Resonance in Singing and Speaking | Page 5

brass instruments. It increases the force and depth of
the tone waves. The wider the pharynx is opened, without constraint,
the fuller the resonance and the better the tone.
THE UNDER JAW
The under jaw furnishes attachment for the muscles of the tongue and

hyoid or tongue bone. It also controls, owing to the connections of the
larynx with the hyoid bone, the muscles that fix the position of the
larynx.
The pterygoid muscles, which move the under jaw forward and
backward, do not connect with the larynx, so their action does not
compress that organ or in any way impede the action of the vocal
apparatus. A relaxed under jaw allows freer action of the vocal cords
and ampler resonance. The under jaw should drop little by little as the
voice ascends the scale, thus opening the mouth slightly wider with
each rise in the pitch of the tone. In ascending the scale it is well to
open the throat a little wider as you ascend. The delivery will be much
easier, and the tone produced will be much better. At the highest pitch
of the voice the mouth should open to its full width. At the same time
care must be taken not to draw the corners of the mouth back, as in
smiling, because this lessens the resonance of the tone and gives it a
flat sound.
The under jaw must have considerable latitude of motion in
pronunciation, but by all means avoid chewing of the words and cutting
off words by closing the jaw instead of finishing them by the use of the
proper articulating organs, which are the tongue and lips.
THE SOFT PALATE
Writers on the voice have almost universally claimed that the principal
office of the soft palate is to shut off the nasal and head cavities from
the throat, and to force the column of vibrations out through the mouth,
thus allowing none, or at most a very small part, to pass into the nasal
passages.
This contention implies that the vibrations are imparted to the upper
cavities, if at all, through the walls of the palate itself, and not through
an opening behind the palate. This is entirely at variance with the facts
as verified by my own experience and observation and the observation
of others who are expert specialists. The true office of the soft palate is
to modify the opening into the nose and thus attune the resonant
cavities to the pitch and timbre of the note given by the vocal cords and

pharynx. To develop the vowel sounds, the soft palate should be drawn
forward, allowing a free passage into the nose; it should be closed only
to form the consonants which require a forcible expulsion of breath
from the mouth.
The uvula, the pendulous tip of the soft palate, serves as a valve to
more accurately adjust the opening behind the soft palate to the pitch of
the voice. In producing a low tone the soft palate is relaxed and hangs
low down and far forward. As the voice ascends the scale the tension of
the soft palate is increased and it is elevated and the uvula shortened,
thus decreasing the opening behind the palate, but never closing it. In
fact the larger the opening that can be maintained, the broader and
better the tone. The author was himself unable fully to appreciate this
until he had become able to sense the position of the soft palate during
vocalization.
THE HARD PALATE AND TEETH
The hard palate and upper teeth form in part the walls of the mouth. As
they are solid fixtures, nothing can be done in the way of training. They
furnish a point of impingement in articulation, and play their part in
sympathetic resonance.
The bones which form the roof of the mouth serve also for the floor of
the nasal cavity.
The under teeth also serve as walls of resistance to support the tongue
during the performance of its functions.
THE NASAL AND HEAD CAVITIES
The nasal and head cavities are resonating chambers incapable of
special training, but their form, size, and the use made of them have a
wonderful effect upon the resonance of the voice. If the vibrations are
strong here, all other parts will vibrate in harmonious action.
When responding to the perfectly focused tone the thin walls of the
cavities and the contained air vibrate with surprising force, often for the

moment blinding the singer when sounding a note intensely.
Having in my surgical work demonstrated the existence of a hitherto
unrecognized connecting passage or canal between the air cavities of
the face and those of the forehead,[2] the play of resonance in the
cavities above the nostrils is more easily understood. The function of
the cavities known as the frontal sinuses