Bel Canto Principles and Practices [Paperback]

Cornelius L. Reid (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Joseph Patelson Music House (June 1972)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0915282011
• ISBN-13: 978-0915282012
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,031,023 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heed Mr. Reid's Advice!, March 14, 2001

By 

Hopeful Voice Student (Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bel Canto Principles and Practices (Paperback)

This book and the other two books in Cornelius Reid's trilogy on Bel Canto technique (The Free Voice, Psyche and Soma) are the best contemporary books on vocal technique I have found. Mr. Reid thoroughly understands the function of vocal registers- the only correct way to gain complete control over the voice- which is often ignored by many voice teachers today, especially for male students. His writings are based on the teachings of great voice teachers of the past. If you are looking for a voice teacher, read this book first. If the teacher does not agree with the concepts in this book and actively apply them, he/she probably cannot help you reach your full potential unless you have a perfectly balanced voice by nature. I do not just highly recommend these books, they have made the difference for me between near hopelessness and hope for a career as a singer.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Overview of Bel Canto Principles, November 14, 2009

By 

C. W. Lawson "OracleMagician" (SF East Bay, California: United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bel Canto Principles and Practices (Paperback)

Cornelius Reid wrote this book to restore proven principles of bel canto. This is necessary, Reid says, because modern techniques have led to vocal deterioration.

I. HISTORIC BACKGROUND

The "Camerata," intellectuals about 1594, wanted to restore Greek drama. By the mid 1600's, many theaters sprang up. Gradually, by 1700's, great vocal displays became the primary objective. The drama of opera declined, but singing, called Bel Canto, excelled.

II. EARLY HISTORY OF VOICE TRAINING

Pope Sylvester, 4th century, established conservatory for church choirs. Curriculum was 9 years. The most complete source of bel canto technique is Mancini, Practical Reflections (1776). [Note: This is available in public domain.] Other important sources include Caccini, "Nuove Musiche" (1601), and Tosi "Observations on the Florid Song" (1723).

III. THE BEL CANTO IDEAL

Vocal faults should not determine voice type. E.g., a "bass-baritone" is a rarity--typically, just a reflection of vocal limitation. Resonance, vocal range, and flexibility don't come first; rather, they are based on vowel quality plus proper registration.

IV. BASIC PRINCIPLES OF BEL CANTO

Top priority was tonal perfection and vowel purity. The method was slow and deliberate, starting with just single tone, gradually adding other tones.

V. THE MENTAL CONCEPT

Reid explains that success begins with and depends on mental picture of the sound. Careful listening is absolutely critical; a student should become hypersensitive to imperfections and develop awareness of tonal quality. Range extension should not be an early focus.

A presupposed quality for a given voice should not be assumed. One doesn't know the actual quality of a voice until the vowels are purified and registers developed.


VI. THE VOCAL REGISTERS

The register break is always about high E in all voices, male or female. This is the divide between chest and falsetto (or head.) Tenors and altos straddle the break more than other voices. It's not that tenors are more rare, but that good training is lacking.

Outer voices can more easily get away with just one register. Basses have most of their range below the break, so unification problems are not so apparent. Bases & baritones always have trouble about Eb simply because the falsetto register is neglected. The term "falsetto" was unfortunate because it suggests inferiority, which is misleading. This register is an important asset.

Modern teachers no longer use falsetto/head interchangeably. Modern day well-developed "head voice" is similar to classic falsetto. Falsetto register includes 10-12 semitones, which partially overlap the chest register.

Bel Canto is more a description of the result of proper technique, rather than a method. Register development, and joining two registers to work as one is a key precept of bel canto. Training mush achieve development of the weak register, while also ensuring purity of tone. The qualities of each register are interchanged. Emphasis is on increasing falsetto strength into the chest register, not bolstering chest register. The best technique for register development is "messa di voce," or swelling of tone.

VII. SCALES AND EXERCISES

Student must develop extreme self-criticism. Velocity studies should absolutely be avoided; instead, student should concentrate on slow legato. Legato practice should begin using 2 slow notes, then gradually proceed to 3 and 4.

Vocal progress means gradual change. Bridging the register gap should not be attempted at first. A good first plan is to concentrate on strengthening the weak register. Starting with high G avoids the gap--using ee or oo is usually easiest.

Student should never attempt to bring chest register up, but rather develop falsetto register. A focus on singing soft has been training disaster; proper soft tone is an advanced technique.

VIII. VIBRATION, TREMOLO, AND WOBBLE

Correct vibrato is inconspicuous and usually at a constant rate--about 6.5 cycles/sec. Faulty vibrato is due to faulty intonation mechanics, especially poor register development. Vibrato should not be directly trained. Instead, student should concentrate on pure tonal quality.

IX. BREATHING

Reid surprises me a bit here. He says that breath control has a trivial impact and should not be credited with curing vocal problems. Despite huge interest, singing skill is not dependent on correct system of breathing! On the contrary, it has almost no impact--because it doesn't transform vocal technique. Earliest writings scarcely mention the subject.

Efforts to regulate the rate of air expulsion are misplaced; vocal registration and control really solves the problem of not enough breath.

X. DECLINE OF BEL CANTO

Reid laments that Bel canto teaching is now nearly extinct, but was well used in 17th and 18th centuries. It has declined for three main reasons: (1) Confusion over terms; (2) Virtuoso teachers; and (3) Distracting scientific encroachments.

Terms "chest" and "head" register are unfortunate, focusing on subjective feelings of vibration. Originally, "register" meant a particular tonal quality; in time it shifted to mean an area of vibration. Feelings were seen as the cause of correct technique, rather than the result of correct registration. A feeling became an end in itself. Head voice became an objective--a target of placing the tone. "An effect was made the cause of tone production."

Basing technique on a feeling is meaningless unless student's good vocal teaching has already led to that feeling. Certain feelings are actually a result, not a cause of proper technique. Lilli Lehmann errs by devoting scores of pages describing sensations that only she experiences.

Contributing to the decline of bel canto, Great singers, who already had excellent vocal technique, became teachers, but they didn't understand principles of bel canto.

Reid is very critical of scientific claims about improving vocal technique. The first step in scientific investigation was observing vocal folds with a mirror. Many novel themes resulted from these observations. The fatal flaw: A student cannot emulate what is seen: "Looking at thee vocal organs in action contributes nothing that is useful." Scientists can show what is wrong, but not create a solution, because singer cannot directly control important qualities of singing. Instead, change is effected indirectly through register control and vocal quality.

XI. SCIENCE VS EARLY TRADITION

Reid emphasizes again that scientific knowledge is useless for practical vocal training. It's not so tough to find the faults--it's correcting them that's hard. Early bel canto teachers concentrated on what could be changed--i.e., purity of vowel quality.

Bel canto can be summarized in two simple points: Registration + pure vocal quality. Each register must play its part. The only realistic way to control the vocal mechanism is via mental processes. Practice of good thinking habits yield good doing habits.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vocal freedom, December 21, 2000

By 

Jonathan Bolton (Chester, Cheshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bel Canto Principles and Practices (Paperback)

This is the only book I have come across (or teacher for that matter) that understands how to build a voice from scratch properly.

The most important issue addressed is that of the registers. Reid gives historical evidence, his own teaching experience and common sense to support his view. He also gives the essential exercises that are so sorely needed. Understanding and applying these principles aids ease of execution, range, power, voice movement (not wobbling or bleating!)and beauty of tone.

My voice is improving in every respect all the time.