Some things to Consider
Firstly, there is the matter of range. Instead of the half-dozen tones which the untrained person uses, the vocal range of the professional singer should embrace from two to three octaves (sixteen to twenty-four diatonic tones). Each of these tones must match in color and quality, and the infinite variations thereof, of every other tone. They must be as uniform in smoothness and texture as a perfectly matched string of pearls. A voice cannot be permitted to have a few strong tones and a few weak ones, a few good ones and a few bad ones. Whether the singer sings in full voice, half voice, or lightest pianissimo, he must have a perfectly even scale.
Secondly, instead of the shallow, top-of-the-lungs breathing which suffices the average person, the professional singer must train his muscles to respond instantly to the demand for deep, diaphragmatic breathing, and must be able to control such breath with utmost exactitude, whether pouring it forth in a torrent of sound or spinning it out in a threadlike tone of gossamer fineness.
Most important of all, he must learn to place-and focus his tone, regardless of its pitch, so precisely as to make full use of the resonance chambers of his head, thereby assuring a tone not only of roundly brilliant quality, but one which will "carry" and be heard in the farthest rows of the largest auditorium or opera house.
The "home" singer with the "natural" voice need not learn to do any of these things, but for the professional they are imperative. And not one of them is "natural"! Each comes only after constant and painstaking practice. The singer, unlike the instrumentalist, actually builds and develops his instrument at the same time that he is learning to play upon it.
This being the case, I repeat that singing is not, at its best, a "natural" thing; it is a fine art.
Even if it were possible for one to sing a correctly formed tone merely by holding the thought of a perfect tone in mind, we are faced by the discouraging fact that not one person in a hundred recognizes a perfect tone when he hears it. Only the experienced ear, the trained musical intelligence, knows what qualities the correctly formed tone has, and why. The musically uneducated differ radically, and vehemently, in their concepts of how an ideal tone is produced. A loud noise, a tinny, shrill whine, a pinched or throaty sound, a tremolo, or a truly correct and beautiful tone, one and all are acceptable to the uninformed—if they don’t have to pay to hear it. How then shall the student-beginner, unless he springs from a fine musical environment, recognize the differences in tone and distinguish the good from the bad?
When we couple this ignorance of tone quality with the fact that the student does not hear his own voice exactly as it sounds to others, we can readily understand why the hit-and-miss "natural" method of tone production has destroyed so many voices and ruined so many budding careers. It is one thing to sing as the birdies sing, but quite another to master the intricacies of Verdi, Wagner, and Puccini, and to sing these works with orchestral accompaniment, in a foreign language, in a modern hall or opera house!
The third and only bona-fide method of voice production is that which has come down to us from the old Italian masters and which
combines all the best points of the latter school with that modern knowledge of the vocal mechanism given us by the medical experts and throat specialists of the present day.
The exponent of this school explains to the student very briefly, and very simply, how the diaphragm, vocal cords, and resonance chambers are used. The student is told how to stand, how to relax, and how to breathe. His first lessons are simple, for if he is given too much to bear in mind at the beginning he will become confused and worried. Moreover, the art of tone-production is, fundamentally,
extremely simple, and the rules laid down for the student at the beginning never vary. How fast the student will progress will depend entirely upon his own intelligence and capacity for work.
Although basically simple, the laying of this foundation is rarely easy. Even the naturally gifted student usually will concentrate
upon only one thing at a time, and will repeatedly make the same
mistakes. This is true particularly when the pupil is one who has been studying a different method. Habits which have been worked into the voice are difficult to eradicate; the teacher can only repeat, again and again, the principles he is trying to establish. Eventually they will be assimilated.
Acting on the assumption that we progress much faster if we understand the mechanism we are working with, the exponents of this school explain, with charts and diagrams if need be, the physiological actions involved in singing. Thus the student learns a set of principles which work every time they are applied, not just once in a while, or when he happens to be in good voice. At no time are gadgets called into play to determine his breath control, no stack of books is piled upon his midriff, nor does he stand with heels upon a strip of wood to make sure of his top C.
What is meant by voice placement? It means the method by which a correct sound is produced. It is the foundation for all good singing and implies purity, brilliance, and beauty of tone. It means perfect mental and physical co-ordination, without which an adequate singing technique is impossible. When this co-ordination is achieved, and the student’s vocal apparatus carries out the mental orders given it, the result will be a voice that is resonant, mellow and clear, always on pitch, and able to perform with ease and grace any song or aria that lies within its normal range.