Legato Singing
Everyone has enough natural
feeling and imagination, if they are not afraid to use them in a song.
Sing the words as if you meant
them; sing the melody as if you loved it, rising with it in a crescendo as it
rises, and falling with it as it falls. Sincerity and simplicity, not
performance!
In a good melody all the notes
are equally important; each one must tell; it’s no use giving yourself up to
the notes you like best and leaving the rest to look after themselves J So observe the notes
which are given to small syllables. It is the neglect of these which lets a
melody down. Now, it is the vowels which carry the melody: therefore sing on your vowels and through your consonants. The consonants must not stop the melody.
Be very particular that final m’s, n’s and ng’s are not made into stoppages.
You see, vowels are the sounds we sing on, and consonants are interruptions.
(If you doubt it, pick out the vowel sounds of each word in a song, and sing
the tune to those only, in a continuous stream, omitting all the consonants.
Then try to sing to the consonant sounds only, and see what happens! J )
Apply legato singing with diligence to every song for a long time to
come, for it is the foundation of all good singing. J
