Cornelius L. Reid, voice teacher, pedagogue, lecturer, and author, is well known in the voice community, having authored five books on vocal pedagogy and many published articles. A Festschrift was published in honor of his 90th birthday. Many of his pupils have been singers and teachers in major national and international venues. Despite these noteworthy achievements, his methodology is not well known. Words can describe sounds only in a general way. It is impossible to write a ‘how to” book on the teaching of singing because voice teaching requires the ability to listen functionally- that is, to associate vocal sound with specific muscular activity. The ear needs to be trained to distinguish subtle differences in vocal quality and associate that quality with the probable balance of tension distributed among the muscles involved in phonation.According to Reid, the voice can be developed in response to specially arranged patterns of pitch, intensity, and vowel. When the voice is given proper growth stimulation in the form of selected vocal exercises, muscles are reconditioned to react in a natural way thus allowing the voice to respond to its own growth needs.This series of recordings will provide a useful tool for voice teachers who wish to gain insight into the process of functional voice training based upon Reid’s teaching principles. It contains selected examples taken from hundreds of hours of recorded lessons and classes housed in the Cornelius L. Reid Archive, located in the Moffett Library of Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, Texas. The recordings document gradual vocal development over extended periods of time as well as astonishing progress in as little as five days. There are excerpts from lessons demonstrating the use of exercises, the coaching of songs and arias, and Reid’s own comments on how the principles he sets forth are put into practice.Different recording equipment and ambiences, random volume control, relative distance of the microphone from the subject and teacher, and atmospheric noise, among other distractions, all contribute to an unevenness of recording volume and quality. However, one can forgive these distractions because of the valuable benefits to be realized from the information contained on the recordings. Reid’s own musical insights infused with his thorough understanding of the principles of vocal mechanics provide fertile ground for improved vocal performance. These recordings should be of value to anyone wishing gain insight into how the voice can be transformed. Dr. Don Maxwell, Project Director / Joseph Reed, Recording Engineer
Comment: At a certain point the singer runs out of breath, so Cornelius changes the exercise, without even addressing the fact that the student ran out of breath. Her running out of breath had nothing to do with how she was breathing, but the imbalance of the registers. Once her voice was more efficiently balanced, she didn't run out of breath.
Quote: From what is now known of functional mechanics it is clear that the proper closing of the glottal space is caused by a correctly balanced registration. When the muscles drawing the cords into tension for the required pitch and intensity coordinate effectively, the end result finds the edges of the cords running parallel. No technique of breathing is capable of closing the glottal space properly unless the registers are well-balanced. (Voice: Psyche and Soma)
