§ I. QUALITY OF VOICE. The chief properties of a good voice are, 1. Roundness, 2. Smoothness, 1. Roundness. 3. Versatility, 4. Right Pitch. This property of voice is exemplified in that ringing fulness of tone, which belongs to the utterance of animated and earnest feeling, when unobstructed by false habit. It is natural and habitual, in childhood; it is exhibited in all good singing, and in the properly cultivated style of public reading and speaking. To obtain roundness and fulness of voice, it is exceedingly important that the student observe the following suggestions. Be attentive to the position of the body. No person can produce a full, wellformed sound of the voice, in a lounging or stooping posture. The attitude of the body required for the proper use of the voice is that of being perfectly upright, without rigidness. The head must never be permitted to droop; it should be held 'perfectly erect. The back must be kept straight, and the shoulders pressed backward and downward. The chest must be well expanded, raised, and projected; so as to make it as roomy as possible, in order to obtain full breath and full voice. Breathe freely and deeply; keep up an easy fulness of breath, without overdoing the capacity of your lungs. Make your utterance vigorous and full, by giving free play to the muscles situated below the bony part of the trunk; these should move energetically, in order to drive the breath upward with due force, and thus give body to the sounds of the voice. Keep the throat freely open, by free opening of the mouth, so as to give capaciousness and rotundity to every sound. A round voice can never proceed from a half-shut mouth. The large and full effect of vocal sound, produced by the due observ ance of the preceding directions, forms what Dr. Rush, the great authority in elocution, terms the 'orotund' (round, or, literally, roundmouthed) voice, which he describes as the ample style of oratory, or public reading, in contrast with the limited utterance of private conversation. The attitude of body, and the position and action of the organs, demanded by 'orotund' utterance, is likewise highly favorable to health, and to easy use of the voice; while stooping and. lounging postures, a sunken chest, and drooping head, tend both to suppress the voice and injure the organs, besides impairing the health. Practice, in the style of vehement declamation, is the best means of securing a round and full tone. The following exercise should be repeatedly practised, with the attention closely directed to the management of the organs, in the manner which has just been described, as producing the 'orotund', or resonant quality of voice. Exercise on the Orotund'. "Who is the man that, in addition to the disgraces and mischiefs of the war, has dared to authorize, and associate to our arms, the tomahawk and scalping knife of the savage?— to call into civilized alliance the wild and inhuman inhabitant of the woods?-to delegate to the merciless Indian, the defence of disputed rights, and to wage the horrors of this barbarous war, against our brethren?-My lords, we are called upon as members of this house, as men, as Christians, to protest against such horrible barbarity!-I solemnly call upon your lordships, and upon every order of men in the state, to stamp upon this infamous. procedure the indelible stigma of the public abhorrence!" 2. Smoothness of Voice, or 'Purity' of Tone. Smoothness of voice, in reading and speaking, is the same quality which, in relation to vocal music, is termed ' purity' of tone. This property of voice consists in maintaining an undisturbed, liquid stream of sound, resembling, to the ear, the effect produced on the eye, by the flow of a clear and perfectly transparent stream of water. It depends, like every other excellence of voice, on a free, upright, and unembarrassed attitude of the body, the head erect, the chest expanded. It implies natural and tranquil respiration, (breathing;)-full and deep inspiration', (inhaling, or drawing in the breath ;) and gentle expiration', (giving forth the breath;) a true, and firm, but moderate exercise of the larynx', (or upper part of the throat;) and a careful avoiding of every motion at produces a jarring, harsh, or grating sound. 6 'Pure' tone is free from, 1. the heavy and hollow note of the chest-2. the 'guttural', choked, stifled, or hard sound of the swollen and compressed throat ;-3. the hoarse, husky, 'harsh', 'reedy', and grating, style, which comes from too forcible expiration", and too wide opening of the throat;-4. the nasal twang, which is caused by forcing the breath against the nasal passage, and, at the same time, partially closing it ;-5. the wiry, or false ring of the voice, which unites the guttural and the nasal tones;-6. the affected, mincing voice of the mouth, which is caused by not allowing the due proportion of breath to escape through the nose. The natural, smooth, and pure tone of the voice, as exhibited in the vivid utterance natural to healthy childhood, to good vocal music, or to appropriate public speaking, avoids every effect arising from an undue preponderance, or excess, in the action of the muscles of the chest, the throat, or any other organ, and, at the same time, secures all the good qualities resulting from the just and well-proportioned exercise of each A true and smooth utterance, derives resonance from the chest, firmness from the throat, and clearness from the head and mouth. Without these qualities, it is impossible to give right effect to the beauty and grandeur of noble sentiments, whether expressed in prose or in verse. Childhood and youth are the favorable seasons for acquiring and fixing, in permanent possession, the good qualities of agreeable and effective utterance. The teacher cannot exert too much vigilance, nor the pupil take too much pains, to avoid the encroachments of faulty habit, in this important requisite to a good elocution. The subjoined exercise should be frequently and attentively practised, with a view to avoid every sound which mars the purity of the tone, or hinders a perfect smoothness of voice. Exercise in Smoothness and Purity' of Voice. "No sooner had the Almighty ceased, but all. Towards either throne they bow; and to the ground, Their crowns, inwove with amaranth and gold.- Their sacred song, and waken raptures high." 6 Note. The various passions and emotions of the soul, are, to. great extent, indicated by the 'quality' of the voice. Thus, the malignant and all excessive emotions, as anger, hatred, revenge, fear, and horror, are remarkable for guttural quality', and strong aspiration', or 'expiration', accompanying the vocal sound, and forming 'impure' tone; substituting a 'harsh', husky, aspirated utterance, for the 'orotund', or the 'pure' tone; while pathos, serenity, love, joy, courage, take a soft and smooth oral', or head tone, perfectly pure, or swelling into 'orotund'. Awe, solemnity, reverence, and melancholy, take a deep, 'pectoral' murmur; the voice resounding, as it were, in the cavity of the chest, but still keeping perfectly 'pure' in tone, or expanding into full'orotund'.-See Section on Expressive Tones.' 6 Young persons cannot be too deeply impressed with the importance of cultivating, early, a pure and smooth utterance. The excessively deep pectoral' tone sounds hollow and sepulchral; the guttural' tone is coarse, and harsh, and grating to the ear; the nasal' tone is ludicrous; and the combination of guttural' ano 'nasal' tone, is repulsive and extremely disagreeable. Some speakers, through excessive negligence, allow themselves to combine the 'pectoral', 'guttural', and 'nasal' tones, in one sound,-for which the word grunt is the only approximate designation that can be found. Affectation, or false taste, on the other hand, induces some speakers to assume an extra fine, or double-distilled, 'oral' tone, which minces every word in the mouth, as if the breast had no part to perform in human utterance. The tones of serious, serene, cheerful, and kindly feeling, are nature's genuine standard of agreeable voice, as is evinced in the utterance of healthy and happy childhood. But prevalent neglect permits these to be lost in the habitual tones of boys and girls, men and women. Faithful teachers may be of much service to young persons, in this particular. 3. Versatility, or Pliancy of Voice, Signifies that power of easy and instant adaptation, by which it takes on the appropriate utterance of every emotion which occurs in the reading or speaking of a piece characterized by varied feeling or intense passion. To acquire this invaluable property of voice, the most useful course of practice is the repeated reading or reciting of passages marked by striking contrasts of tone, as loud or soft, high or low, fast or slow. The following exercises should be repeated till the pupil can give them in succession, with perfect adaptation of voice in each case and with instantaneous precision of effect. Exercises for Versatility, or Pliancy of Voice: "And dar'st thou, then, To beard the lion in his den, The Douglas in his hall? And hop'st thou hence unscathed to go? No! by St. Bride of Bothwell, no! Up, drawbridge, groom! What! warder, ho. Very Soft. I've seen the moon climb the mountain's brow, Very Low. "I had a dream, which was not all a dream, Very High. "I woke :-where was I ?-Do I see Very Slow. "Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure; yea, all of them shall wax old, like a garment; as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed: but Thou art the same; and Thy years shall have no end." Very Quick. "I am the Rider of the wind, The hurricane I left behind Is yet with lightning warm ; To speed to thee, o'er shore and sea 4. True Pitch of Voice. The proper pitch of the voice, when no peculiar emotion demands high or low notes, is, for the purposes of ordinary reading or speaking,—a little below the habitual note of conversation, for the person who reads or speaks. Public discourse being usually on graver subjects and occasions, than mere private communication, naturally and properly adopts this level. But, through mistake or inadvertency, we sometimes hear persons read and speak on too low a key for the easy and expressive use |