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قراءة كتاب The Boy's Voice A Book of Practical Information on The Training of Boys' Voices For Church Choirs, &c.

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‏اللغة: English
The Boy's Voice
A Book of Practical Information on The Training of Boys' Voices For Church Choirs, &c.

The Boy's Voice A Book of Practical Information on The Training of Boys' Voices For Church Choirs, &c.

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دار النشر: Project Gutenberg
الصفحة رقم: 5

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I give below the staff another set of names which are sometimes used, but different voice-trainers attach to these different meanings.

It is undesirable to tell the boys anything about the registers. The spirit of voice-training at the present time is too analytical. The theory of the registers is for the teacher, not for the pupil. Some voice-trainers seem to think that it is their business to discover the registers, but as far as tone goes it is their business to conceal them. Trainers work better through possessing physiological knowledge, but the end is a smooth and homogeneous voice, blended and well-built.

Roughly speaking, the boys to be rejected are those who through carelessness, excitement, or confirmed habit, force up the thick register while singing. And those to be accepted are the boys who have sufficient reserve and care to turn into the fluty tone at the proper place, whether the music be loud or soft, and whatever be the shape of the melodic passage. The right use of the voice is most likely to come from boys who, whatever their social status, are well brought up, and have been taught to avoid screaming, coarse laughing and bawling, and if possible to speak in a clear way.

Voice studies are of two kinds. First come those which promote the building and setting of the voice. These are generally sung slowly. When the voice is becoming settled exercises for agility may be introduced. Of agility exercises most voice-training books contain plenty. There is a good selection in Mr. Sinclair Dunn's "The Solo Singer's Vade Mecum" (J. Curwen & Sons, price 1s.) and Sir John Stainer has written a set, printed on a card, which is published by Mowbray, Oxford and London, price 6d.

When the system of probationers is at work the voice-building exercises will not be much needed. The little boys will insensibly fall into right habits. They will learn to produce tone as they learnt to speak—by ear. But when a new choir has to be formed, the building exercises are necessary. And the first object of these is to make the boy feel the thin register and strengthen it by use. For this purpose such phrases as these, which leap into the thin register, and quit it by step are the best:—

These exercises should be sung to several vowels, but especially to the sound "koo," which will at first immensely amuse the boys, but will afterwards be found to throw the tone forward towards the teeth in a way that no other sound does.

Pure vowel tone goes with pure and resonant voice. The broad and pure vowels of the Yorkshire dialect have, more than anything else, produced the Yorkshire voices. Hence the choirmaster must make a determined effort to cure provincialisms in so far as they prevent the issue of pure vowel sounds from the mouth. The vowels should be sung in their vocal order as recommended by Mr. Behnke, oo (as in you), o (as in owe), ah (as in Shah), a (as pay), and ee (as in see). These may be taken to slow scales, thus:—

Let the choirmaster watch carefully for impure sounds, and call upon each boy to sing two measures by himself from time to time.

In singing the boy should stand upright and free. He must not lean or bend his body. The mouth must be fairly opened, but not too wide. As the voice ascends the mouth opens wider. The lips must lie lightly on the teeth, and the tongue should lie at rest, just touching the front teeth. If, for the sake of change during a long rehearsal, the boys sit, let it be remembered that there are many ways of sitting, and that the upright posture hinders the breath less than lolling and a crooked posture. Rigidity is the enemy of all good singing. Let the whole body and vocal apparatus be relaxed, and pure tone will result. "If I hear a boy forcing up his voice," said Herr Eglinger, of Basel, to me, "I ask the rest of the class to point him out, and they do it at once." This at once cures the transgressor and sharpens the consciences of the other boys. As to the vowel on which singers should be trained, there are differences of opinion. Maurice Strakosch, the trainer of Patti, Nilsson, &c., used "ha," which causes a slight breath to precede the articulation. This, he said, gives the voice a natural start. It is something like the "koo" of Mrs. Seiler. Learners he required to lower their heads while singing, and to show the upper teeth, so as to keep the lips out of the way of the tone. Mr. Barnicott, a successful choirmaster at Taunton, uses "ka." But as in the actual singing of the English language all the vowels are encountered in turn, it would seem reasonable that they should all be included in the practice.

Mr. Walter Brooks, quoted elsewhere, lays stress upon long-sustained notes in the scale of E flat, and up to G. These expand the lower part of the lungs, and produce steady, firm tone. They should be sung both loud and soft, the boys one by one and together. An admirable plan is to keep boys on the alert listening for faults, asking those not singing, "Whose fault is that?" Jealousy and conceit, says Mr. Brooks, are avoided by giving a solo to three or four boys to sing in unison. Three or four will blend better than two, and after proper rehearsal the tone is so like one voice that people say, "What a beautiful voice that boy has!"

As to balance of parts, the following table is given by Mr. H. B. Roney of Chicago:—

Sopranos     12 17 25 37 50
Altos 4 5 7 11 14
Tenors 4 5 8 11 14
Basses 5 8 10 16 22
25 35 50 75 100

Mr. Stocks Hammond says that during voice exercise the boys should stand perfectly erect, with mouth well

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