The Child-Voice in Singing | Page 2

to the child, and that for physiological reasons the voice should be used softly and gently, and you have won a convert, one, too, who will quickly recognize the aesthetic phase of the change in voice use. The author knows from observation and experience that children in the public schools can, under existing conditions, be taught good habits of voice use. There are wonderful possibilities of musical development, in the study of music in schools, and the active interest of every musician and music lover should be exercised to the end that its standard may be kept high.

PREFACE.
It will be generally admitted by those who are able to judge, that the singing of children is more often disagreeable than pleasant, and yet the charm of childhood and the effect of custom are so potent that many who are keenly alive to any deficiency in the adult singer, listen with tolerance, and it would seem with a degree of pleasure even, to the harsh tones of children.
This tolerance of rough, strident singing by children is as strange as the singing. It cannot be right for children to sing with the coarse, harsh tone that is so common, and it is not right, although there is a prevalent idea that such singing is natural, that is, unavoidable.
This idea is false. The child singing-voice is not rough and harsh unless it is misused. The truth of this statement can be easily demonstrated. If it were not true it would be difficult to justify the teaching of vocal music in schools, or the employment of boy sopranos in church choirs.
It seems to the author that the chief difficulty experienced by teachers and instructors of singing, in dealing with children, lies in the assumption, expressed or implied, that their voices are to be treated as we treat the voices of adults-- adult women; but the vocal organs of the child differ widely from those of the adult in structure, strength and general character. As a consequence, there is a marked difference in voice.
Vocal music has been very generally introduced into the schools of our country during the past few years, and there is evidently a very general and earnest desire that children be taught to sing. It is also the wish of those who are teachers to do their work well.
While there are many books to aid educators upon every other subject taught in public schools, the literature on the voice, particularly the singing-voice, is meagre, and it is believed that some direct, practical hints on this topic may be welcome.
The following pages are the result of several years' experience in teaching, and of careful study of children's voices. The author has attempted to describe the physiological characteristics of the child-voice and to give some practical hints regarding its management. It is sincerely hoped that what is herein written may be useful and helpful to those engaged in teaching children to sing.
FRANCIS E. HOWARD, Bridgeport, Conn. December, 1895

CONTENTS. PAGE
Preface to the Second Edition, 3
Preface, 7
CHAPTER I.
Physiology of the Voice, 13
CHAPTER II.
Registers of the Voice, 25
CHAPTER III.
How To Secure Good Tone, 44
CHAPTER IV.
Compass of the Child-Voice, 72
CHAPTER V.
Position, Breathing, Attack, Tone-Formation, 81
CHAPTER VI.
Vowels, Consonants, Articulation, 95
CHAPTER VII.
Mutation of the Voice, 112
CHAPTER VIII.
The Alto Voice in Male Choirs, 125
CHAPTER IX.
General Remarks, 132
CHAPTER I.
PHYSIOLOGY OF THE VOICE.
In former times the culture of the singing-voice was conducted upon purely empirical grounds. Teachers followed a few good rules which had been logically evolved from the experience of many schools of singing.
We are indebted to modern science, aided by the laryngoscope, for many facts concerning the action of the larynx, and more especially the vocal cords in tone-production. While the early discoveries regarding the mechanism of the voice were hopefully believed to have solved all problems concerning its cultivation, experience has shown the futility of attempting to formulate a set of rules for voice-culture based alone upon the incomplete data furnished by the laryngoscope. This instrument is a small, round mirror which is introduced into the throat at such an angle, that if horizontal rays of light are thrown upon it, the larynx, which lies directly beneath, is illuminated and reflected in the mirror at the back of the mouth-- the laryngoscope. Very many singers and teachers, of whom Manuel Garcia was the first, have made use of this instrument to observe the action of their vocal bands in the act of singing, and the results of these observations are of the greatest value. Still, as before said, the laryngoscope does not reveal all the secrets of voice-production. While it tells unerringly of any departure from the normal, or of pathological change in the larynx, it does not tell whether the larynx belongs to the greatest living singer or to one absolutely unendowed with the power of song. Also, the subject