Above this I invariably use what is termed the head tone. Female singers should always begin the head tone on this degree of the staff and not on F and F♯, as is sometimes recommended.
I always use the Italian vowel ah in my exercises. It seems best to me. I know that oo and ue are recommended for contraltos, but I have long had the firm conviction that one should first perfect the natural vocal color through securing good tones by means of the most open vowel. After this is done the voice may be further colored by the judicious employment of other vowels. Sopranos, for instance, can help their head tones by singing ee (Italian i).
I know nothing better for acquiring a flexible tone than to sing trills like the following:
and at the same time preserve a gentle, smiling expression. Smile naturally, as though you were genuinely amused at something,—smile until your upper teeth are uncovered. Then, try these exercises with the vowel ah. Don't be afraid of getting a trivial, colorless tone. It is easy enough to make the tone sombre by willing it so, when the occasion demands. You will be amazed what this smiling, genial, liebenswürdig expression will do to relieve stiffness and help you in placing your voice right. The old Italians knew about it and advocated it strongly. There is nothing like it to keep the voice youthful, fresh and in the prime of condition.
The Singer Must Relax
Probably more voices are ruined by strain than through any other cause. The singer must relax all the time. This does not mean flabbiness. It does not mean that the singer should collapse before singing. Relaxation in the singer's sense is a delicious condition of buoyancy, of lightness, of freedom, of ease and entire lack of tightening in any part. When I relax I feel as though every atom in my body were floating in space. There is not one single little nerve on tension. The singer must be particularly careful when approaching a climax in a great work of art. Then the tendency to tighten up is at its greatest. This must be anticipated.
Take such a case as the following passage from the famous aria from Saint-Saëns' Samson et Delila, "Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix." The climax is obviously on the words "Ah!—verse moi." The climax is the note marked by a star (f on the top line).
