Voice placement is a method by which corrects sounds are produced. It depends on many factors. It is the result of many causes and preparatory works which lead to the high goal, called “a well-placed voice.” Many teachers consider the term “voice placement” as a misnomer. They claim one should call it “breath or voice direction.”

It is true that every tone chromatically going upward has to be directed by the ascending breath, respectively the voice, into the different resonance chambers, such as the mouth cavity, predominately for low tones; into “The Mask” (nostrils and adjoining cavities), predominately for middle tones; and fairly into the cavities of the forehead and skull, predominately for high tones. I emphasized the word “predominantly” which means that other vibrations should not be excluded. For instance, even the lowest tones must receive co-vibrations from the head cavities and likewise the middle and top notes have to include some of the lower vibrations. This will produce and is the best means for producing an all-around resonance.

“In the old Italian “Bel Canto” school the phrase “con la fronte” means that all tones must be directed towards the forehead, at the juncture of the nose.” —Emi de Bidoli

In the old Italian “Bel Canto” school the phrase “con la fronte” means that all tones must be directed toward the forhead, at the juncture of the nose. However little can be derived in the matter from written rules and explanations. Only a capable teacher can make the pupil understand what the requirements of correct voice placement are. An ounce of practice and example is worth more than a ton of theory. In it almost impossible to lay down any absolute rules on this subject. A great help can be offered the pupil by showing him or her the chart from Mme. Lilli Lehman’s book “Mein Gesangskunst,” which gives a fine visualization of where the different tones from the lowest to the highest range are to be felt.

—Emi di Bidoli, Reminiscences of a Vocal Teacher (1946), p 55-56. Bidoli was a student of Aglaja Orgeni and Pauline Viardot-García.

Press Photo: Emi de Bidoli, circa 1929.

Overexposed, wreathed in pearls, and looking warily into the camera in the photo, Emi de Bidoli (1870-1952) appeared in a Cleveland newspaper to announce the 1929 Fall opening of her studio at Carnegie Hall. Fifty-nine and facing the Great Depression (the stock market crashed in October), Bidoli was an Austrian who lost a fortune in government bonds before immigrating to America in 1921. We can be thankful she has left us with a rich record of her life and teaching. Find Emi de Bidoli’s Reminiscences of a Vocal Teacher on the download page.