From: "Lloyd W. Hanson"
Subject: Re: Speaking/Singing Voice (ranting about countertenors :)
To: VOCALIST <vocalist>
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

Dear Mike (RALUCOB-at-aol.com) and List:

Your statement that you thought the operatic singing style tries to
stay in the same sound throughout the range and that this approach
brings about the phenomenon of breaks in the voice is most
interesting but not quite correct.

It is true that the ideal operatic style or classical style of
singing does embrace the concept of a same or as similar as possible
tone quality throughout the range. But this concept, in itself, is
not the "bringer about" of the register system found in voices.

The Classical style of singing has another concept that is the most
germane of all the concepts in its art. That is, the voice must be
capable of producing a completely balanced tonal quality that
represents an even influence of bright and dark tone, and that tone
must be capable of being heard without amplification. This is the
reason that it take so long to learn this art. The voice must be
carefully trained and nutured to grow into this long term vocal
ideal. Although some may achieve this goal for the short term, no
one can achieve it without serious study and growth for the long term.

The classical singing approach will emphasize the differences between
the vocal ranges. Registers that are not proportionally as well
developed as the others will need to be improved. Although the
differences in register qualities that occur in the less trained
singer would seem to emphasize what you call vocal "breaks", in
reality, the technique of classical singing was developed to help the
singer discover his deficiencies and promote a way to overcome these
less-than-the-best qualities.

A singing style that emphasizes the differences between the registers
is taking the much simpler and, in my opinion, less artistic choice
of making ones deficiencies into ones style. And if the singer that
does so must also use amplification to overcome his deficiencies,
then his/her inadequacies are even more pronounced.
Lloyd W. Hanson, DMA
Professor of Voice, Pedagogy
School of Performing Arts
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ 86011