PHNG PHP THANH NHC CA ANTHONY FRISELLENTRY #1 Nhng s tht v cng
quan trng v ging ht ca bn, c th bn thn bn v ging vin thanh nhc ca
bn cng khng bit.K thut thanh nhc m chng ta hc ngy nay, l nhng k
thut c kim chng t rt lu. 95% ngi tng hc thanh nhc ni vi ti rng h
thm ch cn khng ht ni mt bi ht n gin. Ti nhn ra rng, nguyn nhn ca s
tht bi ny l do hu ht ging vin thanh nhc v hc vin khng hiu r ngun gc
cn bn ca m thanh v cha luyn ging ng cch bng nhng phng php luyn
thanh ca cc ca s bc thy trc y. Ging u l yu t quan trng to nn mt
ging ht ng cp, cng l cch duy nht ngi ht c th ln n nt rt cao trong m
vc ca mnh. Ht nhc c in c xem l mt hnh thi ngh thut v l mt b mn hp
dn m nhiu ngi a thch. Nhng cng nh nhng ngnh khoa hc kh khan khc nh
vt l, ton hc ht c in c nhiu quy nh v nguyn tc cng nhc. Ging vi cc b
mn khoa hc khc, ht nhc c in i hi nhiu yu t, bn cn hc nhng nguyn tc
quan trng v luyn tp chm ch tch ly kin thc v kinh nghim. Ngi hc
thanh nhc cn phi lm vic ct lc trong mt khong thi gian rt di. Bt u t
vic nghin cu, c, iu tra, quan st v suy ngh, sau t t p dng l thuyt
hc vo thc hnh.
ENTRY#2 Bn, ging vin thanh nhc ca bn, v qu trnh luyn tp.|"Hu ht
nhng ai c tham vng tr thnh ca s chuyn nghip u phi hc vi gio vin
thanh nhc. Vic gip h c th hiu ging ht ca h hn, hc nhng nguyn tc c
bn ca m thanh v cch luyn ging. Tuy nhin, mt cht ging hay cha chc c
th tr thnh mt ca s ln, bi v mt ca s ln phi bit cch truyn ti ci thn
ca h vi ngi nghe. tm ging vin thanh nhc gii khng phi l mt vn n gin.
Trc tin, bn cn tm hiu mt s thng tin v ging vin nh : tng hc u, trng
phi no, kinh nghim v.v..
Dame Joan Sutherland, n ca s ging soprano tng pht biu trn t The
Guardian rng : vic hc thanh nhc mt cch bi bn l iu v cng quan trng.
Nhiu ngi, ngay c ca s vn khng hc cch th, ly hi khi ht, thm ch h cn
khng tp ht xng m. C rt nhiu bi tp luyn ging gip bn c th ht legato v
chuyn t ging trung ln ging cao hn. Nhng by gi h thng ht trong c v
sau h gng sc ht ln cao. H khng bit cch ht sao cho ng, v cui cng h
phi tr gi (hng ging). Luyn thanh khng bao gi d dng, vic ny ging nh
bn ang tham gia vo mt cuc phiu lu, khm ph nhng iu b mt m ngay c
chnh bn cng khng bit bn c th tm ra hay khng. Hc tp y l nn tng c bn
nhng iu khng c ngha s xy dng nn mt ging ht hay. Bn phi phn bit r
rng gia mt ci my bit ht vi thm m m nhc. L d nhin, ging vin thanh
nhc ca bn s phn bit c hai iu ny, khi c mt thm m m nhc tt th bn s c
nhiu c hi thnh cng hn. Thnh cng hay tht bi u ty thuc vo chnh bn thn
bn. Vi ngi mi hc, mt ging vin c kinh nghim s hiu c iu g tt, iu g c
hi v phng php no ph hp luyn cho tng ngi. Nm nguyn m u (oo), I (ee),
e (eh), o (oh), a (ah) c pht m theo ging ca ngi bn x, chnh l yu t
quan trng trong tt c cc cu trc cn bn. Nm nguyn m ca ting ni cng
chnh l nm nguyn m to ra ging ht. Ngi ca s phi hiu rng c mt ging ht
khe, v bn thn vic pht m cc nguyn m trn, tt c u b chi phi bi hi ngc
v nhng phi hp khc nhau trong hot ng ca thanh qun v hu. to ra m
thanh y n, ngi ca s phi t ng v tr ca thanh qun v hu. Cng lc l hot
ng phi hp gia mi, m v li. iu ny s quyt nh cao , cng v trng ca m
thanh. Dnh cho ging nam cao Mt vi m s kha Fa, v mt vi m cao hn s c
chuyn ln vit kha Sol. Trong mt s trng hp, thun tin hn, nt nhc cho
ging nam cao s c dch ln mt qung 8 v vit kha Sol. Dnh cho ging n : n
cao v n trm. Dnh cho ging nam trung v nam trm
Mi nt trn l mi nt kh ht ng v tr m thanh nht. V mt phu thut hc,
khi bn ht nhng m trn, cc c trong vm hng s tng h ln nhau. Minh ha bn
trn ch ra v tr ca khu vc chuyn ging. l khong gia Mi thng v Fa thng
nm trn gia ( 4), y cng l khong chuyn ging cho tt c cc loi ging ca
nam v n. Tt c cc m nm di Mi thng trn 4 u thuc v ging ngc, bao gm c
Mi thng. K t nt Fa thng nm trn 4, tt c cc m u thuc khu vc trn, thuc
v ging u, bao gm c nt Fa thng trn 4. Khu vc chuyn ging ny khng h
thay i tt c cc loi ging, t ging mi hc cho n ging c th biu din trn
sn khu. Bn nt trong khu vc chuyn : Mi ging-Mi thng nm di khu vc
chuyn, v Fa thng Sol thng nm trn khu vc chuyn. iu quan trng khng
phi l bn gng cc c hay c gng ht to, lm nh vy s sn sinh ra lc bn cn
th lng v y hi t t, t thp ln cao. l l do ti sao ti a ra nhiu m nh vy
Only a rare few voice teachers and singers believe that the
problems of blending the registers break which divides the two
vocal registersand which is permanently located between Enatural,
and F-natural above middle Ccan be accomplished by restructuring
four unique
pitches in the Registers Break area. Two of these pitches,
E-flat and E-natural, are situated below the Registers Break, while
the other two, F-sharp and G-natural are situated above the
Registers Break. The fallacy of that concept is that, no matter how
much one attempts to bring the two antagonistic registers into
total harmony by solely altering those four particular pitches,
since collectively they do not contribute a sufficient force
necessary to nullify the antagonism between the chest register and
head register, and allow the singer to create a totally muscularly
harmonious range of tones, from its bottom to its top. It is for
that reason that I have extended the number of pitches from four
whole tones to ten half-tones which are precisely sufficient to
totally transform the registers break muscles away from their
inherent muscular antagonism towards each other, and create a
totally harmonious middle area range, in the center of the complete
range, which is situated between the bottom range and top
range.
The Long Neglected and Forgotten Principles and Applications of
the Breath Force Khng mt bi tp luyn thanh no c th ch ra chnh xc bng
cch no bn c th x l qung chuyn ging sao cho tht mt m, khng b l. None
of the vocal exercises that must be employed to correctly structure
the critical tones of the wide passaggio can be applied effectively
without clear, precise knowledge of how the motor force of breath
tension and it specific exercise must be applied to a selected tone
of wide passaggio area, and its appropriate vowel. During recent
decades, whats been taught about the breathing system has dwindled
down to an inadequate litany which merely deals with how to breathe
air in and out of the lungs. This fails to explain and impart any
of the complicated exercises which all serious students of voice
structuring need to know, in order to first build their singing
voices, then to sing in a superior manner with it.
Giovanni Battista Lamperti (1839-1910), made one of the greatest
statements of them all about the breathing system:
The motives and movement of your mind and body (the
musicianship, the coaching, the style, the communication, the
spirit and the physiological movements involved), make up only half
of the proposition of singing. Natural phenomena of vibration and
resonance contribute the other half. And sadly, we are paying less
attention to that half than did the great teaching lines of the
past!
On Giovanni Battista Lampertis sage note, I will end my second
Blog entry. At out next session, I will discuss how appropriate
applications of the breath force must be used with special
exercises that help the singer build a superior singing voice.
___________________________________________________________________
Entry #3Does your singing voice posses a complete range of
tones?Has your singing teacher assigned you a lot of ascending
scale exercises, which utilized the raw chest voice a (ah) vowel?
Are you satisfied with the results they have had upon your singing
instrument? Perhaps, it is time for al all voice teaches and their
students to rethink why they employ certain vocal exercises. Or, at
least, ask themselves what specific results they expected to
achieve, by applying them. What should the teacher be listening for
when assigning a student a particular exercise? What informs
him/her that the chosen exercise is being properly executed? How
should he/she communicate to the student what he/she wants to
physically accomplish with that particular exercise? Generally,
present day singing teachers listen mainly to the quality results
which their student produce, in response to the vocal exercises
assigned to them. And they invariably urge their student to try and
produce beautiful sound, that are only possible at advanced levels
of muscular development. Therefore this approach is inappropriate,
because there are many more factors, appropriate for beginners,
which the teacher should be listening for. He/she should be judging
the various ways in which a particular exercise has influenced the
muscular behavior of a selected pitch, when the singer attempt to
sing a simple song. But more importantly, the singing teacher
should be concerned about how that particular pitch interacts with
its neighboring pitchesnegatively or positively. A singing teachers
hearing judgements, concerning an assigned exercise, are not alone
sufficient, to grant him/her all the required skills necessary for
developing a superior singing voice for his/her pupils. Indeed,
there is much more than merely listening to the sound quality of a
selected pitch, after the student has completed an assigned
exercise. The challenges of creating a superior singing voice
require much empirically proven knowledge and experience about the
muscles which are involved in the building process, and what must
be done to them, by way of development. Many present-day
individuals who proclaim themselves to be qualified voice teachers,
but who do not possess such critical knowledge and
nor empirical experience are merely doing untested and unproven
guess work. They are naively and irresponsibly operating on a trial
and error lets see waht happens basis, which is not acceptable.
When many vocal structural mistakes have been made with a students
voice, they cannot easily be undone. Beside the psychological
damage which had been caused, there is also mental imagery damage
that lingers on, seemingly eternally, which seems to operate on its
own will power, and against the wishes of the student to rid
himself/herself of it, and regain control of his/her run-away
singing voice. I hope that presently, no one is foolish or naive
enough to believe that we are living in a Golden Age of great
singers and great voice teachers. If the old saying still stands,
Dont look back and merely complain, make a new and better start! I
fully agree with that positive and hopeful go-forward attitude. But
it will never happen in a million years, as the old clich goes, not
until present day singing teachers stop trying to structure
superior singing voices, by making the same mistakes over and over,
of assigning to their students ascending scales that utilize the
raw chest voice vowel, almost exclusively. A proper and highly
productive new start to vocal training can begin by removing your
focus away from the pitches of the Bottom Range, an refocusing your
complete attention upon the pitches of wide passaggio! This is
valid for all singers, of all vocal categories! Please understand
this: No vocal exercise, no matter how appropriate and highly
productive it may be, can not be effectively applied to any of the
pitches of the wide passaggio, without the singer possessing clear,
precise knowledge of how the motor force of breath tension
operates, and precisely how it is to be applied to a selected pitch
and its accompanying vowel, in order to fully and appropriately
develop it Therefore, we will now present some technical ideas
concerning the importance of the breath force. No matter what
approach one adopts for structuring the singing instrument, you
must quickly come to understand this critical fact: that all
ascending scales and vocal phrases possess a potential for damaging
the singing instrument. It is through mastering all the usages of
the breath force that such potential damage can be averted. The
upward journey of the ascending scale, when performed to perfection
will reveal the physical nature of the Two Vocal Registers, The
Chest Voice and the Head Voice, and it will also reveal the two
registers inherent, permanent antagonism towards each other. But
understand that all ascending scales are for the latter part of the
long and time consuming process of structuring a superior singing
voice, but that they are not to be performed at the beginning of
training. Some critical facts to know about the two muscular
systems of control which are generally known as the vocal
registers, which all singers must become totally familiar with, in
order to first build a classical singing voice, and then to learn
how to control it!
Undeniably, there exist two primary and extremely different
muscular controls which all singers encounter when they attempt to
ascend and/or descend the pathway of their complete ranges. If the
muscular adjustments of these two separate, antagonistic muscular
controls are not properly dealt with, there is no chance of vocal
success. Most singers, and especially female singers, naively
believe they can sing with a small group of pitches, carefully
selected from their complete ranges, which appear to be
cooperative, without the rest of the range suffering any negative
consequences. Male singers, and especially inappropriately
categorized Basses and Baritones, make the same mistakes generally
made by many female singers, as described above. Understand that,
any time a singers neglects certain selected notes from his/her
complete range, the neglected notes with soon start causing them
vocal problems, and if these problems are not quickly attended to,
structurally, they will eventually deny those singers complete
usage of their singing voices.
The Lower, or Chest Register Range
The lower range of all singers voices is dominated and
controlled by the muscles of the chest voice. While the upper range
is dominated and controlled by the muscles of the head voice,or
falsetto voice. Certain sections of the chest and head voice ranges
can be made to overlap each other in unusual, but beneficial ways,
in the middle range area, or what I call the Wide Passaggio.
Passaggio is an Italian word which means passageway. Understand
that all passages ways or not traversed merely once, but many times
over. This method of using the muscular controls of both the head
and chest voice registers outside of their original borders and
making them operate within the borders of each other, represents
the first major step which the singer is taking to overcome the
antagonism which the two registers inherently hold towards each
other. This can be accomplished by many masterful applications of
the breath force, using the detached falsetto u (oo) and i (ee)
vowels, alternatingly, and descending scales exercises. The slow
process of overlapping of the muscular controls of the head voice
or falsetto register, downward in the range, overlapping the top
area of the chest register, has a specific purpose, which is
presently not known of, but which is the main factor that
contributes to the success or failure of making the two registers
give up the inherent antagonism they hold towards the opposite
registers, and to muscularly, and harmonious way work together as
if they but a single muscular control, which allows the singer to
sing freely , accurately, and musically, in a synergistic manner,
throughout his/her complete range of tones. Admittedly, many
individuals, internationally involved with classical vocal pedagogy
have been aware that the singer must blend, or mix, his /her two
vocal registers together, in order for them to become cooperative
with each other and allow the signer to sing smoothly and
beautifully with them. However, practically no one presently know
how this can be accomplished, and by what, magical, unknown
method.
However, that so called unknown and magical method of blending
or mixing the two vocal registers, are making them muscularly
harmonious with each other is no longer unknown , since the
publication of my vocal manual, The Art of Singing on the Breath
Flow, in 1995. And that former secret method is simply this. The
muscular setup of the Chest Voice Register does not allow any
singers to use the force of the breath flow, if the singer attempts
to any chest voice pitch which has not been infused with the power
of the breath flow. And conversely, the head voices pitches, from
F-Natural to the B-Natural above Middle C, for all male signers,
and the F2-Natural to the B-2 Natural above C-2, for all female
singers possesses no vibratory, resonant power what so ever . And
most importantly, the resonance cavity in which these Head Voice
tones are located, at the very top of all singers ranges, act as a
sort of breath reservoir, from which breath flow energy can be
accessed (through deep, exaggerated inhalations of air), then
transported downward in the complete range, to its very bottom, and
infused into each and every individual pitch. Please understand
clearly that this is a longtime, very slow process, which is very
unappealing to most American, who are too much in a harry but which
must be highly learned, trusted, and applied. By infusing each and
every pitch of the entire Chest Voices range with the force of the
Breath Flow, that will yank free the old stopper which has for
blocked the full and powerful force of the breath flow from
traveling beyond the restrictive point of the Registers Break, and
enable it to flow fully and freely throughout all singers complete
ranges. Of course, all the above information represents merely a
highly simplified version of the complete and full process. But I
hope it will be sufficient bait, to catch a curious, failed singer
and give him/her the courage and incentive to make a new start, and
to finally acquire his/her dream of possessing a superior singing
voice. By nature, the chest voice register is inherently and
negatively thick and inflexible. These negative factors enable the
vibrato action of the vocal cords, when passing through the chest
voice range, situated so close to the place where the vocal cords
are located, at the bottom of the range, to deceive neophyte
students into believed that they can immediately utilize projecting
power and tonal brilliance, with their untrained voices. This
self-deception is only possible because most students are seeking
quick results and readily grasp at mere potential straws of
success, even when they are worthless. The fact that the chest
voice registers contributes a greater percentage of vocal cords
folds amplitude to the singing voice than does the thin, narrow
vocal cords folds amplitude of the head voice registers, also fools
many students to form inappropriate concepts of the bottom part of
their complete ranges, as well as fooling many advanced singers.
Before the raw undeveloped chest voice range has been restructured,
by infusing all its pitches with generous amount of swirling,
highly energized breath flow, which is accomplished by applying the
detached falsetto u (oo) vowel exercises, it gives the neophyte
student a false impression that he/she can easily produce vibrant,
projecting professional sounding tones. And, that all these thick,
unwieldily and hard to manage chest voice muscles and the
sensations they generate, are operating below his/her tongue, can
also serve as a model for
structuring his/her top range. To the contrary, highly musical
students intuitively understand that all correctly produced tones
are evoked and sustained by the breath force. And they are felt
operating above the tongue. And, that the narrow and highly
energized force of the breath force stream which is generating and
sustaining them, must be titled upwards in the throat and directed
towards the posterior area of the throat, and not downward, toward
the floor of the mouth and the chest register. However, with faith,
and thorough development, the falsetto muscles prove to be stronger
than those of the chest voice. The wise singer will immediately
understand that all of his/her chest tones but be converted away
from their inherent thickness and bulk, and gradually transformed
into thinner and narrower version of themselves, which match those
of all the entire Head Registers thin and narrow factors. With
correct singing, all properly mixed voice sensations are felt by
the singer above his/her tongue. The inherently thin and narrow
nature of the falsetto ranges muscles are quite the opposite of
those of the chest voice register. Generally, the neophyte quickly
forms a false impression that the falsetto voice is useless,
because it lacks vibrant power and tonal brilliance. And because in
its undeveloped state it communicates nothing of the level of
strength to which it can be developed. However, with faith and
persistence and total development , the falsetto muscles prove to
be stronger than those of the chest voice. The wise singer will
immediately understand that all of his/her chest tones must be
converted away from their inherent thickness and bulk. They must
gradually be transformed into thinner and narrower versions of
their old selves, which match those of the entire Head Registers
thin and extremely narrow muscular contours. All falsetto tones
sensations are felt by the singer above his/her tongue. When
employing the falsetto voice, the glottis, which is the opening
between the vocal cords, remains open for a brief, but longer than
usual duration, with every shutter-like opening and closing
movement it makes. Therefore, the singer can only control the head
voice tones by applying passive, indirect (breath) tension as
opposed to active, direct (muscular) tension, to each selected
pitch.
The illustration below shows the position of the Registers'
Break for all singers, of all vocal categories.
Whenever a singer successfully executes an ascending scale
without making graphically noticeable muscular changes, nor radical
changes of sound qualities, he/she is operating the ascending scale
under the negative antagonism which is occurring between the
muscles head and chest voice registers . If this singers head and
chest voice registers had been structured to an advanced level of
muscular harmony, these noticeable muscular changes and radically
unmusical sound would not be heard. When the singer possesses
muscular harmonious vocal muscles, with both registers, he/she is
continuously obliged each higher note of a rising scale away from
the chest voice's muscular controls, and transferring the muscular
controls of each higher note, over to the muscular controls of Head
Voice's register. Thereafter and, while continued upward with the
ascending scale, he/she is operating with the muscle controls of
the head voice dominating every pitch of his/her complete range of
pitches. These muscular maneuvers are possible to be accomplished
through applications passive (breath) tension, which the vocal
ligaments of both the head and chest registers enable, working as a
synergistic team. Also, the singer must rearrange the vowel socket
of each rising pitchs vowel throat socket. Which, when properly
accomplished occurs in the posterior, upper region of the
mouth-pharynx cavity, along with similarly important adjustments of
the tongue and the soft palate. All of these factors need to be
thoroughly understood and smoothly applied, in order for the
singer, after having switched from the controls of the chest voice
to the controls of the head voice, to further and successfully
ascend through the pitches of the Middle Range, ascend further to
the Top Range. These factors may seem overly complicated, but they
are acquire gradually, one by one, basis, as the teachers creates
them and explains them to the student. When correctly performing an
ascending scale, it is critically important that at a specific,
critical point in the ascent, the singer must completely abandon
andy all all usage of the muscles of the chest voice, and switching
completely over to the muscular of the head voice. The precise
pitch where this switch- over technique must be applied is at
B-Flat below middle C for all male singers, and B-Flat above middle
C for all female singers. This particular B-Flat represents the
lower doorway, or entrance into the span of the wide passaggio, for
all singers.
However, it is important to understand that this critical B-flat
switch-over pitch is not available at the beginning of training,
nor at that specific B-Flat point in all singer's complete ranges,
unless it has first been structured, and then placed exactly there.
This takes a long time to accomplish, and much special knowledge.
And they can only be learned through in person, direct instruction,
from a master voice teacher.
For all female voices
Below is an illustration for all female singers which shows
precisely where the critical B-flat switch-over pitch is situated.
To the left, at the bottom of the arc line.
For all tenors, the ten half-notes of the wide-span passaggio,
as presented in the illustration below, are more difficult to
understand and to structure, than it is for singers of all the
other vocal categories, males and females.
We remind all tenors that while all the pitches of their
complete range are notated in all present-day published sheet music
as represented above, the pitches of their complete range actually
straddle the Registers' Break, between the bass and treble clefs.
Tenors are confronted with more difficulties in their efforts to
successfully structure their complete vocal range than are all
other categories of singers. To carry the brilliant vibrato action
of the vocal cords through their passaggio tones, then further
upward in the range to the pitches of their Top Range (above
F-Natural above middle C and upward), they must employ the pitches
of their lower range (from middle C, downward to the bottom of
their range) sparingly. Their goal is to transport brilliant, core
power upward into the Middle Range, then further upward to
the Top Range, all while every tone is being generated and
sustained exclusively by the force of the breath stream! While
tenors are engaged in the long, testy process of structuring their
Wide-Span passaggio pitches (see Fig. 2, above), their voice will
remain disconnected from all chest voice power. This will result in
their complete range being temporarily, but appropriately dominated
by the head voice muscular controls. It may seem to them that their
mission to accomplish a superior singing instrument has become a
nightmare, and an unreality and an unattainable goal. Admittedly,
most of all tenors earliest structuring experiences can be
confusing and painfully frustrating. However, patience, faith, and
persistence will allow them to achieve their goal in the end.
For Baritones & Basses
With so many chest register tones of their complete range
situated below the registers' break, and so few head register
pitches located above it, it is understandable why so many
baritones and basses are reluctant to get involved with those fewer
head voice pitches, at the very top of their ranges. However, the
singing voice requires synergistic contributions from the two
registers, not those of but one register, to sing properly and
superiorly. This demands that the singer become fully responsible
for making structurally sure that the muscular contributions of
both are being addressed, with every vocal exercise, he/she applied
to his/her developing vocal instrument. Without this critical
synergism operating through his/her full range of pitches, he/she
will unavoidably passes through a brief period of false success
followed by a rapid decline, then complete failure! Most
importantly, only this synergism of the both vocal registers will
permit the singer to maintain the health and function of his/her
voice on a high level, for the many years of a professional career.
Many Baritones and Basses seem, to other categories of singers, to
get off to a faster, superior start with their singing voices, then
they themselves. This is because so many of the pitches of
Baritones and Basses ranges are located within the borders of but
one register, that of the chest register. This is because lower
voice singers readily have at their disposal, without having to
work hard to attain them, many pitches which possess tonal
brilliance, projecting power, and often, a rich, sonorous quality.
Many Baritones and Basses also appear to have superior singing
diction. However, it does not take long for all of these seemingly
superior attributes to gradually fade, and then completely
disappear. This is due to the fact that without the participation
of the head register's tones, few as they may be with all lower
male voices, , the exclusive chest tones, creates a rapid
deterioration of the voice. It dries out. All the incompletely
structured chest tones, lack head voice help, lose their vibrancy
and projecting volume, and become veiled, hollow, and difficult to
manage.
For Baritones and Basses
The head voice register's primary contributions, to the chest
voice register of Baritones and Basses, is that of helping them to
maintain all the tones of their complete ranges fresh and youthful
sounding. This is accomplished by always maintaining the free flow
of the breath force throughout the entire range. This is
structurally accomplished through many usages of the detached head
voice i (ee) vowel, first and the many usages of the detached
falsetto u (ooh) vowel, accompanied by a steady, strong, never
ceasing flow of the breath force. Precisely how this is
accomplished will be explained later. There exist many other
important contributions which the head register grants to Baritones
and Basses, such as tonal focus, core brilliance, and vocal
flexibility. It also permits the singer to possess facilely used,
superior sounding tones in their passaggio, plus thrilling,
sparkling, squillo high tones. Squillo is an Italian word which
means to blare out, in the fashion of a trumpet. Most Baritones and
Basses, as well a high, thin soprano voices repeatedly make the
same mistake. They erroneously believe that because the greater
portion of their vocal ranges lie away from the opposite
register-head voice tones for the baritones and basses, and chest
register tones for the supposed coloratura, they can get by without
the missing register's muscular
contributions. In my next Blog, Entry #4, we will be dealing
with the structural principles and exercises of all the pitches of
the Wide-Span of the passaggio, collectively and individually, and
for all singing voices, of all categories, male and female singers.
It is nave for a beginning singer to apply ascending vocal
exercises to his/her singing voice, utilizing the raw a (ah) vowel,
since doing so forces the chest voice's muscles upward in the range
and into the sensitive, and easily damaged passaggio area. This
causes muscular blockages and jam-ups, along the full length of the
resonance channel, which are time consuming to remove. But these
negative factors must be removed in order to make a new, proper
start in the building of the singing voice. A new, fresh start
should begin with the singer addressing the needs of the ten
half-notes of the Wide-Span of the passaggio. And this new start
continues afterward all the pitches of the wide-span of the
passaggio, by addressing the structural needs of the Top and Bottom
Ranges. _____
1.It is more advantageous to structure each and every pitche of
the complete range individually, on by one to one basis, so that,
if any exercise proves to be wrong and counter productive, it can
be put aside, thereby sparing any other tones of the complete range
from abuse. 2.The five classic Italian vowels, u (oo), i (ee), e
(eh), o (oh), and a (ah), as they are pronounced by native
Italians, are of major importance. This is because no particular
exercise can be applied to any selected pitch of the complete range
without it being accompanied by a particular vowel. 3.Most
importantly, when ascending the vocal range from its bottom, with
intentions of proceeding upward in the range to its very top, a
basic principle must be understood. There exists, within the
complete compass of the entire vocal range, two distinct and
separate muscular controls, the Chest Voice, and the Head Voice. At
the very bottom of the range, the chest voice can be actively and
easily accessed in order to start the ascent from the bottom of the
range to its very top. And while the chest voice can facilely be
carried upward in the range to its highest, top border at E-Natural
above middle C, doing so will defeat all the principles of superior
vocal structuring. Therefore, the chest voice's overall
contributions and its range of operation must be restricted to
A-Flat below middle C downward for all singers, males and females.
And, in order for the singer to ascend the complete range further
upward than B-Flat below middle C, for all male singers, and B-Flat
2, above C2, for all female singers, the singer is obliged to make
a major muscular switch from the muscular controls of the chest
voice to the muscular controls of the head voice at the point of
the B-Flat below middle for all singers. 4. Once the singer has
changed the muscular mode of producing the tones of an ascending
scale from the active muscular controls of the chest voice to the
passive muscular controls of the head voice, he/she can then only
control the currently sung pitch, and all the pitches that follow
it, by the force of the breath pressure.
5. This is accomplished by applying different, alternating
amounts of breath pressure to a selected tone in order to depart
from a lower pitch and to ascend to a higher pitch. Simultaneously,
the singer must adjust the laryngeal muscles at the upper,
posterior area of the throat, from one vowel throat socket to the
next different vowel throat socket. 6The detached falsetto i (ee)
voweldetached from chest voice's power and muscular controls and
the chest voice's a (ah) vowel, with different and opposing timbres
which the singer can easily perceive, play major roles in allowing
the singer to understand the switching-process. This process was
once widely known of as The pull back, and lift upward process. I
will discuss this subject more throughly in a future blog entry.
_____________________________________________________________________
Thank you for you attention and patience Looking forward to our
next session
Let me hear from you [email protected]
With much affectionAnthony Frisell
NB: All the above material has been copyrighted by S. Anthony
Frisella. All rights are reserved by Mr. Frisella, domestically and
internationally
Comments on Entry # 3
SJF: It is refreshing to hear a teacher in this day and age
referring to the old Italian methods, and actually giving detailed
explanations as to how they did it back then. Most of the teachers
I have worked with in the past, freely and arrogantly toss around
phrases such as "bel canto....old Italian" method and many other
catchy clichs, without really going into concrete details or
providing demonstrations with actual exercises that can accomplish
said promise. Mr. Frisella on the other hand, is a breathe of fresh
air because he not only is an established singer himself, but has a
knowledge of ALL of the past great teachers and methods but has
gathered the information and worded it into a specific way, so as
to make it far easier to comprehend than if
one were to pick up Garcia Pre's "Hints on Singing" in the hopes
of becoming a star! Maestro Frisella is urging us to pick up the
fallen torch and to start anew the old Italian ways of singing, so
that we may return this once glorious art form of singing and the
teaching of singing to its former high and much respected status!
Thank you for your vocal wisdom Mr. Frisella!
Tuesday, August 7, 2007 - 06:48 AM Seanycreature:Thank you, Mr.
Frisell for the time and effort of laying out all of this
information. This is a lot to think about! And it is intimidating
to think of all the different components needed to build a viable
voice. But it is encouraging 1. that there IS a method that will do
this and 2. that a singer doesn't do it ALL AT ONCE. It's very
popular to be incredibly impatient, both with learning about the
voice and with building a career. But no one can deny that even the
most popular and promising singers right now are fading out more
quickly than singers of the past. I appreciated the attention paid
to singer and vocal pedagogical history. It's the best written
argument for the veracity of the method proposed here. I really
look forward to your next installment. This is a volatile time - in
the politics of the world and the politics of the voice! It's a
chance to learn and grow.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007 - 07:11 AM John Moody:I'm looking
forward to the fourth installment. I know that the wide passaggio
is of great importance, but I am really confused about the lower
part of the range - so I am hoping it will be addressed. I love all
the Frisell writings - and almost all of them start out with the
thesis that the head voice has to totally overlap the chest voice.
In my own studies I struggle with the lower range. I seem to be
able to carry the head voice down, but in the lower range I can't
add the chest quality in the same way that I can in the upper
range. I, then, am left with the choice of using a weak, diffused,
mainly head-voice quality in these low tones, or a raw, seemingly
uncoordinated chest voice (that knocks out the head voice
contributions) My gut instinct tells me that with patience, the
diffused head voice quality is preferable, and that by using it, I
am strengthening my head voice, and that eventually it will be
strong enough to thread the core power of the chest voice into the
tone in a correct and lasting manner. Well, I have read many, many
vocal manuals - and I think Mr. Frisell's manuals are the only ones
that have really figured out singing. He is a genius, and I am
looking forward to his next installment!
Thursday, September 20, 2007 - 06:27 PM Fernando Henriquez:Thank
you very much Mr. Frisell for these wonderful articles! I am a
tenor in training in Miami and, since I cannot study with you in
New York, at least I am getting the benefits of reading your
material. I think that common sense tells us that the voices of the
past were better (in general) than today's voices. I think its is
not that there was more talent, but
that the methods used to train voices were a more effective
product, and the results of a long study, like you mention. Again
thanks so much!
FernandoP.D. Wednesday, January 30, 2008 05:16 PM Thinking over
what I have read in your Blog, I will eventually go to New York. I
would love to study with you! Thanks again
Entry #4The Hole in the Middle of the Resonance ChannelBefore
the singing voices resonance channel has been properly and
completely structured, there inherently exists a hole in it. This
hole is located at a specific point all the resonance channels full
length. This so called hole unavoidable enables all breath pressure
to escape through it, thereby denying the singer the ability to
accurately produce the pitches located within the borders of the
wide passaggio. As A consequence, the confused and frustrated
singers attempts to seal up this hole by erroneously bringing into
play the muscles of the chest registers. This results in highly
unmusical pitched being produced by forced resonance. This is very
damaging to the voice, and directly opposed to correctly producing
highly musical and controllable tones which are almost generated
and then sustained by the force of breath pressure. The pitches
that are located within the borders of this hole are: middle C,
C-Sharp, D-Natural, E-Flat and E-Natural. These are the very same
confusing and troublesome pitches of the vocal passaggio! It is the
lack of knowledge, as how to deal with this hole in the resonance
channel which has caused the low present-day standards of classical
singing. This troublesome hole can be seen. Take a hand-mirror and
hold it up to your face. Open your mouth widely and arrange a light
to shine towards the back of your mouth-pharynx cavity. Observe the
reddish-pink, rear wall of your throat. The space slightly forward
of the pillars of the fauces, on either side of them and downward
to the floor of your mouth, represents this same hole in the
resonance channel of which we speak. While actually singing, if you
possessed a properly structured singing voice, you would not be
able to see the reddish-pink, rear wall of your mouth cavity. It
would be sealed off by a most unusual arrangement of your tongue
and your soft palate, at the rear of the mouth-pharynx cavity. With
the arrangement, your the forward section of your tongue correctly
forms a mound in its center and its rear section connects itself to
the soft palate, which must be lowered and positioned forward,
facing the front of mouth-cavity. When the tongue and the soft
palate are in
these new positions, they block your view of the rear wall of
your throat. These rearranged positions of positions of the tongue
and soft palate, when actually singing, are required. And they and
correct for superior classical singing. They can only be
accomplished by special vocal exercises involving the detached
falsetto version of the i (ee) vowel and skillful applications of
the breath flow. These special exercises allow the singer to create
a wall which plugs up this undesirable hole in the resonance
channel and stops the highly energized breath flow from escaping
through it. As a result, the singer is then able to properly sing
all the pitches of his/her passaggio pitches, as well as all the
remaining pitches of his/her complete range, on the breath flow.
This little known arrangement of the tongue and soft palates is
correct and it is directly opposed to the erroneous method of
forced resonance produced by forcing the chest register upward in
the range, in an erroneous way, in order to block up the hole.
Invariably, most of present-day vocal training methods employs
ascending scales that use the raw a (ah) vowel of the chest voice.
This causes male singers to produce rigid, unattractive lower and
upper middle tones which are shouty and unmusical, and possess
distorted vowels. They are without any variations in the
breath-forces dynamics, and their pitch accuracy is questionable.
All these negative factors deny the singer correct access to the
vocal passaggio and all the head tones that are located above it.
Invariably there is too much improper, negative tension operating
throughout the singers complete range. With most female singers,
the range from E-Natural above middle C is thin and muted, without
proper vibrations and exhibiting unclear vowels. The faulty tones
lack proper breath tension. Therefore, there is no projection of
the voice out into the audience until after the singer has past the
upper passaggio at E2-Natural. With both male and female singers,
the structurally unfulfilled tones of the passaggio and the pitches
located within the area of hole in the resonance channel do not
allow the singer to properly produce a full array of tones from the
bottom to the very top of the range. His/her efforts are thwarted
by the hole in the resonance channel, at the area of the passaggio.
The singer loses hope of achieving evenness of range, clear vowels,
total control of all the breath dynamics from the softest fil di
voce (a soft thread of voice), to thrilling squillo high tones that
are beautiful and blare outward over the orchestra toward the
audience in the manner of a trumpet. When properly structured, and
while actually singing, all superior singing voices demand that the
singer maintain a proper breath tension throughout his/her complete
range. Of course, when stopping to take a new breath, this tension
is momentarily inoperative, but it must be immediately reapplied
when the singer begins to sing again. The confusing and troublesome
pitches of the passaggio, where this hole in the resonance channel
is situated, are located at different areas in the complete ranges
of all male singer, than where it is located for all female
singers. For all male singers, the hole in the resonance channel is
located toward the upper middle area of their complete range. And
for all female singers, this hole is located at the bottom of their
complete range.
Most female singers claim they possess two vocal passaggios.
One, at the lower end of their complete range, and a second one,
their upper passaggio, located at the upper middle section of their
complete range. This concept is not accurate, since for all female
singers, their the true and only vocal passaggio for all females is
their bottom passaggio. In most cases, most male and female singers
avoid dealing with the difficulties of their passaggio tones, This
is because very little useful information is currently being
presented to them which actually allows them to accomplish the
difficult and time consuming task. Instead, their lack of effective
structuring methods training forces them them make many
compensatory adjustments to their inadequately structured voices.
One example is, exercising the voice with but one of the five
classic Italian vowels exclusively, for a certain period of time,
while excluding the other four vowels, whereas proper vocal
structuring utilizes all five vowels during all phases of training.
Or, they play down the volume of one particular section of their
range fir a while and instead feature another more functional
section of their range, until their voice breaks down again. Then,
they seek out new compromises and exclusions. When they run out of
all these exclusions and compromises, they finally give up all hope
of becoming a professional singer. Now lets go back in time, to
just after the bel canto period, when the dramatic repertory of
Italian verismo, and the German Helden or heroic compositions of
Richard Wagners operas first made new, greater demands upon the
singers voices, and when many other radical changes in vocal
training principles and practices occurred. These new schools of
vocal training were forced to find new ways of training larger and
more projecting singing voices which were capable of producing more
vibrant volume, in order to cope with the increased volume of
larger orchestras of the new, dramatic repertory. The new question
for the teachers of these new and experimental schools was, where
and to what physiological component of the human anatomy can we
turn to accomplish this need for more projecting vocal power? The
answer was obviousthey turned to the chest register! As a
consequence of trying to add more chest voice power to the complete
ranges of singers of all vocal categories, the confusing and
troublesome registers break boldly manifested itself and caused
great problems in structuring voices that would possess a
beautiful, smooth equal quality throughout their entire ranges.
Great vocal training problems soon followed, such as What does this
troublesome passaggio need for us to fix it, and where it is
actually located? What is its purpose? Can anyone ignore it? Many
frustrated singers and teachers claimed outright that the so-called
passaggio does not exist because nature and human physiology gave
no evidence that actually. The entire teaching profession was in an
uproar. There were too many questions asked which that had no
plausible answers. But one thing was perfectly clearly to all. The
new dramatic repertory had struck a fatal blow to the training
principles and practices of the old bel canto period. Slowly,
thereafter, there emerged two new schools of vocal training that
could successfully produce singing voices with greater projecting
volume than those of the earlier bel canto period. The first
successful new school started in Naples, Italy. And later on, its
successful principles and practices were brought to new heights of
perfection in Paris during the early 19th century,
with the teaching of Jean de Reszke and Giovanni Sbriglia. Then
tragically, there came the lst world war. The 1st world war brought
chaos to most major European cultural operatic centers. With them,
the principles and practices of the Naples and Paris school of
voice training had been greatly accepted and had flourished, since
they had produced so many great singers. However, after the 1st
worlds war ended, many highly competent voice teachers who had
enjoyed successful singing careers, due to the Neapolitan and Paris
Schools of vocal training, flocked to New York, London, and Rio de
Janeiro. There, they set up their own vocal studios and passed down
many of those Neapolitan and Paris schools principles to many
singers from all over the world who flocked to the above mentioned
cities for vocal training. Then came the Second World War. After it
had ended, most of Europes culture and operatic centers were in
shambles and the desire for art could not compete with the need for
food and shelterand survival. Therefore, unlike the 1st world war,
when many former great opera singers and voice teachers flocked to
America, and taught so many great American singers, few of their
like came to America, after the Second World War. That was the
post-ward period of Tom Brokaws Greatest Generation book, and the
rise of the Corporate State, which depersonalized the American
society and transformed it into a greatly homogenized, monolithic,
passive consumer society through the medium of Television. During
this period, life suddenly accelerated to a hectic, carefree,
reckless pace of existence. Practically everyone willingly and
unquestioningly converted to this new, seductive, totally
selfinvolved mode of life. Virtually everyone and everything
succumbed it break next speedy waysexcept art! This was especially
true of the art of classical singing. It loved to languor and
dreamily crawl along at its own slow pace. But to the new, great,
chosen generation, the demands of dedication, time, and money which
all serious art made seemed to require an eternity to accomplish.
And students demanded that all training programs be adjusted,
trunked and speeded up, and to cost less. But True Art could not be
compromised, and was stubborn. It could not be made to rush! It
could not be commandedit did all the commanding and demanding! And
art declared to everyone, If you wish to woo me and win my favors,
then you have to obey my laws. But new generation belittled art and
its unrealistic, not guaranteed demands for their total commitment,
with out rigid guarantees! So, instead, the New Great Generation
embraced and married Pop Culture. What a tragedy! Rapidly
thereafter, new, clever, speedy voice teachers, and other teachers,
in almost all other serious fields of endeavor, emerged upon the
scene. Where classical singing was concerned, few of its
new-approach teachers themselves, had every accomplished singing
even a simple song, or a few phrases of a challenging operatic
aria,
much less a complete operatic role, nor enjoyed a professional
singing career. Nor did they have any interest in exploring and
learning the vocal training principles and practices of the great
historical vocal teachers of the past, who themselves had had
highly successful classical singing careers. By comparison, These
great singers of the historical past, after retirement from their
great operatic careers, set up their own teaching studios and
struggled long and hard to sort out and solve all the puzzling
idiosyncrasies of the classical singing voice. And by stark
contrast, the new-approach teachers brazenly sat down at the piano
with hubris and immeasurably arrogance and declared, Come, let me
show everyone how this classic stuff how is technically doneand in
no time. I agree with all of you, that the old school of voice
training took far too long. Huh! I can accomplish the task in
practically no time, but mind younot cheaply! I could now present
to you a long list of what this new breed of voice teachers skipped
over and/or threw out of their teaching practices, of the tried and
proven, empirical training practices and principles of the past
great voices teachers. But that would be a waste of time, and would
probably fall upon deaf ears. The new, nave voice students of this
fast period of vocal training, anxious to enjoy a glamorous and
financially profitable singing career, could not have cared less
what training method their teachers where subjecting their voices
to. The most significant and basic principles which this new school
of voice teachers discarded were those that dealt with the nature
and functions of the two separate and antagonistic vocal registers,
the chest and head voices, and the difficult and confusing problems
of the Registers Break area and the pitches that surrounded the
passaggio, and how to solve them. They also did away with the
invaluable understanding and applications of the five classical,
Italian Vowels. This was so because they quickly learned that in
order to employ all five vowels to a students unstructured voice
and get positive results, they had to possess complete knowledge of
how each individual vowel exerted its influences upon the singers
vocal instrument, mentally and physiologically. And equally
important, they had to know precisely when and why (during the
long, progressive period of structuring a singing voice), and
precisely how to apply a particular vowel, and when to temporarily
withhold its use. They likewise had to know how all the vowels
changed in sound and muscular influence when applied to different
sections of the students complete range, as they are slowly being
artistically shaped in the singers throat, into near perfection.
Despite all the above criticisms, we concede that nature and the
physiological components of the classical singing voice (what the
old Italian voice teachers called the Vocal Organs) do not easily
communicate their structural needs in clear details to any
would-be, superior voice teacher. Nor to any highly disciplined,
dedicated vocal student. Nor how to transform an undeveloped,
amateur voice in to a superior professional one.
No, indeed! The truly sincere, potentially competent vocal
teacher, despite being sincere, intelligent, musically qualified
and highly disciplined has to first have studied long and hard with
a master teacher in order learn all the required principles and
practices of voice building. They must very slowly accomplish all
that, while on the job, so to speak! Only then may he/she modestly
and humbly dare to sit down at the piano and take the students
untrained voice into his/her charge. To the hopeful, expectant
voice student, his/her singing voice is the most precious, sacred
thing in the world. When I think of the damaged conditions of the
voices of most newcomers who have presented themselves to me in the
past and recently, I often wonder how many present-day voice
teachers ever consider that fact. When most contemporary vocal
students perform an ascending vocal exercise and they arrive at
middle C (which represents the first, lower pitch of the
unstructured passaggio), they unavoidably encounter, at that middle
C pitch, a hollow, breathy abyss which is the hole in the resonance
channel with which this blog in essentially concerned. To the
singers disadvantage, all the pitches of a rising scale that are
located below this middle C point in the range, easily communicate
to the student a solid, tangible method of producing all his/her
lower pitches, below this Middle C point. But once the student
attempt to pass above this middle C point, all tangible, solid
feelings, which had been felt below middle C immediately vanish.
The student becomes immediately confused. He/she asks
him/herselfwhat should I do now? Without proper guidance, the
average student will unfailingly reach downward in the range for
the inappropriate and damaging chest registers muscle. Then rigidly
gripping them, he/she will inappropriately push the solidity factor
of the chest voice upward past the critical middle C, which
represents the lower entrance of the unstructured vocal passaggio.
Feeling confident that the right move has been taken, the student
is highly unaware that he/she has erroneously executed his/her
first major vocal structuring mistake. From then on, by repeating
this same mistake for a second, thirdtenth, and possibly the
hundredth time, it is unlikely that this student will ever succeed
in achieving his/her goal of possessing a superior singing voice.
Even later, when these mistakes are discovered and explained, and
new directions and solutions are sought, success may remain
illusive. because, without precise knowledge of how to undo all the
earlier vocal mistakes caused by forcing the chest voice upward in
the range, the chances of these students learning the correct
method of ascending the range from its bottom, correctly ascending
further upward and past B-Natural pitch below middle C, then
ascending further upward in the range and passing correctly through
the vocal passaggio to the top range without knowing and applying
the correct method of applying the energy of breath force, success
with all new ascending scales is not likely to be to occur.
Even if this naive student had been clearly advised that all
tones of the passaggio must be produced exclusively, without
sealing off inherent hole in the resonance channel, with all of
his/her wide passaggio tones, it would not have been possible for
him/her to establish and maintain the various amounts of highly
energized breath tension, required to accurately produce each of
the difficult to structure passaggios five half tones of(presented
to my readers here again, to reinforce the principle) middle C,
middle C-Sharp, D-Natural, E-Sharp and E-Natural. The breath
tension required by any and all of these particular pitches would
have been immediately dissipated as the breath arrived at the point
in the the complete range where hole in the resonance channel is
located, then immediately escape, by gush through the hole in the
range, and out of the singers mouth! Prior to correctly structuring
of the total resonance channel, all singers possess this hole in
their resonance channel, due to the inherent physical structure of
the mouth-pharynx cavity. The hole embraces the pitches of middle
C, C-Sharp, D-Natural, E-Flat, and E-Natural. Since no one has
offered a sound explanation nor usable solution to the problems
caused by this hole, many incorrect, highly damaging methods to
overcome the holes negative influence have been tried, but they
have all failed. The most common, mistaken solution, is for voice
teachers to instruct the student to first push his/her chest voice
muscles upward to middle C, then push it further upward in the
range, and into the remaining pitches embraced by the hole,
C-Sharp, D-Natural, E-Flat, and E-Flat. For a short while, some
singers, usually those with lighter voices, doing the above seems
to have solved the problems of their passaggio pitches. But soon
thereafter, the tones located just above the registers break, from
F-Natural above middle C upward in the range to its top, start to
malfunction. Then, the entire middle voice collapses. With male
singers, all the notes above E-Natural above middle C become
unavailable. And for all female voices, all the pitches from C2 to
the F-Natural above it become hollow and dysfunctional, and in many
cases they begin to wobble. I know this is all very discouraging
news. But dont despair since, from this point forward, since we
will proceed more rapidly now, in presenting all the necessary
idiosyncratic solutions to these problems. They will allow anyone
who is ready to make a new start, and highly motivated to succeed,
and is patient and persistent to completely overhaul all the
pitches of the his/her Registers Break. We present these pitches
once again, to make a deep impression upon my readers: These
critical five half-tones of Middle Range are: Middle C, C-Sharp,
D-Natural, E-Flat and E-Natural, plus several border-pitches which
are situated just below the passaggio, and several above the
passaggio, which have led me to rename this troublesome area of the
complete range the wide-passaggio! Rubbing Elbows With Super Great
Opera Singes
As a young operatic stage director, I enjoyed the privilege of
hearing such great singers as Zinka Milanov, Leonard Warren, Mario
Del Monaco, Nicola Moscona, Norman Treigle, Richad Tucker, Jan
Peerce and Victoria de Los Angeles (to mention but a few), at very
close range, for days at a time. I was fascinated by the beauty and
the wide range of dynamics of their voices, the clarity of their
vowels, and the highly kinetic movements which they commanded their
vocal organs to accomplish, while they were singing a particular
aria, or one of my favorite operatic phrases. All their above
mentioned accomplishments stand in stark contrast to even the best
of contemporary singers, with whom I observe very little movement
of their poorly trained vocal organs (the many smaller, separate
individual muscular sections that make up their complete range). In
placed of their vocal wonders, I observe an annoying stillness to
their vocal organs and a monotony of vocal sounds which they
visibly struggle to produce which lack interesting tonal colors and
little of any interesting volume dynamic accents, nor variations.
And, as for most contemporary female singers lower ranges, and male
singers upper middle and top ranges are concerneddo these singers
believe that no one notices the missing those, critically important
missing sections of their complete ranges? Surely, the great
Giuseppi Verdi was not artistically miss when he composed his
great, Shakespearian-like operatic masterpieces which were enriched
with the awesome and thrilling vocal sounds that almost all
contemporary singers seem incapable of producing for us? Because
these present-day singers passaggios have rarely been properly and
completely structured, all their vocal organs appear to me to be
straight-jacketed. During the long and testy period of creating a
superior singing voice, one must maintain complete flexibility of
all The Vocal Organs! Here is what the great Manual Garcia had to
say about this in his book, Hints on singing: The pathway of sound,
being formed of elastic and movable parts, varies its dimensions
and forms in endless ways, and every modificationeven the
slightesthas a corresponding and definite influence on the
voice.
The Tongue and Soft Palate Are the most Flexible and Adjustable
of all the vocal organs.
When not in and act of eating, swallowing or talking, the tongue
seeks a resting position in the lower throat channel. While
singing, in order to employ the tongue as solid substance for
creating a wall that will seal off the hole in the resonance
channel and prevent breath pressure
from escaping through it, the singer must lift the tongue must
upward from its usual resting place in the lower throat channel,
and place into the mouth-pharynx cavity. This is accomplished,
while under the guidance of a superior voice teacher, by employing
the detached falsetto version of the i (ee) vowel. A detached
falsetto tone is one that has no connection whatsoever to the power
of the chest voice. It can only be properly accessed at the very
top of all singers ranges, from F-Natural above middle C upward in
the range, for all male singers, and F2-Natural above C2-Natural
and upward in the range, for all female singers. This is the head
voice, or detached falsetto range for all male singers, and the
head voice, or whistle voice for all female singers. Another
important factor about this special, detached falsetto i (ee) tone
when using it to structure the wide passaggio pitches, is that it
must be fitted into the center of a fully open throat position of
the head voice (ah) vowel socket. This is required in order to
avoid employing the chest voices i (ee) vowels socket socket, which
is essentially a closed throat position, and damaging to the voice.
The chest voices i (ee) vowel will immediately cause rigidity of
the lower jaw, block off the force of the breath stream, and
immediately defeat the entire purpose of the forth coming
exercises. Heres what the great Italian tenor Beniamino Gigli had
to say about this: The i (ee) vowels on the low and lower medium
notes are narrow sounds. But, when ascending the complete range,
and when passing above B-Flat below Middle C, for all male singers,
and B-2 Flat above Middle C, for all female signers, the i (ee)
vowels throat socket must be given ample space for development,
just as if it were the same aperture as the a (ah) vowels throat
space, providing ample throat space for of tonal amplification.
This particular i (ee) of which we are speaking, is evoked then
sustained primarily with the mind and the will (cervella e volont)
of the singer. During the long and slow restructuring process of
the wide passaggio, from G-Natural pitch above middle C downward to
the B-Flat below middle C, for all male singers, and B-2 Flat,
above G2-Natural above C2 for all female singers, the open a (ah)
vowels throat position must be carried downward from the top of the
range to the B-flat just mentioned above, in the previous
paragraph. This i (ee) bowels throat position must based upon the
open a (ah) vowel, when singing from this particular B-flat, upward
in the range to its very top. Every time the i (ee) vowel is sung
with any and all the tones of the wide passaggio, it must first be
fitted into the open space of the a fully open-throated, head voice
a (ah) vowel. There is another critically important factor
regarding this particular detached falsetto i (ee) vowel, where the
process and goal of sealing off the hole in the resonance channel
is concerned. The selected pitch of this particular i (ee) vowel
that it must first be generated exclusively by a strong flow of the
breath force, then totally sustained by that same level of the
breath force for the entire time it is being sung. As a structural
tool, what this particular detached falsetto i (ee) vowel can
accomplish for the singer is to attach itself to the muscles that
control the tongue. This will allow the singer to lift
the tongue gently out of its resting place, in the lower throat
channel, and then relocate it inside the mouth-pharynx cavity.
During this process, the breath force must never stop flowing for a
single second. The lower end of the tongue is attached to the hyoid
bone which acts as a protective anchor for it, while still allowing
the tongue great flexibility of movement. During the process of
relocating the tongue from its low resting place and inside the
mouth cavity, using the detached falsetto i (ee) vowel, the hyoid
bone will immediately communicate to the singer, if and when the
singer is putting excessive pressure on the lower end of the
tongue, and it informs the singer, by easily understood sensation,
stop exercising his/her voice, with this particular i (ee) vowel
for a while, and give it a rest. After resting the voice, then
continuing to exercise it again, and while moving the tongue from
its resting place and then into the mouth-pharynx cavityonce the
tongue has been placed into the mouth cavity, there will be an
excessive amount of the tongues bulk, which the mouthpharynx is too
small to comfortably accommodate. Therefore, the middle section of
the tongue will automatically form itself into a mound which
imitates the curved shape of the hard palate, situated immediately
above it. Simultaneously, the tip of the tongue will automatically
position itself downward and forward, behind the lower front teeth.
During this entire process, the singer cannot precisely nor
immediately understand how to accomplish all the factors that are
involved, and what the results will be, when successful. That only
comes later, when applying various exercises that are appropriate
to this accomplishment. However, after the singer has learned how
to properly evoke and apply this specific i (ee) vowel, he/she will
come to clearly understand how and why only this specific i (ee)
vowel can inform and control the tongue and the soft palate,
simultaneously. Only this specific i (ee) vowel can instruct the
tongue how to behave and adjust itself in order to compensate for
the lack of available space for it within the mouth-pharynx cavity.
And how to moved the soft plate downward, at the rear of the
mouth-pharynx cavity, then to face it forward toward the front of
the mouths. The above is only a limited preview of what will be
expected of the tongue in order to utilize it as substance solid
flesh material to create the bottom half of the wall that will seal
off the hole in the resonance channel. Projecting forward, further
in this process, the singer should know in advance that the tongue,
when fully and properly utilized for the purpose of sealing off the
hole in the passaggio, contributes only 50% of the solid flesh
material to successfully accomplish this task. The remaining 50%
will be contributed by the soft palate. The correctly produced
detached falsetto i (ee) vowel will also precisely and
simultaneously attach itself to the soft palate. It will instruct
the soft palate of its duties and movements, and the precise amount
of solid flesh material which will be used by the singer to create
the upper-half of the wall in order to seal off the hole in the
resonance channel.
In America, for more than fifty years now, most singers have
been unable to sing a clear, vibrant, beautiful i (ee) vowel tone
in any section of their complete ranges. This is because their
voices are wrongly orientated to produce all five vowels based upon
the ways they are formed with the muscles of the speaking voice,
when actually speaking. Of course, this is a colossal mistake.
Finding and utilizing the correct detached falsetto i (ee) vowel is
critically related to how the singer does or does not understand
how to correctly and masterfully apply the force of the breath, in
order to evoke any/or all the tones of his/her complete range. We
will go into this matter in greater detail later on.
Here are some important facts that you should know about the i
(ee) vowel.
Presently, few if any contemporary voice teachers use the i (ee)
vowel in their vocal exercises, while invariably almost all of them
use the wrong, raw chest voice version of the (ah) vowel. Nor, for
that matter, do they use the u (oo) vowel in its correct form, if
they can avoid doing so. And strangely, no one seems to take notice
of these preferences and/or exclusions of certain vowels, or
questions anyone of authority as to why this is so. However, it
must be understood that all five vowels, based upon the way they
are pronounced by native Italians, and produced by the breath
force, must be used to structure a superior singing instrument.
This is so because each vowel makes it own particular contribution
to the total process, and to the selected pitch to which it is
currently being applied. And it is very important to understand
that each individual vowel exerts its own particular influence upon
the actual process of singing. The failure of contemporary voice
teachers to produce great singers is also due to this lack of
understanding about the five classic Italian five vowels, and what
their contributions and effects are upon the building of a superior
voice, and actual singing. Here is a list of several major voice
teachers from the recent past, who strongly advocated that the i
(ee) vowel played a major role in the voice structuring process:
Freida Hempel, Leo Slezak, Enrico Rosati, Paul Althaus, and Beverly
Johnson. However, none of the above individuals ever precisely
explained to anyone, nor wrote down, how their concepts of the i
(ee) vowel were to be used, nor presented us with particular
exercises for its application. Enrico Rosati who was reportedly the
New York voice teacher of Gigli, and also Mario Lanza for fifteen
months, just prior to Lanzas departure on April 14, 1947 to fulfill
a concert in Shippensburg, which Columbia Artists Management had
booked for him. Later on, when Lanza went out to Hollywood to begin
his highly successful movie career, which many thought destroyed
his chances of becoming a great opera singer, Lanza begged Rosati
to come out to Hollywood to continue teaching him. But Rosati
declined, saying that he never followed the
great Gigli about, so why should he follow him. Lanza greatly
admired and respected Rosati and accepted his decision. Later on,
Lanza sent Rosati the following note: To Maestro Enrico Rosatiany
success I am having or will have in the future I owe 100% to you,
the greatest undisputed voice teacher in the world, past, present
and future. I love you and you will always be close to me wherever
I am, or in whatever I do. Especially on the stage, since you will
always be there with the third register. All my love for you,
Maestro. Mario Lanza I know that Rosatis third register, was, in
fact, the developed falsetto voice, attained by applying the
detached falsetto i (ee) vowel to the entire vocal range, in a
specific manner, because Mario Lanza, himself, told me so. The Soft
Palate The highly flexible and adjustable soft palate possesses a
potential to form the upper half section of the solid, flesh
material required to create the wall that seals off the hole in the
resonance channel. This wall stops the breath force from escaping
(while moving in a forward direction), towards towards the lips,
and then through the mouth-pharynx cavity, then fully out of it.
Some voice teachers who are somewhat aware of the fact that the
soft palate plays an important role in structuring a superior
singing voice erroneously instruct their students, while actually
singing, to raise their soft palate upward and make the pillars of
the fauces (the curtain like sections, to the right and left of the
soft palate), to form a Gothic arch, as we often seen in many
church windows. This must not be done. Doing so will immediately
and completely block the breath force from freely passing through
the passaggio tones, then traveling further upward in the range and
arriving at the head voice and sinus cavities resonance chambers,
all of which are important factors for the singer to produce
superior high tones. It must also be known that the soft palate
does not remain in the lowered and forward position, facing the
front of the mouth, when all singers descend the range from it top
and pass below the Bf situated below middle C to all the remaining
pitches of his/her range below this particular Bf. With the tones
below this particular Bf, the soft palate must be allowed to move
backwards again, in the rear section of the mouth-pharynx cavity,
to its preferred resting place. But it must never be allowed to
become rigid and inflexible. When the pillars of the fauces have
been incorrectly made to form a Gothic arch, that erroneous
position (besides blocking the passageway through the passaggio and
further ascent to the top tones), gives the lower octave of the
voice an artificially dark timbre. As a consequence, many students
are inappropriately placed into a lower vocal category than is
their true vocal category. Now lets explain how the tongue, when
lifted out of its resting place in the lower throat channel and
then relocated within the mouth-cavity will come to represent the
lower section of the wall that stops the breath force from
dissipating and escaping through the front of the mouth.
The soft palate, when lowered and moved forward and facing the
front of the mouth cavity, will come to be upper section of the
wall that stops the breath force from dissipating and escaping
through the front of the mouth. When applying a breathy, detached
falsetto i (ee) vowel, one that has no relationship whatsoever to
chest voice power, to a pitch above the registers break, preferably
a Gn (a tone which is being produced exclusively by the force of
breath power, and making sure that that this particular falsetto i
(ee) vowel has been placed in the center of a pre-arranged position
of a fully open a (ah)s throat space), then, and only then, will
the i (ee) vowel simultaneously attach itself to the muscles that
control the tongue (from below) and also attached itself to the
muscles that control the soft palate (from above). Thereafter, the
singer must slowly and carefully increase the volume of this
specific, detached falsetto i (ee) vowels pitch, by swelling it in
the manner of the messa di voce. Accurately accomplishing this task
will bring the muscles of both the tongue and the soft palate
together in a close and harmonious manner that completely seals off
the undesirable hole in the resonance channel. This allows the
singer to properly apply the required amount of breath tension to
any and all tones of his/her complete vocal range. This is
especially true for the critical tones of the passaggio where the
hole existed before the bound together tongue and soft palate
sealed it completely off. Thereafter, when the energized breath
force reaches the pitches of the wide passaggio, Bf and Bn below
middle C, middle C, plus Cs, D n , Ef, and En, that energized force
of the breath, essential to creating and sustaining all these above
mentioned pitches, will no longer be able to escape and incorrectly
exit through the front of the mouth cavity. Finally, with the hole
in the singers resonance channel completely sealed shut, the singer
will be able to produce beautify, highly controllable, superior
tones. To extend the i (ee) vowels positive influences upon all the
tones of the wide passaggio (the pitches of which areGn, Gf, Fn,
En, Ef, Dn, Df, and middle-C, plus Bn and Bf below middle C), all
these detached falsetto i (ee) vowel exercises must be applied from
the top note of the wide passaggio, Gn above middle C, in a
descending direction exclusively, for quite a long time. Understand
that the above information gives a mere preview. This has only been
a rough sketch of what this complete procedure is capable of
accomplishing, and will be expanded upon and clarify later on, in
my following blog entries. But until then, here are some
informative thoughts to dwell upon. Initially, the muscles of the
tongue and soft palate, when placed in these new positions cannot
yet withstand the increases of breath pressure that are needed to
produce the remaining vowels of e (eh), o (oh) and a (ah). The
singer must eventually fulfill the development needs of all of
them, and when possible, in the same order in which they are
presented above. While they use the same principle of swelling the
selected, detached falsetto i (ee) vowel tone to develop, using the
messa di voce exercise, each individual pitch must be exercised in
the same descending order as presented above. As each individual
vowels muscular controls strengthen, the muscles that control the
tongue and soft palate when they are tightly bound together in the
manner described above in order to seal the hole in the resonance
channel, also develop in strength. Now, finally, they can totally
resist
and sustain the maximum amount of breath pressured being applied
to them. Thus, the singer can successfully sing in a dramatic
manner frequently required by the popular, present-day grand
operatic repertory. This means that the singers now developed voice
can successfully sustain all the challenging muscular rigors of a
professional singing career. The detached falsetto i (ee) vowel
which begins this structural journey is the starter vowel. It
possesses an uncanny potential for precise alignment of the voice
and creates precise muscular alignment and harmony between the two
unruly, antagonistic vocal registers. It also reveals to the singer
the perfect pathway of the breath force as it travels from the
bottom of the singers complete range, enters into the dark, blind
tunnel of the vocal passaggio (which is extremely thin, when
finally and completely structured). It then rises above the
passaggio notes and arrives at the top range, which, when perfect,
become the crowning glory of the singers art, along with a perfect
fil di voce, or a ravishing soft, pianissimo tone, spinning
gloriously around on top the breath forces energized beam. The
singer must understand something very important about applying the
i (ee) vowel exercises. After using them for a day or so, they must
be put aside and the voice must be given a day or two of rest. This
is so because the i (ee) vowel tends to temporarily block the flow
of the breath force. After resting the voice and returning to
exercise it, the singer must exclude the i (ee) vowel for a day or
two, and use only the u (oo), o (oh) a (ah) vowels, which will
gradually restore the full, fluid flow of the breath force
throughout the singers entire range. Also understand that you
cannot properly evaluate what influence a particular exercise has
had upon your voice in the same time period that it is being
performed. You must wait a few days to learn those facts. The
illustration below shows the manner in which the tongue and soft
palate must be repositioned by the singer away from their natural
positions, and brought into extremely close contact with each
other. Once there, they must be held firmly together while the
singer is singing a particular passaggio tone and its accompanying
vowel. This is done in order to seal off the hole in the resonance
channel which would allow the breath force that is generating the
tone to escape through the front of the mouth, causing the tone
presently being sung to collapse. This phase of this long process,
as it has been presented above, is meant to represent the singers
first encounter with just a few of the principles and practices of
this difficult and unusual voice structuring task. It cannot be
accomplish quickly. And, it can be very testy and frustrating, and
the singer can easily become discouraged. This is not an assignment
for the faint of heart, nor anyone who is not prepared for total,
unconditional, passionate devotion and fidelity to this ideal.
Be informed that this process is a serious undertaking It will
completely alter the physiological arrangements and behavioral
patterns of certain muscles that generate the singing voice. Once
you have embarked upon this undertaking, your old, familiar voice
will gradually vanish, but your new one will not appear, nor be
clearly or fully revealed to you for quite some time. When
considering the initial condition of your individual voice at the
beginning of this process, you will understand why no one can
precisely predict the length of time you will be obliged to travel
in fear and doubt through this dark time-tunnel of doubt and
frequent discouragement. However, if you do enter into it, it will
serve as a test of your courage, fortitude, will, and
character. And, if you have what it takes, you will eventually
emerge from this dark tunnel into the glorious light of success and
fulfillment. This is what the late, great tenor, Luciano Pavarotti,
told Jerome Hines about the passaggio, in Mr. Hines wonderful and
informative book, Great Singers on Singing. Luciano Pavarotti: Now
this passaggioJerome Hines, (cutting in on Pavarotti) Is the
transition from the upper middle voice to the high voice, and I
know that students are interested in your approach, since you have
a flawless passaggio; it is so smooth a change, one is not aware of
it. Luciano Pavarotti: It took me six years of study, and one must
be convinced of its importance from the first day . . . never
change ideas. You know, the first five or six months it is very
depressing because it does not come out right, and you become
cyanotic, red in the face. Then the student begins to think this
approach is wrong, and tries the other way, but it will never bring
them security of voice. The End of this Blog Entry
_____________________________________ Relative to the above blog,
you may want to read my vocal manual The Art of Signing of the
Breath Flow, I am in the process of obtaining some copies of the
book, plus copies of A Singers Note book. More than three years
ago, my publisher, Banrden Books.com made a agreement with Google
to make Eleven of my book available to the public as E-books. You
can check with Google Book Search. Type into the search window
Books by Anthony Frisell. Or, Novels by Anthony Frisell. If Anyone
manages to buy one of my books, please give me a phone call
212-23385 and let know that you have suceeded in doing so.
_______________________________________________________________
Thank you once again for you attention and patiencelooking
forward to our next session Let me hear from you
[email protected]. If you wish to speak to me, leave me your
telephone number and when I have a few free minutes free from my
busy schedule, I will call you. With much affection Anthony Frisell
NB: All the above material has been copyrighted by S. Anthony
Frisella All rights are reserved by Mr. Frisella, domestically and
internationally
______________________________________________________________
Comments for Blog Entry #4:
SJF: Thanks again maestro Frisella, for being so generous with
your knowledge and your time. Also, thank you for being one of the
few, in fact the only teacher I know these days, who tells it like
it is and doesn't promise miracles or quick fixes, but rather
shares the long and tedious but rewarding reality that serious
voice study is. I hope this blog is the beginning of the new
American school of voice! Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 03:51
PM
Opera Poetic: Bravo, Mr. Frisell!! Well articulated truths in
the midst of this dark ages of singing in which we live. Please
continue to inform and enlighten us with your knowledge and
insights!
Monday, October 1, 2007 - 08:54 AM Blazing Tenor: Thank you! As
a singer, I will study your blogs to further my own struggles to
resolve my passaggio issues. This is a very difficult topic but one
that speaks to the core of what plagues many singers. I really
appreciate your thoughtful and articulate writing on this subject.
Monday, October 1, 2007 - 09:01 AM Anonymous: It brought tears to
my eyes when I read "To the hopeful, expectant voice student,
his/her voice is the most precious, sacred thing in the world.... I
often wonder how many presentday voice teachers ever consider that
fact" It is clear from this writing as well as all of your others
that you care deeply, have vast vocal knowledge and the ability to
impart it in a manner that is assessable. For those singers who's
desire is so very great, true knowledge and understanding of the
instrument and it's structure so very limited and hope nearly lost.
I thank you. Sunday, October 7, 2007 - 10:21 PM
Msopera: Thank you, Mr. Frisell, for following your passion for
presenting unparalleled insights into the
development of the vocal instrument. In addition, thank you for
your patients while fulfilling a promise to shine the light of
truth upon the many inaccuracies of assumption and ignorance that
strangle the emergence of the pure singing voice Wednesday, October
17, 2007 - 06:13 AM
Entry #5The Relationship of Vocal Exercises to the Five, Classic
Italian Vowels, and to the Motor Force of the BreathPresently,
practically every voice teacher is indiscriminately and almost
exclusively using the damaging raw chest voices a (ah) vowel and
ascending scale exercises to train their vocal students voices,
without questioning the purpose, or the actual results they will
have upon them, in the near future. The raw chest voice a (ah)
vowel, and counter-productive ascending scales are applied, whether
the student is a beginner, or a professional, with vocal problemsin
other words, they all get the same rote treatment!! This approach
to vocal training is radically incorrect. Voice teachers and vocal
students who do not utilize the structural contributions of all
five of the classic Italian singing vowels, are ignorant of what
the four vowels, other than the a (ah) vowelthe u (oo), i (ee), e
(eh) and the o (oh) vowelscan accomplish, nor can they technically
interpret what these same vowels progressive benefits will have
upon the muscular behavior and quality of a selected pitch,
because, with advanced development, the quality these vowels sounds
are continuously changing. A correct approach to vocal structuring
deals with each and ever pitch of the singers complete range
individually, and on a one-by-one basis. All the pitches of the
singers complete range must be structured individually, if they are
to be transformed into a superior singing voice While actually
singing, each individual pitch must be capable of producing its own
precise vocal cords vibrations, which is different in numbers, than
all the remaining pitches of the complete range. When that has been
completely accomplished, which takes quite a bit of time, the final
result is that each individual pitch has become structurally
differently from all the remaining pitches of the singers complete
range. But, at the same time, each individual pitch is completely
harmonious with all the remaining pitches of the complete range.
Look into your pianos resonance chamber
The above principle, that each pitch of the singers complete
range inherently possesses its own unique individuality, may be
more clearly understood by lifting the cover of a grand pianos
resonance chamber and carefully observing the physical differences
between all the metal strings that produce the pianos complete
range of pitches. At the lower end, the metal strings are long and
thick. They produce the pianos lower pitches. At the opposite end,
we see the thinner and shorter metal strings they