Ethnomusic

Voice is ‘human’ which therefore grows, matures and varies from one sex to another. Hence a careful study of the principles, based on anatomical factors, is required to train the voice. Scientific methods of voice training employ different techniques for training the child, the adolescent, the male and the female voices. Voice is a very delicate and sympathetic instrument. Children should be placed under a competent teacher from the beginning because the early bad training either damages the voice completely or so impairs its quality as to require much time to regain it.

Since their vocal organs are not fully developed as in grown-ups, children have a high voice. They should not strain themselves to be loud because the vocal muscles become tensed, which in turn spoils voice quality. Exercises for the production of very low notes and very high notes should be avoided as they unduly strain the laryngeal and breathing mechanisms of then child. The compass of children’s voices at the age of six is only about one octave. The range increases gradually and eight-year-old children are able to sing one and a half octaves while ten-year-olds are able to produce more than one and a half octaves. Exercises that suit biological features should therefore be advocated. Songs prescribed for young children should be quick in tempo with a limited range and must be short to suit their temperament. As vocal art is highly imitative, children are tempted to imitate a man’s voice if they are placed under a male teacher. Therefore, women teachers are better suited to train children’s voice than men. Otherwise men teachers should use their ‘mezzo-voce’ - or soft voice whenever they train children.

Singers and scientists across the world agree that the style of breathing determines the quality of the voice to a large extent. Hence correct breathing habits should be well established in the early years. The child should be asked to keep his face up in a recumbent position and to inhale deeply. The teacher should place his hands on the middle ribs of the child to feel the expansion. The inter-costal muscles come into action with the expansion of the middle ribs. This practice avoids the bad habit of lifting the shoulders when inhaling deeply. The child must also be trained to exhale slowly and gradually, as the efficiency in expelling the air is very important for voice production. Until puberty, there exists no difference in voice quality among children of both sexes. The first signs for the coming of adolescent voice are huskiness and depth in voice quality. The voice begins to waver and crack owing to the faster development of the laryngeal muscles. The voice then settles and attains a masculine, powerful character, lower in pitch and higher in intensity. This change is very marked among boys.

There will be no difficulty during the mutation period, if the voice is trained properly in the early years. The use of chest voice in higher register should be avoided in the pre-adolescent period itself because this creates more problems when the voice begins to change during puberty. The training for the extension of the range must be given only after the voice has completely settled. Soft singing and humming exercises will be in order during adolescence to keep the voice steady and rich. Research experiments have shown that interest is evinced in singing with emotion only at the age of puberty. The marked difference in voice quality among men, women, and children is due to the size of the vocal cords, the kind of breathing, and the physical make-up of the resonant cavities. The size of a baby’s larynx is one-third that of a woman’s larynx. It begins to grow rapidly until three years. Then the rate of growth slows down till the sixth year. After that it stops growing until the mutation period. And the development is on the same lines for children of both sexes until puberty. For men during the mutation period, the larynx begins to grow in all dimensions. The Thyroid, Cricoid and Arytenoid cartilages enlarge and consolidate. The Adam’s Apple becomes more marked and finally the vocal cords become thicker and longer for men.

“The larynx of a man is not only absolutely but also relatively larger than the larynx of a woman in all its diameters, more particularly in the antero-posterior diameter. To a large extent the increase is produced by strong development of the laryngeal prominence in men. The greater antero-posterior diameter of the male larynx necessarily implies a greater length of the vocal folds and a lower or deeper tone of the voice in men than in women.” (Cunningham D.J.) The adharashadja or keynote lowers upto four notes. Similar changes take place for women but to a much lesser degree. The vocal cords remain shorter and thinner than men’s vocal cords and the voice quality becomes strong and sweet. 

(To be continued)

Dr. Durga is an internationally well-known voice training specialist for singers. She received her research degree M.Litt., from the Madras University, for her thesis on Voice-Culture. Indian Musicological Society, Baroda, has brought out her book on Voice Culture. Carnatica, Chennai, has brought a video out titled "The Ideal Voice" with her presentation on Voice Culture. She has conducted many workshops on Voice-Culture in India including the Shibir for Gujarat - Sangeet Natak Academy, India, and in other foreign countries including Bharathiya Vidhya Bhavan, London. Dr. Durga is a visiting professor for Voice Culture at S.N.D.T., Women's University, Bombay and The Music Academy, Madras.

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