Questions and answers about voice training & singing:

Is vibrato bad for the voice?
Occasionally there are people who want to make a point that vibrato is bad for the voice. They say that vibrato causes the muscles of the vocal cords to grow slack and “wear out” with age and much use. Of course, this is true of materials such as rubber, steel and plastic, but in the case of living muscle, exactly the opposite happens. The more you exercise a muscle, the stronger it becomes. Saying that vibrato will ruin the vocal muscles is like saying that running will ruin the leg muscles of an athlete. It simply is not true.

Please tell me more about “vocal attack”
The beginning of a vocal sound is called “vocal attack.” All previous methods have failed entirely in this respect. None of them has come anywhere near the exact point of vocal attack. Some have taught that the attack was a certain contraction of the diaphragm; some claim that the abdomen must be pushed outward while attacking a tone; others claim the abdomen must be drawn inward.
Again, it has been taught that the attack is in the chest; or that it is in the larynx; that the vocal cords close the air passage before the tone; that the attack must be made through the palate or by means of pressing the tongue tip against the teeth. A regular Witches’ Sabbath reigns among the different schools as to the point of the “vocal attack.” The reason why there is so much confusion on this subject is that the exact facts in regard to the voice were hitherto unknown. Teachers, singers and orators looked for symptoms within their bodies. Each one could notice different symptoms and each would believe himself to be right. Thus we had only “opinions” and guesswork to start from, and one man’s guess is as good as another’s. Hence, all the misunderstandings, and the illogical, incorrect voice culture methods. The reason why so many persons with naturally good voices do not develop them further, or, worst of all, ruin them, is mainly this, that, not knowing the exact attack, they abuse their voices just as a pianist playing with stiff fingers, hands and arms could never make any great progress and would finally even lose what technique he had by nature. The vocal attack is made entirely through the action of the tongue, or, more exactly, through the instantaneous and automatic contraction of the “Hyo-Glossus Muscle,” which connects the tongue with the larynx below and the palate above it. The vocal student's entire success depends firstly upon learning to control this muscle, secondly upon training and strengthening the same. Lasting and permanent results in voice culture, as in anything else, can be attained only at the cost of thought, concentration and persistent effort.