The Voice in Singing

by Emma Seiler

The sound of the vowels depends, as we have seen, upon whether one or another of the over-tones takes precedence in sound. But the conditions by which the formation of the vowels is determined lie in the form of the cavity of the mouth, and of the contraction of the same in some one place or another during expiration. These places are different in different languages and dialects. They are among the English, Germans and French farthest back in sounding a, as in father; farther forward in a, as in may, o, e, in the order in which they are here placed; and farther front in the German u (oo).

The length of the cavity of the mouth is the greatest in sounding oo, the least in e, intermediate in a. In the pure, clear a, as in may, or e of the Germans, the cavity is the narrowest. Hence, to form a tone on this vowel is very difficult, and it is the only vowel whose pure pronunciation must be sacrificed to the tone. Good tones can be formed on this vowel when in both series of the chest register there is mingled with it the sound of the German ö, pronounced in English nearly like the vowel in bird, and in the higher registers the sound of the e—that is, of the German i. The cavity of the mouth is thus somewhat broadened, and the tone gains more room for its development.

The Swiss form the o and u like the a in father, broadest at the back of the mouth, and the e broadest towards the front. But the Italians form no vowel as far front as their clear sounding beautiful a, as in father; and probably because the a in the Italian language sounds broadest and most distinctly, Italian wagoners drive their beasts with the shout of a! a! while the Germans use for the same purpose, hü! huo! and the Swiss, hipp! One can only approximate an imitation of the Italian a by uttering it in connection with consonants coming rapidly, as in pfa, bra, and in as short and rapid a manner as possible.

The old Italian masters naturally found their beautiful a most favorable to the formation of a good tone in singing; and thus it has been adopted by other nations. But here is the very reason why a tone free from badly sounding colorings is so rarely heard. We have blindly imitated the Italians, without considering the different modes of forming the vowels in different languages and nations, and that the Italian a is a vowel entirely different from the German and the similarly sounding English a. Its correct sound is learned by those to whom it is not vernacular only with difficulty.

As the vowels are differently formed in different languages, so is it also with the consonants. The North Germans form the letter r with the soft palate, which is made to vibrate by the exhalation of the breath. The South Germans, Russians and Italians form the r by the vibration of the tip of the tongue. It is only this mode of forming the r which is to be used in singing, and must be learned by those who do not usually form it thus. This is sometimes rather difficult, but it can be done by repeating frequently and rapidly, one after the other, the syllables hede, hedo, or ede, edo. In this way the tongue gets accustomed to the right position and motion, which it by-and-by learns rapidly enough for the formation of the rolling r.

The Italians, likewise, form the l with the tip of the tongue, the Germans and English mostly with the side edges of the tongue. With some attention one can, by feeling, find out in his own organ the place for the formation of the different vowels and consonants, and an ear accustomed to delicate differences of tone will perceive the right place in others.

But in teaching, the example of the wagoners must be followed, and as these people have found out the most appropriate vowels and syllables whereby to make themselves understood by their animals, we must choose what is best fitting to the formation of tone in singing.

Long before I found the scientific reason of this mode of proceeding, my attention was called by Frederic Wiek, in Dresden, to the fact that a fine tone can be most quickly attained by practising in the beginning upon the syllables sü, soo, or dü, doo, and by not passing to the other vowels until one is accustomed to produce tones in the front of the mouth. These syllables are naturally spoken by the Germans and the English in the front part of the mouth. The s is formed with the lips apart, while the air is blown through the upper teeth; it thus assists one, united with u (oo), to direct the tone forwards. But because in the u the lips are almost closed, care must be taken that, within the lips, the teeth are far enough apart. The cavity of the mouth must be large enough to allow of the largest possible wave of sound, since upon the size of that, as we know, the strength of the tone depends. When the pupil, after some practice, has learned to give the right direction to the stream of sound, he must be required gradually to form the other vowels like the soo in the front part of the mouth, passing from this syllable immediately to the other vowels, as, for example, soo-a, soo-o, soo-e, soo-o-e-ah, &c. Only care must be taken that the course of the air preserves its right direction.

Solmisation, also, i. e., naming the tones, c, d, e, f, g, a, b, by the syllables do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, assists a good touch when the pupil employs it in the more rapid exercises.

There is no fixed rule that can be laid down in regard to the necessary opening of the mouth and its position. The structure of the palate and the form of the jaw, and the position of the teeth, lips, &c., vary in different persons. The ear of the teacher must alone determine what position of those several parts will best secure a good timbre. But in every case, for the highest tones of the voice the widest possible opening of the mouth is necessary, and even when, in the formation of the vowels, the lips have to be brought nearer to each other, yet the teeth within must be kept apart, that the cavity of the mouth may remain large enough.