A free, distinct
articulation and use of words in song, is the exception and not the rule.
This is due largely to the following fact--with most singers there is
direct or local effort on face, jaw, tongue and throat, during the act of
singing; in other words, they grip the parts to hold the tone, and the
higher or louder they sing, the firmer the grip or contraction. This
virtually paralyzes action, and makes flexible articulation impossible.
Articulation knows no pitch. It should be as easy on a high tone as on a
middle or low tone. If there were no direct or local effort of the
articulating muscles to hold the tone, articulation on the high tone would
be as easy as on the middle or low tone. This is a fact which has been
demonstrated again and again. Of course it is more difficult to learn to
sustain the high tone without placing more or less effort upon the face,
jaw, and throat; but under right conditions, the result of right position
and action, this can be done, and has been done many times.
Articulation, to be artistic, must be spontaneous,--the thought before the
action. Think and feel the effect desired, and give no thought to the
action of articulation. The action, under right conditions, if there is no
restraint, will respond to thought and feeling; it will be automatic and
spontaneous. Just as the singer, after a certain stage of study, should
never produce a tone that does not mean something, that has not character,
so in the use of words, he should always sing them in a persuasive,
impressive manner, and with free, flexible action.
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