Voice, song and speech : a practical guide for singers and speakers : from the combined view of vocal surgeon and voice trainer / by Lennox Browne and Emil Behnke.

  • Browne, Lennox, 1841-1902.
Date:
1884
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Voice, song and speech : a practical guide for singers and speakers : from the combined view of vocal surgeon and voice trainer / by Lennox Browne and Emil Behnke. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by University of Bristol Library. The original may be consulted at University of Bristol Library.

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    2± oo oh ah ai ee oo oh ah ai ee The above is an example. Take care to render it perfectly. Sing every tone clearly and distinctly, but without jerking, at the same time uniting all the tones, but without drawling. The tones should be like a row of pearls upon a string, each one well denned and separate, yet all strung together, and forming an uninterrupted whole. Sing softly and with pure intonation. Hold the jaw, the lips, and the tongue absolutely still. Remember that the pitch is altered in the larynx and not in the mouth. Do not try how quickly you can sing, but rather how distinctly. Com- mence slowly and be in no hurry to increase the speed. Raise and lower the exercise semitone by semitone within the medium part of your voice. A variety of exercises founded upon the same principles may be introduced, and will serve to increase the flexibility of the voice in a short time. There is nothing new in this, and it may be thought superfluous to point out a physiological basis for vocal gymnastics so universally recommended as these. But personal experience has taught us that students of singing are very apt to look upon flexibility of the voice as a natural gift, and that they are, in many instances, reluctant to submit to a discipline which every instrumentalist undergoes without questioning and as a matter of course. It is true that some voices are naturally more flexible than others, but it is also true that all can acquire nimbleness and agility if they proceed in a systematic manner and with the necessary perseverance.