I am adding this discussion to the book at this time because with every student, somewhere down the line, this conversation surfaces and I am sure, if it comes into my studio, it similarly exists in the world of singing.
To my way of thinking, the concept of “chest Voice” is one of the major causes to which I attribute the destruction of extraordinary singing in any genre. As I mentioned before, great singing is dependent on flawless technique and an instrument that is willing and workable. Most of all, great singing depends on the ability of the singer to follow a logical thinking process: in our case, the process that I have put forth from the very beginning – NO THROAT!
Anyone wishing to use "chest Voice" had better stop here. Please do not waste your time going any further. Forget everything you have read up until now because the use of "chest Voice" simply does not follow a logical progression of this work.
A few questions to start to put things into perspective:
Which part of the vocal instrument is in the chest? If you answer the lungs, wrong…
Is the chest not attached to the Throat?
Have we not from the beginning established that the Throat and the use of it is completely out of the question?
How much real Air can you get into the chest that will eventually help you "push out" Sound?
Does chest Air arrive in/at the Giro? If so, how?
When you create/make "chest Voice", how do you bring it out? The Jaw, the mouth? Lifting of the Tongue, dropping the Soft Palate? etc., etc., etc.
I am sure you follow my line of thinking.
Now for the answers - let me be very specific:
For me, there is absolutely no compromise on this conversation.
When the Giro is in use, and I hope that by now you understand how to use it, the production of Sound, any Sound, high or low, is inside the Giro, inside the turn of the Voice. The Giro has, like any circle (360 degrees), a top, middle and a bottom (contrary to the people who talk about registers - a head-Voice, middle- and a chest Voice).
As we know, the top of the Giro is the top of the skull, the middle is around canals 5 and 6, at the bridge of the nose, and the bottom of the Giro, is sitting almost on top the Soft Palate, right above the Bone of Life (Atlas).
Since the Air, which creates Vowel Sounds, moves upward and backward, and since we all know that Sounds move on Air, all Sounds are moving only in one direction, upward and backward. The fact that each Sound moves over the top of the head, through the Third Eye toward the lips and thus liberates the Air to form the next Sound is due to the Intention of the Word and the slight movement of lips, with the help of the teeth and the Tongue.
The positioning for speaking and for singing is the same, always.
The Brain, and only the Brain, knows exactly where each Sound is, where it has to be placed, and where inside the Giro it fits. Knowing the music and word combination will allow the Sound to be "positioned" into the proper space inside the Giro without your "personal physical" intervention. Sound movement is primarily mental, as is just about anything that goes on in the body when you come down to it. Without the master computer, there is no functioning of "anything."
It is of the utmost importance that you trust your technical knowledge, because if you do not, you will invariably have the great need to move low Sounds from the bottom of the Giro below the Soft Palate, which then does not remain steady and does not stay up. The Throat then immediately must push forward, thus taxing the instrument needlessly. The Sound "created" in the mouth, the Throat or any place other than the Giro, is different in vibration and color and seems foreign to the rest of the Voice.
The smooth line is gone, the flow is gone, the ease of the Giro is gone…very possibly the next line will begin where the last ended – in the Throat.
The Air which opens the Throat and moves into the diaphragm (simultaneous intake of Air in the final position through the pupils), fills the entire Air column and creates support, not Sound movement.
The fact that the lungs are attached to that “Air column” is really of no consequence to us. They (the lungs) have a job to do, but nothing that is of great importance to us here or anything that we can really control physically. Contraction of the lungs to get Air to move Sound is hardly possible, even though most teachers will tell you to expand the chest, the back, the ribs etc. The old adage "a great set of lungs" does not hold true…it never has. For lack of proper explanation and supposed “logical thinking,” this concept, as well as others was created. That is not to say that the lungs do not have a part in the 'breathing apparatus (I am not that silly), but that their work is passive, whereas the work of the Giro is active.
Lungs do not provide positioning, the Giro does.
The Throat does not provide ease and perfect liberation of the instrument, the Giro does.
The Throat does not allow the Sound to circulate with roundness and flow, the Giro does…
The Jaw pulls on the Throat muscles and constricts the easy flow of Air, the Giro does not…
The Giro gives you endless possibility and potential for height, depth, coloration and width of Sound; the Throat will ultimately give up. The vocal cords cannot take the constant onslaught of Air; a wobble, soreness, and lack of Air are the results. Usually the height of the Sound goes first, then perhaps the bottom - maybe the other way around, depending on the instrument- - but slowly and inevitable, the rest of the Sounds/Voice/production/ease/beauty, etc., fall by the wayside.
We have learned that our SOURCE for everything we need concerning Sound is in the Giro and the Giro is in the head, not in the Throat. If you count on the chest Air for movement of Sound, you must, and I repeat, you must push forward in order to get the Sound to come out through the Throat and the mouth and that means that you are pressing/pushing against the instrument and using the muscles of the Throat, taxing the instrument.
Instead of allowing the apparatus to be free and relaxed to produce the Sounds you desire effortlessly, you are actually maneuvering, modulating manipulating, controlling, and influencing the instrument negatively to do what you want, not what your thoughts (music, Sounds, etc.,) are directing it to do naturally. If this occurs, everything I have tried to teach you is thrown out the window.
You might as well go right back to taking your breath into the mouth down the Throat, making your Vowel Sounds in the mouth and pushing the Air through the cords to create Sound. Fine with me, it is your instrument, the only one you will ever have, your choice.
The mouth is a resonator, the chest is as well and so is every single cavity in our bodies. When you sing correctly, everything in your body vibrates the Sounds. I once read somewhere that a doctor took a stethoscope while Caruso was singing and no matter where on his body he placed it, he heard vibrating Sounds.
There is no question that the entire physical structure is involved in vocal production, the question is only to what degree.
The Throat, without a doubt, has an incredible job to do since it houses the instrument; and the lungs and the Air column are all part of the great support system needed by the Soft Palate and the Giro to keep the Voice (Vowel Sounds) up. The great singers of the past worked the instrument naturally and, upon being questioned if they used chest Voice, a resounding NO was the answer. Others, who considered themselves more "profound in knowledge," searched for explanations and figured that if the Sound was low and deep it "must come from the chest and must be produced there.” Thus, unfortunately, was this verbiage coined, which confused and still confuses the serious student – a pity, but true.
Of course, classical singers, who have always been adored as the vocal elite, have influenced the rest of the world and certain concepts, right or wrong, were therefore accepted, established, and perpetrated. Others have refused vehemently the mere thought that they defaulted and used the chest; many others have tried to explain what they do in terms that “mere mortals” can understand, yet very few have been able to translate what they accomplish into laymen's language. The media and the critics, doctors and "experts" have added their two cents and thus have managed to make everyone believe that the 'chest' is it.
Having said this, I am here to take the myth of "chest" out of the Voice and put low notes/high notes, all notes and voices into an easy to understand and natural place, so that that, which always existed, but has been hidden under layers of … (please fill in the blanks --), will become available once again and give you the joy and satisfaction you deserve, without destroying the instrument.
This book, in all its aspects, would never be written if I subscribed to those concepts. I have proven a thousand times over that Sounds, especially low and deep ones, do not need the chest under any circumstances. They are easily and beautifully executed by allowing the Air and Vowel Sound the natural pull back and up inside the Giro.
The answer to this genuine problem is that it takes real work, work in understanding and thinking, and work in being able to produce physically what the mind perceives. That takes time and effort and a lot of willpower, character to stand against the pack and ultimately trust in what we are doing. Attaching to the SOURCE AIR, moving inside that space and allowing the mind to create its perceptions of Sound and Vowel and word combinations without molesting the instrument, is not an easy feat, but very well worth the effort.
There are few singers today who are willing to put in what it takes and there are fewer teachers who know how to teach this - hence the lack of true greatness.
Here I challenge any singer, any teacher: Come and learn the way the Giro works and you will never have a need for creating and designing chest Sounds again.
Don't believe me? Give me a Voice that is open, will learn and listen - I will change your mind forever.
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