How to Become a Successful Singer

by Dame Clara Butt; Enrico Caruso; Ben Davies; Dame Nellie Melba

Another point in connection with the voice which is too often overlooked is the question of general health. My gardener sometimes complains that the flowers do not come to perfection owing to the poorness of the soil. The simile is a very good one. The vocal organs are like delicate flowers, capable of the best development when the soil in which they are planted—the body—is in perfect condition. It must be the object of all singers, therefore, to take the greatest care of their health.

Over-exercise of the body generally should also be avoided, just as much as over-exercising the throat. It is easier to sing when the rest of the body has not been over-tired. General exercise, though essential to health, can be overdone just as much as vocal exercise. These remarks apply particularly to the student. It is while the voice is being formed, more than after it has been formed, that it is likely to be affected by such considerations as those just mentioned.

The mind plays a prominent part where the voice is concerned. Worry, unhappiness, and mental strain of every description may lower the whole tone of the body, and, by lessening the inclination to sing, make singing more difficult. Unfortunately, one cannot take mental worries in small doses, but must put up with them as they come; and I only mention this to impress upon my readers the more forcibly how important the general health of mind and body is where the voice is concerned.

After all, the effect of mental or bodily strain upon the voice depends entirely upon the individual. Personally, whatever may be the state of my mind or my body, I am able to sing in a sort of subconscious state.

It would hardly be possible to hit upon a more striking illustration of what can be done when one is in a subconscious condition than what I am about to relate.

At one time and another I have had to have operations performed—for appendicitis, for instance—which have necessitated my being put under ether. On every single occasion I have sung in full voice while under the influence of the anæsthetic! This was most remarkable perhaps on the occasion when I was being operated upon for appendicitis, for then the abdominal muscles, which control one's breathing, must naturally have been interfered with.

The fact is that trouble, worry, and ill-health have no effect upon the voice itself. The voice is always there. It is only the power of using it that may be impaired.

As I have already pointed out, it is in the early stages of vocal training that the effects of ill-health, mental worry, or overwork are most likely to be felt. When the voice has been properly trained, and the vocal organs fully developed, they are less likely to suffer by the rest of the body being out of tune, and it is therefore of particular importance for beginners to bear my remarks in mind.

Here is another point which beginners should take to heart, and follow as far as they are able. Try to avoid over-anxiety. Students often make the mistake, through over-anxiety, of over-working their voices just before a concert, with the result that they are not at their best when on the platform. It is a good plan to rest both the body and the voice before singing in public.

I should like to emphasise the importance of this very fully. Young singers seem to lose sight, half the time, of the fact that they should be at their very best when on the platform. Personally I always keep, and have always kept, this clearly before my mind. It is the greatest possible mistake to waste your efforts at the last moment in private. Rest before you sing in public, in order that when you go on to the platform you may give your audience—who, after all, have paid to be entertained—of your best. Remember that while polishing is highly desirable, there is such a thing as over-polishing, and this, instead of improving, only wears out. I am a great believer in the quiet study of a song without the aid of a piano. Not only does this avoid tiring the voice, but it enables the singer to fully grasp all the beauty and the meaning of the words and the music, and so to enter into the spirit of the subject when upon the platform. When on tour I frequently adopt this method of studying. It enables one to be doing something useful when in the train, or elsewhere, when actual practice is undesirable or impracticable.