PART II USE OF THE VOICE Question. Can I acquire a good voice? Answer. Yes; if you have the disposition and the patience. Q. What is voice? A. Voice is the audible expression of nature wherever force produces vibration: the voice of the sea, the voice of the wind, the voice of birds, the voice of animals, the voices of men and women. Q. How does the voice rank as a means of expression in men and women? A. The pictorial side is preeminent in expression, as we are seen by many and heard by few, but the voice, wherever heard, is a potent factor and goes far toward creating a favorable or an unfavorable impression. You often hear the exclamation, "What a disagreeable voice!" too seldom, "How I love to hear that voice!" Q. What is the first consideration in the speaking voice? A. Its pitch-height or depth. Q. What is a desirable pitch for habitual use? A. By approximating the pitch to middle C, and by directing the tone on a line with the mouth. Q. What is meant by the term "tone placing"? A. Tone placing is merely the shaping of the vocal organs so that the air in passing through or against them is sufficiently retarded or expelled. Q. Is the enunciation of elementary sounds a part of tone placing? A. Yes; the pitch and enunciation of each vowel or consonant is tone placing. Q. What else is implied in tone placing? A. Locality; namely, a place in which to put the tone. It implies certain cavities of the body in which the breath may find room for resonance, and certain passages through which it may move. Q. What is of first importance in tone placing? A. The production of pure tone; the right directing of this precious column of air which renews life and makes human intercourse possible. You must learn so to control and confine the expulsion of this air column that all false obstructions are removed, leaving the way clear for pure and rounded utterance. Q. How may I best understand what constitutes a pure tone? A. By first considering a few common impurities and imperfections. If pure tone results from proper formation of the organs of speech, sluggishness is utter formlessness. Many persons speak as if the vocal apparatus were partially paralyzed or as if something were held in the mouth or cheeks. The flatness and thinness of many American voices is not the result of constitutional weakness in the organs, but rather of sluggish habits of speech enforced by bad example. There are persons who never direct the breath into the larger cavities, permitting certain passages to become almost closed through long disuse. Even those who have the organs for good voices often need a course of exercises in tone production and tone placing in order to overcome lifelong habits of sluggishness. Q. Give a second imperfection. A. Mouthing. This is an over-precision, overemphasis, caused by excessive use of certain muscles, and excessive striving for form, and is the opposite of sluggishness. Q. What is the third imperfection? A. A throaty quality. This defect gives a hollow sound to the voice and is caused by directing the column of air too much to the back of the throat. It gives an unpleasant, pompous tone, but does not impair the organs unless it is accompanied by a contraction of the throat, which is ruinous to the voice. Persons ignorant of this fact frequently contract the throat in the effort for vocal power which always must come rightly from the diaphragm. Q. What impurity is common in American voices? A. The nasal quality. The consonants m, n, ng, are frontal tones necessarily used in pure English. The nasal tones which are undesirable in pure English are caused by a voluntary or involuntary misdirection of the column of air into the back nasal passages. This nasal quality is often used in impersonation. Q. What is the fifth imperfection? A. The baby tone. It is the result of placing the tone too much in the teeth, accompanied by a simpering smile, and is, to me, one of the worst affectations of speech. Q. What is the sixth impurity? A. The tremolo. This springs often from physical weakness, mere lack of control of the muscles. Sometimes, however, it is germane to a fretful, peevish disposition of the Mrs. Grummidge type, one that enjoys being miserable. form is often inartistically used by singers. This Q. What is the first step in tone placing? A. The securing of poise, or of the normal pitch; a pitch neither too high nor too low, in what may be termed the middle voice. Q. How may I acquire command of this pitch? A. Sound middle C on the piano, relax the muscles of the throat by yawning, then sound Italian A (ah), directing the tone on a line in front of the mouth to the end of the room. Q. What is the advantage of selecting Italian A? A. It is the most open sound, that in which the vocal cords are entirely relaxed. Repeat the sound, ah, ah, ah, ah, ahSustain the fifth sound smoothly without the tremolo, which is often found in untrained voices. Q. How long should I prolong the sound? A. Until your breath shows signs of exhaustion. You should never betray lack of breath in speaking, reading, or singing. Q. What exercise should follow the practice on Italian A? A. Repeat the exercise on the vowel sounds, A, E, I, O, U: |