3061728The Choirmaster's Manual — Chapter 10Harold Newton Clare


CHAPTER X


A WORD ON MEN'S VOICES


For the "mixed" voice, the following exercise will be useful for basses who have difficulty in getting a mixed voice—the voce mista of the Italians.

Sing the scale on "ah," changing to "aw" on or about B natural, and endeavor to "fill the mouth" with sound.

Exercise 27.
\relative d { \clef bass \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \time 8/2 \key d \major d2 e fis g a b cis d } \addlyrics { ah __ _ _ _ _ aw _ oo }

Tenors use the same exercise, changing to "aw" on C♯ or D.

When these notes are obtained, practise the sliding vowels oo-oh-ah with the boys.

The following faults of tone are due to the causes named after them:

Too hollow sound:—Pharnyx too widely open.

Choked sound:—Throat muscles are rigid.

Guttural sound:—Tongue is curled up or stiffened.

Dental ring sound:—Mouth insufficiently opened.

Beware of too much nasal resonance. It is simply the effect of wrong direction in resonance, but is the cause of a great deal of unpleasantness, especially in men's voices, and is developed by many teachers through excessive practice on the syllable "ni."