XI.

FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF THE REGISTERS OF THE SINGING VOICE.

Auto-laryngoscopy and photography of the larynx—Dogmatism and science—Confusion and controversy—The break—Ignoring registers—Modification of tones, or "covering"—Points of agreement between different writers on the subject—The falsetto for males—Madame Seiler's special qualifications—Behnke's and Mackenzie's views—The author's conclusions—Rule for the extension of a register—Why certain artists deteriorate while others do not—-Males and females compared as to registers—The division of the registers for female voices recommended by the author—Teacher and pupil as regards registers—Objection to registers answered—The manner of using the breath and registers—How to distinguish registers—The teacher's part—Hearing singers of eminence is recommended—Madame Melba—Guiding sensations—Summary 161

CHAPTER XII.

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING VOICE-PRODUCTION.

Artistic expression only through movements—Emotions and technique—Relation of ideas to movements—Memories and movements—Guiding sensations essential for movements—The principles underlying all movements the same—Associated reflexes and habits—How habits are formed—inhibitions and their importance—Early practices only before the teacher—Careful practice with concentration of energy the best—Queries as to practice—Fatigue a warning—Practice in the early hours of the day, and short of fatigue—Quality to be aimed at rather than quantity—The total amount of time to be devoted to practice—"Hasten slowly;" "Little and often"—The treatment of the voice ruined by wrong methods—Summary 179

CHAPTER XIII.

CHIEFLY AN APPLICATION TO VOICE-PRODUCTION OF FACTS AND PRINCIPLES PREVIOUSLY CONSIDERED.

Vowels, consonants, noise—Consonants and pauses—Voice-production and vowels—Certain vowel sounds common to most languages—Why German and English are relatively unmusical—The needs of the musical artist—The mechanism required for the production of a vowel sound—Reconsideration of the resonance-chambers—The larynx to be steadied but not held rigidly immovable—The principal modifiers of the shape of the mouth-cavity—Breath to be taken through the mouth—The lips—Tongue and lip practice before a mirror—Importance of the connection between the ear and the mouth parts, etc—"Open mouth"—The mouth in singing a descending scale—Undue opening of the mouth—Proper method of opening the mouth—Causes of compression and the consequences 195

CHAPTER XIV.

SOME SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS OF PRINCIPLES IN TONE-PRODUCTION.

Principles and their expression in a few exercises—Analysis of the methods of tone-production—The sustained tone—Smoothly linked tones—The legato—The staccato and kindred effects—The mechanisms concerned—Perfection requires years of careful practice—The bel canto and the swell—The same exercises for singer and speaker—"Forward," "backward," etc., production—Escape of breath—The action of the soft palate—When to use "forward" and when "backward" production—Voice-placement—Nasal resonance, not nasal twang—Summary 207

CHAPTER XV.

THE ELEMENTS OF SPEECH AND SONG.

The subject may be made dry or the reverse—Vowels, consonants, noise—The position of the lips and the shape of the mouth-cavity in sounding the various vowels—How to demonstrate that the mouth-cavity is a resonance-chamber—Practical considerations growing out of the above—Speaker, vocalist, and composer—Bearing of these facts on the learning of languages—Consonants as musical nuisances—Their great variation in pitch—Brücke's division of consonants—Tabulation of the same 218

CHAPTER XVI.

FURTHER THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL CONSIDERATION OF VOWELS AND CONSONANTS.

The best vowel to use in practice—Necessary to practise all—The guttural r and the lingual r—Consonants that favor nasality of tone—Overtones and fundamental tones—Relation of intensity and quality—The carrying power of a tone—Unusual distinctness in practice as related to ease—The registers of the speaking voice according to Madame Seiler—The range in speaking—Summary 230

CHAPTER XVII.

THE HEARING APPARATUS AND HEARING IN MUSIC.

Why this chapter is introduced—The essential mechanism of hearing—The part played by waves and vibrations—Divisions of the ear—The external ear in lower animals—The drum-head or tympanic membrane—The middle ear and its connections—Relation of the throat and the ear—The inner ear or labyrinth—The end-organ and its relations—The connection of the ear and various parts of the brain—The musician's ear—Relation of music and hearing—Lack of ear and inattention—The artist and the musician—The ear and the speaking voice—General musical training in relation to intonation, etc—The appreciation of music, and training to that end—The art of listening with close attention—Summary 236

CHAPTER XVIII.

CONSIDERATION OF GENERAL AND SPECIAL HYGIENE AND RELATED SUBJECTS.

Hygienic as related to physiological principles—Hygiene in the widest sense—Unfavorable conditions in the public life of an artist—Qualifications for success—Technique and a public career—The isolation of the artist and its dangers—The need for greater preparation now than