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From:  "taylor23ferranti" <taylor23f@h...>
Date:  Sat Apr 6, 2002  6:44 pm
Subject:  Re: Male/Female registers (was: how do you define 'head voice'?)

Randy wrote:

>Most descriptions in classical pedagogy books use the terms crass,
> crude, and masculine to describe the female chest voice. These are
>not terms relating to function but values.

**************

Dear Randy, Lloyd and listers,

I must assume that you are referring to more contemporary books on
singing. If you look at the historical pedagogy literature, like
Garcia, Mancini, and the more recent writings of Stanley and Reid,
you'll notice that the use of a vital, firm, pure chest-mechamism-
timbre was the norm for females singers in the lower register. I
feel that CURRENT pedagogies have done away with the original
intentions of the great masters by imposing a breathy/mixed-register
tone in the female voice below F4. This current trend has been
widely embraced by current pedagogies which is why we rarely hear a
female voice, especially a high soprano, who can execute a chesty low
G for example.

Lloyd mentioned Leontyne...dead on! She is a perfect example. I
would also mention, IMHO, one of the greatest mezzo voices of all
time- Giulietta Simionato. I haven't heard a chest-register like
that since Giulietta...with the only exceptions going to Doloras
Zachek (sorry for the spelling) and early Marilyn Horne.

***************

Randy also wrote:

> The female chest voice is much longer than these pedagogies suggest
>(up to a4); this is where the mix begins.

Randy, clearly you are using a contemporary view of registers
here...not the classical model proposed by Garcia. Garcia defines
the transition in register for MEN and WOMEN at F4...men enter into
their upper-register by increased CT participation, and women enter
into.. what I like to term "middle-register," and this too is marked
by increased CT partcipation and decresed TA participation.

If the extension of female chest voice was A4, as you suggest, the
classical model of registration, which without question produced the
greatest singers in history, would be entirely disregarded.

My wife Laura is a fine mezzo at 23 (yes, I'm partial)! She recently
sang the part of Oberon in Britten's Midsummer. The role has many
leaps into the low voice and many notes below middle C. She used a
pure-chest-tone for all the lower register notes both in rehearsal
and in the three performances she sang. Her tones were not at all
"crass," "crude," or masculine....they were in a word- RIGHT! The
audience loved it, and many people came up to her and commented on
the fact that they so rarely hear a female low-voice with that kind
of power and vitality. Needless to say, so got the role because no
other female in the school can touch her low voice. My wife is of
the opinion: "what was good enough for Giulietta...is good enough for
her."

I feel that many teachers disregard the chest-register in females and
label it as bad, ugly. I've even heard famous teachers say, "I don't
teach my females to sing in the chest voice." From what I have
learned about voice science and pedagogy...if you DON'T teach the
female chest-voice, you're missing a valuable part to the puzzle.

*************

Randy also wrote:

>(and in that area of
> the voice TA is not only considered a regulator of pitch but also
an adductor
> muscle).

*************

Randy, you may want to check out the Hirano, Vennard, O'Hala study
from the 70's. I personally have never seen it written anywhere that
the TA is a regulator of pitch. Quite the opposite, (and taught by
Vennard, Titze, Austin and others) the TA is always called the
"register muscle" while the CT is always called the "pitch-muscle."
I noticed that you did write "in that area." Perhaps you could write
more on what I quoted.

Love to write more...but Laura is on her way back from a trip and
I've got much housework to do before she arrives!

Take care all,

Taylor L. Ferranti
Certificate of Vocology
DMA Candidate in Voice Science/Voice Performance
Louisiana State University













  Replies Name/Email Yahoo! ID Date  
18516 beginning teacher's angst.Molly McLinden   Sat  4/6/2002  
18534 Re: beginning teacher's angst.snide76258   Sun  4/7/2002  
18542 Re: beginning teacher's angst.Ms Christine Zimmermann   Sun  4/7/2002  
18561 Re: beginning teacher's angst.Vicki Bryant   Mon  4/8/2002  
18570 Re: beginning teacher's angst.Imthurn Melinda   Mon  4/8/2002  
18612 Re: Male/Female registers (was: how do you defineSharon Szymanski   Tue  4/9/2002  

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