Elizabeth Tait SS Ch. 1

Summary: It is important to understand the general physical aspects of the voice when developing a wholistic approach to singing.  Making a sound requires three components: 1) generator (for the voice, this is airflow), 2) vibrator (for the voice, this is the vocal folds, and 3) the resonators (a number of different body parts).  As we improve our singing, our focus will be on the active  ingredients, which are the generator/airflow and the vibrator/phonation/vocal folds.  Resonance is a passive ingredient that we cannot manipulate ourselves, but responds to work in other areas.  The singer's job is made especially difficult because these three components to making sound are connected with the complicate intellectual, spiritual, emotional, physcial, and psychological being that is a human.  Since our whole body is involved in singing, a good pedagogical approach must incorporate the whole self (wholistic approach.)  A wholistic approach as diagnoses the root cause, rather than treating the vocal symptom (in many instances, this requires returning to speech, a natural creative activity.)  And once, we are singing, we must be in a state of authenticity, movement, and vulnerability.
Key Terms (there were a lot)
basic instincts
generator - airflow
vibrator - phonation/vocal folds
resonator
abduction
adduction
phonation
Bernoulli effect
placement
primary resonators: mouth, pharynx, nasal cavitites
wholistic
holistic
"trick"
technique
self-actualization
Key Concepts: His conclusion covered his points so well, I just want to quote it.  Is that ok?: "Vulnerability, spontaneity, constant motion, and creativity are essential to good vocal technique.  The key to that technique is to return to the basic instincts of breathing and speaking.  It is the gestalt concept of speaking that taps into our original creative impulses and enables us to communicate straight from the heart - with freedom, honesty, and power."  Rock on, Stephen Smith!
Making Connections: I have a couple questions I would like answered Cindy:  Smith points out that the resonator is the main component that affects quality of sound, but the other two components (generator and vibrator) are the only ones that we control; therefore, how can I truly change the quality of sound?  Smith also mentions that taking the trip involves only judging yourself before and after singing.  What if I can't remember how I sang after a performance is done?  I want to also point out one thing I disagree with:  In the end of the chapter, Smith states, "Fortunately, there is so much passion and drama inherent in opera music that we can be moved despite a somewhat mechanical performance."  I think that the opposite is true: most people today find opera music unmoving and foreign, so therefore singers need to be unbelievably vulnerable and authentic to get a new audience to enjoy opera in the slightest.