This is the most necessary exercise for all kinds of voices. It was taught to my mother; she taught it to all her pupils and to us. But I am probably the only one of them all who p...
By raising the back of the tongue toward the soft palate and lowering the soft palate toward the tongue, we produce nasal sound, such as is heard in the pronunciation of the word h...
K, l, m, n, p, s, and r at the end of a word or syllable must be made resonant by joining to the end of the word or syllable a rather audible [)e] (eh); for instance, Wandel^e, Gre...
The head tone signifies, for all voices, from the deepest bass to the highest soprano,--excepting for the fact that it furnishes the overtones for each single tone of the whole voc...
There is much discussion as to whether ah, oo, or some other vowel is the one best adapted for general practice. In former times practice was entirely on the vowel-sound ah. The ol...
There are no magic cures for the singer. Only slowly, vibration upon vibration, can the true pitch be won back. In the word soaring lies the whole idea of the work. No more may the...
The practical study of singing is best begun with single sustained tones, and with preparation on the sound of ah alone, mingled with o and oo. A position as if one were about to y...
We sing covered as soon as the soft palate is lowered toward the nose (that is, in the middle register), and the resonance and attack are transferred thither so that the breath can...
Like the auxiliary verbs will and have, [=a], [=e], and oo are auxiliary vowels, of whose aid we are constantly compelled to avail ourselves. It will perhaps sound exaggerated when...
Since it is the function of the tongue to conduct the column of breath above the larynx to the resonance chambers, too much attention cannot be given to it and its position, in spe...
Rarely are so many desirable and necessary antecedents united as in my case. The child of two singers, my mother being gifted musically quite out of the common, and active for many...
There still remains the trill, which is best practised in the beginning as follows:-- The breath is led very far back against the head cavities by the [=a], the larynx kept as stif...
When the peak of the softest part of the palate is placed forward toward the nose, instead of being drawn up high behind the nose, as in the head voice (see plate, head voice and n...
We feel the placing of its tip against or beneath the front teeth; and place the tip very low, so that it really curves over in front. (See plate.) Its hinder part must be drawn ba...
Big voices, produced by large, strong organs, through which the breath can flow in a broad, powerful stream, are easily disposed to suffer from the tremolo, because the outflow of...
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 fo...
The breath becomes voice through the operation of the will, and the instrumentality of the vocal organs. To regulate the breath, to prepare a passage of the proper form through whi...
The most perfect singer that I remember in my Berlin experience was Theodor Wachtel in this respect, that with his voice of rare splendor, he united all that vocal art which, as it...
To attack a tone, the breath must be directed to a focal point on the palate, which lies under the critical point for each different tone; this must be done with a certain decisive...
There are also singers, male and female, who use too much head tone through their entire compass; such voices are called white. Their use of the palatal resonance being insufficien...
Let us return to the subject of Expression, and examine a song; for example, Der Nussbaum by Schumann. The prevailing mood through it is one of quiet gayety, consequently one deman...
In practising the singer should always stand, if possible, before a large mirror, in order to be able to watch himself closely. He should stand upright, quietly but not stiffly, an...
It is very important for all who wish to become artists to begin their work not with practical exercises in singing, but with serious practice in tone production, in breathing in a...
Of special importance for the tone and the word are the movements of the lips, which are so widely different in the bright and in the dark vowels. These movements cannot be too muc...
My purpose is to discuss simply, intelligibly, yet from a scientific point of view, the sensations known to us in singing, and exactly ascertained in my experience, by the expressi...
How easy it is for the Italians, who have by nature, through the characteristics of their native language, all these things which others must gain by long years of practice! A sing...
Singers, male and female, who are lacking velocity and the power of trilling, seem to me like horses without tails. Both of these things belong to the art of song, and are insepara...
(SINGING FORWARD) The veriest beginner knows that in order to use the breath to the fullest advantage, it must remain very long diffused back in the mouth. A mistaken idea of singi...
Through the lowering of the pillars of the fauces, which is the same as raising the soft palate, the outflowing breath is divided into two parts. I have sketched the following repr...
What is a vocal register? A series of tones sung in a certain way, which are produced by a certain position of the vocal organs--larynx, tongue, and palate. Every voice includes th...