Singing: The Mechanism and the Technic
by William Vennard

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Book Reviews of Singing: The Mechanism and the Technic

Book Review: Required Reading for Singing Teachers.
Summary: 5 Stars

Voice teachers necessarily employ metaphor in teaching because so much of the human voice is controlled unconsciously. But such metaphors should be grounded in the facts of reality - in the known sciences that apply to vocal production. For instance, when a teacher tells a student, `don't swallow your tone', and is met only with a look of blank stupor, that teacher needs to be able to start talking facts instead of fantasy.

Mr. Vennard demystifies the metaphors. He systematically anchors the art of the teacher to the known sciences of tone, timbre and resonance, and especially to the physiognomy of the larynx, the breathing muscles, and the upper respiratory tract. After covering the basics, he includes extensive discussions of vowel and consonant production, as well as a number of important vocal exercises. He closes with a brief discussion of the technique of messa di voce. I say it is brief, but it is really the ultimate subject of the entire book.

Messa di voce is an ancient vocal exercise done on one note and on one breath: a long crescendo followed by a long diminuendo. But this simple exercise involves a fantastically complex coordination of muscles, and, while the student need not understand more than a tenth of the science behind it, his teacher should understand as much as possible.

Many teachers of singing, and perhaps most of them, do not feel the need for such tools as are available in Mr. Vennard's book, but I believe the best teachers do.

Summary of Singing: The Mechanism and the Technic

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