The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1909-03-19
II N my first talk 7 said n few
\ words, but not half enough, on
~ the subject Of brnath control

n the subject Of breath control.
My second talk was the physi.
illogical aspect of the throat, head and
! tongue, for II Is necessary to become
thoroughly acquainted with the mech.
anism with which you are to work be.
fore you can really sing. Today I'm
going to take up the subject of tone
emission and the attack.
a great many singers suffer from
the defect called "thrOatineSS" of the
cmissiOn-that is to say, they attack
or start the note In the throat Sooner
or later this attack will ruin the most
beautiful voice. AS have said before
the attack of the note must come from
the npogcio, or breath prop. But to
have the attack pure and perfectly in
tune you must have the throat entirely
open, for it is useless to try to sing
If the throat Is not sufficiently open to
let the sound pass freely. Throaty
tones or pinched tones are tones which
are trying to force themselves through
half closed throat blocked either by
insufficient opening of the larynx or by
stoppage Of the throat passage, due to
|
down and back too hard or possibly to
low, soft palate.
In order to have the throat perfectly
open 1t Is necessary to have the jaw
absolutely relaxed
l have found in studying different
nationalities that 1t is fairly easy for
the French and Spanish people to learn
| la nti Of 10 w nd
of the throat, but the English speaking
people generally talk with the throat
half shut and even talk through half
shut teeth. Some time when you are
talking rapidly suddenly put your hand
up to your jaw. You will find that II
is stiff; that the muscles beneath 1t
tongue muScles) are tight and hard;
that the jaw seldom goes down very
far In pronouncing any Of the English
words, whereas in singing the jaw
should be absolutely relaxed, going
down and back just as far as 1t can
with ease.
The jaw Is attached to the skull
right beneath the temples in front OF
the ears. BY placing your two fingers
there and dropping the jaw you will
find that space between the skull
and jaw grows as the jaw drops.
In singing this space must be as
wide as is possible, for that indicates
that the jaw Is dropped down, giving
its aid to the opening at the back of
the throat. 1t will help the beginner
sometimes to do simple relaxing exer-
cises. feeling the jaw drop with the
fingers. 1t must drop down, aud it is
not necessary to open the mouth wide,
because the jaw is relaxed to its ut
| most
However, for beginner it is as well
to practice opening the mouth wide,
being sure to lower the Jaw at the
back. Do this many times day with.
out emitting any sound merely to get
the feeling Of what an open throat Is
really like. You will presently begin
to yawn after you have done the exer-
else couple Of times In yawning or
In starting to drink n sip of water the
throat is widely open, and the sensa-
| ton is correct one, which the singer
must study to reproduce.
l have noticed great many actors
and actresses In America who speak
with jaws tightly closed, or at least
| closed to such an extent that only the
smallest emission of breath Is posi-
BILE. Such voice production will new
er allow the actor to express any vary
ing degree of emotion and will also
completely eradicate any natural beau
ty of tone which the voice may have.
However, this is fault which can
easily be overcome by practicing this
daily relaxation Of the jaw and al
ways when singing breathing as if the
jaw hung perfectly loose, or, better
still, as If you had none at all. When
you can see vocalist pushing on the
Jaw you can be perfectly certain that
the tone she is emitting at that mo-
ment is forced note and that the
whole vocal apparatus is being tor
tured to create what is probably not a
pleasant noise.
| Any kind of mental distress will
cause the jaw to stffen and will have
an immediate effect upon the voice.
! This Is one of the reasons why a sing
er must yarn to control her emotions
and must not subject herself to any
narrowing experiences, even such as
watching a sensational spectacle, be-
fore she is going to sing. Fear, worry,
fright, stage as well as other kind. sets
the jaw. So does too great a determi-
nation to succeed A singers mind
must control all OF her feelings If 1t Is
going to control her voice. She must
be able even to surmount a feeling Of
illness or stage fright and to control
her vocal apparatus as well as her
breath. no matter what happens.
The singer should feel as If her jaw
were detached and falling away from
her face. AS one great singer ex-
presses It, You should have the jaw
Of an imbecile when emitting a tone.
In fact you shouldn't know that you
have one" Let us take the following
passage from THE Marriage Of FigN-