Methodological Principles

Differentiation

When a baby first reaches for a toy, the whole body is engaged in the action

In singing, if you are focused on what to do, you are attempting consciously to direct muscles that cannot be consciously directed. The vocal cords, for example, are not accessible to direct, conscious control. They cannot be made to respond to a musical intention; they can only be allowed to respond. If we try to make them respond, at best we will use additional muscles and effort, and achieve an approximation or imitation of the spontaneous action we are after. The body is wiser than our conscious will. The organs of singing know how they need to function, if we don't get in the way. Therefore, we are primarily concerned with discovering and relinquishing the ways in which we interfere, so that a spontaneous response can emerge.

Functional Hearing

Functional hearing is the ability to hear the inside workings of the body when listening to someone sing.

Is there freedom of movement? What muscles are tense? What attitudes or emotions are affecting the way the person is singing?

The voice that we hear is determined by all of the myriad events that take place in the mind and body before the sound is uttered. The voice is an outcome. Therefore, our attention and concern are primarily with the process that generates voice, rather than with the voice itself.

The task of the teacher is to hear what lies behind the aesthetic surface of the voice, to perceive the underlying processes that give rise to it, and to enable them to develop unhindered to their highest potential.

Spontaneity

In the golden age of singing in Italy, the Italians recorded many observations about what happened in the body, or what singers experienced when they were singing well. Since that time, beginning with the work of Manuel Garcia in the 19th century, much more information has been gathered about the physiology of singing.

Many approaches now base their instruction and imagery on this knowledge by transforming the description of what happens in good singing into a prescription for what the singer should do. For example, when an accomplished singer sings, the soft palate lifts; therefore, many teachers will encourage students to lift the soft palate.

The difficulty with this is that what the body does spontaneously, reflexively, cannot be made to happen in exactly the same way by an act of conscious will. In many cases, the technical actions that singers do deliberately come at the price of diminished spontaneity and excessive physical effort or tension. If, on the other hand, we release excess effort, the body can find an easier, more spontaneous way of achieving the desired result.

Support

"Support" is widely held to be absolutely essential to an effective technique of singing, but there is an extraordinary amount of disagreement about what it actually is.

The word support (Stütze in German) contains only half the meaning of the Italian word appoggio of which it is a translation. Appoggio means both supporting and leaning. In the context of singing, it conveys the idea that the breath leans on the diaphragm.

In the approach developed by Lajos Szamosi, "support" is understood to be the unhindered vitality of the primary breathing muscle – the diaphragm itself. In order for the diaphragm to be free and strong, it is necessary to remove excess tension from the entire breathing system. If the diaphragm is free to move, it is capable of an infinite variety of musical inflections, from the most delicate subtlety to the greatest intensity and power. True support, true appoggio, is a deep, vital, dynamic, and effective interaction between the diaphragm and the vocal cords.

Self-Discovery

One of the basic methods of the Szamosi approach is to ask questions often, and give direct verbal instruction seldom.

We do not give direct instruction about how to sing, because the organs involved in singing are not accessible to direct, deliberate commands. A direct command can at best imitate and at worst disrupt the free and spontaneous functioning of the vocal organs, including the breathing organs. Instead of direct commands, we use a variety of approaches to create conditions of greater freedom within the body and within the musical mind. In other words, we seek to create conditions under which the student's range of physical and musical possibilities can expand.

We ask questions so that we can better understand the student and how to guide him, and so that the student can develop a deeper self-awareness and gradually become his own guide. We ask about the student's subjective experience. We ask about how the singing feels to him, about what engaged his attention, about his understanding or evaluation of what he experiences.
Explanation and instruction can play a role in bringing greater clarity to something the student has already felt or recognized. Once you have had a real, unmistakable, spontaneous experience, it is part of you, it is your own, it is something you know. Then it can be helpful for the teacher to put this experience in a larger context, for example. This is very different from giving a theoretical explanation in advance.

La Compagnia Amarilli

The Path to Free Singing

Artistic Principles

Methodological Principles

Practices

Methodological Principles

Differentiation

Functional Hearing

Spontaneity

Support

Self-Discovery