Los Angeles herald., 1909-02-28
BY M. N.F. RRmGHAM

MONG distinguished sojourners in
~ Los Angeles this winter, none are
receiving so much attention from
the musicians as is William Shakes
peare, an Englishman who has come
among us for the benefit Of his wife's
health, and who has been so warmly
welcomed, not only on account of emf
nence as a composer and teacher, but
also by reason of certain gentle quail
tiles of courtesy and good breeding,
that he is tarrying for a while, and he
and his wife have taken a house in the
southwest residence district for several
months
Mr.. Shakespeare's method of vocal
culture is being taught in more than
one of the local studios, and knowing
this, and also that a series of papers
by this same music MASTER was run
ming in current numbers of 1.-THE Mu-
sician," [ importUned their author for
permission to make excerpts from the
same for publication in this column.
The answer I received he who runs
may read, and if more literally than
Mr.. Shakespeare expected, I am GER
tain that it is not the readers who will
find fault.
Behold, and learn to sing a million
"Ah's."
The program for the first of the Gam
ut club Sunday afternoon popular con-
certs, to take place March Z, has been
arranged. Miss Gertrude Fisher, a
dramatic contralto, whose voice is said
to be of most remarkable beauty, will
be assisted by Clyde Harschmann, a
local violinist of prominence. Miss
Fisher is a Chicago musician who has
held leading church positions, and is
also favorably known on the concert
platform.
s.
have found en- much orOod rpc71Ifi11cr
from the habit of practicing how to
start each note exactly in the center
of the sound intended, that 1 have
called this the practice of 1.-The Starts;
as all of my pupils have benefited by
this method, I was not surprised when
one of them wrote me lately, Il recall
your famous expression-'Now go and
practice a million starts on "Ah'' -
Just as in many cases, after years
of faulty practice, the Would-be pianist
finds he must retrace his steps and try
to discover better way of striking
the notes, that he may acquire beauty
of tone as well as force of finger, so,
precisely through a similar error, many
excellent and talented students of the
voice, after months or years Of mis-
taken paths of study, find themselves
compelled to retrace their steps in the
endeavor to discover some better way
OF starting" the notes, this being but
another expression for the production
of the voice" or "tone-building''
Holding, as I do, the opinion that the
best proof of a, right "voice production
is the power Of emitting the note in the
very center Of the sound intended, the
practice of this much desired result
should be considered as secondary only
in Importance to the requirement of a
right .breath-control. Indeed, there are
but two foundations on which rest the
whole of the art of singing. Firstly:
How to take in sufficient breath in an
inaudible and imperceptibIe manner
how to fill oneself with air without
tempestuous sighings and without rails
ing the Shoulders-in other words, bal
ancing and controlling the outward
pressure of the breath by long studies
of the practice of silently warming the
finger for half a minute at time; and
secondly, the study Of how to start any
note of the voice SO that the result is a
full sound in the very center Of the
tune intended.
which is intended to show that the
tongue and throat-space, the soft
palate, lips and face should act inde-
pendently of the muscles which place
the voice by holding the Iarynx over
the breath. When the note is naturally
produced the tongue and jaw become
unconscious, but the instant we try
to sing bigger-louder-or stronger than
our experience warrants, we are com
PEELED to wrongly use the tongue, law
and throat to place the note, which is
under these conditions, unnaturallv
produced. It is this very state of
rigidity at the tongue, jaw and throat.
which hinders not only the pronuncia-
ton and the tone, but also the express
sion of the voice.
However, we need not trouble so
much about the expression, or the tone,
or the pronunciation, for all these
qualities would reveal themselves un-
consciously and acknowledgements
1y-if we only knew how to float tha
voice upon the breath so as to produce
the note with the muscles which. as
we have already said, do not fn1plica te
the tongue itself, nor the jaw, nor the
throat, nor the movement Of the face
The student inquiries, "How am I to
know when l am producing a note
which is natural to my voice?" The
answer is: When the sound emitted
is full and commences exactly in the
center of the tune intended"
Supposing that I try to produce a
bigger note than is natural to INV
voice? Then the breath pressure nee
essary to this badly produced note he
ing greater than the breath pressure
you can control with the throat omen
you will have to fix the tongue and
close the throat. Does the open throat
demand that I control my breath? A
control of the breath, like warming
an object outside the mouth, is GER
tainly necessary, if you sing rightly.
The old masters held that "the art Of
singing creates the necessity for a.