FEELING OUR WAY BACKWARD

The decline of opera is real. Every passing decade reveals a noticeable degradation in standards from the one which preceded it. Despite more people trying to sing, more money being spent and more scientific advancement we continue to go backwards. There are many theories about why this is the case but most fail to confront the real causes. If you are looking for answers then you have come to the right place as this series is dedicated to explaining some of the major causes regarding this decline. Be warned however, because the truth can often be difficult to accept, particularly when the problem lies within us. In this first instalment of the series you will be invited to confront a truth which is difficult to accept, understand how the problem occurred and acknowledge the reasons why it’s only going to get worse. 

WHEN DID THE SYMPTOMS BEGIN?

When analysing the history of opera, it can be observed that a rapid decline in the standard of singing occurred between 1960-1990. This decline happened for a reason and when researching the underlying causes it can be seen that it followed a widescale event. The event which I am referring to was the shift in environment where singing was being taught. The reasons why this shift was so devastating were due to acute biological and socio-environmental changes which occurred within the teaching environment, changes which have markedly reduced our ability to achieve the standards of the past. 

 

Historically, singing was predominantly taught in private studios, but during the later part of last century the teaching of singing was uprooted out of its traditional environment and handed over to academia. This event was the prime mover to the rapid decline which amongst other factors included a kind of political reform.  This is not surprising, as universities are places where political correctness flourishes at extreme proportions. Today this phenomenon can easily be understood with psychology holding the explanation for why this is the case. It turns out that while environment does play a part, it’s actually biology which strongly dictates a person’s personality. These inclinations known as "personality predictors" are the driving force behind our behaviours and are a central tenet of the Big Five Theory of psychology. 

 

This theory assists us in identifying that the majority of people who attend universities exhibit high levels of a personality trait known as "openness". It also explains that this characteristic predisposes people to embrace alternative and new ways of doing things. In addition to this is the indisputable fact that universities are environments which have a strong representation of women, distinguishing it from the historic environment where teachers of voice were predominantly men. This point holds great relevance for this topic of discussion, as women are genetically inclined to exhibit high levels of personality traits which are uncommon amongst men. Two such traits are "agreeableness" and "compassion" which are present amongst women cross-culturally due to the fact that they are linked to maternity. Because women exhibit higher levels of these traits they are inclined to not want to offend people, which is a foundational principle within the political correctness movement. These considerations explain why universities are heavily populated with people who exhibit high levels of:

• Openness
• Agreeableness
• Compassion

Additionally, it is also understood that when a supermajority of people within an environment exhibit these traits, the inevitable outcome is that the environment takes on the characteristics of being:

• Pro-change
• Politically correct
• Feeling oriented

These environmental factors explain the reason why academia constantly introduces changes to terminology, the phenomenon being magnified in instances where words might have negative connotations or offend. It is also important to understand that personality traits act like a filter mechanism when people engage in learning. This means that when reviewing the foundational data of any subject, certain pieces of information stand out for people who exhibit a select group of personality traits, whereby the exact same information would not garner attention from a group who have a different set of personality traits. This filter mechanism works in a way which means that information which people have affinity for will hold greater significance for them. Resultingly, when encountering data which could be considered neutral, the personality indicators create a bias in how the information is interpreted, making objective analysis impossible. Within a pedagogical context this phenomenon results in people deciding that what Lamperti was really advocating when making a given statement actually aligns to their own beliefs.   

 

 

FEELING THE SOUND

 

In relation to teaching singing, personality traits determine how the mind processes the aural data which is being received. People who are high in agreeableness and compassion are inclined to process the sound through feeling as opposed to thinking. It is important to point out that feeling should not be confused with kinaesthetic empathy which is a cognitive ability that leads to a mechanical understanding. Rather in this context interpreting sound through "feeling" constitutes an anti-intellectualism whereby feeling is used as a substitute for thinking. An example of this would be a teacher determining that a sound is harmful because they feel it is "aggressive". This response is natural for someone who exhibits high levels of agreeableness and therefore it is not surprising that it has become the customary modus operandi amongst modern vocal pedagogues. The important thing to recognise is that this approach is inferior because it involves making decisions without thinking, instead using feelings as a guide.  

 

 

THE BAD OLD DAYS

 

Traditionally, singing was taught by cut-throat businessmen in private studios where teachers were remunerated on a commission basis. This meant that if students did not go on to sing professionally then the teachers would starve. These men in contrast to most modern teachers exhibited very low levels of openness, agreeableness and compassion. They were also not politically correct and did not care if they offended people. This is why so many historic vocal terms are insults like "knödel", which mocks a singer who sounds like they have a dumpling stuck in their throat, and "caprino" which ridicules a singer who sounds like a goat. It should also be noted that traditionally these men practised the barbaric act of castrating young boys and when this procedure failed in its objective these mutilated boys were thrown out onto the streets. 

 

In light of these facts we can say with certitude that in the bad old days singing teachers did not embody the personality traits of openness, agreeableness and compassion. However, one attribute that these men did have in abundance was conscientiousness, which predisposed them toward conservatism. Big Five Theory explains that people who exhibit a high level of conscientiousness are not pro-change instead preferring to keep with traditions, which is why these Maestri almost always stuck to the traditional path. An outcome of this conservatism was a stability within the technology of singing and a preservation of its terminology which lasted for centuries. Having low levels of the trait compassion, these historic Maestri did not make decisions based upon their feelings. When teaching they would listen to the sound, think about the sound in a physiological and mechanical context and give direct feedback. This feedback was the product of cognitive deductions, and anti-intellectualism such as making decisions based on feelings never entered into it.

 

Having outlined the predominating personality differences in both the traditional and current environment it is easy to understand how we lost connection with past traditions so quickly. The fact is that throwing four hundred years of tradition into the lap of a pro-change environment was paramount to cultural genocide. This is because the biological and socio-environmental shift was so extreme that rapid changes within the technology were inevitable. Today the predictability of this outcome is easily understood as it is now known that a balance between progressive and conservative elements within an environment are requisites to a stability of gain. When this balance is lost problems inevitably occur. The predominance of conservatism for example, due to its intolerance for innovation, can result in a stagnation, while the predominance of progressive attributes create instability due to its constant requirement for innovation. This instability always leads to a decline because in addition to an unconscientious level of innovation the best practices of the past are abandoned. Which is precisely what has occurred within modern vocal pedagogy, an assertion supported by the fact that there has been more innovation in the last thirty years than during the three hundred years that preceded them.   

 

 

THE TONAL REFORMATION 

In addition to altering the technology, the new environment has also made significant reforms with regard to tonal ideals. These changes have moved ideals away from their historic origins and directed them in a progressive direction. This process is just another incarnation of political reform, which in this instance redefines the tonal ideals which we are expected to follow. These progressive substitutions, which are also direct outcomes of biological and socio-environmental changes, dictate that singing should now be:

1) Natural (closer to conversational speech)

2) Gentle (non-aggressive in its feeling)

3) Easy (non-effortful in its energy requirement) 

Political reform within singing has reinforced the validity of these progressive changes through an anti-intellectual construct which has its basis in feelings. Teachers now assert that the new ideals are superior because they "feel" that they will not do the singer harm. To ensure that everyone strictly adheres to this edict, any terms which do not align with this new direction are outlawed. Additionally, any voice teacher who does not adopt these progressive ideals finds themselves the target of cancel culture. This threat is subliminally understood by all of us who not only live under its effects but also play a part in enforcing its adherence. The basic psychology which ensures our compliance is no different to the positive and negative reinforcement used in animal training. Everyone well understands that if we comply we might be rewarded by gaining a position on the faculty of a prestigious school. But if we are disobedient, we will be punished by never being invited back to conduct another masterclass. Faced with these consequences the vast majority of teachers have embraced this political reform and enforce it upon others on a daily basis. In doing so these teachers who are required to politicise their language contribute to the decline of historic terminology, moving vocal pedagogy further away from its best traditions. 

  

CONCLUSION

 

Since the teaching of singing was handed over to academia there have been two very obvious changes. These changes are best summarised by the following two trait characteristics.

 

1) In contrast to the traditional approach, modern vocal pedagogy chases its tail by seeking to reinvent itself every ten years. This is directly linked to the trait openness which predominates within the academic environment.

 

2) In contrast to the traditional approach, modern vocal pedagogy promotes a less aggressive, less offensive and less virile form of singing, a trend which has moved singing away from its declamatory origins and made it more diminutive. This is directly linked to the traits of agreeableness and compassion which predominate in the new environment due to the large female presence there which has increased the degree of maternally-related traits within the collective. 

 

These biological and socio-environmental changes resulted in the collective making significant alterations to the historic technology of singing. Despite the disastrous effect this has had on the standard of singing it will continue to occur as it is driven by personality traits and socio-environmental conditioning. Due to the fact that this phenomenon has been insidiously developing over the last half a century, it is impossible for an individual today to completely escape its debilitating effects. This is because the paradigm of those who taught us was already contaminated by this bias, meaning that we are all drawing from a contaminated source. Today a singer is confronted with the difficult task of discovering truth amongst a sea of misinformation, an undertaking which is infinitely more difficult than being presented with truth and attempting to learn it. Although an individual cannot arrest the decline of the group they can take measures which will benefit their own singing. While the mechanics of this progressive movement are covert they can be detected if you know where to look. The key to uncovering them is always the same and simply involves identifying the politicisation of language. My advice is that you learn to recognise this in all its guises so that you can make intelligent decisions about what you should be trying to avoid. It is important to understand that in recent times mainstream environmental factors have conditioned all of us to be more open, agreeable and compassionate. This conditioning increases the insidious nature of our predicament because it’s these very traits which made us vulnerable in the first instance. Moreover, it predisposes us to want to reject the premise of this article despite all of the evidence pointing towards it being the truth. In spite of the evidence, many will dismiss these claims as sheer nonsense, not because they cannot recognise the truth but rather because they find it unpleasant and prefer not to acknowledge it. For these people, pleasing ideology will always be more important than pleasing results. 

 

 

ADDENDA

 

1) This article claims that one of the causal factors in the decline of singing was due to the influx of maternal traits within the new environment. This assertion will widely be considered sexist because it suggests that women in general are less capable singing teachers than men. The article does indeed make this claim based upon the fact that men and woman are not the same and are biologically predisposed to excelling in different activities. The article claims that these maternal traits do not lend themselves well to the mechanical arts and that people who exhibit high levels of these traits will not excel as engineers, mechanics or voice teachers. However, it is the trait characteristic and not the sex of the person which limits their potential. Moreover, while these traits are linked to maternity they are not exclusive to it. For this reason, it is acknowledged that these traits can also be present amongst emasculated men, a point which the Loggione acknowledges continuously via its commentary of David Jones. It should also be noted that some women exhibit low levels of these maternally-associated traits. This later consideration is very evident when reviewing the greatest female opera singers in history such as Callas, Tebaldi and Nilsson all of whom exhibited extremely low levels of agreeableness and compassion, while being very high in conscientiousness. 

 

2) The article claims that another causal factor in the decline was due to the high degree of progressive ideology within the academic environment. This assertion is not based upon the belief that progressive ideology or innovation has no value, rather the article proposes that an appropriate balance between innovation and tradition is necessary in order for the environment to have a stability of gain. The article does assert that when the technology of singing was handed over to academia this balance was lost. Therefore, it is the "loss of balance" which attributed to the collective decline and not the progressive ideology itself. 

 

3) Despite employing simple concepts to substantiate its premise this article will be widely misunderstood. This is due to the fact that many of the words contained herein are used within a specific context and are not intended to be interpreted generically. It is therefore recommended that an understanding of the Big Five Theory be seen as a necessary prerequisite to fully comprehending the article.

 

 

NEXT IN THE SERIES

 

In part two titled "DIRTY WORDS" the discussion will progress to include real life examples of this political reformation within singing. These examples clearly substantiate the hypothesis which has been put forth here. While it is easy to reject this hypothesis on an ideological basis, the evidence offered will not be so easy to ignore. In addition to giving instances where clear evidence has been observed, the article also challenges the reader to observe their current environment and reflect upon their own experiences. It is believed that all those who have the confront to do this will reach a similar conclusion and acknowledge the claims the article makes. Once the validity of these claims have been recognised, readers will then be faced with evaluating to what degree their own paradigm has been impaired and what can be done in order to correct it.

 

 

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Copyright Brett Goulding 2021