Thirteen Methods of Vocalization

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The reason is that they do not have a correct principle to guide their practice, so that they cannot check whether a sound is appropriate or not. Their problem lies in vocalization, not the art of singing. Mirage in their practice is useless, for such good feeling will last one month at most and several minutes at least. After that, all return to a troubling state as if your boat came to a windless area and you were helpless at it. It is quite terrible when such things happen, for they can deprive you of confidence, will, courage and psychological support. You become doubtful about your ability. Should such person find back his lost voice and a correct principle, he will become a brilliant star on the stage. He will be a real singer, peerless. His voice will never change again, because he has reached the kingdom of freedom in vocalization. Pitiably, such singer has not appeared by now. But with the birth of the thirteen methods of vocalization, such singer is bound to appear, and the time needed will be substantially shortened. Your time will not be wasted away in aimless practice.

 

 

 

Brief review of famous Beijing Opera Actirole of Laosheng j--- Yu Shunyan

 

 

Most actors are liable to confuse vocalization with tempo change and regard them as the same. If a person is good at vocalization or tempo change, they say he is good at singing. Such view prevails even today. It is like a cancer in actors. Those who take it easy may withdraw from the stage, while those who take it seriously may even lose their lives. It seems that I am exaggerating, but it is true. The point is that the person even does not know how he has got the cancer. If a singer cannot obtain a rational knowledge about this, the higher he reaches in his career, the more likely he will get this cancer. In no time he will drop to the bottom, and unless a miracle happens, it is extremely hard to reclaim the former brilliance. Mr. Yu Shuyan has got such a disease and died from it. After him, there are Wang Shaolou and Li Shaochun. These real artists are universally recognized today as artistic genius with supernatural intelligence. In the art of Beijing Opera, all have contributed and accomplished a lot. The tone and voice of Mr Yu Shuyan, in particular, is still developing vigorously now. Then why did he get such disease? The reason is that he failed to regard the two things mentioned above as different. He is a man of enterprise; otherwise he cannot reach that height in art. But it is just because this that he is never satisfied with what he has attained. He always self examines, not knowing he will stumble in the progress. Had he known this, he wouldnft have taken such a step. He only knows there is no end in art, which is quite right, but he does not know how to proceed.

 

 

 

There is only one truth. If you change it, things will go to the opposite. gArt has no endh means that a form of art should change with time. Any stagnant art is doomed to die. Beijing Opera is of no exception. Beijing Opera is a comprehensive form of art, including singing, reciting, acting and doing. These together compose a whole. In terms of aria, it includes vocalization as well as tempo and strength change. These two aspects are voice and emotion. When you find the right voice, you cannot change it. In singing, vocalization is a very important part. There is only one correct voice, and will not change with time. But tempo and strength are different. They should change naturally with time. gArt has no endh refers to this very aspect. The vocal cords of ancient people and modern people have no difference, so they should use the same method to raise their voice. But this is not the case with tempo and strength. The tempo and strength in old Beijing Opera have changed substantially comparing with modern ones. But no change has taken place in the vocalization. The voice of a formerly outstanding artist is still pleasing to the ear today. Yu Shuyan didnft know this, hence his failure.

 

 

 

Judging from the old records, except the last gfarewell at Shajiao,h all his records are excellent, or good. When he recorded the last one, he was in his thirties, but already with the fatal disease. At that age, his voice shouldnft have turned like that. Most people believe he had a good voice, and Mr. Yu himself also believed so. Admittedly his voice was good, and in terms of vocal music, his voice was both smooth and resonant. But he did not know how good his voice was. He only knew that gArt has no endh and he must always proceed forward. His knowledge about vocalization was perceptional, not rational. Driven by the notion that gArt has no end,h he continuously changed his voice till he lost his formerly good one at last. But at the prime of his career, to whom he could talk about his problem? What he could say? I have lost my way? In those years, Mr. Yu would never confide to anyone, because if he did, he would lose all. It was indeed hard to accept such a sudden disaster in the prime of his career. He lost his psychological balance and became ill gradually. Mental illness caused his physical diseases. He was collapsed because he had lost his spiritual support. He died when he was yet 50. It is because he has once really enjoyed the charm of art on stage that he finally suffered so greatly. On the stage, he could do whatever he liked and all his dreams would come to true. The artistic level he has reached is peerless not only in his time, but also in present time. No other disaster would be more fatal and unacceptable to such an artistic genius full of artistic aspirations. It was fortunate enough that he wasnft mad because of this. His aspiration for art was unimaginable and hard to understand to ordinary actors. He fell into a trap in his sincere pursue of art and earnest aspiration for progress. It is not that his voice was changed in his middle life, as legends say. According to some old people, Mr. Yu has sung for ten years. For the first five years, he sang quite well, but for the next five years, he lost his power. It is said he was in great fury when he decided never to sing again. Evidently he had a heavy heart at that moment. It is understandable that he could not tell the truth at that time.

 

 

 

Although he has taken a fatal step, Mr. Yu is still incontestably an excellent artist. In other words, the School of Yu will remain orthodox in Beijing Opera. If he were still alive, the School of Yu might be changed for the better. For a certain school, we cannot simply affirm or deny it. Instead, we should strictly and thoroughly analyze it to find its strong and weak points so that we can inherit and develop it. To analyze, discard the dross and select the essential of a certain school is an extremely hard work demanding high artistic levels. An ordinary actor cannot do this. You should know why a school is good and where the good lies in, then you may make progress and even succeed. Although Yu has taken a lethal step, he is still a mostly respectable master of art. His spirit for art is so inspiring. In order to inherit and develop Beijing Opera, we should correct wrong notions so as to prevent promising actors from making the same mistakes and thus help them to carry forward our Beijing Opera. Unfortunately, no one knows Mr. Yu has taken such a wrong step. Instead, they all believe his voice was changed naturally in his middle years. No one has carried out strict analysis about him, thus leaving a shadow on the artistic road of later comers. More seriously, such tragedy may repeat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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