Great Recognized Principles
“There was always room for such beautiful voices as America produced…
Provided they were produced and trained in accordance with the great recognized principles—the one and only true method—of the art of singing. I wish that people would disabuse their minds of the notion that there is, or can be, any new system of so-called voice production, or even any satisfactory modification or development or pre-existing theories on this subject.” —Manuel Garcia, London, 1901
Well, if that’s not enough to made the modern mind squirm.
Anna Schoen-René and others have told us that García disliked his teaching being referred to as a method, yet here he is doing just that. Not only that, he’s referring to “the great recognized principles” as “the one and only method.”
Klein recorded García’s teachings in multiple places, most adroitly in the Phono-Vocal Method, which you can find on the author page. Reading it, what does the reader find? That García’s principles of singing included:
Low Breath
Singing Position
Open Throat
High Placement
Margaret Harshaw, a student of Anna Schoen-René, boiled things down even more, teaching her students that the sum of the García School could be described as “low support and high placement.”
The funny thing is that many modern voice teachers reject the idea of voice placement entirely, even those who believe themselves to be teaching singing lessons in the fine art of bel canto—which is rather like sitting on a limb in a tree while taking a chainsaw to the trunk!
To learn García’s principles of singing, contact the Shigo Voice Studio for voice lessons in New York City, online singing lessons, and group classes in the art of bel canto.
