Voice Production in Singing and Speaking | Page 2

principles that must underlie sound practice. A perusal of the first chapter of the work will give the reader a clearer idea of the author's purpose as briefly expressed above.
The writer bespeaks an unprejudiced hearing, being convinced that in art as in all else there is but one ultimate court of appeal: to the scientific, the demonstrable--to what lies at the very foundations of human nature.
In conclusion, the author desires to thank those publishers and authors who have kindly permitted the use of their illustrations.
THE AUTHOR.
MCGILL UNIVERSITY, Montreal, October, 1906.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE CLAIMS AND IMPORTANCE OF VOCAL PHYSIOLOGY.
Science and art--The engineer, architect, physician, nurse, and others, compared with the vocal teacher and learner--Unfavorable tendencies--The old masters--The great elocutionists--Causes of failure--The lack of an adequate technique--Correct methods are physiological--Summary of the advantages of teaching and learning based on scientific principles--Illustrations of the application of physiological principles to actual cases--The evils from which speakers and singers suffer owing to wrong methods--Speaking and singing based on the same principles--Relation of hygiene to physiology 17
CHAPTER II.
GENERAL PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES.
Relations of animals to each other--Common properties of living matter--Explanation of these--The mammal and man--The stimulus and its results--The one-celled animal--Various "systems"necessary--Complexity of structure and function--Harmony through the nervous system--The rule of nervous centres--Means by which they are influenced, and by which they influence--Reflex action--Muscular mechanisms and neuro-muscular mechanisms--Work of the singer and speaker largely reflex in character--Summary 34
CHAPTER III.
BREATHING CONSIDERED THEORETICALLY AND PRACTICALLY.
Breathing the great essential--Misconceptions--Purpose of breathing as a vital process--The respiratory organs--Their nature--Relations of the lungs to the chest-wall--Expansion of the chest--Its diameters--The muscles of respiration--Personal observation--The diaphragm--Varying quantities of air breathed--Breathing when properly carried out by the singer or speaker is healthful 44
CHAPTER IV.
BREATHING FURTHER CONSIDERED THEORETICALLY AND PRACTICALLY.
Relations of the nervous system to breathing--The respiratory centre--Reflex action in breathing--Methods of preventing nervousness--Tones produced by the outgoing breath--Waste of breath--The happy combination for good singing or speaking 57
CHAPTER V.
BREATHING WITH SPECIAL REGARD TO PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS.
The well-developed chest--The voice-user a kind of athlete--The tremolo--Exercises recommended for the development of the chest--Forms of dress that hamper breathing--Weighing and measuring, re-measurement, etc.--Specific directions for methods to develop the chest--Warnings--Additional exercises--Breathing through the nose and through the mouth--Exercises for the development of the diaphragm and abdominal muscles--Relation of the diaphragm to the staccato effect--Forms of general exercise for the voice-user--Summary 62
CHAPTER VI.
THE SPECIAL VOICE-PRODUCING MECHANISM, THE LARYNX.
Not the only voice-producing apparatus--Specific structures of the larynx in use when the subject phonates--Muscles and their attachments--The cartilages of the larynx--The lining mucous membrane--Changes in it when one has a "cold"--The vocal bands--Functions of the epiglottis--The "middle line" and relative position of parts--Adam's apple--Ventricle of the larynx--The importance of the arytenoid cartilages--Muscles of the larynx in detail--Sphincter action--Straining--Position of the larynx--Practical considerations--Dissection of a "pluck" and especially of the larynx--Hygiene--How disorder of one part may affect another--Summary 74
CHAPTER VII.
SOUND--THE LARYNGOSCOPE--THE LARYNX RECONSIDERED.
Some study of physics desirable--Sound and vibrations--The sounding body--Experiments to illustrate the principles of sound--Qualities of sound--Animals and perception of sound--The range of hearing in man--The larynx as a musical instrument--Experiments of Johannes Müller--Discovery of the laryngoscope by Garcia--Description of the instrument--Method of using the laryngoscope--The difficulties--Auto-laryngoscopy--The importance of both laryngoscopy and auto-laryngoscopy--Change in size of the larynx due to use--Delicate changes in the laryngeal mechanism--Changes in the larynx during adolescence--Warnings--The "breaking" of the voice--Analogies with fatigue, etc.--When should singing be begun?--Singing with others--Choral singing 97
CHAPTER VIII.
FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF BREATHING, LARYNGEAL ADJUSTMENT, ETC.
Various kinds of breathing, as "abdominal," "clavicular," etc., discussed--Control of the whole of the breathing mechanism urged--Correct breathing as a habit--Breathing in the most vigorous speaking and singing--Different views expressed by a diagram--Economy of energy in art--Reserve energy in breathing--"Pumping"--Coup de glotte--"Attack"--Breath-adjustment--Quality of sound the prime consideration in tone-production--Tremolo and other faults--Tests of good breathing--Mouth-breathing--Exercises--Singing of a single tone--Its relation to scale-singing--Summary and review 118
CHAPTER IX.
THE RESONANCE-CHAMBERS.
Vocal bands and resonance-chambers compared--Improvised mechanism to illustrate resonance--Musical instruments as resonance-bodies--A vowel in relation to the resonance-chambers--Description of the resonance-chambers--How the quality of tones may be made to vary--New views as to the sounding-chambers--Summary 140
CHAPTER X.
THE REGISTERS OF THE SINGING VOICE.
A controverted subject--Definitions of a register--Qualifications for dealing with this subject--Madame Seiler--Tabular statement of her views--Garcia's and Behnke's divisions of registers--Sir Morell Mackenzie's views in detail--The author's earlier investigations--Madame Marchesi's views and practice 151
CHAPTER 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