At school and college the subject is more frequently taught than was the case twenty

five

Necessity for speech years ago, but as a rule a study in schools and very small percentage of pupils take it; it being either volun

colleges.

tary or an extra-practically, in both cases at the discretion of the parents, who too generally attach no importance to it whatever.

If the speaking of our grand English language is to improve, I am convinced that that desirable result will only be arrived at by the Principals of our schools and colleges, insisting upon all students making a study of the subject until they can show by examination that their voices are produced and their words pronounced far better than is ordinarily the case.

What can be definitely taught.

I do not think it will be denied that here, as elsewhere, much can be taught. Take, for instance, respiration in reference to speech-the management and control of the breath-and the phrasing of sentences in relation to respiration. Again, the production and development of the actual voice and the means to be adopted to ensure a clear enunciation and a right pronunciation. Then too upon inflection and modulation

the teacher can speak definitely; and his advice as to pitch, rate, flexibility, pause, emphasis, gesture and expression should prove of great

assistance.

It is true that Oratory, at its best, embraces much that is unteachable, but it is equally true that it implies a right use of the voice, a clear and acceptable utterance and the avoidance of exaggeration; and I maintain that a knowledge of vocal technique need never detract from individuality, itself dependent upon the taste, sensibility and heart of the speaker.

In the following pages it will be my aim to indicate those points which are of real importance for the student to remember, and I shall endeavour to express my meaning as simply and concisely as possible; feeling sure that many able and admirable treatises upon the subject err from their too evident erudition and their inclusion of so much that concerns the physician rather than the speaker.

CHAPTER II

RESPIRATION

No vocalist, singer or speaker, can afford to ignore the subject of respiration.

The effective use of the voice and its durability are greatly dependent upon a right supply and control of the breath.

What are the physical facts in connection. with the production of voice-sound?

The lungs, trachea, and larynx.*

The bellows of the instrument

are the lungs ; the air is conducted to and from these bellows by means of the trachea or windpipe, and at the top of the windpipe is a cartilaginous chamber, very complex in construction, called the larynx. All the sound of which the voice is capable is produced in the larynx.

We have, therefore, the inhaled air forced upwards through the windpipe to the larynx, where it brings into play its delicate and * See Diagrams Appendix, Section I.

complex machinery, producing vocal sound in whatever key and at whatever intensity the brain directs; which sound is moulded either well or badly, as the case may be, upon its way through the variable cavity of the mouth, by the relative positions of tongue, palates, uvula, teeth, lips, etc.

Thorax.

The chest or thorax containing

the lungs and heart may be

described as an osseo-muscular cone, the summit of which isbetween the shoulders, and its base the midriff or diaphragm which separates the thorax from the abdomen.

The ribs, a series of arcs, from the framework of the cone, joining the vertebral column behind and the sternum or breast-bone in front. The spaces between the ribs

Rib Muscles.

are occupied by external and internal muscles. The muscles which connect the ribs with the spine and with the shoulders, enable the capacity of the chest to be increased by pulling up and fixing the first two ribs, and so allowing each external inter-rib or inter-costal muscle to raise the rib below: these are the muscles that are used in inspiration.

In expiration the internal inter-costal muscles,

aided by abdominal muscles, reverse the action described above, pulling the ribs downwards and compelling the diaphragm (the base of the cone) upwards.

Now, just as a stone to which has been exactly applied a piece of wet leather, follows the leather when raised, so do the lungs adhere to and follow the movements of the chest, which by its muscular contraction compels the dilatation or expansion of the lungs

Regulation of breath dependent on control of rib muscles.

By gaining a proper control

over the muscles described above, the ingress and the egress of the air can be regulated at will, without in any way interfering with the free action of the throat, and without raising the shoulders, as is too frequently the case with both singers and speakers. It has been well said that the respiration of a vocalist should be the same as a swimmer's: that is to say, one that leaves the shoulders perfectly free. This is of equal importance to the speaker, seeing that unless he can regulate his breath by the proper use of the inter-costal muscles, he will be constricting his throat and tongue, and so will interfere with the quality of the