The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-04

The student Of ainging, however, need
not concern himself at all with the physio-
logical formation Of chest and head tones.
What he must do Is 10 ascertain ct what
point his voice naturally passes from one
TO the other, and then learn how TO make
the passage easily, smoothly and imper-
ceptibly. In the voices OF women this pas
sage appears 10 cause more trouble than it
does in those Of men. At least such Is the
testimony of some experienced and COM
pstent masters of the art.
Nothing better has been said on this
subject than the words Of Lamperti with
which this article begins. Practice and
keen listening are the two elements which
must enter into this operation Of equalizing
the registers, The chief object to be kept
in mind is making the transition without
introducing any feeling Of construction IN
the throat. As Meyer has well said, one
sings with his body through his throat,
but not with his throat. or course he Is
referring entirely to the propulsion Of
power.
Careful and correct breathing will 70 a
long way toward the solution Of the trouble
some problems Of equalizing registers.
Together with these must 60 that nice
mental conception Of tone without which
the singer can never become an artist.
h student must form a clear and settled
idea Of the quality Of tone which he is to
seek for throughout his voice. He must
therefore formulate his ideal for his high
tones on those OF the medium register,
which are the most easily and spontaneous
ly formed.
1t is for this reason that he must carry
on all his early practice on his medium
tones. They must be correctly produced
before more difficult notes are undertaken.
When the student can sing with some ease
and freedom up to the point at wnich he
becomes conscious of a change in the
mechanism it will be time for him to con-
slider seriously the solution Of the question
Of crossing the Rubicon. The point at
which the change from the chest to the head
register takes place is not the same in all
voices.
The passage from the low to the medium
register in women's voices is usually from
E on the lowest line OF the treble clef to F,
and from the medium to the high from f
fiat to F. The chest register OF a tenor
will usually ruin no higher than the E at
the top of the middle octave. That Of a
BARITONE will go as high as r fiat and that
Of a genuine bass up to d.
1t must be borne in mind, however, that
these are congratulations. No hard and
fast rules can be laid dow in regard a
matter which presents considera bic variety.
One thing is quite certain, and that is
that the point Of alteration can readily
be detected by the ear Of a teacher, il not
by the sensations Of the student.
The golden rule in the treatment Of the
registers is to keep them in a normal state.
The lowest re lister below the clef I
women is that in which the vocal cords
are least tense, and therefore the tones
can never be given great sorority in that
region. Any attempt to do so will lead to
squeezing with the muscles through the
involuntary endeavor to steady the cords
against the undue pressure Of air, This
will produce a harsh and disagreeable
tone, and if the practice is continued it will
work great injury to the voice.
1t is still NOPE dangerous to try 70 carry
up the chest there including medium)
register beyond its limits. This. again,
brings an unnatural strain upon the me-
chanism Of the voice, and because the effort
required to produce me high tones in his
way is very great the damage to the voice
is correspondingly large.
III " It v al
eaualizing the registers the use of the four
notes of the chords Of C major and D fat
major. He advises his pupil to sing the
chord ascending in one breath with. care
full attention to legato, and then after
taking a breath to sing it down again,
This exercise introduces the low f and F
on which the passage from the low to the
medium is likely to occur. A similar ex-
- r,;,o 4, sanopnrnanInH 1oin0 mr. q far
as G above the clef, for crossing the bridge
between the medium and head registers.
Paul Marcel, a prominent Partisan
teacher. whose book on singing is filled
with common sense. advises the pupil to
practise the passage from E fat to E and
afterward from E flat to F without any
stroke and carrying the voice lightly from
one note to the other. by this practice"
he says. "the voice will be rendered homo
geneous and the pupil will become able to
use it without a feeling OF fatigue and with
out making those Tyrolean sounds 80 in
furious to the voice and 80 disagreeable to
the ear
One of the most excellent adjuncts to the
mastery Of the translation from the me-
dunn to the head register is the fact that
the mechanism Of head tones can be car
ried down a little below the limits Of the
head register. In other words, the tones
at the transition point can be sung in the
head register as well az in the chest. The
last one or two semi-tones Of the chest
register can be sung with the mechanism
Of the head register. This gives a singer
the option Of producing these tones in one
Of W ways, either to afford relief to the
voice or to produce significant effects Of
tone color.
Albert Bach, the London teacher, ad-
vises his pupils to practise passing from
one register to another by forming a short
scale with the transition note in It's middle.
Then sing this scale up and down gently
and with little expense Of breath In
going up the transition note is TO be sung
with the mechanism Of the lower register
and in coming down with that Of the upper.
The present writer has no direct knowledge
of the value of this method Of practice, but
1t is based on the principles underlying
those recommended by other masters, and
it sounds reasonable.
In dealing with this entire question OF