Caruso's method of voice production
CHAPTER XXIV
VOCAL EXERCISES OF THE SCIENTIFIC CULTURE OF VOICE
The pupil, either standing in a natural pose, or seated comfortably, avoiding all muscular rigidity, must conduct himself as if carrying on a conversation.
In the case of professional singers who can hardly overcome the habitual pose of the stage, it is better to be seated, with head bowed slightly, concentrating their mental attitude on the idea of telling rather than singing their exercises to the teacher.
The first series of exercises are staccato in rhythm, and are made up of the five Italian vowels in combination with the consonants B and M in alternation with L, as in Ba, Be, Bi, Bo, Bu, and La, Le, Li, Lo, Lu (Italian pronunciation).
In cases where the pupil finds that another consonant is easier to articulate, he can use it for a preliminary length of time.
It is understood that these syllables must be pronounced very distinctly, observing strictly the phonetic rules of Italian vowels and consonants as given in Chapter XVIII, and special care must be taken to avoid the formation of double vowels.
Pupils, after hearing the exercises on the piano, must first enunciate clearly the syllables to be sung, as nearly as possible on the pitch of the tones played; then, by using the same mechanism as in the speaking voice, that is, the same pronunciation and amount of breath, carry them into singing.
For practical convenience in practicing, we emphasize again, in a brief summary, what pupils must do in singing these exercises, according to this method, and what they must avoid:
1. They must act as real beginners, children, in fact, and they will learn much more quickly.
2. Give no emphasis to what they are singing, except in regard to its correct pronunciation.
3. Have the mental suggestion of being tired; it helps to relax.
4. Open the mouth wide by _dropping_, not forcing, the lower jaw in producing the first syllable, Ma, La, or Ba, etc. The larger the space of the _A_, the greater the resonance.
5. Sing with full voice, not falsetto. Often pupils who are self-conscious fail to give their full voices. This must be avoided, at any cost from the very beginning.
6. Practice before a mirror so as to be certain that the rules are observed. Do not depend on the ear for that; its control can be easily misleading.
7. Watch the tongue; that is of most vital importance. Keep it in soft contact with the lower lip; it helps its relaxation.
8. Sing the exercises in staccato rhythm for three or four months, or more, until the voice is placed and produced with the vocal organs in complete relaxation.
What pupils must _avoid_ in singing:
1. To prepare themselves for singing.
2. To take a breath before starting, thus singing on the breath. The breath already existing into the lungs must be used first, then replaced by a new supply. This establishes a natural rhythm of breathing.
3. To attack the tone by a stroke (stroke of glottis). It must commence exactly as in talking.
4. To sing double vowels, like Ma-a, Me-e, Mi-i, Mo-o, Mu-u. In doing this the second vowel will always be dragged back into the throat by the tongue.
5. To accentuate the top notes, or the last of the exercises. This is done by most students. The tones must all be perfectly equal and colorless from the first to the last exercise.
Once pupils have acquired a certain freedom and dexterity in doing these exercises with the consonants B, M, L, they must practice all the other consonants of the alphabet. Thereafter start to use the syllables La, Le, Li, Lo, Lu, in alternation with the vowels alone, A—E—I—O—U in staccato form, until their experience in placing the voice is completely assured.
The above suggestions, besides being a valuable guide in placing the voice, can correct almost any defect in voice production, and establish the proper vocal mechanism for beginners.
In order to acquire the full command of a correct voice production, available for all styles of music, pupils must enter into the practice of sustained tones—the most difficult achievement in the art of good singing—only after a perfect control of the staccato tones has been attained, and in the beginning they must be attempted only in combination with staccato tones. This constitutes the second series of exercises.
The third series is made up of only sustained tones, which, when produced correctly, commences to take on all the musical characteristics of the singing voice: volume, color, expression, which gradually develop the pupils’ personal style of singing.
Before going into the vocal exercises of The Scientific Culture of Voice it may be of interest to study closely an original manuscript written by Caruso himself as an aid in studying.
The importance given by Caruso to his enunciation in singing is shown by the care with which he translated into English the front page of this Neapolitan song, spelling the English version according to the Italian rules.
The handwriting of both the music and the words is his own, and the underscored words represent the English pronunciation “Italianized.”
This series of staccato exercises is suggested for the purpose of making students attain the correct enunciation of their words as the best means for placing the singing voice through the proper formation of the speaking voice.
When once the voice is placed, by the means of the consonants, these same exercises must be practiced again by using the vowels A, E, I, O, U alone, in staccato form.
The vowels are more difficult to place, therefore in singing them alone particular care must be taken to enunciate them as they are enunciated when connected with consonants as, for instance, la, le, li, lo, lu. It would be a good practice at the beginning to alternate, la, le, li, lo, lu with a, e, i, o, u.
[13]VOCAL EXERCISES FOR USE IN CONJUNCTION WITH “THE SCIENTIFIC CULTURE OF THE VOICE”
In singing all the exercises which follow, the singer must strive to use the correct Italian pronunciation of the vowels and consonants.
FIRST SERIES—EXERCISE I^A
This exercise starts on C, using the major triad, descending four semitones; then on D♭︎ descending in the same manner; then on D, E♭︎ and E, descending on the latter nine semitones to and including G below the treble staff.
FIRST SERIES—EXERCISE I^B
Major triad beginning on dominant (G), followed by same triad on tonic (C); then ascending by semitones with same figure from A♭︎ to F; then descending by same figure reversed to G below treble staff.
When correct voice production has been attained in each of the foregoing exercises with the consonants M, B, L, practice each of them with every consonant of the alphabet: for example
Ta, Te, Ti, To, Tu Sa, Se, Si, So, Su
taking special care to articulate them properly.
FIRST SERIES—EXERCISE 2^A
Ascending and descending the scale, starting on the tonic (C) and ending on the dominant (G), descending four semitones, then starting on D♭︎ and descending in same manner, then on D, E♭︎, and E, descending in last instance a full octave to E below the staff.
FIRST SERIES—EXERCISE 2^B
Major scale starting on dominant (G) ascending and descending a fifth; then on tonic (C) in same manner; then a major third below (A♭︎) ascending to E♭︎, and descending in same way progressively to E below the staff.
FIRST SERIES—EXERCISE 2^C
After thoroughly practising this exercise with the syllables la, le, li, lo, lu, work with the other consonants of the alphabet, for example
Ba, Be, Bi, Bo, Bu Ma, Me, Mi, Mo, Mu Sa, Se, Si, So, Su etc.
Pronounce every syllable distinctly and clearly—this is one of the most important features in connection with the exercise.
FIRST SERIES—EXERCISE 3
After practising these exercises by singing the syllable Lo on the top and descending notes, having acquired their correct production, the syllables La, Le, Li, Lo, Lu must be substituted and practised in place of Lo.
FIRST SERIES—EXERCISE 4
When the correct production of this exercise is acquired, change the syllable on the top and descending notes, as in exercise 3.
FIRST SERIES—EXERCISE 5
When the correct production of this exercise is acquired, change the syllable on the top and descending notes, as in exercise 3
FIRST SERIES—EXERCISE 6
When the correct production of this exercise is acquired, change the syllable on the top and descending notes as in Exercise 3
FIRST SERIES—EXERCISE 7
When the correct production of this exercise is acquired, change the syllable on the top and descending notes as in Exercise 3
FIRST SERIES—EXERCISE 8
Continue Exercise 8 as in Exercise 2A, also in same manner as Exercise 2B and 2C. Voice production must be equal in volume and quality in every passage, and pronunciation must be perfect or voice will be misplaced. Also change syllables on top and descending notes as in Exercise 3
FIRST SERIES—EXERCISE 9
Use the least amount of breath possible in order to become accustomed to its proper distribution. After each passage breathe deeply, and do not begin the next passage before complete relaxation is obtained.
When the correct production of this exercise is acquired, change the syllable on the top and descending notes as in Exercise 3.
SECOND SERIES—EXERCISE 1
SECOND SERIES—EXERCISE 2
SECOND SERIES—EXERCISE 3
Practice this exercise in same order of transposition as that given in Exercises 2^a, 2^b, and 2^c (First Series)
When the correct production is acquired, change the syllable on the top and descending notes as in Exercise 3 (First Series)
SECOND SERIES—EXERCISE 4
In practicing this exercise, care must be taken that on the syllable de the tongue be completely relaxed between the teeth and left there until the next bar begins.
SECOND SERIES—EXERCISE 5
Continue this exercise, ascending first to A below the staff up to and including C below the staff.
THIRD SERIES—EXERCISE 1 SUSTAINED TONES
Continue this exercise up to C above Middle C and descend to the starting point. The preceding exercises of the first and second series must be practiced with sustained tones as in the above exercise.
CONCLUSION A WORD FROM A LARYNGOLOGIST TO SINGERS
Many books on _voice_ and _voice culture_, written by singing teachers, assume almost the proportions of a Treaty on Physical Culture or on Laryngology by prescribing a large number of physical exercises or by dispensing advice of a purely medical character regarding the hygiene of the voice and the care of the throat.
As a laryngologist of many years’ practice, mostly among professional singers, we cannot refrain—before closing this book—from having our say on these medical recommendations, coming for the most part from outsiders to the profession.
To the question, What measures of prevention against impairing the voice or what particular precautions for the throat must be taken by singers, we have only one emphatic reply, _Correct singing_, above all things.
It may seem an exaggerated and severe statement, but it is nevertheless true that in the majority of cases when singers complain about their throat and voice, their troubles cannot be ascribed to any disease, but are the direct result of a wrong voice production, the real source of worry for professional singers. “I have caught a bad cold” is the ready excuse to which a bad singer usually resorts, and which the public always accepts, while the experienced laryngologist easily finds out that the “cold” is nothing but habitual strain on the vocal organs.
We may quote here the case of a coloratura soprano, whom we kept warning for years, when she called on us for treatment—usually after performances or recitals—that there was nothing wrong with her throat, except the strain of bad singing. At last one day she became convinced that she should change her method of singing and acquire an easier voice production. She has never had to consult a throat specialist since then and her habitual after-performance colds have completely disappeared. Of course, like all ordinary mortals, singers are liable to suffer from colds and sore throats, and so far science has not discovered any special means to render them immune. In order to guard against these indispositions they must comport themselves as any intelligent person does.
Singing does affect the throat, but _bad singing_ sets in a chronic congestion of the vocal organs through undue strain and violent effort, just as correct dancing does not harm the legs, while bad dancing may deform or sprain the ankles or even cripple the performer.
In a previous chapter we have already stated that a strongly developed breathing apparatus or throat is not always a determining factor in good singing, but that correct voice production greatly contributes to the muscular strengthening of these organs. The physical constitution of a singer is independent of his natural or inherited gift for the art, and the physical training which is indispensable in the case of a prize fighter or an acrobat is of no avail for the development of the vocal organs; some great artists are and have been small and thin, some others of lesser fame are or have been, on the contrary, endowed with an exceptional _embonpoint_, and, so far, it has been impossible to measure talent by inches or by pounds.
The general health condition of an artist has certainly much to do with his singing, but this is true with the proper discharge of duties in any other walk of life.
There are hygienic principles which govern all the physiological functions of our system, whether they be of a more muscular nature, like boxing, fencing, and other sports, or more subject to psychological control, like painting, playing, singing, etc.
For the proper performance of our work, in both instances, we need the assistance of hygienic rules, so that our system may be kept in a high degree of physiological efficiency; but there is a difference in the hygienic rules pertaining to each of the above cases. While it is urgent for a boxer or a fencer to keep his muscles in continual training, it is hardly necessary for a thinker, a writer, or anybody who is devoted to a purely intellectual form of activity to overtax his physical strength. As singing belongs to this latter class of activities, all books and methods advocating physical training for singers seem to consider singing more as a muscular action than as an intellectual achievement.
We would suggest that singers take care of their health just by following the normal rules of all intelligent people, without exerting themselves in any form of physical training. The vocal apparatus is a delicate machine, and must be treated carefully and gently; general health is its best support.
There are no medicinal preparations of any kind that ought to be recommended to singers who are in normal health; the beauty of their voice cannot be enhanced or preserved by doctor’s prescriptions.
We cannot deny that the organs we make most use of in our daily occupation are our weakest spots, more readily exposed to the attack of adverse conditions. It is true, in the case of most singers, that their vocal organs are more sensitive than the others to exposure or climatic variations. No pharmaceutical products, however, can bring a radical relief in such cases; singers who are compelled by their profession to migrate from warm lands to cold countries, from dry climates to damp climates, must try and acclimatize themselves by contracting open-air habits, by avoiding overheated rooms, as well as cold and damp habitations; they must lead a regular, wholesome life, because a profession that is exercised mostly late at night taxes more our vital resources than work done earlier in the day.
Moderation must be the guiding rule: cold baths, cold applications to the outside of the throat for a few minutes in the morning, followed by a light massage of the neck to promote circulation; but, above all, a daily practice of vocal exercises of light nature, which act as an internal massage on the vocal organs. These exercises must be done often during the day, for fifteen or twenty minutes at a time. There is no more danger to the vocal organs in practicing even several hours a day, if the voice production is correct, than there is to the fingers of a pianist or a violinist, though some allowance must be made for the vocal organs, made of delicate tissues, which must be used with more care than the hardened muscles of our fingers.
Here again—in closing our book—we cannot refrain from mentioning Caruso as the most wonderful rebuke of all the prejudices and the antiquated rules that still govern to-day’s schools of voice culture. The great artist was a heavy smoker and indulged in liberties that the majority of singers would consider as forbidden fruit.
We have never known him to use any special preparations or to take such precautions as any ordinary mortal would not take. A light salt solution was his usual gargle during the performances, and when his throat was much congested—often on account of smoking—he used a spray of _apothesine_ and _adrenalin_, prescribed by us. But the great singer was more fond of munching an apple between acts than of anything else.
He was as simple in his living as in his hygienic habits, when his vocal organs were concerned. Alas, his premature death shows us now that he was perhaps over-generous with his own vitality, and that on the altar of Art he laid down his life as a sublime sacrifice.
His tragic death evokes in our memory the beautiful words that the great French poet—Alfred de Musset—wrote almost eighty years ago, at the death of Malibran, another great singer:
_Ce qu’il nous faut pleurer sur ta tombe hâtive Ce n’est pas l’art divin, ni ses savants secrets: Quelque autre étudiera cet art que tu créais; C’est ton âme, CARUSO, et ta grandeur naïve, C’est cette voix du cœur qui seule au cœur arrive, Que nul autre, après toi, ne nous rendra jamais._
Footnote 1:
_See_ Wagner’s _Actors and Singers_.
Footnote 2:
It should be noted that special care has been taken to make a literal rather than a literary translation of the original.
Footnote 3:
Ancient orators used to give so much coloring of speech to the inflection of their voices that they gave the impression of singing their orations.
Footnote 4:
In the _Musical Observer_, November, 1919, taken from the _Monthly Musical Record_.
Footnote 5:
The fact that “ease of pronunciation may account for the lack of dramatic grandeur and vigor in Italian” makes us think of Tommaso Salvini, the great Italian actor who played not only in Italian repertoire, but also Shakespeare in Italian, for English as well as American audiences. The effects of his artistic voice of which we still hear, were not lacking in dramatic grandeur and vigor, which, on the contrary, were very prominent, despite the fact that he possessed the _easiest pronunciation_.
The pianist, the dancer, the tennis player, or the acrobat, does not lack in grandeur or vigor because of his ease in performing; and the unfortunate horse who pulls a heavy truck along a road littered with stones is not very much pleased with his dramatic grandeur and vigor in accomplishing it. He is trying to go ahead until, obliged to give up for lack of strength, he stretches himself out on the ground. Ease, after all, is not such a deadly evil in the world as Mr. Kofler seems to think.
Footnote 6:
Lilli Lehmann, the great German prima donna and intelligent artist, in a quotation already given in this chapter, shows that she is of the contrary opinion.
Footnote 7:
We can appreciate the true merit of anybody compelled, because of the difficulties of his language, to study it deeply and perseveringly; but we do not see the benefits accruing to voice culture by training the voice through as difficult a medium as the English language, when it can be so easily avoided by adopting a much more convenient one.
Footnote 8:
This conception coincides entirely with the ideas of Wagner, as expressed in the following: “If Italian singing is practicable in a German throat, it can only be through acquisition of the Italian tongue.” Wagner, _Actors and Singers_.
Footnote 9:
The classification of Italian vowels is similar to that of the Latin and Greek. _See_ Goodwin, _Greek Grammar_; Allen and Greenough, _Latin Grammar_.
Footnote 10:
The word vowel, in fact, is derived from the Latin _vocalis_, the root of which, _vox_, _vocis_, means voice. Therefore, vowel means voice.
Footnote 11:
Dr. Mills says that S cannot be sounded without more or less of a hissing sound, suggesting the escape of air, which is very unpleasant to the ear; and unfortunately these hissing sounds are very common in English, so that the speaker or singer is called upon to use all his art to overcome this disagreeable effect.
Footnote 12:
These consonants, when associated with the vowels _e_ and _i_, keep the sound of k only if written with an h between, as in _che_, _chi_, _ghe_, _ghi_. Otherwise this sound is soft, as in chest, gem, chill, gin.
Footnote 13:
Copyright, 1922, by D. Appleton & Company
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
● Fixed typos; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. ● Renumbered footnotes and moved them all to the end of the final chapter. ● Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. ● The caret (^) is used to indicate superscript, whether applied to a single character (as in 2^d) or to an entire expression (as in 1^{st}).