Training

When Giambattista Mancini contended in his Practical Reflections on Figured Singing (1774) “that of all the difficulties one encounters in the art of singing, the greatest by far is the union of the two registers,” and that any disparity between them can be overcome by those “who will seriously study how it is to be done,” he touched upon the fundamental problem encountered during the many stages of technical development through which the singer must pass to obtain a coordinated seamless scale.  Before a training program can be devised to affect a successful unification of the registers several questions must be given an answer. The first being what is the ultimate objective of technical training?  According to the consensus among authorities of the Bel Canto era, the purpose of technical study was to bring the two registers (the chest and the falsetto) to a point where each would be blended into a seamless scale covering a range of two octaves.  Mancini observed that in rare cases this was a gift of nature.  However, it is a skill that fortunately could be achieved by assiduous study.