The Italian Singer Has No Throat
It’s a curious thing. This thing is called the Old Italian School of Singing. Let’s consider one of its sayings: “The Italian singer has no throat.”
Quite simply, this means the listener is unaware of the singer’s throat and that the singer should not feel any pressure in it.
Now, think about it.
What does the modern school emphasize par excellence in its study? The throat, or more specifically, the larynx in the throat.
Contrast this with the Old School, which placed (ha) the singer’s awareness entirely elsewhere: the face and head.
Now, here’s a fundamental paradox.
Manuel García was the Old Italian School guy who got everyone thinking about the larynx and throat—the “cause” of the “effect” felt and heard in the face and head. The world of singing hasn’t been the same since. We’ve now come so far down the line that those who believe themselves to be teaching the principles of the Old Italian School do not mention “effect” and even actively disavow it.
Here is it in black and white from García’s student Herman Klein, who came to New York City in 1901 to spread García’s teachings:
Look constantly after your breathing!
If a fault of some kind becomes apparent—be it dulness or huskiness of tone, doubtful intonation, trembling or unsteadiness, difficulty in sustaining a long note or “cantabile” phrase—turn your attention first of all to the manner in which you are breathing.
It may be that the diaphragm and the abdominal muscles are not performing their due share of the work, that the ribs are not being expanded sufficiently; or, perhaps, that the chest is being allowed to collapse when the breath is expelled with greater force than the voice actually requires.
Look to your resonance!
When the voice has not sufficient access to the resonating cavities of the “masque,” any or all of the defects above enumerated may quickly make their appearance.
Remember you ought to sing without the semblance of strain and with only the smallest sensation of effort. Let there be plenty of vigor in the act of forming the tone—vigor which is augmented by the feeling that the body generally is well braced up. There must be no flabbiness; and, on the other hand, there must be no constriction of any kind, no muscular contraction in the vocal apparatus, no sense of undue resistance or pinching in the throat, nothing beyond the firmness that is essential of the emission of steady tone.
I remember a drawing made by Margaret Harshaw—Klein’s musical niece—of the singer while singing. There was a torso and the beginnings of a neck topped off with nothing.
No throat, no head—nothing but ringing vocal tone.
One used the body and breath to go beyond both.
To understand what it means for the Italian singer to have no throat, contact the Shigo Voice Studio for voice lessons in New York City and online singing lessons.