The charismatic and memorable teacher of Sinus Tone Production

With White, there were no half measures. He would not compromise any of his beliefs, and his relationships reflected his attitude. People either became his disciples, or his opponents, as records housed in The Ernest George White Archives at the University of Reading confirm. Although White's detractors experienced the 'thorny' side of his personality, there is no doubt that his pupils were devoted to him, and that he inspired respect in others, who perceived him to be heroically fighting a lonely battle with an enduring sense of humour and without ever losing his dignity.

Whichever way feelings turned, White was never forgotten. Members of the Ernest George White Society have testified in their eighties and nineties that their lives were permanently changed by him more than 50 years before, sometimes by very brief contact.

A typical example is that of the late John Duffill, whose interest in STP stemmed from reading controversial articles in musical journals, and then White's books. Duffill had one lesson with White in 1939, and recalled him as a rather short, thickset man with thick white or grey hair. He was attracted by White's interesting and constructive ideas, which were in sharp contrast to other methods of that period, some of which Duffill found ridiculous. This one lesson made such an impact on Duffill that it instigated a life-long interest in STP. After the War he had lessons from other STP teachers, became an associate member of the Ernest George White Society, then a member. In due time he was elected to the Council and then became Chairman until his death in 1993.

Musical practitioner, C. Laurence West, had two lessons with White, one in 1938 and the second within twelve months. Fifty-six years later, the nonagenarian West remembered White as a man with a caustic sense of humour, and declared that those two lessons had inspired him during his entire life.

White's most dedicated surviving supporter, pupil and friend Arthur Hewlett, valued White for his brilliant mind, the originality of his ideas, his attention to detail with his research, the courage of his intellectual pursuits, and the critically enquiring spirit he retained, even after years of unrelenting hostility to his ideas from some quarters. Hewlett describes White's strongest personality trait as 'tenacity' - the more White's theory was attacked, the more he became increasingly welded to his ideas.

The bitter sweetness of success

White's writings consistently support this observation. Although he made no attempt to alter his style of response to criticism, he was bitterly disappointed when he realized that his growing and obvious success was still rejected by a number of his colleagues. This stemmed from his naive expectation that other teachers were searching for 'truth' as he was, and would welcome being presented with any information that threw light on healthy voice teaching practices. When a colleague, Mr. Howard Fry, addressed the pupils at the Royal College of Music and admitted that although there were a number of successful pupils, some of the students were failing their exams, White wrote to both Fry and the Principal of the College and offered to give free tuition to three of the failed pupils for a year. He offered to invite independent judges to re-examine the students at that point, to reassess whether they were still failures. Being confident of the outcome, White believed the teachers at the College would then accept and use his technique, having seen for themselves that it worked. He was therefore intensly disappointed when his suggestion was rejected, and the Principal refused to even discuss the proposition with him. In White's opinion, this proved that his colleagues' jealousy prevented them from letting him demonstrate his technique's superiority.

The parallel objectives of Sinus Tone Production and the Alexander Technique

Although White was quick to reject vocal cord theories, he approved of the teachings of F. Matthias Alexander (1869 - 1955). The Australian had suffered from debilitating hoarseness as a young actor, and like White, had developed his own technique for relaxing inhibiting muscular tension, to enhance healthy, and restore damaged vocal tone. White recognised the parallels in their work. Like White, Alexander developed a procedure that awakened an awareness of physical sensations, and taught a relaxed use and natural co-ordination of the whole body. White had recognized very early in his research that a relaxed mind and body were most likely to produce natural, non-intrusive muscular responses to the demands of speech and song. He therefore commended the Alexander Technique and Alexander's psychological approach in his books, and agreed that by retraining the spontaneous, habitual reactions of the student to exclude striving and conscious muscular manipulation, the voice was permitted to flow without obstruction.

The greatest achievement - to serve God and humanity

White's writings bear testimony to his great faith in a loving and benevolent God, and his passionate belief that he was called to serve God and humanity. This idea that he was an instrument for the betterment of human life was strengthened when White observed that humming relieved physical symptoms that were caused by impacted mucus in the sinuses. The disclosure convinced him that he was following in the footsteps of the great researchers like Sir Ronald Ross who had discovered the spread of malaria by the mosquito, and saved millions of lives by promoting their eradication. White contended that the vibrations caused by humming cleared the sinuses of the stale mucous that harboured bacteria and germs that were every bit as destructive to human health as the malaria carried by the mosquito, and this gave him a sense of purpose and a belief that he was called to heal the sick. His belief in the efficacy of his theory was powerfully strengthened by his conviction that hard work would be rewarded by God. Besides promoting good health, White saw it as his duty to lead the misguided and warring voice teachers out of ignorance, and to instruct them about God's truth regarding the natural muscular responses that were inherent in the employment of sinus tone control.

White ensures that his work is perpetuated

As he grew older, White recognized the necessity to perpetuate his teaching and scientific exploration in a formal way, and in 1933 he founded the Guild of the Voice Beautiful, later to be reformed as the Ernest George White Society. Membership was by invitation, and at the annual meetings, pupils sang to each other and strengthened the bonds of fellowship. According to the Kentish Mercury newspaper, by 1940 there were over three hundred members in the Guild. However, the meetings were suspended during World War II, and at the outbreak, the Whites moved to Somerset - the first time EGW had lived away from the environs of London.

In 1940 Ernest George White returned to his home, where he died after a short illness at the age of seventy-seven, leaving his wife, Edith, and three daughters by his first marriage, Mrs Margaret Clarke, who had moved to America, Mrs Monica Buys and Miss Edith White. He is buried in the older part of Lewisham Cemetery next to his first wife, Ethel.

His spirit lives on in the perpetuation of his technique through the teachers of the School of Sinus Tone, and members of the Ernest George White Society.

Previous page