voice learns that he must do that through natural laws. In other words, that he must acquire all things through naturalness. What wrongs have been done to students under the shield of so-called naturalness! Many teachers who claim that they are cultivating the voice by natural laws, know nothing of what it means to be natural. Naturalness means the expression of our own nature. If a teacher uses the natural method he but points out to his pupils their true natures and holds them to that correct use of such that they return to their normal condition. The necessities of our modern living have made most of us feel that we must put a side of ourselves outward which shows off well. In singing we develop abnormally something which we fancywill please our hearers and bring us applause. We try to hide our defects and admit that we do. Aside from the question of honesty, is it policy to do so. Most firmly, should be the answer, No! It destroys the naturalness of the singer and substitutes artifice. Any spurious issue will be detected sooner or later. Besides, is it not much more comfortable to have the real than the counterfeit? Be natural, then. Many students are impulsive. It was to these that the remark that "Nature seldom jumps," was made. In natural action everything is deliberate and restful; controlled and sure. Nature makes but few angles, but moves in graceful curves. Good quality of tone on one note and poor quality on the next, is not natural. Nature does not jump from one voice into another. Nature demands symmetric cultivation of the whole voice, and not the display of a favored part.
Be Perfect.
Do not be content to merely make progress. (If one feels that he is at a standstill, or worse, going backward, he should stop all study till he can go forward). Merely making progress means that to reach great result, a long time must elapse. To make a great artist requires years of musical and intellectual training; to beable to sing as perfectly as the body is capable of acting, requires but a few weeks, or at most, a few months. Why will students take lessons year after year and not sing any better than they did soon after they began? It is not necessary if the student is willing to go rapidly. "Be ye perfect," applies to singing as well as to anything else in life. If the injunction to be perfect has any meaning at all, and no one has any right to doubt but that it meant, when it was spoken, just what the words contain, that applies very thoroughly to singing. The very essence of life itself is more fully operative in singing than it is in anything else. If so, to be perfect in singing is to be perfect also in the essence of life. The injunction was not to become perfect by a long course of training. The present tense was used and it meant just what was said. "Be ye perfect,"now. By proper mental conception of the true principle which underlies voice culture and by demonstration with concentrated thought, the possibility of any individual body can be at once brought out. On this account, the long years of wasteful practice which people use in cultivating the voice is not only unnecessary, but foolish and wicked.
"Observe how all passionate language does of itself become musical,—with a finer music than the mere accent; the speech of man even in jealous anger becomes a chant—asong. All deep things are song."Carlisle.
"Observe how all passionate language does of itself become musical,—with a finer music than the mere accent; the speech of man even in jealous anger becomes a chant—asong. All deep things are song."Carlisle.
A teacher of voice and singing who does not believe his way is the best in the world is in one of two positions:—either he is a scamp, passing off spurious goods for real worth, or he is doing the best he can in his knowledge and present situation, waiting for the time when he can obtain instruction in a better method. If a teacher believes he has the best way of teaching he has a perfect right to so express himself, and to use that method in his teaching. He may be wrong in his opinion but that does not effect his right to work on the lines of his opinion. Some day something may show him he is mistaken and such a man will be very liable to correct his error and, taking the newly found way, progress in that.
A teacher who knows he is far from right and still works on, is not worthy of consideration as a teacher. One who uses the profession of voice teaching merely for livelihood and who cares notwhether he does good or harm is little better than criminal. Such there be and such there will be until a time arrives in which teachers will be granted authority to teach from some recognized institution, without whose permission to teach, it would violate a law of the land to advertise as a teacher. Just such control as is kept over medical practice will some day be had, but not in our generation.
Hundreds of teachers of the voice in all parts of our land are teaching up to their light, hoping the time may come, and to most it does come sometime, when they may get away from the office and study still farther into voice and music, thus making better their ability. That class has already done much for singing and music. It might be said that all that has been done has come from that class, for no teacher feels that nothing remains for him to learn. Singing, too, is a subtle thing. A teacher feels every little while as if his good way were slipping from him, and if he cannot get out of his work and brush up with a master, he will lose all the ability he has. The best teachers do leave their work, go to some other teacher, may be not better than they are, and have their work inspected and made better. A salesman from a furniture house once put the matter tersely:—"When I go out from the house on a long trip, I start with a plan of what I will say and how Iwill make my sales. In a little while I get rusty, and saying the same things over and over again makes me hate them. Then my business falls off. I go into the warerooms again for a time, hear the firm talk up goods in a new way, meet other salesmen and hear how they talk, and off I go again on my trip fresh and bright."
No work gets into a groove more easily than teaching. When working in a rut the teacher produces small results. The successful teacher tries every expedient in his power to get all the result he can. Sometimes, it may be remarked incidentally, he is called by a pupil lacking in appreciation and discernment, an experimenter, because he changes his plan of working. But he can endure that provided he gets definite results from his teaching. The best way for the teacher who must plod on by himself through long years is that he should once in every few months sit quietly alone and think over what his voice method is, how he is applying it, and what the result is. Below is the thought of such an hour condensed into comparatively few words. The heading of this article indicates that this is the opinion of the writer at the present time. The thinking which may come in the next ten years may show he could have thought better now, but this is to him now, a perfect voice method.
The voice is produced by the body; it wasoriginally planned for speech and not for singing; attributes of the voice are range, power, quality, and flexibility; into the voice can be injected, language; the action of all physical portions are under the command of the mind.
There are four portions of the body which are brought actively into use for the production and management of the voice, and these permit voice culture to be divided into four departments. These must first be brought into correct action. Natural action is correct action. What the world has considered as correct action may be wrong, for on most matters the opinion of the world is incorrect. A few clear-headed men have again and again appeared in various affairs and shown the world the mistake into which it had fallen. May be this is true of voice culture. It is safe to follow nature. The first department of voice culture is, as most persons admit, the respiratory department. Breathing. That goes on from the time we are born till we die. Generally as children we breathe well and correctly. When manhood arrives most of us have interfered with nature's way of breathing and have interposed something quite different from that we used earlier. This has come largely from faulty civilized eating, so that the organs of digestion are constantly troubling us. The stomach, liver, etc., exert decided influence on the diaphragm which is the chief organ of respiration. We,also, have grown nervous as years have come, because of the demands of active life upon us. That nervousness keeps all the muscles of the body in a state of unnatural strain, and this strain has even caused us to breathe differently from what nature planned. The very first step toward good voice method is to bring the breathing apparatus back to working order. As said above, the chief organ of respiration is the diaphragm, and that is a large muscle which cuts across the body at the edge of the ribs. Its centre, right in the middle of the body is constantly moving downward and upward. When it goes down the breath enters the body; when it comes up the breath comes out. Stop that muscle and breath is held. Stripped of all confusion that is all the description needed of inhalation, exhalation and breathing-holding. If some who read this would not say that this is too simple, and that they knew more than this article says, the subject would be dropped there. At most, all that can directly be added is to prolong the lowering and raising the diaphragm so that it is done by long strokes. Some one says we have been taught about spreading the sides, expanding the abdomen, filling the back, keeping the chest still, and a dozen more things. Examine the above, and if opposing effort to the free movement of the diaphragm in its upward and downward journey is avoided it will be foundthat all which is of good in inspiration and expiration is contained in the above. A most useful exercise for the development of strength in this organ of respiration is to slowly perform the act of panting in the same way that a dog pants.
But about holding the breath. That is the most important thing about breathing. It says above that if the movement of the diaphragm is stopped, the breath will be held. Sure enough. Then why can't we all hold the breath? We can. Holding the breath in that way a little while every day and caring to keep it so whenever using the voice will so complete the strength of the diaphragm that it will stay still a very long time, much longer than it takes to sing any phrase in music which is written. The majority of pupils—yes, all of us, teachers and pupils, when they seek to let the diaphragm stay still try to assist it to do so. We try to hold the breath by the muscles of the chest, by those of abdomen, or by shutting off the throat. Now these do not assist the diaphragm to stay still, and on the other hand, they prevent the diaphragm from staying still. They make it move. Some one says, or thinks if he doesn't say it, that unless the diaphragm moves when we begin to sing that no tone can be made. That is one of the mistakes of the world. Some teachers have even said that we must press the air upward as we sing, so that the vocal bands may make itinto tone. That is absurd. Keep back all pressure from the vocal bands. If the slightest air pressure is put upon them they are over-worked. Hold still the diaphragm and the air is held loosely suspended throughout the chest, the bronchial tubes, the windpipe and the mouth. Then in this air the vocal bands work. They will help themselves to just the right amount of breath, to make into tone without any assistance from you. You can't make nature work. You can permit her to work in her own way.
When we speak of the vocal bands we are talking of something which pertains to the second department of voice culture—the throat. There can be, and need be, very little said to the pupil about the throat in its action during singing. Teachers do say many things. One thinks the larynx—the protuberance known as the Adam's apple—ought to be pressed down, and kept so. Another thinks it ought to be forced upward. Still another says it should be allowed to be low at one time and high at another. There is just one way of settling the matter. How is the action when we act naturally? Nature built the throat for conversational voice. If we are to use it for singing we can't do better than to follow the suggestions of nature as to the way the throat moves while speaking. Then on those ways let the throat act while singing. Sound several notes with the same vowel inthe conversational voice and see what the larynx does. Some one suggests that this ceases to be conversation and becomes singing. But it doesn't. Conversation runs easily through an octave of tones. Generally we use three or four tones. When we are very quiet or are sad the voice lowers a few notes. If we are very merry or are angry the voice ascends. We talk at the "top of the voice," literally. If we do so in speaking, surely we may lop off the many vowels and the consonants and speak, conversationally—on several tones. It will be found that the larynx moves freely. That being the case, he is a very foolish man who could make the larynx go down and stay there. Again, with the tip of the finger on the larynx say the different vowels. It will be seen that the larynx changes position at each change of vowel. Let it so change when we sing. The great opponent of such action is the stiffening of the cords of the neck—the muscles on the sides of the neck. In connection with the work to be looked after in the third department, yet to come, the way of removing that stiffness will have mention. Within the larynx there are many delicate muscles which are performing their various functions. What they do, and how they do them has been the subject of study through several generations and the question is not solved. An eminent physician has for several years been photographingthroats while producing tone. About four hundred different throats have been photographed. In an article published by him in January of this year, he says: "I have not yet permitted myself to formulate a theory of the action of the larynx during singing, for even now, after a large number of studies have been made, the camera is constantly revealing new surprises in the action of the vocal bands in every part of the scale." With that true, the only way open for us is to seek ease and comfort of action and never force any part of the throat to overwork.
The third department in voice culture relates to the pharynx, or back of the throat. It seems as if any thinking student would realize that in order to acquire a rich tone, resonant with pure sound, the pharynx must be allowed plenty of room, yet many shut it off making a very small chamber. Well, it is the teacher's work to find some way to open a roomy space. One of the best ways is to draw a picture of a cross-section of the mouth from the lips to the back wall of the throat, showing a large arch at the top of the section. Convey to the pupil's mind the idea of room and he will be most liable to produce the room. Sometimes, although it is of doubtful propriety to make any local application for special purpose, the use of the word oh, as an exercise, will permit the pupil to enlarge the pharyngeal chamber sufficiently for anyneed. This will come up later in connection with another thought. A very important branch of voice culture, the quality of tone, has to do with the pharynx. Not much can be said of it now but just a little in connection with a perfect voice method. When singing, we should express something. The emotion in mind must have its appropriate setting. That setting comes chiefly from the quality, and the quality arises from the shape of the pharyngeal cavity. As in all nature's plan we must not try tomakethe pharynx do anything. We maypermitit, and if we do, nature will have her way and will do just right. The emotion of the mind expresses itself upon the face. A face plastic and delicate, changes expression a hundred times a minute, maybe. Just so, if we permit it, the emotion of mind expresses itself on the pharynx. We cannot see the expression of the throat as we can that of the face, but we can hear it. That the pharynx may be able to receive the expression of the mind it must be plastic and delicate. If so, just the right form will be assumed for the idea we would express, and the proper quality would be given the tone. We—many of us—don't permit this. We try to shape the pharynx. Stop trying and let the muscles of the back of the throat come to a state of rest. Then willing them to remain so, sing. Sing anything. Don't change the feeling, and goodquality will fill the tone wherever the voice moves—whether it be high or low, loud or soft. So by this restful way of singing the stiffness of the cords of the neck will be removed and the larynx will move easily and flexibly. In fact, all rapid singing grows out of the restful singing. The use of all embellishments, too, comes through this restful singing. It is to be kept in mind that so long as we employ artificial methods of holding the air column, and so long as we force tones through rigid vocal bands, just so long will we be prevented from obtaining restful action of the pharynx. Each part must act correctly and no part must interfere with another.
The articulatory department is all which remains to be described. Singing employs words, and words are made up of letters. Letters are made up of consonant and vowel sounds. Consonant and vowel sounds, save one alone, are made by changing the tongue or lips, or moving the jaw. There are but few changes which may be made—less than a dozen. Six of those pertain to the tongue, one to the jaw and three to combination of tongue and lips. What these are need not be detailed now. Sufficient to say that any action made during conversation may be made while singing and must be made in the same way as in conversation. Two ideas advanced by some teachers which are very wrong should be noted. One is that thesinger should practice with a spoon in the mouth to hold the tongue in place. As if nature didn't know what the tongue ought to do! The other is that the mouth should be widely opened, "to let out the tone," as old singing school teachers used to say. The tone doesn't come out of the mouth any more than out of the cheeks, chest or head. Allow the tone to be made properly, then given quality and resonance by a well arched pharynx and it will come out, no matter where or how. Someone asks if there is any real objection to widely opened mouth. Certainly, there is. Were it merely that the facial expression were destroyed, that would be enough, but that is not the worst of it. Opening widely the mouth destroys the shape of the pharynx and all richness is lost. Notice a bell. So long as it remains bell-shaped, it has resonant ring. Bend its shape so it resembles a pan and the ring is gone.
One thought more in connection with articulation. It used to be said that all attention should be given to vowels. Not so, in the light of to-day. Attend to the consonants and the vowels will take care of themselves. Correct speech in song, only, will make good singing. While watching the resonance of the tone as made in the pharynx note the delays made by thoroughly (not violently) sounding the consonants. Those delays, prolonged greatly, permit expansion ofthe pharynx, and perform the work mentioned before which was given the vocal sound,oh, to do.
To sum perfect voice method up into a sentence it is that by which we command with no apparent effort the column of air, keeping it away from the vocal bands, and, therefore, permitting the quality of tone in the pharynx to be pure; that by which the larynx acts freely, with no strain upon it; that by which thought may instinctively make its impression on the pharynx to give quality to the tone; and that by which we can make consonants and vowels in that pure tone, so that words conveying the thought of the mind may go out to our hearers.
"He who is a true master, let him undertake what he will, is sure to accomplish something."Schumann.
"He who is a true master, let him undertake what he will, is sure to accomplish something."Schumann.
"To engender and diffuse faith, and to promote our spiritual well-being, are among the noblest aims of music."Bach.
"To engender and diffuse faith, and to promote our spiritual well-being, are among the noblest aims of music."Bach.
Every song or other vocal composition should be analyzed as the first step in its study. The first theme noted, and the second also, if such there be; the connecting bars; the points which are descriptive or which contain contrasts; the phrases which may present difficulties of vocalization; the climax; and, as well, what relation the prelude and other parts of the accompaniment bear to the song. It is probable that before the pupil is capable of doing this by himself, the teacher must do it for him, not on one song merely, but on a dozen or twenty. A wise teacher will gather his pupils to hear him analyze music now and then. It saves time at individual lessons, for the analysis will be understood by a group as easily as by an individual. It matters not so much that the pupils are not to sing those particular songs, for at the gathering, the way to do the thing will be learned. Thenas other songs are taught at private lessons, the pupils will be prepared to receive quickly, the instruction.
FAULT FINDING.
Pupils may be sure that teachers do not find fault with them merely for the purpose of finding fault. If the teacher is worthy [of] that respect which leads pupils to study with him, he doesn't find fault except when it is necessary, and then he does it with dignity. If the teacher is constantly fault-finding, and does it in an irritable manner, you would better leave him at once. Now and then we learn of a teacher who gets his pupils so nervous that they burst out crying. It is not well to remain long with such a teacher. The pupil goes to him with fear which spoils the first of the lesson, and surely after the cry, the lesson is spoiled, for no good vocal tone can then be made. At a lesson all should be restful and dignified.
RECOVER FROM MISTAKES.
Next to him who makes no mistakes, is he who recovers from and disguises the errors. At best a performance full of errors of pitch, word,tone and quality is but a patched garment. Apply the mind to eradicating every error. Perhaps the most common thing for students to do is to try over again, while at practice, the music in which the error has been made, but doing it without thought. It is far better to think what the error is, what caused it, how it should be removed, and then begin the practice which will remove it. Oh, if the hours of wasteful practice could only be gathered up into useful hours, how much better off the whole would be! The least wasteful thing is to stop practice andthink.
SONGS FOR BEGINNERS.
When selecting songs for study for beginners, only those which have smooth and well defined melodies should be selected. Modern composers seek by the strangest harmonies, following each other without coming to points of definite rest, to do things different from what has been in use so long that it is looked upon as common. The pupils in their early study cannot understand such music, and while bewildered by it, they misapply what they know to be correct use of the voice. The first selections should be simple, melodious, and of easy range. The songs of Mozart and Mendelssohn are much better for early use than are those which are being publishednow. As the pupil advances in the knowledge of songs add in any quantity the latest and most weird music, providing it has merit.
CRITICISM.
The phraseology of newspaper criticism often disturbs musicians, especially those who are very sensitive, and sometimes arouses their ire so that they make reply. In doing so they make a mistake. They place a weapon for further attack in the hands of the critic and add to the force of his remarks by showing that they have hit the mark. One does not prize a shot which goes wide of the point at which it was aimed but is quite proud if, by chance, he hits the bull's-eye. The sensitive man in his reply shows how fortunate the critic is in his shooting. It is not easy to bear the remarks of a harsh critic and it is much harder to draw from them any good lesson. (Whether one may draw a lesson from criticism is not open for remark at this writing.) Yet, when one gives serious thought to the criticism which seems so cruel he will learn that no one has been hurt by it except the critic himself. He has lowered his thought from a high plain and has made his nature, thereby, coarse and uncomfortable. That cannot come to anyone,even for a few minutes without making him less manly. Out of the fullness of his heart at that moment the critic has written and sent out into the world that which lowers. What he sows, that shall he also reap, and in due time his unkindness will come home to him. If he can bear his own act the musician can endure it for the brief time that the "smart" is there. None should ever forget that a man can injure himself but no one else on earth can injure him.
WAIT FOR RESULTS.
Some of us are slow to learn the lesson, waiting for results. We feel that at one bound we must and will achieve the great success which is our ideal. Youth is enthusiastic and believes in itself. Nothing daunts it, save the realization of limited success and that realization comes not quickly. There are circumstances which cannot be forced; there are laws which prevent our reaching too far or going too quickly. Under them we chafe but in time we come to know that those laws place boundaries of limitation about us. We then begin to inspect the laws just as one bound with cords might be supposed to study his binding after having tried in vain to tear himself free. Then is when he discovers that by knowing natural law he can shape his course sothat he is not antagonized but aided by his environments and curbings. He then discovers that he can even use the laws which seemed to restrain as his power. But it takes long to learn that lesson. Stripes, which cut and burn, must have been received before one can know that he must not fret and be impatient for quick results. "Patience overcometh all things." "Seek and ye shall find." Remember that the early fruit decays quickest. The rosy apple, when all of its fellows are green, has the worm at the core. If you are worthy of results they will come to you, but not in your way or time perhaps. You can afford to wait.
ALL THINGS ARE GOOD.
Certain quotations and sayings, through familiarity, lose their point to us. We not only are not impressed by them but forget that they are truths. Do you recall "All things work together for good?" Does that mean anything? Does it mean what it says? Does it mean nothing? It means nothing or else exactly what it says, and you may be sure that the latter is the true meaning. What are "all things?" The few which seem bright, maybe; and those which to most of us seem evil, do not belong to "all things." But may we not be at fault in ouridea? We are,we are. Whatever appears to happen to us (although nothing ever happens in the common meaning of that word) belongs to "all things" and at some time we will be able to look back and say from the heart that all was well with us.
LITTLE THINGS EFFECT.
Every shade of tone has a meaning which is either artistic or inartistic and one who has developed his appreciation of artistic rendition can so use his tone that just the right effect will be produced with his tone. A noted cartoonist recently showed by two little dots the ability which he possessed to change the character of his picture. He had drawn a sketch of a sweet young girl; rosy cheeks and cherry lips; big sleeves and a Gainsborough hat; the most demure and modest little girl ever imagined. Then to carry out a joke he changed the position of the eyes, just rubbing on two dots. The character of the whole picture now changed. The demure little girl became the sauciest Miss that could be imagined and one could almost imagine a shrug to the shoulders. Are singers less able to portray in art than is the cartoonist? If we know the resources at our command and how to use them we can give expression just as well as anyother artist can. We do not always know how small a thing can change all expression. The bright face, the warmer tone, the more elastic delivery of voice, quicker attack, all have their value in expressing something.
Not enough attention is paid to personal appearance before an audience. There are a few things which can be prepared before our appearance which can make the whole performance more artistic. The way of walking across the stage, taking position before the audience, manner of holding the music, of turning its leaves, way of looking up while singing, way of leaving the stage; all these have to do with artistic rendition. They should be taught to pupils by the teacher and should become part of the pupils' instruction. We give all attention to tone and that is only part of the instruction which the student needs. The other matters must not be left to chance. The little things point out the difference between the singer and the artist.
MUSICAL LIBRARY.
A musical library should be a possession of every singer. There are less than two hundred books on music printed in English, on subjects directly connected with music and singing. These contain all which has been printed whichhas any great value. Many are books for reference and a few contain direct practical instruction. Each teacher and all earnest students should see how many of these they now possess and plan to develop the library. All the books need not be purchased at once, nor is it wise to obtain books and put them away on the shelves just for mere ownership. Get one book at a time, one a month perhaps, and read it carefully enough to allow you to know what is in it. Then put it away for reference. It takes but a few minutes to refresh the mind on what is read. A dozen books a year added in this way will, in a dozen years, give a valuable library. What is more valuable to the owner is that he has lodged in his own mind for every day use more than a hundred good ideas. Books taken from the public library and returned to it do not have the lasting value that one's own books have. The sense of ownership is worth something.
CHANGE OPINIONS.
In these days of invention, discovery and progress, no one need be ashamed of changing his opinions. In vocal music the ideas most commonly held twenty years ago are being exchanged for something new. The man who has made a change is often sneered at as "having amethod." He may have that, but he may only have advanced to new ground which is to be occupied by common opinion a dozen years from now. The man who changed early was in advance of his fellows and would attract attention. Who thought, outside of a very small circle, only forty years ago, that the music of Wagner would become the most popular of any age? It is to-day the music of the present and we are already looking for a "music of the future." The present time is, in the manner of dealing with the singing and speaking voice, a transition age. Ideas which are being taken up now were scouted as nonsense twenty years ago. They will be commonly accepted ten years from now. It is better to join the army of progress, and change early, even if it does raise a laugh.
REPUTATION COMES SLOWLY.
Reputation which will last comes only by slow degrees. Man may spring into notoriety at a bound because of some fortuitous circumstance and he may hold the prominence which he gains by his strength of manhood, but the cases of this kind are rare. It is by "pegging away" at something which one knows to be good until by the merit of the "something" and the worth of the labor put into it, attracts the attention ofa few judges of its worth, that a reputation is begun. It is begun then, only. Some more of the same work must follow but those who have seen the worth now assist in thought as well as in word and the circle which appreciates the worth grows. When good reputation has begun nothing can stop its growth except some unwise or unmanly act of the person himself. For this reason no man need strive after reputation. Do well what is good and the result will take care of itself. The reputation will not come because of striving. It will come to any man who is doing good work and living a right life. It takes time to make the lasting reputation and that impatience which so often influences Americans, prevents the growth of many a reputation.
STUDY POETRY.
Every singer should be an earnest student of poetry. There are minds to which poetry does not appeal as does the practical prose. But in all minds there is enough of latent love of poetry which can be developed until poetry appeals with even stronger force than does prose. Can your heart glow with the beautiful sunset? Do you joy over the song of the bird? Has the spring blossom a message of delicacy to you? Then have you that love of nature which cangive you understanding of the poet. A faculty of mind exercised grows with its use. A singermusthave imagination. Without it, the best vocalization lacks the spark of true life. Without it, coldness displaces warmth, and darkness, light. The very essence of poetry is imagination. One word in poetry often suggests that which practical prose uses ten words to express. The study of poetry, that is, making poetry a study so that one knows what is in it, helps make good singers. He who has not yet thus used poetry may well plan something new for his winter evenings.
MANNERISMS SHOW CHARACTER.
Mannerisms give knowledge to the observing person of our character and intellectuality, and, on that account, are to be studied and used to our advantage. Such as would prepossess our hearers in our favor should be retained and such as would be unpleasant to the majority of people should be trained out of our unconscious use. But few think long enough about a singer to be able to tell their reason for liking or disliking him. The voice and art may be good and yet the audience may not like him. On the other hand, the voice may be meagre and the music faulty, yet there will be personal charm which iscaptivating. The manners which express the better side of our individuality will be those retained. Certain it is, that manners are the expression of individuality and there are no two persons whose action is just the same, any more than that there are two faces or two voices alike.
It is doubtful whether one can judge the good and bad in mannerisms in himself. We are so liable to accept our intention for actual performance that we deceive ourselves. Then, too, mannerisms which would be permitted in one place are not admissible in another. The ways of a German dialect comedian would not serve the Shakesperian comedian nor would the physical accompaniment of the songs of the London Music Hall be proper for theliederof Schubert. The teacher enters at this place and by judicious physical drill, based upon the knowledge of what is wanted in true art, shows the singer what to cure and eradicate and what to make more prominent, wisely retaining those mannerisms which show the higher, nobler and more pleasing part of the singer's individuality.
PROVIDE FOR THE YOUNG.
Parents see the necessity of providing the means for their children to learn to take care of themselves. A fortune left to a son frequently,if not generally, proves a curse. A "good match" may turn out badly for a daughter. A few hundred, or even one or two thousand, dollars invested in musical education is sure to permit the son or daughter to earn a comfortable living. It will be more than a generation before the field for musical activity is supplied. More than that, in music, every further elevation of the public increases their desire for better and more expensive things in music. There is no prospect that the musical field will be over supplied with artists and teachers. Happily, the profession is open to women as well as to men. Our daughters can, then, receive preparation for independence in it. The necessity for marriage for mere living has gone by. Daughters are as independent of marriage as are sons. The time was when boys were held in greater esteem and value than were girls because they could take business positions and acquire wealth. The new openings for women have changed this. Woman is making a place for herself, not through the ballot and because of political influence, but because she is taking position in the business and professional world. Everyone, man or woman, should be prepared to take some position which permits a living income to be made. Parents are using music as the means of independence to their children. It is better to spend the hundreds of dollars in education in music than to investthat sum in any way to provide a fortune for the children. The life-income from the investment is better for the children.
THERE ARE NO MISTAKES.
How often does every one of us make the "mistake of a lifetime?" Probably everyone has made that remark many times regarding himself. The circumstances of life have seemed to point out a certain path. We have followed it. Later we felt it to be wrong. It was a mistake. Did it do us any good? No. Did we learn any lesson? No. Will we not make another "mistake of a lifetime" to-morrow, if we have the chance? Yes. Such is human nature. So we go on. But there is another side to the shield. There are no "mistakes of a lifetime," if we sum up the whole life. None of us can do that yet, but we can put a number of years together and see a result in them. How about that mistake over which you have been mourning? Was it a mistake? Is it not possible that if you had what you think would have been yours had you taken a different course, you would be worse off than you are now? A young man who is making his mark recently said, "I am glad my father lost his property. Had I been supplied with a lot of money while at college,I would have been a profligate." When the father lost his money he probably thought he had made the "mistake of a lifetime." Which would any father prefer, poverty or a wrecked family?
Many pupils rue a supposed mistake in the selection of a teacher. There is no mistake. Every teacher who can attract pupils can teach something and every pupil can learn something of him. The mistake, if one was made, was by the pupil, in not learning what that teacher could teach, and when he had gotten that, in remaining longer with him.
Don't talk about the mistakes but so shape circumstances that all events may be used for good. There is something which can be utilized in everything which happens to us. The bee finds honey in every flower—more in some than in others, to be sure, but none are without sweetness.
REGULARITY.
"It is the regularity of the laws of nature which leads us to put confidence in them and enables us to use them." Thus writes Dr. McCosh and he was a keen observer of men and things. His remark suggests that teachers can and will be trusted and used who, by their regularity,awaken confidence. He who attracts and enthuses can for a time command attention. His work will only be lasting and his hold upon the musical public be good when there is something of permanent value behind the enthusiasm. Slowly but surely we are reaching the knowledge that in music there is all of life, and that only as we make music part of ourselves is our life rounded. We have reached the place when we can feel that he who has no love of music suffers an infirmity akin to the loss of sight or hearing. We have also reached the belief that everyone must cultivate the musical faculty. We are passing through this life to one beyond and he who raises himself nearest the perfect man, best uses the span from birth to death. In and through music, especially on its side of education, more can be done than can be in any other way. General culture, college education, mental development are, in their proper place, to be used but neither will do so much for man as will music. In thus developing that faculty we acquire something also, which, as executant musicians, gives us delightful influence over our fellows. Such is the possibility of a teacher to so make mankind better that he becomes a noble instrument of service in God's hand. But he who knows his position best and by regularity of mind, body and estate, by system, certainty and reliability, obtains the confidence of the musicalpublic, can best be used as an instrument in that service.
ASSERT INDIVIDUALITY.
Personal freedom of action must for a time be surrendered by pupil to teacher but it should be for limited time only. The impress of the teacher's mind can be made upon the pupil in two seasons of study if it can be at all. Perhaps most pupils receive all that the teacher can give them in six months. As soon as they have that should they leave that teacher? Not at all. They should then begin the use of their own individuality—letting it, little by little, assert itself. The practical application of individuality should be as carefully attended to as is any part of the pupil's education. Perhaps it should have more attention. More than one, more than a thousand, every year wrecks her good and great future by what we term wilfulness or waywardness. The name is misapplied. The individuality is then asserting itself and it is then that the pupil needs the skillful and firm hand of the master. The keen clear judgment which comes from experience is worth to the pupil more than the cost of many lessons. The life is planned then. It is a time of bending the twig; the tree grows that way. The wrecking which is sooften seen arises because the pupil changes to a teacher who does not understand the case. The new teacher must study it all over. Before that can be done the pupil is spoiled and disappears, disappointed and disgusted. Receive the personality of the teacher, pupils, but then allow him to lead you onward as you bring out your own individuality.
EDUCING.
Educing is bringing out or causing to appear. Teachers impart and call that educating. The reverse of the common way is best. Instead of imparting all the time to the pupil seek to draw out from the pupil that which is in him. Cause it to appear. In this way will one's teaching faculty be improved and he will become the better teacher. Often the education must be against counter influences and, it seems frequently, as if it were against the wish of the student himself. Yet the skillful teacher can overcome the prejudice of the pupil and the adverse influences, and reach his results. A help in thus using one's skill lies in the fact that what is to be drawn out lies divided into two distinct classes. One is that which pertains to execution and the other to knowledge. They are widely separated. The first is to be trained so that it cares for itselfwithout the thought of the student or singer and the other so that it is always ready to respond to the quickest thought. There is in the two classes variety enough to keep the most active teacher on the alert and to make for him the highest kind of ministration to mankind which is open to anyone. Later may come the comfort of joining the two classes, synthetically, thereby making the rounded and completed artist.
It occurs to one's thought at once that he who would draw out what there is in another, must know something of the machinery which he would cause to act and also of the mind which is in command of that machinery. This is the basis of the teacher's education, without which he cannot be a good teacher. As a young teacher he has the right to teach those who know less than he does. He imparts then. As an educator he must be more than what he was at first. He must keep his own education above that of his fellows and he must become able to educe.