Psychology of Singing

C. Taylor David

Description

Whether you're a vocal practitioner or a music enthusiast, David C. Taylor's The Psychology of Singing will guide you to a deeper appreciation of the art. Taylor takes a controversial stance against a scientific approach to vocal control and instead emphasizes the mental, psychological, and even spiritual aspects of signing.

Sujets

• Music

Informations

• Publié par: The Floating Press
• Date de parution: 01 juin 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781776538812
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SINGING
A RATIONAL METHOD OF VOICE CULTURE BASED ON A SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS OF ALL SYSTEMS, ANCIENT AND MODERN
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DAVID C. TAYLOR
 
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The Psychology of Singing A Rational Method of Voice Culture Based on a Scientific Analysis of All Systems, Ancient and Modern First published in 1908 Epub ISBN 978-1-77653-881-2 Also available: PDF ISBN 978-1-77653-882-9 © 2014 The Floating Press and its licensors. All rights reserved. While every effort has been used to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information contained in The Floating Press edition of this book, The Floating Press does not assume liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in this book. The Floating Press does not accept responsibility for loss suffered as a result of reliance upon the accuracy or currency of information contained in this book. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Many suitcases look alike. Visit www.thefloatingpress.com
Contents
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Preface PART I - MODERN METHODS OF INSTRUCTION IN SINGING Chapter I - Tone-Production and Voice Culture Chapter II - Breathing and Breath-Control Chapter III - Registers and Laryngeal Action Chapter IV - Resonance Chapter V - Empirical Materials of Modern Methods Chapter VI - A General View of Modern Voice Culture PART II - A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF MODERN METHODS Chapter I - Mechanical Vocal Management as the Basis of Voice Culture Chapter II - The Fallacy of the Doctrine of Breath-Control Chapter III - The Fallacies of Forward Emission, Chest Resonance, and Nasal Resonance Chapter IV - The Futility of the Materials of Modern Methods Chapter V - The Error of the Theory of Mechanical Vocal Management PART III - THE BASIS OF A REAL SCIENCE OF VOICE Chapter I - The Means of Empirical Observation of the Voice Chapter II - Sympathetic Sensations of Vocal Tone Chapter III - Empirical Knowledge of the Voice Chapter IV - The Traditional Precepts of the Old Italian School Chapter V - Empirical Knowledge in Modern Voice Culture Chapter VI - Scientific Knowledge of the Voice PART IV - VOCAL SCIENCE AND PRACTICAL VOICE CULTURE Chapter I - The Correct Vocal Action Chapter II - The Causes of Throat Stiffness and of Incorrect Vocal Action Chapter III - Throat Stiffness and Incorrect Singing Chapter IV - The True Meaning of Vocal Training Chapter V - Imitation the Rational Basis of Voice Culture Chapter VI - The Old Italian Method Chapter VII - The Disappearance of the Old Italian Method and the Development ofMechanical Instruction Chapter VIII - The Materials of Rational Instruction in Singing Chapter IX - Outlines of a Practical Method of Voice Culture Bibliography Endnotes
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A Rational Method of Voice Culture based on a Scientific Analysis of all Systems, Ancient and Modern
To My Mother
WHOSE DEVOTION TO TRUTH AND EARNEST LABOR HAS PROMPTED ALL MY EFFORTS THIS WORK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
Preface
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A peculiar gap exists between the accepted theoretical basis ofinstruction in singing and the actual methods of vocal teachers. Judgingby the number of scientific treatises on the voice, the academicobserver would be led to believe that a coherent Science of VoiceCulture has been evolved. Modern methods of instruction in singing arepresumed to embody a system of exact and infallible rules for themanagement of the voice. Teachers of singing in all the musical centersof Europe and America claim to follow a definite plan in the training ofvoices, based on established scientific principles. But a practicalacquaintance with the modern art of Voice Culture reveals the fact thatthe laws of tone-production deduced from the scientific investigation ofthe voice do not furnish a satisfactory basis for a method of trainingvoices.
Throughout the entire vocal profession, among singers, teachers, andstudents alike, there is a general feeling of the insufficiency ofpresent knowledge of the voice. The problem of the correct management ofthe vocal organs has not been finally and definitely solved. VoiceCulture has not been reduced to an exact science. Vocal teachers are notin possession of an infallible method of training voices. Students ofsinging find great difficulty in learning how to use their voices. VoiceCulture is generally recognized as entitled to a position among theexact sciences; but something remains to be done before it can assumethat position.
There must be some definite reason for the failure of theoreticalinvestigation to produce a satisfactory Science of Voice Culture. Thiscannot be due to any present lack of understanding of the vocalmechanism on the part of scientific students of the subject. The anatomyand physiology of the vocal organs have been exhaustively studied by avast number of highly trained experts. So far as the muscular operationsof tone-production are concerned, and the laws of acoustics bearing onthe vocal action, no new discovery can well be expected. But in thisvery fact, the exhaustive attention paid to the mechanical operationsof the voice, is seen the incompleteness of Vocal Science. Attention hasbeen turned exclusively to the mechanical features of tone-production,and in consequence many important facts bearing on the voice have beenoverlooked.
In spite of the general acceptance of the doctrines of Vocal Science,tone-production has not really been studied from the purely scientificstandpoint. The use of the word "science" presupposes the carefulobservation and study of all facts and phenomena bearing in any way onthe subject investigated. Viewed in this light, the scientific study ofthe voice is at once seen to be incomplete. True, the use of the voiceis a muscular operation, and a knowledge of the muscular structure ofthe vocal organs is necessary to an understanding of the voice. But thisknowledge alone is not sufficient. Like every other voluntary muscularoperation, tone-production is subject to the psychological laws ofcontrol and guidance. Psychology is therefore of equal importance withanatomy and acoustics as an element of Vocal Science.
There is also another line along which all previous investigation ofthe voice is singularly incomplete. An immense fund of information aboutthe vocal action is obtained by attentive listening to voices, and in noother way. Yet this important element in Vocal Science is almostcompletely neglected.
In order to arrive at an assured basis for the art of Voice Culture, itis necessary in the first place to apply the strictest rules ofscientific investigation to the study of the voice. A definite plan mustbe adopted, to include every available source information. First, theinsight into the operations of the voice, obtained by listening tovoices, must be reviewed and analyzed. Second, the sciences of anatomy,mechanics, acoustics, and psychology must each contribute its share tothe general fund of information. Third, from all the facts thus broughttogether the general laws of vocal control and management must bededuced.
Before undertaking this exhaustive analysis of the vocal action it isadvisable to review in detail every method of instruction in singing nowin vogue. This may seem a very difficult task. To the casual observerconditions in the vocal world appear truly chaotic. Almost everyprominent teacher believes himself to possess a method peculiarly hisown; it would not be easy to find two masters who agree on every point,practical as well as theoretical. But this confusion of methods is onlyon the surface. All teachers draw the materials of their methods fromthe same sources. An outline of the history of Voice Culture, includingthe rise of the old Italian school and the development of Vocal Science,will render the present situation in the vocal profession sufficientlyclear.
Part I of this work contains a review of modern methods. In Part II acritical analysis is offered of certain theories of the vocal actionwhich receive much attention in practical instruction. Several of theaccepted doctrines of Vocal Science, notably those of breath-control,chest and nasal resonance, and forward placing of the tone, are found onexamination to contain serious fallacies. More important even than thespecific errors involved in these doctrines, the basic principle ofmodern Voice Culture is also found to be false. All methods are based onthe theory that the voice requires to be directly and consciouslymanaged in the performance of its muscular operations. When tested bythe psychological laws of muscular guidance, this theory of mechanicaltone-production is found to be a complete error.
Part III contains a summary of all present knowledge of the voice.First, the insight into the singer's vocal operations is considered,which the hearer obtains by attentive listening to the tones produced.This empirical knowledge, as it is generally called, indicates a stateof unnecessary throat tension as the cause, or at any rate theaccompaniment, of every faulty tone. Further, an outline is given of allscientific knowledge of the voice. The anatomy of the vocal organs, andthe acoustic and mechanical principles of the vocal action, are brieflydescribed. Finally, the psychological laws of tone-production areconsidered. It is seen that under normal conditions the voiceinstinctively obeys the commands of the ear.
In Part IV the information about the vocal action obtained from the twosources is combined,—the scientific knowledge of mechanical processes,and the empirical knowledge derived from attentive listening to voices.Throat stiffness is then seen to be the one influence which caninterfere with the instinctively correct action of the voice. The mostimportant cause of throat stiffness is found in the attempt consciouslyto manage the mechanical operations of the voice. In place of theerroneous principles of mechanical instruction, imitation is seen to bethe rational foundation of a method of Voice Culture. The mysterysurrounding the old Italian method is dispelled so soon as thepossibility is recognized of teaching s