Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

'
SINGING SINGING 467
been confused by the assumption that the
different tones of voice were produced by
different actions of the vocal reed. The terms
' head register ' and ' chest register ' have, no
doubt, been intended to mean conditions in
which the singer has felt the sound in the
head and in the chest. The former signifies
the absence, and the latter the presence, of
expansion in the neck.
The chest itself is occupied with the airpressure
and cannot be regai-ded as a resonator,
since it is practically closed, except for the
minute slit through which the pressui-e issues.
The head register ' ' has been further confounded
with the compression of the membranes which
also occurs in the upper notes of many voices.
Certain descriptions of the vocal membranes
in explanation of the different ' registers ' have
been given, and named lower '
'
thick, ' upper
thick,' 'middle,' 'lower thin,' 'upper thin,'
etc. (Lennox Browne), but they have not been
confirmed by further observation.
As at present known the membranes behave
in the same way throughout the entire compass,
and their compression in the high notes must
be regarded as a departure from the natural
process.
The true high note requires a development of
breath power and control, and it would be better
for their instrument if singers would refrain
from singing by compression, and be satisfied
with the compass that their breath power can
give them. High notes might become rarer,
but their sound would be of better quality.
Other forms of ' register ' diie to alternative
resonation are used as the singer wishes to
express different tone-colour. But by insisting
upon the maintenance of the double character of
the Resonator with all articulation in the front
of the mouth, and resonant control in the neck,
there are no sudden changes which could produce
an obligatory ' register.'
Variety of colour due to control of the resonation
of the neck may occur in all parts of the
voice.' "When, however, the base of the tongue
is pressed down so as to produce a heavy resonation
in the mouth, at the expense of that in the
neck, as well as to the detriment of good diction
which requires the tongue to be free, it may
readily occur that a sudden change has to be
made near the middle of the voice, on passing
from one note to the next.
Phonology is as much opposed to fictitious
tone as to fictitious notes, and prefers to sacrifice
the heavy tone of a voice if it is not natural to
it, that is, if it is not obtained by the natural
actions which are known to govern the sounds
of the voice, in this case by expansion of the neck.
Therefore the so-called ' Registers ' cannot be
accepted as natural. That they are often
acquired is beyond doubt, but it is astonishing
how they disappear when singers are relieved of
the necessity of thinking about them.
Phonology does not acknowledge some of the
common methods of singing teachers, but it is
able to support, on rational grounds, some of the
best traditions of the great masters, which are
the foundation of the following picture of the
use of the singing voice.
The singer stands erectwith a broadly expanded
chest. He takes a deep breath by expanding
both chest and abdomen at the level of the 6th-
7th rib. He opens his mouth and throat to the
position suitable for the pronunciation of A (ah),
and at the same time he thinks of the note he
is about to sing. "Without allowing the ribs
to yield he strikes the note by breathing out
with decision, by a contraction at the upper part
of the abdomen and a simultaneous approximation
of the vocal membranes. If the note is in
the middle of his compass, he will sing a succession
of notes up to an octave higher and down
to an octave lower, and back again, without any
movement of his mouth or ribs ; being conscious
only of the breath force, which produces the
notes he hears in his mind. The notes are
lifted up and let down upon the breath pressure,
controlled by the muscular action felt in
the region of the lower ribs.
By changing the position of the Resonator
other vowel qualities can be given to the whole
process, but under all circumstances the production
of the notes remains the samer By movements
of the resonator before and after the open
vowel positions the effects of consonants can be
introduced for the formation of words. By
expanding the neck from below, a fuU resonant
tone can be given, or withheld according to the
'
colour ' required. The throat is always free,
that is, relaxed, open, and unconscious.
This is a brief picture of what singing is in
the individual, illustrating the action of the two
instruments which combine to produce the
sound of the voice. The one instrument expresses
in music the emotions of the soul, while the
other expresses in words the poetic thoughts of
the mind. It is the oflBce of the musical composer
to bring these two together into the form
of song.
Just as it is essential to the writer of vocal
music to understand thoroughly the ' technique
of the living instrument for which he writes,
so is it also a necessary part of singing to be
acquainted with the manner in which the dual
expression is conceived in the song. Phonology
has supplied the singer with an absolutely
material estimate of work to be done by the
voice, in the ' song diagrams ' already referred
to, but in order to show how the vocal instruments
are to be used in the service of Art its
analysis of song must be carried farther.
As presented' upon the page, a song consists
of a line of music written upon a stave, and a
line of words below it, in ordinary character.
It is evident therefore from the first that the
vocal reed or instrument of music has to