Speaking of a pianoforte accompaniment, Mario used to say, "The art of accompanying is displayed in the following, aiding, and supporting the singer; not in hurrying him, nor in drowning his voice."
An accompanist, in his opinion, should never be timid; but, if uncertain of the notes to be played, should, nevertheless, strike them firmly and courageously, otherwise the singer gets confused, loses confidence in himself and the accompaniment, and the effect intended to be produced suffers irretrievably in consequence.
I would commend a study of this system to the aspiring singer, with every confidence that, if he follows out the said methods, he will be assuredly pursuing a policy than which there can be few better.
It may not now be out of place if I say a few words on the act of production of the voice. Many beginners thus make the mistake of imagining that to give the voice a proper chance of expanding to the full it is necessary that the mouth should be opened wide in the act of singing.
This, however, is quite an erroneous idea, for, as a matter of actual, hard fact, the mouth should not be too open when the act of singing is taking place, though I would point out that when it is opening the jaws should be allowed to fall in a natural manner—in other words, by their own weight—while, if the lips are, at the same time, pressed gently against the teeth, the mouth naturally assumes a pleasant form. There is nothing more appalling than to watch a singer indulging in exaggerated facial contortions which may perhaps impress a musical tyro as "imposing," but which, nevertheless, are actually more often than not nothing but a species of absurd affectation.
The management of the breath, of course, is to a great extent a distinct and separate study in singing, though I may perhaps be allowed to say that absolute control of the breath is a sine quâ non to perfect enunciation. It will be well, therefore, for every really ambitious singer to see to it that his or her master possesses a thoroughly sound knowledge of managing the breath; otherwise, all too early in their careers, they may acquire habits which they will find extremely difficult to break, for experience has taught me that, as far as singing is concerned, bad habits are possessed of unpleasantly tenacious qualities.
As far as the position of the body in singing is concerned, the old-time rule that the shoulders should be thrown back firmly and naturally is as "in order" to-day as it was thirty years ago, while that the chest should be steadily and not hurriedly expanded is also an equally sound policy to pursue. Manual Garcia recommended the following exercises as of great value in increasing the power and elasticity of the lungs. I make no apology for quoting these, as they cannot fail to prove worth diligent study, though, especially at first, they will be found distinctly exhausting, for which reason young singers should make a point of practising each exercise separately.
Gently and slowly inhale for a few seconds as much air as the chest will contain.
After taking a deep breath, exhale again very gently and slowly.
Fill the lungs, and keep them inflated for the longest possible time.