The early years of E. G. White

Ernest George White was born in Lee, a suburb of South East London, on May 19, 1863. Although nothing is known of White's mother, his father, J.G. White, was an influential man of whom his son was very proud. White Snr. was a Justice of the Peace, Collector of the King's Taxes for the Ward of Walbrook; Managing Director of Mansion House Chambers, Parish Clerk, a Deputy of the City of London, (holding office in one of the Guilds or Livery Companies), and part-owner of a brush Manufacturing company, also Organist and Musical Director at St. Swithin’s Church for many years. Ernest George's uncle held the distinguished position of private Chaplain to Her Majesty, Queen Victoria. The young White was provided with a fine education at the Roan School, Greenwich, and was later elected President of the Old Roan Association from 1923-24. After his schooling, White devoted his life to music and followed in his father's spiritual and musical footsteps as an organist and choir master. As well as the position of Musical Director at Blackheath and Lee as well as St. Olaves', Hart Street, he was a Past-Master of the Parish Clerks' Company, and composer of songs and music for the church services.

Although his family's influence undoubtedly helped to shape White's ions and aspirations, the focus of his life's work came about near-tragedy. As a young man he became the victim of what he considered to be the bad teaching of a singing teacher at the Blackheath Conservatory of Music and then two eminent London teachers at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, which resulted in the loss of both his speaking and his singing voice. White's intense distress started him on a quest for knowledge that lasted for the rest of his life.

The journey of discovery begins

For some time, White tried in vain to understand what had happened to his voice and to find a cure for his vocal problems. The turning point came when he met voice teacher Hugo Beyer, who advised him to imagine the tone being created above the tongue - a new concept for White. He recounts that from the first lesson he was free of vocal problems, although he had received medical treatment for three years, with no permanent relief to show for it. He observed that normal vocal tone was restored when he actively avoided using the vocal cords, and he became convinced that the breath was flowing through the sinuses of his head. He deduced that tone was not created by the vocal cords, but from within the sinuses - the high notes created by the frontal sinuses, the middle notes by the ethmoid cells, and the low notes by the sphenoid sinuses - and that the function of the vocal cords was to act as breath governors which directed the air into the appropriate sinuses. From that moment on, E. G. White devoted the remaining years of his life to developing and promoting his theory - Sinus Tone Production (STP).

White also believed that a relaxed mind and body during speech and singing eliminated the need for any consciously imposed muscular manipulation which inhibited tone creation. He also contended that because notes were created horizontally in the sinuses, they had no vertical spatial relationship. Therefore, the idea of striving for 'high' or 'low' notes was eliminated. This approach subsequently earned the gratitude of many singers and public speakers over the years, as they learned to use their voices with ease.

White, the teacher

EGW - as he is affectionately called - developed methodical and thorough teaching practices, and gained certificates from both the Teachers Registration Council and the Royal Society of Teachers, and membership of both the Incorporated Society of Musicians and the Worshipful Company of Musicians.

His positive, encouraging approach and dry sense of humour made his pupils feel welcome, and his reliably well-structured lessons gained their confidence. He always started beginners off by showing them a human skull called Charlie, which was hinged so that the bone structure could be removed and the sinuses easily seen, and described in detail his theory of where the creation of each sound took place. The student would then sit comfortably in a chair and hum whatever note they felt was easy for them. In this way the sensation and placement of the hum was established. As students became more proficient, White would produce an exercise chart with 45 exercises on it, from which chosen exercises would be hummed. When the position of the sound was established, the student would be asked to hum and open their lips to create an 'ah' and then other vowels.

When White felt that the student was ready, he would introduce a song, which he accompanied on the piano. It was only when the student had mastered an easy, relaxed vocal outcome that White began to discuss the artistic and presentation elements of the song.

Sinus Tone Production gains recognition

White's reputation began to spread with the increase of his student population, and with the escalating popularity of his books, Science and Singing, The Voice Beautiful in Speech and Song, Light on the Voice Beautiful, and Sinus Tone Production. A number of newspaper headlines also caught readers' attention by describing how one man without vocal cords, and two others who had previously been voiceless, sang at a concert after studying with Ernest George White. In White's opinion, these phenomena added credence to his claim that the vocal cords could not be the creators of sound, if people could still sing without them. In the meantime, White found disfavour with those who ascribed to the vocal cord theory (VCT), which maintained that tone was created by the vibration of the vocal cords as air from the lungs passed upwards between them. White himself confessed that he had some doubts to begin with, but as the increasing number of his successes confirmed and strengthened his belief in his technique, his doubts had completely vanished, and he became totally convinced that his theory would one day be proved to be correct. He remained faithful to his convictions to his dying day.

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